Smoking Ban May Now Include Your Apartment
Access-A-Ride Nailed by Local News
Giuliani Livid Over Bringing 9/11 Trials to NYC
House Cat Terrorizes Family In Dramatic Hostage Situation
Oreo The Dog Is Dead, Blame Game Is Not
100 wins for $180 million? According to Gothamist's trusty calculator, that's just little over $1 million a game, clearly a bargain. Now that the Yankees have won the AL East for the seventh season in a row, it's all a matter of what they will do in the playoffs. Will they make it to the World Series, will they lose in the ALCS, or will lose in the ALDS? If all goes well, the Yankees could even win the World Series, something they have not done since 2000.
Last night's 6-4 victory against the Twins came on a 9th inning on 2-run home run by the most senior member of the Yankees, Bernie Williams. Javier Vazquez was less than stellar in his final start before the playoffs, giving up four runs in 7.2 innings, including two home runs. Lucky for him, his teammates really know how to hit. Hideki Matsui hit his 31st home run of the season (he had 16 last year - talk about adjustment!).
What it all comes down to for the Yankees is pitching. People say that pitching wins championships and the question mark on the Yankees is their starting pitching. Mike Mussina, Jon Lieber, Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez. It's still unknown who those four will face on Tuesday, but they will have the home field advantage.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
urrr, isn't el duque virtually the best pitcher on the team?
sorry, working with the idea that el duque won't be starting due to shoulder issues. we'll find out how he does tonight though. but if he's okay, then i can see brown or vazquez out of the pen.
it should be noted that torre has yet to announce a playoff rotation.
St. Louis has 100+ wins with an $80M payroll. It's interesting that of the teams making the playoffs, only Oakland has a payroll that's at the mid level ($59.8M). All the other teams still in contention are in the top 3rd of payrolls (Houston being the lowest of the big spenders at $74.6M). Pity the Mets (#4), Phillies(#5), and Seattle (#11) for spending the money but having nothing to show for it. What does this say about the luxury tax that was imposed last year?
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/salaries?team=stl
David, ever heard of a little team called the Twins? $53.8 million this year, #19 overall, winning the division for the second year in a row?
But of course, why let facts get in the way of a facile, oft-repeated, empty argument.
Kerry wins the debate and the Yanks clinch the East. All is right in my world.
Of course, Bernie Williams is only the oldest member of the Yankees (36 y.o.) if you believe that Orlando Hernandez is really 34?
(Go Sox!)
BTW, sorry if my response was rather too cutting. I just get very tired of that particular "small market teams have no hope" argument, especially because it comes as a result of the dunderheaded PR incompetents who sit atop the MLB hierarchy. The game as a whole is in fantastic, dynamic shape, but you'd never know it from listening to Selig & Company.
oh yeah the twins. Forgot about them. I didn't realize I was making an argument. What is your argument? What are we arguing about? I think my original point was that St. Louis was able to get more wins than the yankees for $100M less. But then I went and did a Kerry (i.e. digression). My last question was more like wondering out loud.
Hey, but if you want to get into a heated argument, let's talk about whether ichiro is overrated or not... I'll take the opposite of whatever you're opinion is! And I'll be sure to call you "facile, oft-repeated, and empty" as well!!!! Or maybe I'll just repeat over and over that you are sending "mixed messages".
"I didn't realize I was making an argument."
I was probably putting words in your mouth, those words being that baseball has become a sport in which the Yankees perennially "buy" a pennant, and in which "small market teams" don't have a shot at the World Series. This ignores the A's for the part 4 years, the Twins for the past 3, and Flordia last year. It's a dishonest, selective argument that's been forwarded by Bud Selig as a tactic to poormouth the game in an effort to extort more money from localities through tax dollars in the hopes of building stadiums with high-level reliance on public funds, thereby increasing franchise value for MLB owners. Selig isn't really a commissioner in the classic sense -- he's a representetive and spokesperson for the owners.
But like I said, I'm sure that's not the point you were trying to convey. It's just that your observation (which was factually incomplete) mirrored their language enough to set off the blinking red lights in my brain. Anyway, my apologies for going overboard.
Ichiro? Somewhat over-rated before this season, and certainly in no way deserving of the MVP in 2001 (which should have gone to Giambi in a walk).
This season? He's one of the top 15 or 20 position players in the AL.
Sorry for the misspellings. Yikes.
Oh, and for the record, I've been an adamant Cardinal fan for all of my 26 years.
The fact that there are teams who do a lot with relatively little has no logical bearing on the fact that the Yankees buy the division. (We'll just see about that pennant.) Those teams need to be smart and lucky - the Yankees can just throw sh*t at the wall until enough sticks.
What difference does it make? This is the year the Sox go all the way - even with Lowe and Martinez in the rotation.
The Sox will choke... they always crack under pressure. That's what they do.
And for some reason, I'm having a gut feeling the Yankees will choke and we won't see them in the World Series either.