With Angels Beckoning, Yankees, Fans Savor Sweep Of Twins

The Yankees are headed to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2004—when they lost to the Red Sox—and now they are signing the praises of Alex Rodriguez. Manager Joe Girardi said, "Without Alex, we're probably not in this situation right now. We're probably still playing. He had a monster series, monster hits."

The Daily News broke down his stats a little: "In a three-game series sweep in which the Yanks batted just .225 as a team and had a .288 on-base percentage, Rodriguez hit .455 (5-for-11) with two homers and six RBI. He hit two game-tying homers, including a solo shot in Game 3 Sunday night with one out in the seventh inning." He's a "real Yankee" now all right! Of course, Jorge Posada is getting credit for his game-winning home run last night, as were Andy Pettittee, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter (the Post's Joel Sherman calls them "The Dynasty Boys").

Also making things sweet was the Anaheim Angels' sweep of the Boston Red Sox. A fan told MLB.com, "I don't know what I'm happier about, the Sox getting swept, or us doing the sweeping [of the Twins]." However, that means the Angels, who have done a good job of confounding the Yankees, are headed to the Bronx on Friday—Johnny Damon said, "There is no quit in the Angels. We see that when we play them."

Still, the NY Times' William Rhoden is hoping for a Yankees-L.A. Dodgers matchup for the World Series: "Baseball needs a World Series for the ages, one that reinforces its roots and, yes, its relative purity. Granted, this is a lot to ask one World Series matchup to accomplish, but baseball needs an authentic fall classic. It needs Yankees-Dodgers, for the good of the game."

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By Jen Chung in News on October 12, 2009 2:10 PM

Comments [rss]

jaycjay

"They're a mediocre team in a dying sport."

You might be able to argue the latter point, but the former is unsupported by any facts.

That first argument, though, has to counter the fact that this season's total attendence was the 4th highest in MLB history.

matty

i hate the yankees.

They're a mediocre team in a dying sport.

Great.

NannyState

Yeah, stick with the Cubs which just went bankrupt. Oh well, what is it they say? "As long as the beer's flowing at Wrigley..?"

Rfive

These photos look pretty gay to me.

Steven

What happens if A-Rod dies out during the Angels series? I though he isn't a "true yankee" until they win the world series with him?

JacqueMehoff

I just wanna see more kate hudson and kurt russell.

Wza

Any pics of Burnett and Posada hugging and supporting each other? lol

jaycjay

"the Anaheim Angels"

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Yeah, it's ridicuouls. But they were only the Anaheim Angels for a few years, when Disney owned the team.

yakatori

Money didn't cause Nick Punto to ignore his third base coach and round third. Nor did it cause Carlos Gomez to round second and get tagged out before his teammate was able to cross home. The high payroll argument is as tired as complaining about hipsters at this point.

PKMKII

The NFL has 32 teams; the MLB has 30. Besides, the NFL makes more across the board because it has a wider appeal to all of America. Even smaller market teams like Indianapolis can win Super Bowls.

The fact that there's a lot of money concentrated in a few, mostly coastal baseball teams may be good for teams like the Yankees, but it's what's turning baseball into a regional sport and not a national one.

jaycjay

"Even smaller market teams like Indianapolis can win Super Bowls."

Indianapolis: "the 14th largest city in the U.S., the third largest city in the Midwest (behind Chicago and Detroit), and the second most populous state capital (behind Phoenix, Arizona)."

"The population of the metropolitan statistical area is estimated at 1,715,459, making it the 33rd-largest in the U.S. The combined statistical area population of Indianapolis is 2,035,327, the 23rd-largest in the U.S."

Quoted from Wikipedia, but it is all true.

jaycjay

(Pittsburgh would have been a better example.)

JenChungsBaby

Green Bay says it all. If you're a sports fan in Sheboygan you know every year that the Milwaukee Brewers have virtually no chance of making the playoffs. But the Packers compete on even footing with the rest of the NFL.

jaycjay

"you know every year that the Milwaukee Brewers have virtually no chance of making the playoffs."

Well... actually they did just last year. As any Mets fan will remember, the Brewers took the wild card as the Mets faded late.

JenChungsBaby

No, but money sure helped secure those game 1 and 2 starting pitching performances. And the walkoff HR that ended game 2. And the $27 million/year third baseman who hit two key homeruns in the three-game series. I'm a YANKEE fan since the days of Goose Gossage and Mickey Rivers and even I can see that.

If the Yanks win it all it will be nice but it won't be that nice. The simple fact is that other teams can't compete. What if the Twins had signed Teixeira in the off-season? Oh wait -- they couldn't have done that because his contract is worth almost as much as the entire franchise. The NFL structure is so much better. It's why Giants fans can get excited over beating the Vikings in a way that Yankees fans can't about beating the Twins.

TT

yea but the NFL makes a helluva lot more money than baseball across the board. less teams, less games, higher prices.

neckbeard

it's incredibly refreshing to hear (see) that from a yankees fan. you hit the nail right on the head - specifically in the second paragraph.

cool

in the cc photo, you can see Melky (I think) with a can. There were a bunch of them in the celebration last night. anyone know what that is, never seen it before.

JacqueMehoff

it should be beer, in the other LAA celebration they had budweiser in predominately red cans. makes it look like a soda can.

I'm not a yankee fan but it's good seeing pettite smiling, happy and paling around with his teammates, even though he is a jesus freak.