Wrapup of 2006 Yanks, playoff records...

We're officially putting Jayson Stark, ESPN.com writer, on our staff. His latest article (see link below) puts the Yanks futile playoff efforts into perspective. And, oh my, it's some great stuff...

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2006/insider/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2620662&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

A few highlights...

1) The Yankees are the first team ever to win 95-plus for six straight seasons without winning a World Series in any of them.

2) These 2004-05-06 Yankees are the fourth team in the division-play era to win 95 or more three straight years without even playing in a World Series, let alone winning one.

3) So what have we established? We've established that these Yankees now belong in the same conversation as the most tragic October figures of all time.

4) Even the Red Sox have never had anything like this happen to them. And, of course, they never had A-Rod around, either.

5) Yankees just set a record for most consecutive postseason series in which they led the series at some point. If the Yankees have led in all those series, it means that, in each of the seven postseason series Joe Torre's Yankees have lost, they had to come from AHEAD to lose all seven.

6) You probably could have figured this, but the Yankees are now the first team ever to lose a postseason series in which they were ahead in six straight seasons.

7) The Yankees' streak isn't just a baseball record. It's a record for all four major North American pro sports.

Let's reflect on some of that fabulous info for a moment. The Yanks are actually building a case to be one of the worst postseason performers EVER, in any sport. Now that's quite a statement.

And you Yankee fans thought "The Greatest Choke of All Time" would be the worst it gets. Nope. It's almost to the point where we want the Yanks in the playoffs to see how bad it can get. Not to mention the building angst among Yankee fans...

Should I stay or should I go now? Torre is gone & then he's back...

Should we call in the clash on this one? First, Newsday reports he's gone then Georgie says "OK I guess he can stay". What an overwhelming endorsement. After so many seasons with a $200M payroll and playoff futility, the ax will eventually fall, maybe even by midseason 2007.

Cashman also claimed that A-Rod will not be traded. But his statement "We're going to figure this thing out together" is baffling. Figure what out? That he can't handle the pressure when it means the most? His 4 for 41 and no RBI in his last 12 playoff games speaks volumes, not to mention Torre moving him to 8th in the lineup. His regular season numbers are outstanding (aside from league leading 24 errors) and the downside is that he kills the clubhouse chemistry. He'll help get you to the playoffs but will fold like a house of cards once you get there. Not good from a "superstar"... (By the way, what's up with A-Rod asking for privacy while shopping in NYC?)

$urgeries?

Both the Big Unit (back) and Giambi (wrist) are both headed for the knife. Big Unit is probably entering his last season, and will be the #4 starter. It's almost like watching MJ in his last season for the Wizards, but worse. Giambi battles yet another injury. Guess that HGH can't fix everything.

Option$?

Looks like the Yanks will turn down the option on Mussina, but will renegotiate a deal for lesser dollars. Will they give him more than 1 year? Risky for a 38 year old with a history of breaking down.

Do they bring back Sheffield? He certainly can't play first, and even the Yanks won't spend $13M for a disgruntled 4th OF. Don't be surprised to see him in RF at Fenway next season...

Jaret Wright? They either pay him $7M to pitch for them or $4M to go away. He'll be back for the extra $3M, especially with the scarce pitching free agent market.

Rambling$...

Carl Pavano? Will the Yanks ever see him pitch? They still have to sort thru his "accident". Have any faith in the offseason conditioning program to prevent injury to his shoulder, elbow, back, and buttocks?

Will the Yanks pursue Zito (will vastly overpay) or Schmidt (damaged goods from NL)? Right now, the 2007 rotation looks like: Wang, Mussina, Wright, Johnson, Karstens (with Hughes waiting in the wings). Yanks fans should pray for Zito and bullpen help...

Yanks are still a very old team and Cashman has a lot of work to do. It looks to be a very interesting and long offseason...

Letterman gets in on the act...

The always funny top 10, from Mon Oct 11th...

Top Ten New York Yankees Excuses (for choking in round 1)

10. Wanted Columbus Day off to get to all the sales
9. Thought series was best 6 out of 11
8. We've already missed the first three episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" -- enough is enough
7. Thought Joe Torre told us to give 10 percent
6. Players distracted by erotic text messages from Mark Foley
5. Shouldn't have switched to the cheaper generic steroids
4. Clubhouse caterer replaced E. coli-tainted spinach with E. coli-tainted lettuce
3. Uh, global warming?
2. More focused on how they're going to get by on a lousy $16 million a year
1. What's the point? North Korea's gonna nuke us at any moment

Thanks Dave...

Murderers who? Tigers take 3 in a row!

Wow. Was that the Tigers on steroids or the worst postseason performance by an offensive juggernaut ever?

These are the Tigers that were freefalling and limped into the playoffs. The Yanks were well rested and had arguably the best offense in decades.

Must have been the tension in the clubhouse A-Rod referred to. Or was it everyone besides Jeter? Games 3 & 4 were just embarassing. They didn't even show up...

A-Rod now hitting in the 8 spot was 1-14, Giambi 1-8, Sheffield couldn't catch anything at first, and Torre inserted Melky for an offensive spark. Melky?

Torre always gets the credit when they win, but he should get the lions share of blame for this one. A-Rod will be the villian and take most of the heat. He should take some, but Torre is the one that lost control of the clubhouse, and ultimately team chemistry. The Tigers had more energy, more emotion, and just plain wanted it more.

Thats 3 straight playoff series losses now, and 3-10 in their last 13 postseason games. Keep counting those AL East crowns (and ALDS losses).

A few randoms...

Best sign in the playoffs? "Hey Johnny you left your playoff beard in Beantown"... Priceless...

Best random moment? Jim Leyland goes to the fence to kiss his wife & kids thru the fence after clinching. Nice moment. Then some random dude sticks his lips thru the fence & Leyland kisses him on the hat. Hilarious...

Best fan celebration? Detroit. The players hive fiving the fans, then spraying them down with champagne standing on the dugouts. Congrats Detroit, its been a while. It's also a little bit sweeter beating the Yanks...

Uh oh, it's a deep 2-1 hole...

Kenny Rogers was masterful. That was easily his best clutch performance and had to be one of the best ever in the playoffs. That high powered offense of the ages looked baffled. Murderers row hasn't advanced a runner in over 9 innings...

A-Rod made what looked like a nice tag play at 3rd but the runner was safe and ultimately scored. Bernie hit a deep shot to left (which he thought was gone when he hit it) that just missed the foul pole. That Yankee mystique of old is apparently in hiding. They're not getting the breaks they're used to getting.

The Big Unit is showing his age and obviously couldn't overcome his back issues. The once great warrior couldn't get thru 6, giving up 8H & 5R. Will he return next season?

Now the season rests on the arm of Wright. Good luck with that one. Looks like the stumbling Tigers can pull this one out...

Your rival's team not in the playoffs?

This is absolutely priceless. It was sent to us by one of you faithful Yankee folks out there (would have caught it sooner but was sitting in the spam folder).










Get it here: http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/fan_forum/lasorda/

But don't worry Yankee fans, you'll be getting one soon enough...

Yanks evade red-hot Twins, get stumbling Tigers...

Yup, even Siegfried and Roy aren't too worried about these Tigers...

Coming off a terrible collapse and backing into the playoffs (very uncharacteristic for a Leyland team), things look lined up nicely for the Yanks. With Sheff and Matsui back, they have the most formidable lineup in the playoffs. There was no Sox series to wear them down. They've been able to rest their players. The stars are all aligned...

But there are only 3 things that win in October. Pitching, pitching, and pitching. With an ailing Unit and worn out pen, the Yanks pin their season on Mussina, Wang, and scoring a ton of runs. Don't see it carrying them too far...

They should be able to beat the reeling Tigers unless their young rotation steps it up. Verlander is more than capable of tossing some zero's. But they've been pitching worse than the Yanks have of late. Their lineup features 6 guys that hit 19 or more homers, so they can easily do some damage.

Anything can happen in a short series. Bad breaks, injuries, surprise contributors... A Detroit victory certainly wouldn't be shocking.

But just like St. Louis, these Tigers should be breaking out the golf clubs soon...