Author Archive
Small Ball, Big Win: Yankees Bunt Their Way to 40th World Series
Posted: 26th October 2009 by Jordan Schwartz in MLB
For five games, the Yankees mostly sat back and waited for home runs.á
Sometimes they came, like Alex Rodriguez's game-tying shot in the 11th inning of Game Two.á And sometimes they didn't, like when the Bronx Bombers stranded 10 base runners in Game Five.
But in their 5-2 American League Championship Series-clinching win on Sunday night, New York took a page out of the Angels' book by playing small ball.
For years, Los ...
Yankees-Angels Postponed: Why CC Sabathia Should Start Game 6 on Sunday
Posted: 24th October 2009 by Jordan Schwartz in MLB
Before Game 6 of the American League Championship Series was postponed just after 6 pm ET on Saturday, Yankees manager Joe Girardi had said that in the event of a rain out, scheduled starter Andy Pettitte would still start if the game was pushed back a day and CC Sabathia would start a possible Game 7 on Monday.
While Pettitte is a veteran pitcher capable of closing out the ALCS for ...
Yankees-Angels ALCS Game 5: Joe Girardi Out (and Over) Manages Mike Scioscia
Posted: 23rd October 2009 by Jordan Schwartz in MLB
Nine of the 13 runs scored in Game Five of the American League Championship Series crossed the plate after the starting pitchers were removed from the game.
First, Angels manager Mike Scioscia took out John Lackey with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, even though the right-hander was throwing a six-hit shutout with seven strikeouts.
Southpaw Darren Oliver entered and immediately surrendered a bases-clearing double to Mark Teixeira on ...
The Saints move atop the Power Rankings this week after a dominating 48-27 victory over the Giants. That leaves just four undefeateds left in the NFL.
Two big upsets also shook up the rankings this week (and knocked a lot of people out of their eliminator pools). The Jets drop 10 spots after losing at home to the Bills, and the Eagles plummet 17 spots following their awful loss to the ...
Yankees vs. Angels ALCS Preview: New York Aims to Get Rally Monkey off its Back
Posted: 13th October 2009 by Jordan Schwartz in MLB
Among the 134 pitchers Derek Jeter has faced at least 20 times in his Hall of Fame career, he has the lowest batting average against Scott Kazmir (.111) and Jered Weaver (.118).
That's not a good sign.
What is a good sign is the way the Yankees beat the Angels the last two times they played them on Sept. 22 and 23 in Anaheimùpreviously a graveyard for New York victories.
The Halos ousted ...
Who would've thought that the Week One snoozefest between Denver and Cincinnati, which the Broncos won, 12-7, on that miracle tipped 87-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley, would turn out to be a legitimate defensive struggle between two of the best teams in the AFC?
This week, Denver (5-0) stunned New England, 20-17, in overtime and the Bengals (4-1) beat Baltimore, 17-14, on the road.
Both of these teams are in my ...
ALDS Game Three Preview: Yankees Aim for Sweep, Revenge on Pavano
Posted: 10th October 2009 by Jordan Schwartz in MLB
Carl Pavano robbed the Yankees of $38 million from 2005-2008 and on Sunday night, New York will look to make him pay for it.
The 33-year-old right-hander is the only thing standing between the Bombers and their first trip to the American League Championship Series since 2004, and there's more on the line in Game 3 than just the satisfaction of sweeping the Twins and exacting revenge on Pavano.
If Minnesota wins ...
ALDS Game 1 Preview: Yankees Should Trounce Tired Twins
Posted: 6th October 2009 by Jordan Schwartz in MLB
Well, it wasn't the 19-inning game I had hoped for, but it was close.
The Twins outlasted the Tigers, 6-5, in 12 innings on Tuesday night to win the American League Central tiebreaker and clinch a spot opposite the Yankees in the AL Division Series, which will start in the Bronx at 6:07 pm Wednesday, just 20 hours after Carlos Gomez slid home with the winning run in Minneapolis.
New York got ...
The Mannings stand atop the NFL mountain after the quarter-pole of the regular season.á
Eli's Giants are 4-0 after dismantling the Chiefs down in Kansas City and Peyton's Colts are also undefeated following a similar crushing of the Seahawks.á
Could the brothers be headed for a sibling Super Bowl?á We'll see.
á
1. (1) New York Giants (4-0)
The G-Men's Week 3-5 opponents are a combined 1-11, so it'll be nice to see them play ...
How Brett Favre Is Helping the Yankees’ Drive For 27
Posted: 5th October 2009 by Jordan Schwartz in MLB
Is Brett Favre a Yankee fan?
Even if he isn't, a lot of Bombers supporters are certainly fans of No. 4 after his second unretirement and subsequent signing with the Minnesota Vikings set up a fateful Monday Night Football showdown with Favre's former team and Vikes' rival, the Green Bay Packers tonight at the Metrodome.
The huge regular season matchup was too big for the NFL and ESPN to move. So the ...