Jorge Posada Calls It a Career
Jorge Posada
On October 4th 1995, or should I say October 5th, since by then Game 2 of the 1995 American League Division Series had stretched past midnight into the wee hours of the morning, the Yankees and Mariners were locked in a nail biting duel that saw the Bombers fall behind their West Coast rivals by one run in the top of the 12. In the bottom part of that inning, after future Yankee reliever Jeff Nelson struck out Randy Velarde to lead off the bottom of the twelve, future Hall of Famer and Yankee third baseman Wade Boggs stepped to the plate. After battling Nelson, Boggs got the best of him and worked out an important walk that would later become the tying run in the now nascent Yankee rally that extended this postseason classic another 3 innings. But before that run would come around and score, the then cerebral Yankee Manager Buck Showalter decided to take a gamble and take out Boggs in favor of a pinch runner Yankee prospect, who was a September call up and was kept in the roster once postseason started. That prospect was Jorge Posada. As everyone knows Posada came around to score the game tying run after Ruben Sierra took a Tim Belcher pitch into the left field corner, a ball that on a warm day would have definitely landed in the lower left field seats at the renovated Yankee Stadium. When Posada scored the tying run, Bernie Williams was behind him, but a great defensive relay by the Mariners stopped Bernie from scoring the winning run, and so the game continued. This classic game, that ended with Jim Lyritz dramatic two run home run, was only the second appearance by Jorge Posada in a Yankees uniform, but it was also a glimpse into the successful postseason future that Posada would become a part of.
Of course it would take three more years before Posada became a mainstay in the Yankee backstop, and when given the opportunity to split catching duties, Posada, like most of the members of the famed “Core 5″ made the most of it. In 1998, Posada caught David Wells’ perfect game, going down in history with his battery mate as the 13 duo to accomplish baseball immortality. Although not a great defensive catcher by any stretch, Posada that day called the game of his life. “I was so nervous,” he would say after the game, not understanding that the result of the game would propel him into becoming the full time starting catcher. When future Yankee Manager Joe Girardi left the Yankees as a free agent in 1999, Posada inherited the starting position, a position he held until 2010. In his first season as a starter, Posada lead the Yankees to a second straight World Series Championship, a feat that would be repeated the next year when the Yankees defeated their cross-town rival Mets for a third straight World’s Championship and 4th championship in 5 years. Overall, Posada would play in 7 World Series, yet his biggest moment in the post season, in my opinion, was his clutch game tying double in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS off Yankee nemesis Pedro Martinez. That game was just one example of Posada’s ability to come through in the clutch when his team needed a big at bat. Over his 17 year career, Posada gave many Yankee fans thrills they will never forget. Just last September, with his appearances down to pinch hitting duties, it was in that roll that Posada, with an RBI single led the Yankees to the American League East title. Although primarily a player that came off the bench last season, Posada had a knack for providing the Yankees with big hits. Yet his final postseason series with the Yankees will cement his legacy as a great Yankee. In the ALDS against the Tigers, Posada was the best Yankee in the lineup. He lead the Yankees in hitting during the series, posting .429 batting average, and a spectacular .579 OBP.
Thus Jorge Posada is part of a winning Yankee legacy and part of a dynasty that Yankee fans will probably never see again. And so today, with a heavy heart, Posada says goodbye to the organization, the city and fans that allowed him to become the baseball player he dreamed about while growing up in his native land of Puerto Rico. His retirement also marks the end of a career of another player that was the backbone of the late 90′s Yankees dynasty that now leaves Yankee fans with only Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter. Jorge Posada will be missed.
Yankees add Pineda and Kuroda to Rotation
The Yankees quiet off season ended with two important moves that have not only bolstered the rotation, but in my opinion, make the Yankees the favorites to repeat as AL East champions. With the many question marks facing the rotation heading into Spring Training the moves that were made by Cashman last night not only bring short term benefits, but possibly long term benefits as well. The short term benefit of trading for Michael Pineda and signing Hiroki Kuroda is the stability they would provide behind CC Sabathia. The Yankees now have two solid starters that can fill the void that is left after Sabathia makes his regular starts. The moves also pushes down AJ Burnett’s spot in the rotation and could possibly open the door for the Yankees to trade Burnett away. The long term benefits of trade for Michael Pineda on the other hand are plenty. First the move gives the Yankees a young starter that they control and can develop into a potential Cy Young award winner. More importantly Pineda is one of three young pitchers that can be the future anchors of the rotation if the Yankees decide to keep their top pitching prospects in Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos. So in an off season in which the Angels improve with the signing of Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson, the Rangers with the potential signing of Yu Darvish on the horizon and possibly shift in the balance of power to the American League West, the Yankees made moves that for now have put a momentary stop to the power shift.
Michael Pineda and the myth of 2nd half slump:
Michael Pineda had a sensational start to his rookie season for the Seattle Mariners. The rookie right hander started the first half of the season in 2011 with 7 wins and just 5 losses; 99 strike outs, a 2.65 ERA with a solid 1.06 WHIP in just 102 IP’s. In the second half Pineda’s numbers weren’t as impressive as the rookie just won 2 games, saw his ERA and WHIP ballooned to 5.35 and 1.20 respectively, while only striking out 74 batters. Looking at these traditional stats an average fan might say and believe that Pineda tailed off in the second half, or was tired, etc. But measuring Pineda’s value by looking at traditional pitching stats hides his true value. A sabermetric analysis of Pineda’s second half numbers tell a different story. Even though Pineda had only two wins after the All-Star break, his numbers during the last half of the season were actually better than his first half. By measuring Pineda’s skills independent of defense, his numbers in the second half were better. First, his Expected ERA (xERA) was 3.16 which was 42 points lower in the second half. His Control Rate (Ctl, bb/9), a metric that measures a pitchers walks per game was only 2 points higher. Pineda’s Dominance Rate (Dom, K/9) a metric that measures the strikeouts a pitcher allows per game was higher in the second half (9.7) as opposed to his first half (8.7); more importantly his Command Rate (CMD), a metric that measures a pitcher’s ability to throw pitches in the strike zone was 3.2 a 0.1 point higher. Had Pineda pitched in a team with better defense and an ability to put more runs, his traditional pitching numbers would have been different, but looking at statistics that reflect his pitching skills alone he definitely was a much better pitcher in the second half than he was in the first half of the year. As a pitcher Pineda has the potential of being a future Cy Young Award winner and his value to the Yankees will be greater than it was to the Mariners, since the former will provide Pineda with run support.
The only downside Pineda is that he will likely have a innings limit again.
Cardinals win Series and LaRussa retires.
The St. Louis Cardinals are the 2011 World Series Champions and as I predicted they won the Series in seven games by basically following my game plan (well, not really, but they sort of did). I wrote that for the Cardinals to have a shot at upsetting the heavily favored Texas Rangers they needed to do two things: one was for Chris Carpenter was his dominant self, and for the rest of the starters in the rotation to at least give the Red Birds quality outings. The former worked successfully. In three world series starts Chris Carpenter was 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA and in each of his three starts he held the Rangers powerful offense to only two runs each time. In all three starts Carpenter pitched well into the seventh inning serving as the bridge to the Red Birds bullpen that was very impressive during the postseason. Although this bullpen struggled at times during the Series, it was still good enough to close out the games the Cardinals won, or keep them close in the games they trailed in the Series. The midweek rain out certainly made it easier for LaRussa to start Carpenter on three days rest after the classic Game 6 victory. In the end Carpenter–the second MVP of the Series–pitched like an ace is supposed to do and won two out of three games in the series.
As for the Cardinals bats, what more can be said about the clutch hits by Series MVP David Freese and the resurgent Lance Berkman! After a monster Game 3, Pujols went cold, only getting another single, if I’m not mistaken, the rest of the series (a single that sparked a big rally in Game 6), and the Cardinals offense basically fell into the bats of Freese and Berkman, the two players who basically provided most of the offense for the Red Birds in the last two games of the series. Freese and Berkman’s performance in Game 6 saved the Cardinals season as they were twice down to their final strike. The performance of these two players is what separates, in my opinion, the true champions from the champions on paper. On paper, the Philadelphia Phillies were the best team. Yet in their series against the Cardinals, the batters in the Phillies lineup failed to come up with a clutch hit in key situations. Freese and Berkman did not. On paper, the Brewers were no doubt better than the Cardinals yet in the NLCS, I can’t count how many times Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Nyjer “Tony Plush” Morgan failed to come up with that clutch hit that usually turns a series around. The Cardinals not only got the clutch hits, but those hits won them the series. The performance of Freese and Berkman reminds me of the clutch hits that players like Scott Brosius, Cecil Fielder, Bernie Williams, Jim Leyritz and Jorge Posada gave the Yankees during their last dynasty in the late 1990′s; and it were those clutch hits that helped that Yankees dynasty to win 4 championships in 5 years. This year, the Cardinals were the beneficiaries of similar performances by their players.
Tony LaRussa Retires…
After guiding the Cardinals to their 11th World’s Championship, Tony LaRussa has decided to call it a career as manager of the Red Birds. For 16 years LaRussa guided the Cardinals and during his tenure, the Red Birds made three trips to the World Series, were a game away in his first season (1996) from making a trip to the Series, and of course won two championships. Yet for all his success, I still have my problems with the Mad-Man. Considering the fact that he was badly out managed by Ron Washington in Game 5 of the Series, what I dislike about LaRussa is not his unorthodox managing style–God knows he revolutionize the way the game is managed–but his knee jerk reaction to inside pitches against his players soured LaRussa in my eyes. LaRussa look like a clown at times, especially when he instructed his pitchers to retaliate after questionable inside pitches. Back in August LaRussa basically admitted that his pitcher sent a message to the Brewers when Ryan Braun was plunked by Jason Motte, after Albert Pujols was hit by a pitch earlier in the game. Although the league never suspended him, or fine him for it, the fact that he was allowed to get away with that nonsense is why I won’t miss LaRussa at all. But if I do have to say one positive thing about LaRussa, is that he went out on top!
World Series Game 3: Pujols Reigns
Well so much for the great starting pitching that Game 1&2 of this season’s Fall Classic featured. For Game 3, the warm Texas air woke up the bats and both teams, especially King Albert Pujols, put on a offensive display not since in the World Series since 1982. So as the Cardinals take a 2-1 Series lead, the angry Red Birds have completely ignored my suggestion of having their starting pitchers go 6 plus innings, and instead decided to slug it out with the Texas Rangers and won.
The Albert Pujols show..
Game 3 of the World Series should be remembered as the Pujols show. Coming into the game, Pujols was 0-for-6 and committed the error that allowed the winning run for the Rangers to get on second base in Game 2. After grounding out to Mike Napoli in the first inning, Pujols lead off the top of the 4th inning with a solid single to left. That single was the beginning of a special night in Texas for King Albert, a player who has a knack for snapping out of slumps with big nights at the plate. Tonight was no different. After that solid single, Pujols again lead off the top of the 5th, this time with another solid single to center. At that point in the game, the Cardinals were up by two runs after seeing the Rangers erase their 5-0 lead with a great bottom of the 4th inning rally. But just like the Cardinals last half inning at the plate, Pujols’ single sparked another Cardinals rally and in that inning, the Cardinals take back the three runs scored by Rangers in the bottom of the 4th. After the Rangers came back in the bottom of the 5th to erase the three runs the Cardinals scored the previous half inning, you’d think that it would be only a matter of time before the Rangers would take over the game. But as we now know, that was the last time Texas was in this game, because in the top of the 6th Albert Pujols literally took over.
And in the top of the 6th, with two runners on base and one out, and Texas pitching sensation Alexi Ogando on the mound, King Albert made his presence known by crushing a 96 mph four seam fastball into the Texas night. The moonshot by Pujols stretched the Cardinals lead to six runs and the Red Birds never looked back. In the top of the 7th, Pujols again crushes another four seem fastball, this time off Michael Gonzales, for a 2 run homer. And in the top of the 9th, Pujols caps a record tying World Series game with a solo home run off ageless reliever Darren Oliver on, you guessed it, another fastball.
1982 Was The Last Time…
1982 was the last time a player had five hits in a World Series game. That year, Paul Molitor of the Milwaukee Brewers set the record by getting five hits, oddly enough, against the St. Louis Cardinals. Tonight, Albert Pujols ties that record with five hits of his own.
Pujols also ties Mr. October, Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth with 3 home runs in a World Series game. Not bad for a player who was seeing as a goat by the media after his careless play in Game 2.
Umpiring in Baseball….
Even though it didn’t turn out to be as costly as it could have been, had Kyle Lohse done his job and kept the Rangers off the scoreboard, the blown call by first base umpire by Ron Kulpa on Matt Holliday’s force out was just terrible. Even with Ian Kinsler’s poor throw to first, Mike Napoli clearly tagged out Holliday before reaching the first base bag. Kulpa’s bad call continues what has been a disastrous season for Major League Baseball umpires who continue to make bad call after bad call. If it wasn’t for the inept bullpen display by the Rangers tonight, that play could have been the turning point of the game, but thanks to Pujols’ night, the call didn’t matter in the end. Something about the bad umpiring, however, has to be done during the Winter, because as technology improves the scrutiny of the men in blue will be even greater and it will be difficult for the MLB to be the last pro sports league without expanded replay. Either the Commissioner should accept more replay into the game, or accept the much deserved criticism for not doing anything about the bad calls made by MLB umpires.
Looking ahead….
I wonder what Game 4 will have in store for baseball fans. Will the pitching return? Or will the offensive outburst continue. I guess we’ll find out Sunday night.
Thoughts on Game 2
Game 2 of the Fall Classic was, well…classic. After the dominant starting pitching that took the league by storm in the LDS round all but disappeared during the LCS, the Rangers and Cardinals starting staff brought their A-game to the World Series. In Game 1, both Carpenter and Wilson, although not dominant by any stretch of the imagination, still gave their respective clubs a quality 6 inning outing creating the bridge to the two best bullpens during the postseason. The Cardinals took advantage of Carpenter’s start, and a great pinch hit at bat by Allen Craig (more on him later) to take Game 1.
Game 2 was almost a carbon copy of Game 1, as both starters dominated for six plus innings, complimented by great defense that was shown by both teams. For most of the game, the Cardinals were following my plan to the tee just as they had done in Game 1. But that is where the similarities between Game 1 and Game 2 end. The difference this time was the Rangers late rally to pull out a win and even the Series at one all. When Cardinals got on the board after another pinch hit single by Allen Craig, who by all intent and purposes owns Alexi Ogando, I thought the game was over. There is no way, I thought to myself, that the Rangers–who looked demoralized for eight innings–were going to make a comeback and win this game. But Ian Kinsler, who was by far the best player of the game for the Rangers, led off the top of the 9th with a bloop single had other ideas. Kinsler sparked the Rangers late game rally with a clutch steal of second base, beating out Yadier Molina’s throw by just a few inches. After the steal, Elvis Andrus (who had a great game defensively) lined a 2-2 fastball to centerfield off Jason Motte, Kinsler moved to third, and thanks to the great base running and situational awareness of Andrus, the Rangers shortstop took 2nd on a botch play by Albert Pujols. Now with two runners on scoring position and no outs, the Rangers were ready to take the lead with a single. But it took two productive outs to tie the game and take the lead. The first productive out came off the bat of Josh Hamilton, who is probably more injured than anyone of us could realize, drove in Kinsler with a sac fly that was deep enough to allow Andrus to take third on the play. And then the second productive out came off the bat of Michael Young. For all the talk about the Rangers offense being explosive, all it took for Ron Washington’s ballclub to take the lead was two bloop singles, heads up base running, and productive outs to take the lead. This rally destroyed whatever aura of invincibility Jason Motte and the Cardinals bullpen created during the last month of the season and postseason, and now certainly has placed doubts in the mind of Tony LaRussa, who was quick to take Motte out of the game instead of allowing him to work out of the jam. Just imagine if the weather had been a little warmer in St. Louis, the Rangers offense would have probably scored more runs in that inning. Now that the Series is tied at 1, Game 3 becomes a pivotal game, and I truly believe that the winner of this game will control the rest of the Series and possibly win it.
Cardinals win if….
Cardinals win if Kyle Lohse continues what his teammates in the rotation started. Anything less than 6 or 7 innings of work, allowing less than 2 runs to the Rangers, would be a failure in my opinion and will cost the Cardinals the game.
Rangers win if….
Rangers win if the lineup wakes up. Now that the Series is back in Texas, the warm weather will likely help the Rangers’ lineup. The fact of the matter is, the Rangers are due to score a lot of runs in this series, which is why Kyle Lohse must have a good game for the Cardinals, otherwise, this Series will end in Texas.
Looking ahead to Game 2.
Less than an hour before Game 2 of the Fall Classic, and my feelings about this game are basically the same as they were yesterday: For the Cardinals to win this game, they must have their starters pitch past the fifth inning and serve as a bridge to the bullpen. Of course, that is easier said than done. Last night the Redbirds did get the job done, as the Rangers offense was shut down for most of the game, only allowing two runs to the Rangers after Napoli bashed a Carpenter sinker that stayed over the plate. Another thing that the Cardinals have to do is jump all over the Rangers shaky starting rotation. Scoring three runs might have been enough for the angry Birds, but tonight it could be a different story of the Rangers lineup wakes up.
As far as the Rangers are concerned, the only thing I have to say is that Ron Washington better not pinch hit players that have only seen the bench since September. He clearly has to stay a step ahead of the Mad-man LaRussa in managing this game because if the Rangers lose game two, it could potentially be a short World Series. Of course I don’t think that will be the case. Washington is a smart manager, and like LaRussa, he knows how to make the right moves…well most of the time.
Cardinals take Game 1.
Cardinals take Game 1 of the 2011 Fall Classic, and they did it with their ace pitching a solid 6 innings of work. As I predicted this afternoon, the only way the Cardinals will have a shot at winning the World’s Championship would be if Carpenter is Carpenter. Tonight Carpenter was himself, although not dominant, he was still good enough to shut down the Rangers explosive offense. The only mistake Carpenter made was a sinker that didn’t sink and was over the plate, which good hitters like Napoli feast upon. Carpenter served as that bridge to the Cardinals pen, which tonight, as it has done throughout the postseason, shorten the game. More importantly, the Cardinals got clutch hits by Lance Berkman, David Freese and Allen Craig.
As far as the Rangers are concerned, CJ Wilson opening another postseason series with a loss is not very encouraging. Yet the good news for the Rangers is that their offense is still hot, despite only scoring two runs. The Rangers had runners on base all night and just missed a clutch hit from breaking the game open. The turning point of the game had to come in the top of the 6th, when Kinsler was stranded at third, after leading off the inning with a single, moving two second on a sacrifice and taking third base on a fly out by Josh Hamilton. Michael Young, in this situation, came close to hitting a double down the right field line, but thanks to a great play by Albert Pujols, Young’s batted ball resulted in an inning ending ground out. That missed opportunity by the Rangers to drive in Kinsler from second with one out, most likely cost them the game tonight. Now, it’s just one game. I do believe the Rangers will capitalize in those situations in this series, but if they fail to drive in runs with RISP it will only open the door for the Cardinals to take this series.
Mission accomplished:
It was imperative for the Cardinals to win Game 1 and for Carpenter to have a quality start. Now that the Cardinals accomplished that goal, the next thing they need to do is hope that Jaime Garcia is up to the task of pitching a big game in Game 2 and shut down the Rangers offense. The only way, as I said, that the Cardinals can win this Series is if they get solid starting pitching. Carpenter did his job, will Garcia now respond?
As for the Rangers, this is just one game. This series is far from over.
World Series prediction…sorta
First let me say that I’m not good at predictions. I picked the Philadelphia Phillies to win it all, and they unfortunately didn’t even make it to the LCS. But since everyone is making predictions about the World Series, I guess I should also make one. This year the World Series will feature the surprising St. Louis Cardinals, a team that entering September was all but dead 9 games behind the Atlanta Braves, and the back-to-back American League Champions–and clearly the new class of the American League– the Texas Rangers. Like last season’s Series, the Rangers are once again the favorites to win the World’s Championship, as they face a team that has a solid bullpen but very shaky starting pitching. Yet even though most of the baseball world outside of St. Louis is picking the Rangers to win, I’m going to predict that the underdog Cardinals will win it this year’s World Series in seven games.
Key for the Cardinals to win this Series:
For the Cardinals to have a shot at winning the World’s Championship, the key to their potential success is Chris Carpenter and the rest of the Cardinals. If Chris Carpenter is on his game, and pitches well in 3 out of the seven games, that would put the Cardinals one decent start away by either Garcia, Lohse or Jackson, towards winning the World Series. In both LCS rounds this season, starting pitching was nowhere to be found, and the redbirds staff didn’t exactly pitch well, as none of their starters made it past the fifth inning in all six games of the series against the Brewers. So something has to give. Either the bad starting pitching by both the Cardinals and Rangers will continue, which will benefit the explosive Rangers offense; or the starting pitching will be good that the more experienced Cardinals staff will have an advantage. If the latter happens, I don’t see why the Cardinals wouldn’t win this series. Good starting pitching by the Cardinals will create a bridge to a bullpen that has performed exceptionally well in this postseason, and would in a long series benefit St. Louis. The same could be said about the Rangers, but the Cardinals starting staff is just more experienced, and I don’t see Texas’s lefty starters doing well against the heavy righthanded offense of the Cardinals. Now, if the former happens (which is likely to happen), the Rangers will win this series easily.
So the key for St. Louis is Chris Carpenter. He has a good series, the Cardinals will win. I believe that will happen. Go Cardinals
One more game.
Last night the Yankees were able to escape out of Detroit with a comfortable blowout win against the Tigers and have extended the season for at least one more game. Now, in game 5, it’s up to Ivan Nova to close out the series and send the Yankees to their third straight ALCS. Unlike AJ, I do have confidence in Nova to get the job done and hopefully he will get it done to set up what could be an exciting ALCS rematch.
But before I, and some of my fellow Yankees fans, look ahead, this ALDS series is far from over. Thursday night will be a rematch of Game 1 2.0 that pit Doug Fister and Ivan Nova. As I said above, I have confidence in Nova to get the job done, now the question is, do I have confidence that the Yankee lineup will get the job done against Fister? They were able to do it in the resumption of game 1, but Fister did held the Yankees down to one run in 4 of the 4.2 innings that he pitched. So it isn’t a given that the Yankees could duplicate the same success this time around.
But we’ll find out tomorrow night whether or not the Yankees will go on and face the Rangers in the ALCS.
In AJ I don’t Trust
Now that the Yankees are on the brink of elimination against the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS, their hopes to reach the ALCS and World Series now rest on the right shoulder of AJ Burnett. About a month ago if you’d ask a Yankees fan if they trust Burnett’s ability to win a big game, the most likely answer you would hear from them is a resounding no. Well, today AJ Burnett is facing a big game and now Yankees fans have no choice but to place their hopes of seeing their team advance farther in the playoffs in the Yankees most inconsistent starter throughout the season. The faith the fans are putting on Burnett is somewhat surreal and at times comical. On Twitter, of all places, an “In AJ we trust” briefly trended in New York City.
But putting aside the tomfoolery, there is in reality no reason to trust in Burnett, or hope that he would give the Yankees a solid start. In the past two seasons, aside from a few solid outings, Burnett has given the Yankees nothing to hang their heads on. Even when staked to big leads, Burnett finds it impossible to keep his head in the game and pitch past the fifth inning, usually imploding by allowing the opposition to get back into the game that any other pitcher would prevent to do. Yet this is the same pitcher Joe Girardi and some Yankees fans hope will help the Yankees even this series against the Tigers?
Where the Yankees should place their real hopes….
The only way the Yankees can get this series back to New York is if their lineup does what it did on Game 1 last Saturday night and starts putting up more runs on the board. After being dominated by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, the Yankees can take out their frustrations on Rick Porcello. This season, even though Porcello won 14 games, his inconsistency as a starter was the result of his inability to retire left handed hitters. Lefty hitters in the AL feasted off Porcello this season, and that means that the Yankees left handed bats should be able to continue the trend. But even that is easier said than done. For all his struggles against lefties this season, Porcello still gave the Tigers 9 quality starts of 7 innings plus, which means that it’s imperative that the Yankees get the early lead and continue to pressure Porcello throughout the night. That is the only way the Yankees win tonight. Otherwise, it was a good season.
David Veloz
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