Jorge Posada, Nick Swisher bail out Phil Hughes, Yankees beat Orioles 6-5, move to first in AL East

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2011/04/14/2011-04-14_jorge_posada_nick_swisher_bail_out_phil_hughes_yankees_beat_orioles_65_move_to_f.html

Comeback kids.

ALCS: Game 3 - Starting Lineup

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF


Andy Pettitte P

Breaking Hearts Deep in the Heart of Texas

Before





After



Offense/bullpen  picks up the big man after rough start.
Redbull kicked in by 8th.
Speed kills:  Gardner gets things started with infield single.
Mosley holds the line.
Where was Ian Kinsler going?

ALCS: Game 1 - Starting Lineups

CC vs. CJ (Check out my scraggly sideburns!)

Here are the lineups for Game 1 of the ALCS tonight:

NEW YORK YANKEES                TEXAS RANGERS
1. Derek Jeter, SS              1. Elvis Andrus, SS
2. Nick Swisher, RF             2. Michael Young, 3B
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B            3. Josh Hamilton, CF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B           4. Vladimir Guerrero, DH
5. Robinson Cano, 2B            5. Nelson Cruz, LF
6. Marcus Thames, DH            6. Ian Kinsler, 2B
7. Jorge Posada, C              7. Jeff Francoeur, RF
8. Curtis Granderson, CF        8. Matt Treanor, C
9. Brett Gardner, LF            9. Jorge Cantu, 1B

That’s the same lineup the Yankees used against left-handed starters Francisco Liriano and Brian Duensing in their ALDS sweep of the Twins. Marcus Thames gets the nod over Lance Berkman at designated hitter, with Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner both in the lineup against a lefty while Austin Kearns rides the bench.

Rangers manager Ron Washington is turning back to Jorge Cantu after he sat out Game 5 of the ALDS against left-hander David Price. Matt Treanor draws the start behind the plate over Bengie Molina because he’s essentially C.J. Wilson’s personal catcher.

Time to take out the trash!

ALDS: Game 2 - Starting Lineup, Late Edition

Here's your Yankees lineup for tonight:

1. Derek Jeter, SS

2. Curtis Granderson, CF

3. Mark Teixeira, 1B

4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B

5. Robinson Cano, 2B

6. Nick Swisher, RF

7. Jorge Posada, C

8. Lance Berkman, DH

9. Brett Gardner, LF

ALDS: Game 1 - Starting Lineups

Yankees

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF
CC Sabathia LHP

Twins
Denard Span CF
Orlando Hudson 2B
Joe Mauer C
Delmon Young LF
Jim Thome DH
Michael Cuddyer 1B
Jason Kubel RF
Danny Valencia 3B
J.J. Hardy SS
Francisco Liriano LHP

Why I Hate Bud Selig, Reason #245

Besides being a lackey of the ownership, namely "small-market" owners, and presiding over the steroid era, the accomplishment Selig is generally lauded for is creating the wild-card playoff format.  Going hand in hand with the wild-card was the reorganizing of the leagues into three divisions, east, central, and west.  This was done for two reasons, to, one, gin up some excitement after the canceling of the '94 postseason (of which the Yankees were in first place whence the strike commenced) and, two, to give more of the flyover country teams the opportunity to make the postseason (think Milwaukee Brewers, Selig's former team).

In light of the ignominious way the AL East division race ended, with both the Rays and Yanks seemingly trying to who see who could lose more games as they rested key personnel, I have now a strong distaste for this format.  There has been some talk to expand the field and add another wild card team, having them have a one-game playoff to advance to the DS, creating disincentive to be a wild card team.  While I agree that not only does this encourage teams to try to win the division but puts the eventual wild card team at a disadvantage going into the first round as they would most likely have used their best pitcher to win the play-in game thus making them unavailable for the first two games of the DS.

Here's the problem.  Given the strength of the AL East and the unbalanced schedule, you create a situation where a 95-100 win wild card team in a stronger division may be reduced to playing an 85 win second wild card team from the weak central or west division.  So instead of further diluting the postseason field I contend that we go back to the future and create two divisions west and east and make the regular season mean something again.  Thanks to Bud and his quest to even-the-playing field and give everyone a trophy we missed out on what could have been a great and memorable race between the best teams in baseball instead of game of chicken where nobody dared blink.

World Series Game 6: Time Lapse

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/showcase-79/