2012 ALCS: Yankees vs. Tigers

Coachmen vs. Crucifucks

Chic vs. Inner City.

Jason Beck ‏@beckjason
#Tigers rotation for ALCS is official. Doug Fister will pitch Game 1, followed by Sanchez, Verlander, then Scherzer.

Go tigers!

Tigers with Mondale '84-style enthusiasm

Tigers

fat guys vs old fat guys

Team that fired Billy Martin once vs. team that fired Billy Martin more than once.

I can't believe that both leagues' CS ended up being the most boring matchups out of all the cool and strange possibilities that we started with.

I checked this with a quick scan, so I may have missed something, but I think it's the first year ever where the last three Series winners are all in the CS (and the other, the Tigers, made it to the CS last year). So, ditto.

you know what's crazy super bonkers

these four teams are all top 10 in payroll and they beat four teams that are bottom 12 in payroll

isn't that just nutty

not much more than coincidence (cept maybe Yanks' expensive vet bench incl Ibanez).

fwiw per BP, Delmon Young hits Pettitte like a sonofagun.

Obvious, but I don't think the Tigers can win unless Cabrera starts hitting. He was AWOL against Oakland in four out of the five games--they got by without him in a low-scoring series, but I can't see that happening again.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

"whos producing this, thornton wilder?"

Interesting strike zone.

First and third pitches to Jeter in exact same spot, well within zone. One ball, one strike.

not a good trend here, tigres

LHOL

Load bases, let Jhonny take over.

lol @ the shift driving the color commentator crazy because omg someone hit one thru it sabermetrics is invalidated guys like us who know baseball etc

Speared by a diving Jeter. (Yeah, the sabermetrics rant was silly.)

alright

Chad Finn ‏@GlobeChadFinn
Side-effect of the partnership with the Bleacher Report. RT @SteveRushin TBS graphic just spelled his name Willie Mayes. #whatever

i thought Mig never got walked cuz of Prince's mighty 'protection'

only two runs?

Return of the Infante Yips

Detroit counter-yips

Smoltz! "Wish there was a stat for the most boos on a team that keeps playing in October."

the crowd reaction shot captured a dude booing and a lady yawning, kudos tbs

got out of it, again

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A5IcoirCUAE8r80.jpg:large

per Smoltz 10 minutes ago, what a terrible job by Fister, trying to be "heroic" and not allowing any runs.

what a fucking idiot.

Prior to Granderson's most recent K:

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN
As of this moment, the quartet of Cano, Swisher, A-Rod and Granderson are 9-for-85 in the postseason.

So, yeah -- why was Lowe allowed to start the eighth?

Lowe is an extremely nice guy, i delivered a car or two when he was a Dodger.

Because their real relievers still haven't recovered from the extra inning games vs the O's?

DELMON YOUNG HAS PASSED HANK GREENBERG AS THE TIGERS' ALL-TIME POST-SEASON HR LEADER

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS
@Rosenberg_Mike hes got to be pleased to be ahead of greenberg

Legitimate Heyman zing.

Greenberg all World Series, gtfo mixed stats

On that note, congratulations to Derek Jeter for his 200th post-season hit.

Lol at Delmon Young being anything good. What a bust of a #1 draft pick.

lol the guy tossing the foul ball to the kid and the kid throwing it back

Don't think I'll ever understand defensive indifference. "Here's a bonus chance to make an out." Nah, we're good.

we're not really in the market for double plays so just goto 2nd nbd

o christ

save sitch now, get wit it jose

cool 300ft hr Yankee stadium

cano missed a meatball

texs expression when he's batting is v funny

He looks like he's about to take a nice solid dump and is ready to get cracking

ya that or like hes abt to ask for some grey poupon

17 scoreless innings between these last two Valverde appearances

bring in drew smyly

Boy that steak was bigger than I thought it would be. Welp better eat it all. - tex

r u fn srs

jeez

you are kidding m e

close it down ive seen this game b4

Lmao tbqh

the baseball playoffs this year have been mind blowing insane

Nothing insane about Jose Valverde sucking. That's just him.

I think he's now given up more '12 post-season runs than the rest of the staff combined.

maybe use a diff guy

verlander can close probably

jose valverde is the 20th hijacker

kudos to all the departed Yankee fans

maybe MLB teams should realize how contrived this "closer" bullshit is and just let managers use their brains and be spontaneous w/ protecting late leads.

well, i'm not sure jim leyland would fall into that latter category even if it was an option

also goddamn the White Sox for letting this 2nd-rate team sneak into the playoffs.

You think the White Sox were a first-rate team?

yeah, the central was a joke but the west has the Angles and the Rangers so...

Normal Guy ‏@NormalTweetGuy
Raul Ibanez!

<3<3 normal guy <3<3

no Andy, but jeez they dont have Valverde.

cant bleev Dotel is still around either

to the 11th

nothing like announcers creaming themselves over jeter making a routine play

So much for these ETZ games allowing me to sleep earlier.

i thought it was going to happen again

the best thing about living in the west, the time zones. it's only 9:37

Freep Tigers ‏@freeptigers
In this post-season, Yankees have more runs in 9th or later (11) than in first eight innings (9).

steal, Cabrera!

This game keeps...getting...weirder.

yeah

lol swisher

Oh, that was a double.

...

lmao jeters sad lil throw

...and weirder.

yikes

fei,ding clinic by the yankees here

nxt game 15 hrs away rip jeter

it's sad they will have to put him down

well there goes the Heart of the Yankees, shd be all downhill now

Need about 12 more runs here.

just hit the ball to the Yankees

That dude just tried to take Quintin Berry's glove.

Fortunately the tigers won't face the best hitter on the Yankees again.

This is a really weird postseason to watch on prescribed narcotics, I'm not sure how much I'm hallucinating.

Game time in 15 hours.

It's no dream morbs. The Yanks loss and jeter injury is all too real, nitemare made flesh.

this game was five hours long

Bizarre game, with almost a Steve Bartman play to top it all off.

awesome

http://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.4111225.1350190677!/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/display_600/image.JPG

damn

Going to exempt myself from the making-fun-of-Jeter party. (Earlier comments, not the previous post.)

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan
"He's out," Girardi said. Three-month recovery period.

damn

breathtaking injury

Fractured ankle apparently

Dmitri Young ‏@DaMeathookYoung
Will A-Rod move to Shortstop tomorrow?

Raul ibanez's heroics killed Derek jeter.

i'm sure this will be a yankeefan alibi if they lose the series.

it's usually a routine injury but jeet just makes it look difficult

karl ravech ‏@karlravechespn
hundreds of baseball players, one derek jeter. life isn't fair applies to all, the ankle could not support greatness any longer, game loses

Don't wish injuries on anyone, but these articles are crackups.

worried about new leak-free Yankee defense

i have no idea how you break yr ankle on that play

Neyer:

This season, eight pitchers threw at least 20 innings of relief for the Tigers. Would you like to guess where Valverde's strikeout-to-walk ratio ranked among those eight?

Eighth.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/10/14/3500672/alcs-yankees-tigers-alex-rodriguez-jose-valverde

Only 6K tickets left, folks:

http://www.stubhub.com/new-york-yankees-playoff-tickets/yankees-vs-tigers-10-14-2012-4134294/

Jeter's career, full of brilliance, needs no such hyperbole. It finds itself awash in it anyway. He is not tough. He is the toughest. He is not clutch. He is the clutchest. He is not the captain. He is The Captain.

Human.

Real.

Breakable.

"Do not carry me."

Do not carry me, as if that would shatter the mythos of Derek Jeter, the toughest sumbitch there is.

Of all the characteristics sports fans assign to their heroes – strength and heart and want-to and other such intangibles – agelessness and invincibility are reserved only for the best. And Derek Jeter embodied both until at 12:47 a.m., in a playoff game he was going to win because that's what he does, his ankle betrayed him, betrayed his legend, betrayed what we all wanted to believe but knew was too good to be true, even for The Captain.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fractured-ankle-shatters-derek-jeter-s-aura-of-invincibility.html

FUCK YOU, DEREK JETER'S ANKLE
10-14-2012 12:47 AM
NEVER FORGET

NOT A TRUE YANKEE ANKLE, DEREK JETER'S ANKLE

"Jeff Passan, Expert"

wtf

If he wasn't Benjamin Button, he was at least Dorian Gray.

Not quite a compliment there.

It seems silly to report this, but the team doctor, Chris Ahmad, found it necessary to emphasize to Jeter, "You cannot play through this thing."

I call bullshit

Aww Jeter just like a knight in a Python film.

you cannot walk through this thing

I think that story if true just proves Derek jeter is super dumb IMO

Fatigued Kuroda starting on short rest, which means he'll throw a no-hitter.

Captain Only A Flesh Wound.

So does Girardi do the obvious per Neyer and start Chavez at 3B?

I realize the media overdo it when it comes to Jeter, but would it be any different if you went back and read contemporaneous coverage of DiMaggio, Mantle, Koufax, Musial, or most any other (white) first-ballot star from the past (ornery guys like Williams or Carlton excepted)? I don't know what's unusual about that--my sense is the fawning over DiMaggio was much worse, and I remember it being worse for Ripken, too.

this is the move if derek wants to brake into that top-5 yankees of all time

Is Jeter getting his foot removed today? Can't wait for the breathless "he's playing with a peg leg!" stories.

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Thursday, October 11, 2012 11:23 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

clemenza, the diff is (adjusted for their own eras) Jeter has been in decline longer (it's more complicated re Koufax esp, and DiMag bcz they didn't play as long). Musial and Mantle deserved fawning more. Ripken is a decent comparable I guess. Also, we are sposed to be smarter now.

Joe Sheehan‏@joe_sheehan

The last Yankee postseason game in which Derek Jeter didn't play was October 8, 1995.

And stuff like "in a playoff game he was going to win because that's what he does" is hilarious.

Okay--I thought that's where you'd take it (I almost accounted for the same thing in my own post). What we need then is a formula for ALF (Acceptable Level of Fawning). Quantify the amount of deification, cube that, divide by the square root of career WAR, and if you're over 12.00, it's okay to ridicule the player.

I don't think anyone here has yet mentioned Cabrera's glowering and cursing in the direction of Leyland last night. His anger was certainly warranted, but I don't remember a star player so openly showing up his manager during the postseason. They won, so it'll be forgotten.

Some modulated fawning from Posnanski (and a great paragraph on Ibanez):

http://joeposnanski.blogspot.ca/2012/10/life-without-jeter.html#more

jcrasnick
Girardi on whether Jeter's injury will inspire A-Rod to play better. "That thought crossed my mind." #yankees #cantplayworse

jimcaple
Leyland says Valverde is still his closer but he will not close today,

wow, that passan column....

Whiff-Rod batting 6th, Nix at SS.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/20563297/alcs-game-2-lineups-the-derek-jeterless-yankees

Still wrapping my head around, he's my closer but he's not closing today'

Leyland says Valverde is still his closer but he will not close today

Sounds like Jerry at Joe Mayo's party on Seinfeld: "You're still my DJ, Jerry, but just for tonight, can you look after coats?"

kind of the opposite of larussa and motte last year

I almost couldn't believe that some of these Jeter articles weren't parodies.

It is possible that he was still favouring his left foot from fouling a ball off it a few days ago, which could have led to the ankle injury?

Is Jeter getting his foot removed today? Can't wait for the breathless "he's playing with a peg leg!" stories.

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Thursday, October 11, 2012 11:23 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Insert obvious "wouldn't affect his range in the field" jokes.

Would love to see Schilling tell Jeter to suck it up and play on Baseball Tonight.

we're totally getting Jeter Is a Greater Yankee Than Ruth pieces when he retires.

Also I don't know where the "Jeter is invincible" talk is coming from, he's had serious injuries before (e.g. dislocated shoulder on Opening Day 2003) (not a Jeter homer, obv., but I remember because it was against the Jays).

no/homer

xp he's invincible in OCTOBER when it counts. That's when he's clutchiest (both in the batter's box, on the field and most importantly in the CLUBHOUSE!)

Football--that's just great.

"Tiger Stadium"

I guarantee you if the Yankees win the World Series there will be a dozen articles about how Jeter (THE HEART AND SOUL of the team) spurred them on with his can-do spirit and locker room rubdowns. Inevitable 30 for 30 will be deeply moving. Even ARod will come off well in it.

the cap'n humbly limping into the dugout, uniform looks a size too big on him somehow, but his eyes. his eyes fierce. even as his body fails him.

I wonder if Jeter knows about what a laughing stock he's become on message boards.

He does. He reads the words that his detractors write. Their petty little words and he cries a little inside. But he's determined to show them, to break through their cynicism, to triumph.

Excellent. But we must not yield--we must break through his vainglorious attempt to see through our cynicism. We must show him.

Jason Parks‏@ProfessorParks

One magical kiss from Jeter and the offensive struggles of ARod could be a thing of the past. A good story to keep an eye on.

I'm enjoying the thrill of looking at a boxscore that refreshes--how dominant is Kuroda?

Fatigued Kuroda starting on short rest, which means he'll throw a no-hitter.

― Andy K, Sunday, October 14, 2012 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hah!

"One magical kiss from Jeter and the offensive struggles of ARod could be a thing of the past. A good story to keep an eye on."

This is the movie that Hollywood liberal-types want to see!

lol @ Whiff-Rod

Charlie Hough could be shutting down the Yankees right now.

"We just got our first hit. Let's try to hand them an out."

why does Avila do jumping jacks btwn batters?

ANNABELLE

^^^^

~ the human element ~

DKnobler ‏@DKnobler
Yankees announce 3rd straight non-sellout. 47,082, exactly 1 fewer ticket than they sold Friday.

I have no idea what the ump thought he saw there. Infante's arms weren't even reaching for the base when he was tagged!

DKnobler ‏@DKnobler
Sorry, that's exactly one MORE ticket than Friday, when traffic was supposed to be the big issue

That's the blown-est blown call I've seen in years.

lol Yankee complaints about blown calls will make a fun winter

<3 miggy lookalike

lol

I think Sheehan has a handle on the attendance:

The ALCS is simply not a high-demand product in New York the way it once was -- and damn sure not at these prices.
Maybe, just maybe, MLB has expanded its playoffs past the point of demand?

uh, it hasn't expanded past the point of demand for the other 29 baseball teams

that pitch was guaranteed to be hit by miguel

making the playoffs 17 out of last 18 seasons plus crazy price$$

i have a lot of snarky things to say about this impractical jokers commercial but i'll spare you

next postseason i'm just gonna make a commercials thread

Four pitchers, one out.

Cano has left Gil Hodges' famous slump in the dust

they're not booing, they're saying canoooooe

raul ibanez: 1-1, 2 walks
all other yankees: 2-26, i walk, 7 ks

longest discussion of replay reform ever. I'm glad this tragic theft from the Yankees will not be in vain.

The Braves weren't selling out during the playoffs in the latter half of their 90's-00's reign as division champs.

If the Yankees lose then I'm sure they'll get desperate/smart and bump CC up one day so we can get the matchup vs Verlander that we want to see.

It's going to be awesome to hear the booing when A-Rod strikes out to end the Yankees' last home game (prob.) of the season.

maybe next year

PHIL COKE

― cankles, Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:17 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

#Annabelle

How hot is Annabelle Sanchez in person?

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1556521/sbase.gif

@MLB_PR
#Tigers starting Ps this #Postseason: 7 starts, 48 IP, 5 ER, 0.94 ERA. No ER in past 4 starts (27.1 IP).

Which means Verlander will get shelled tomorrow.

With Verlander not having touched the baseball yet, normally I'd say this is over. But it's the Yankees, it's baseball, and it's this particular postseason. So no.

Plus it's not like (starting pitching aside) the Tigers have been terribly dominant. Hell they're two blown calls from possibly being down 2-0.

Leyland advocates for both bullpen flexibility and the ease of bringing in the anointed closer:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18668

just wait until Jeter's walkoff hit broken ankle Kirk Gibson moment.

valverde is just continuing the rich 21st century tigers tradition of having a wack ass closer. todd jones is smiling up in heaven.

Some relevant history:

2006 World Series (4-1): St. Louis Cardinals (83-78, NL) vs. Detroit Tigers (95-67, AL)
1968 World Series (4-3): Detroit Tigers (103-59, AL) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (97-65, NL)
1964 World Series (4-3): St. Louis Cardinals (93-69, NL) vs. New York Yankees (99-63, AL)
1943 World Series (4-1): New York Yankees (98-56, AL) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (105-49, NL)
1942 World Series (4-1): St. Louis Cardinals (106-48, NL) vs. New York Yankees (103-51, AL)
1934 World Series (4-3): St. Louis Cardinals (95-58, NL) vs. Detroit Tigers (101-53, AL)
1928 World Series (4-0): New York Yankees (101-53, AL) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (95-59, NL)
1926 World Series (4-3): St. Louis Cardinals (89-65, NL) vs. New York Yankees (91-63, AL)

And of course:

1962 World Series (4-3): New York Yankees (96-66, AL) vs. San Francisco Giants (103-62, NL)
1951 World Series (4-2): New York Yankees (98-56, AL) vs. New York Giants (98-59, NL)
1937 World Series (4-1): New York Yankees (102-52, AL) vs. New York Giants (95-57, NL)
1936 World Series (4-2): New York Yankees (102-51, AL) vs. New York Giants (92-62, NL)
1923 World Series (4-2): New York Yankees (98-54, AL) vs. New York Giants (95-58, NL)
1922 World Series (4-0): New York Giants (93-61, NL) vs. New York Yankees (94-60, AL)
1921 World Series (5-3): New York Giants (94-59, NL) vs. New York Yankees (98-55, AL)

As a Tiger for three regular seasons, Valverde is 110/118 (93%). That's pretty good -- has to be better than most of the team's previous closers. That said, he probably shouldn't pitch again until he regains his velocity.

I would have been tempted to leave Coke in yesterday simply because he seemed to be locked in with sharp command against a team that couldn't even do anything against Sanchez. Benoit and that right field wall are a bad mix. Albuquerque is a high strikeout pitcher but has erratic control. Using Dotel would have made sense, but I don't think Leyland has used him on back-to-back days all that often.

AND HAVE WE ALREADY FORGOTTEN 1984 MVP AND CY YOUNG WINNER WILLIE HERNANDEZ

SARCASM CAPS

Oh wait you said 21st century.

They've got a fan poll running on SweetSpot:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/30108/who-should-tigers-use-as-their-closer

Albuquerque in the lead, Valverde running last.

WSJ headline seen on subway:

With Jeter Gone, These Playoffs Feel Like a Funeral

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/ua/death-of-derek-jeter-1107-lg.jpg

After the game Girardi, lambasted the call and Major League Baseball's lack of expanded instant replay:

"In this day and age, when we have instant replay available to us, it has to change," he said. "These guys are under tremendous pressure. It takes more time for me to argue than for them to get it right. I'm not saying Robbie Cano's safe last night. But it changes the game. There's a lot more pressure on a pitcher when you're up 1-0 in the eighth than when you're up 3-0. I'm not saying that we win the game if the call is right. But in this day and age, there's just too much at stake. And the technology is available."

But Girardi sang a far different tune regarding instant replay three years ago when a blown call in Game 2 of the AL Division Series benefited the Yankees.

The thing about baseball is it's a real rhythm game, and I am sure football is, too, but I think if you were to start to instant replay all these plays, I think it would break the rhythm of the game, and our games all get to be four games long. If you start instant replaying everything, then you could go as far as a strike and it could just become too long. ... I like the way they are doing it, just home run calls, those are important plays, and there are other important plays, and you could look at the play the other night and say that was an important play, but I think there would be too many things that people would want instant replay and where would you stop?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/2012/10/14/new-york-yankees-manager-joe-girardi-instant-replay-baseball-playoffs/1633563/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/mri-reveals-derek-jeter-still-has-couple-shitty-se,29931/

http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8506169/new-york-yankees-need-stop-complaining caple otm

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/10/16/report-a-rods-attention-split-between-game-gals-during-alcs-opener/

haha

valverde is just continuing the rich 21st century tigers tradition of having a wack ass closer. todd jones is smiling up in heaven.

Aw, why did you even have to bring up Todd Jones? My heart sank any time he was called in to close.

“He’s going to need to do something if he’s not going to play baseball so why not go get a date?” another fan said. “And if you’re going to use the Yankees ball boy, hey, that’s using resources that you already have.”

'arods a great delegator, possible future in coaching?' --yankees fan

Can you imagine a Nationals/A's World Series? Two teams that built each others' playoff run with huge offseason trades? Two teams with hungry, rabid fan bases going nuts in a raucous home stadium? Man, that kind of stuff is why I watch baseball.

Instead we have the Yankees, Cardinals, Giants, and Tigers. What a bunch of crap.

Hold on. I'm going to get a sharpened letter opener. Please don't tell me about the Yankee Mystique until I get back. Hold on.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/10/16/3508188/point-counterpoint-the-2012-postseason

i fully support a giants tigers world series

it's the best we got left, but that's a pity

yup to both of you.

If you're watching in Canada and see any pre-/post-game coverage, one of the broadcasters (Ian M3nd3s) is a good friend of mine from childhood.

Just had lunch with him -- hadn't seen him in 25 years.

A-Rod and Swisher on bench.

b-b-but a-rod hit two homers off verlander!

ny sports radio "i never in 100 yrs thought nuney would be at short"

aka Mike Fatcesa?

yea. then he said arod playing w/ his glove on his other hand or his cap cld play the position better

dont worry, im turning it off soon

doesn't really matter bc we are one stiff breeze from seeing both arod and swisher back in the lineup

yanks are gonna win tonight, aren't they

Errahs

"Pitchers have memories also."

"Jhonny Peralta, one of the best in the business."

Great play. I vaguely remember Bench making a very similar postseason catch.

queasy lol @ Smoltz re exasperates/exacerbates

Bunt more often, guys.

sometimes it seems like the leagues have switched styles for this PS, but the AL got the 1968 NL.

first example of improved SS defense?

tbf, that play was lucky as shit

Lots of weak contact on 2-1/3-1 pitches.

Gene Lamont, everyone.

ichiro is basically the only decent yankee other than ibanez right now, huh

"Yankees goin' to the pen... It's Jabba."

Jabba > Annabelle

: )

Nunez, of course.

damn that was a good ab, props nuney

"Thanks for getting me another two runs...assholes."

was not expecting the hook for V

he was gassed

cano should really bat 3rd, huh

i do not need fucking extras tonight

coke is melting in the rain

Whew

ibanezes shit doesnt work in detroit

so Ibanez aint Dusty Rhodes after all

Or Bernie Carbo, who he actually reminds me of.

Had Ibanez flown out to the warning track, that would have been a perfect Todd Jones impersonation.

fuuuuuuuuck, it's over, no one's ever come back down 0-3 in an ALCS.

i would have just plunked Ibanez.

glad Coke is a better man than I.

yankees need to learn runs

fuuuuuuuuck, it's over, no one's ever come back down 0-3 in an ALCS.

― sanskrit, Tuesday, October 16, 2012 11:43 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

welp yankees certainly know its possible

fire girardi, no joke

god it would be cool to see the yankees get swept

fuuuuuuuuck, it's over, no one's ever come back down 0-3 in an ALCS with such a shitty lineup.

fuuuuuuuuck, it's over, no one's ever come back down 0-3 in an ALCS.

qft

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/danny-knobler/20575028/it%27s-starting-to-look-a-lot-like-2006-for-the-tigers-%28and-they%27ll-take-it%29

An ALCS sweep . . . followed by a full week off . . . followed by a World Series that could be against the Cardinals.

Just like 2006 . . . when the week off led to a World Series that didn't work out real well for the Tigers.

Awful worried about all these hot hitters -- especially Santiago and Infante, the two '12 Tigers who were on the '06 team -- going cold.

Also (seriously): win one more game, please.

god it would be cool to see the yankees get swept

― pun lovin criminal (polyphonic)

I've never seen the Yankees get crushed and humiliated in a series like this, so hell yeah it would be cool.

Always awesome.

Watching the Yankees ab's this series has been some sad shit. Hilarious, but sad. Verlander wasn't even that good last night, seemed to be behind in the count to the majority of hitters.
Need them to lose tonight 1-0 on an A-Rod error please.

SANCHEZ wasn't even THAT good the other day.

so tonight Sabathia's arm rips off at the shoulder and Brett Gardner dies of asphyxiation or something.

I only saw the last couple of innings last night because of the debate, but a good indication of where Verlander's at right now is that the one announcer (Brenly? I ought to know...) kept talking about how he wasn't as dominating as he'd been against Oakland. When last night becomes a relative off-night, that says it all.

I'm guessing THE CAPTAIN will be done with his medical tests and will rejoin the club to inspire them by his mere presence to a win tonight.

Jetes would have never allowed THIS to happen.

http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/s6GXE91oYeH3rQ.c.LvuOg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/sptusmlbexperts/CanoChair.jpg

The same announcer last night handed out one of the ultimate baseball insults to A-Rod (someone applies it to Yaz in Ball Four).

First announcer, wondering why Rodriguez wasn't pinch-hitting: "I'm starting to think there's something wrong with A-Rod."
Second announcer: "Nothing wrong with Alex from the neck down."

Neyer on Giurardi's 9th-inning strategery:

Essentially, Joe Girardi gave up somewhere between 200 and 250 points of OPS when he chose Raúl Ibañez over Nick Swisher. Unless you believe that Swisher really can't hit in October, and Ibañez is still covered with a layer of that magical pixie dust.

Which Joe Girardi apparently does. Or maybe he doesn't.

It's a funny thing, though. You can't really say you're making unorthodox moves because it's time to play the percentages, and then turn around nine innings later and completely ignore the percentages.

I mean, you can do that. It's just a lousy way to win baseball games.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/10/17/3515286/alcs-game-3-2012-joe-girardi-yankees-manager-raul-ibanez-alex-rodriguez

totally a fireable offense

lol @ the idea of the yankees coming back in this series. CC might throw a gem tonight but they're gonna get waxed in game 5.

No way, Old man Pettitte is on the hill.

on the hill / over the hill

fuuuuuuuuck, it's over, no one's ever come back down 0-3 in an ALCS.

no one with home-field advantage has ever come back down 0-3 in an alcs lol

a-rod looks done, like schmidt in '88 or mets-era alomar.

re: 0-3 some of you might be thinking of the strike year.

No team managed by Joe Girardi has ever come back down 0-3.

a-rod hit .308/.410/.514 against lefties this year

Joe Girardi benched A-Rod and Nick Swisher, but the end result was another loss.

this is not the right conjunction

http://keitholbermann.mlblogs.com/2012/10/17/exclusive-yanks-marlins-talk-a-rod-trade

this almost makes sense

that would be amazing

i didn't know keith olbermann was still alive

wouldn't a-rod have an NTC? and never accept a trade to anywhere?

yeah, and south beach has less horse-faced women.

marlins are ludicrous

marlins would get a free 2-3 WAR 3B. ludicrous article.

Another forum telling me it'd save the Yanks 46 mil in luxury tax.

In all circumstances and in every way he comes off alien and affluence-perverted and so perversely and simultaneously self-regarding and oblivious that only the word 'Miami' seems capable of summing it all up.

swish in, grandy out

Gerald Laird walk-off #prediction

I hear the Dodgers are looking for more shitty contracts star power.

Kanye is in town, you guys.

Kwame is in town, you guys.

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN
Still no pitchers out, and there is a ton of green on the weather radar. http://detroit.justweather.com/?default=true Looks like it'll be a long night here.

"Derek Jeter had a great career until 3 days ago when he sold his apartment at Trump World Tower -- I told him not to sell- karma?" Trump tweeted.

"Lots of response on Derek -- but I told him his apartment was lucky! -- We love Derek."

Speaking with Kay, Trump said, "You have to understand fellas, I love this guy. I think he's great. The people in the building love him. ... But I did say to Derek, he'll tell you, 'Don't sell your apartment. It's been lucky.' The day before he sold his apartment, he broke his leg, so what can I tell you?"

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/8513332/donald-trump-says-fire-alex-rodriguez-new-york-yankees

Rod Allen ‏@RodAllen12
48% of the runs the Yankees scored this yr came on HR's!! So why all of sudden the small ball line up. #justsaying

Cashman presser is the first time I heard him describe his model offensive players as Big Hairy Monsters.

what the shit is this shit

is this game happening or do i have to keep watching melancholia

After a 53 minute delay, we can FINALLY bring out the tarp.

eric chavez: 0-for-14 with six strikeouts in the playoffs

i'm hardly an a-rod (or yankee) fan but wtf two-eight

Pascarelli on ESPN radio sez weather looks bad all night, not good tomw either.

melancholia's already on tbs? wow

postponed

Should be able to get decent tix for rescheduled game.

10:05pm...just started sprinkling here (3.5 miles from Comerica Park).

A-Rod working that Livestrong bracelet.

Weather should be fine for today. 10% chance of rain from early afternoon through late evening.

craig sager pregame report, rain out helped yanks hitting coach work w/ swish, fixed his swing, work w/ cano, he was drilling the ball in bp now, arod? essentially "it's sad, i give up" - kevin long

Scherzer appears to have made a full recovery.

welp series over, congrats Tigaaaz

Get your runner-on-first bunts, your head-first slides into first...

lol @ verlander

prince error & 1 walk aside, this is p much otm in this game

Max Scherzer petrified 13 straight batters with his deadly gaze!

Difficulty: 8
Attacks: Pitch 1d3, Petrification

--You behold Max Scherzer . . .
--You are terrified by his 2-color eyes, and cannot move . . .
--You cannot see the release point . . .
--You hear Max Scherzer's fastball hissing!
--You have become a statue.

― felicity, Wednesday, April 30, 2008 12:08 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

so thus far outside of that 9th inning vs. Valverde the Yanks have scored a total of 1 run in this series. good job good effort

boooooom

MIGGY

There is no way the O's would be as bad as the Yankees... disgraceful.

OFFENSE

if the o's had mcab and, uh, jhonny peralta, maybe cc wouldn't have looked so good

lol mankees

ok this is getting good

smoltz & darling are now talking abt how cabrera is a no-brainer for mvp

even tho its a fake stat I do think anyone who does the triple crown shd be mvp cause hey THREE CROWNS

wait, no hitter so far?

http://www.burgerbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/lovinit.jpg

DKnobler ‏@DKnobler
Yankees so far: 18 pitching changes by Girardi, 20 hits by entire team.

jinx xp

FUCK

SRY

haha arod coming in, is this punishment

Time-honored ILB tradition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwG5j9KdHWk

Dirks was almost at third when that ball bounced, wasn't he?

is this impractical jokers show a practical joke

This game is so awesome.

The Yankees have never had A LEAD in this series?

I really like watching prince fielder he is hilarious and awesome

DKnobler ‏@DKnobler
Now it's 21 pitching changes, 22 hits for Yankees in series.

batting practice up in here

Joe Sheehan ‏@joe_sheehan
"In this one unbelievably specific set of endpoints -- and except for when they did well in that time -- they sucked."

Hold up...is Joe Sheehan butthurt?

EJ with some bullshit just then re: Mo's injury. Without any leads to protect, his absence hasn't changed shit in this postseason.

yeah but just the presence of such a champion

but it was a STORY xp

I think Smoltz's Braves won it all about as often as they should've

Maximum effort infield flare from Teixeira.

The A-Rod era is over.

congratulation tigers

Sheehan's point I think is you can't blow up a roster to "fix" a bad week. also

‏@joe_sheehan
"A-Rod" has become to Yankee coverage what "Smurf" was on The Smurfs. You just use the word for everything.

All the other "end of the Yankee empire" from past years are nothing compared to this. Has any team ever been destroyed so badly in a seven game series?

Congrats Tigers and Andy K!

i'm thinking about Mavericks/Lakers in 2011 but as far as baseball goes I can't think of one

closer games, but

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_World_Series

"Has any team ever been destroyed so badly in a seven game series?"

They barely lost game 1 and were one bad call from barely losing game 2. Plenty of good teams get swept in seven game series.

lol at the media corral

The Red Sox beat the Cards like a drum in 2004.

WELCOME TO MIAMI

Eerily similar to the '63 Series (Dodgers over Yankees):

'63 Yankees: 4 games, 4 runs, 22 hits
'12 Yankees: 4 games, 6 runs, 22 hits

Oops--missed Morbius' post.

All right, I got carried away a bit. But it's definitely up there. Not sure how many teams lost a series 4-0 without ever leading ('04 Cards and '63 Yanks are two of them), but it's not a long list.

Were Mike Ilitch and Phil Spector separated at birth?

This is the first time in my life I've been happy to see the Tigers win something ('87 never forget).

The '76 Yankees (swept by the Reds) came close: they were briefly tied in game 2, and led 1-0 for the first three innings in game 4. Anyway, the Reds were supposed to dominate that Series. I agree with you about how lopsided this was. The Yankees basically had one good inning.

Delmon Young drove in as many runs as the Yankees scored.

I think Illitch is Spector's dad.

And thanks, NTBT.

This might be the least one-sided league championship in which a swept team never led, yes.

That was a textbook definition of sonned.

obietrice ‏@realobietrice
Welcome to detroit city!!!

Bob Nightengale ‏@BNightengale
Delmon Young comes into #Yankee clubhouse to congratulate #Yankees after winning the MVP award

The hits keep coming:

Bob Nightengale ‏@BNightengale
Arod says he is coming back to #Yankees and won't waive no trade clause

Phil Coke is feeling it.

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Avis=C4&Dato=20121018&Kategori=SPORTS02&Lopenr=121018073&Ref=TS&NewTbl=1&MaxW=620&Border=0&Detroit-8-N-Y-1-s-sweep-World-Series-Tigers

haw

The A-Rod era is over.

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Thursday, October 18, 2012 7:36 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

congratulation tigers

― --bob marley (lag∞n)

congratulations yankees you mean

'grats to the tigers, will be pulling for them in the next series

I am so goofily happy over this.

there's a second-rate team gonna put their name on that trophy

yankees had 22 hits in the four games and made 21 pitching changes.

they never led, hit .157, and scored in just three of the series' 39 innings.

the tigers' starters gave up two runs on 14 hits in 27 1/3 innings.

valverde allowed four runs on three hits in 2/3 of an inning; the rest of the tiger bullpen gave up 0 runs on 5 hits over 11 innings.

a++

If it were to go 7, are the Tigers thinking of pushing Verlander for 1-4-7? Or would it be two starts and available for game 7?

Why on earth are you thinking about this?

clemenza is posting from 5 hours ago

Saves me from thinking about what's going on in Ohio and Florida.

it's what clemenza does

Saves me from thinking about what's going on in Ohio and Florida.

Fair enough.

The [Illitch] family was presented the key to the City of Detroit by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on February 14, 2008.[13] They are the fifth recipients of this award in the history of the city, the others being actor James Earl Jones, neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein[14] and Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis.[15]

It didn't seem like that strange a question. I bet I can find someone who writes about baseball for a living who asks the same question sometime in the next 24 hours.

ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo
The Tigers 5-game postseason winning streak vs Yankees is the longest for any team against them in MLB history.

More significant might be the fact that the Tigers have eliminated the Yankees in three consecutive playoff appearances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0w2QEmOOIc

Joe Suck comparing NYY's position to the Red Sox' = typical idiocy

The [Illitch] family was presented the key to the City of Detroit by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on February 14, 2008.[13] They are the fifth recipients of this award in the history of the city, the others being actor James Earl Jones, neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein[14] and Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis.[15]
― Andy K, Thursday, October 18, 2012 9:04 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i just read this list out loud to my gf and it's even funnier if you read it out loud

FUCK YEAH TIGERS!!!

Wicked sick win.

NO LILLY

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1254941/coke.gif

Man, if I were to cross paths with Phil Coke tonight, I would buy him a reasonable amount of whatever he wanted.

Illitch is weird, but still better than right wing kook Tom Monaghan.

Monaghan is much closer to Saddam Hussein than he is to Jerome Bettis.

"I bet I can find someone who writes about baseball for a living who asks the same question sometime in the next 24 hours."

That's what we should all aspire to. Asking the same questions that Bill Plaschke will ask sometime in the next 24 hours.

Coke entered the Comerica Park press room Wednesday afternoon and engaged in a stream-of-unconsciousness monologue that had media members scrambling to hit their retweet buttons. At one point a reporter prefaced a question by acknowledging that Coke was a professional athlete.

"Thank you, man!'' Coke responded, before the question was even complete.

When asked what thoughts flashed through his mind as he threw the climactic 3-2 breaking pitch to Ibanez in Game 4, Coke replied, "Don't hit it, don't hit it, don't hit it, don't hit it.''

philip coke otm

"Thank you, man!'' Coke responded, before the question was even complete.

i approve of phil coke based on this quote alone

That's what we should all aspire to. Asking the same questions that Bill Plaschke will ask sometime in the next 24 hours.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF)

Yes, Alex--as the Tigers move into the World Series, I posted some idle speculation on how they might use the guy generally regarded as the best pitcher in baseball. About an hour earlier, you had tried to argue that a hideously lopsided series wasn't actually all that lopsided. One of these seems eminently sillier than the other.

An argument that included my new favourite phrase: "one bad call from barely losing."

haha that last one is a clean hit

"About an hour earlier, you had tried to argue that a hideously lopsided series wasn't actually all that lopsided."

Hah no this was a hideously lopsided series. I was just pointing out that it was totally unprecedented (even in recent history) and the first two games were actually pretty close ones.

Very clean on the "one bad call" hah.

Anyway good clean fun with the Plaschke thing. I'm sure the use on short rest thing will be brought up quite a bit even by non-bonehead sportswriters.

Don't know if this guy self-identifies as a bonehead or non-bonehead, but in a seven-game series, he sees two starts and available:

http://motorcitybengals.com/2012/10/18/world-series-schedule-and-tigers-projected-starting-pitching-rotation/

Verlander's a throwback, but with Detroit's other starters pitching so well, I can't see that they'd feel the need to push him unnecessarily. Anyone besides Schilling in 2001 get three starts since those Koufax-Gibson-Lolich series of the mid-late '60s?

Jack Morris in '91. Schilling might be the only one in the wild card era.

The way the Tigers have been pitching, there's no reason to overwork Verlander.

wau, schilling threw over 300 innings in 2001 incl playoffs. from what i can tell, that's the only time that's happened since 1988 when hershiser and dave stewart did it. kevin brown came close in 98 w/296.1

Yeah, we were talking about that on a trivia thread ... Johnson came close in '01 too. I knew about Hershiser, but not Dave Stewart!

Verlander and Halladay would have had a good shot in the past couple of years had their teams gone to the WS.

Stewart came close in '90 too -- 296 IP

291.2 for Smoltz in '96

Totally forgot that the Jays gave Stieb three starts in the '85 LCS (first seven-game LCS ever), opting not to give a start to Jim Clancy, who'd pitched fairly well during the season. Stieb was great: 2-1, 3.10, 11 hits in 20.1 innings. If you just look at the boxscore, you'd probably think, "They pushed their luck in game 7, and he fell apart in the sixth." If you were watching, it wasn't that simple. Down 2-1, Stieb was facing Sundberg with two outs and the bases loaded; Sundberg hit what absolutely looked like a routing flyball to right, the wind kept pushing it and pushing it, and he ended up with a bases-clearing triple (followed by Jim Acker coming in and giving up the fourth run). I felt at the time they should have given Clancy a start, but if Stieb had gotten that flyball, he was in position to win three.

"routine"...

Anyway, in no way saying Verlander should start three games the way Scherzer, Fister, and Sanchez are pitching.

Had to pause the game and lie down to recover from this idiocy from Rick Sutcliffe last night.

Re his surprise at Granderson not starting
He's homered the last 3 times that Sabathia has defeated the Tigers (big pause) I call that a trend

Pure gold there.

related (check the "geniuses" link):

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/10/18/3522494/cub-fans-soon-to-envy-the-dead

Posnanski says it best as usual, this sums up how I was feeling when I said it was one of the worst playoff defeats ever. He goes too far with the Jeter hero worship/symbolism, but most of this is OTM:

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/39913534/

florid, otm, packed with nelson-laughs

Line that kills me in the Posnanski piece: "It was a time when you didn't have to re-sign Mickey Mantle or Whitey Ford or Yogi Berra -- they, like Richard Gere, had no place else to go." I have no idea what that means! (The Richard Gere half, I mean.)

"Anyone besides Schilling in 2001 get three starts since those Koufax-Gibson-Lolich series of the mid-late '60s?"

Me, a couple of days ago. It's been ages--Chris Carpenter had three last year. (Albeit with a rain-delay assist.)

they, like Richard Gere, had no place else to go." I have no idea what that means! (The Richard Gere half, I mean.)

see: An Officer and a Gentleman

Okay--haven't seen it, believe it or not. Being Richard Gere, I was filling in all sorts of intriguing possibilities.