MLB

[Jordan]

I don't know if this wild-card playoff thing had any effect, but damn, that was some exciting baseball in the Division Series.

On the NL side, you had the Giants storm back from 2-0 down to win 3 in a row on the road (sorry, Roo). And then that comeback by the Cards (who seem to never know when they're dead) last night... Wow.

The Yankees, who have been slumping badly at the plate, scraped their way to a 5-game win behind outstanding pitching and Raúl Ibañez's heroics in Game 3 (sorry, Languedoc, although your tales of Memorial Stadium were a pleasant read). As a Yankees fan, I have been fortunate to have seen many great October moments, but what Ibañez did on Wednesday has to be right up there with any of those.

And the Tigers, who seemed to go most of the series with Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera in the clubhouse, beat back an Oakland comeback with a dominating Game 5 win.

I'm still pissed off at the 5:07 first pitch time yesterday because I didn't get out of work for at least an hour afterwards and thus missed a great party in the South Bronx last night. I may spend the morning and early afternoon scouring the web and making a few calls to find a deal on tickets for tonight, though, since I know I can't male Game 2 (either that or go to a beer festival, so my Saturday should be fine either way). CC and Verlander certainly looked the part of aces in the ALDS, certainly in their Game 5 performances, but the Yankees won't win this series if Cano, A-Rod, Swisher and Granderson all continue to struggle.

On the Senior Circuit, Cards vs Giants is an old school matchup. Despite the Cards' October magic (see 2011), I still think the Giants will win.

Yanks and Giants in 6 are my predictions (perhaps the Yankees call is more with my head than my heart). Both the Cardinals and the Giants had faced off several times in World Series of yesteryear, but the Giants are our erstwhile intra-city rivals.

When the Yankees started rising with the Babe Ruth trade, they rented the Polo Grounds from the Giants. John McGraw always had disdain for his American League tenants, and that feeling grew worse when the Giants beat the Yankees in the 1920 and 1921 Series. But when the Yankees turned the tables on their rivals in 1922, that proved to be too much, and the Yankees were forced out of the Polo Grounds.

However, the Yankees, buoyed by Ruth, Gehrig, the Roaring 20s and rich owners, built themselves a cathedral of a ball park across the Harlem River, a homestead which helped them build dynasties and become the preeminent baseball club in the nation. The Giants still had moderate success for a while, but changing demographics in their neighborhood, the aging and oddly-shaped Polo Grounds, and the lure of California riches led them to leave New York for San Francisco in 1958.

Old programs, memorabilia, and news cartoons from the "Golden Age" of New York baseball, when the Yankees, Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers battled each other, show distinct differences in how the teams portrayed themselves and were portrayed, themselves. The Giants were always drawn as a very large, dopey, but affable character wearing the team's uniform. The Dodgers, "Dem Bums," were always drawn as a dirty, drunk bum or hobo, talking in an overdone old Brooklyn accent, but still blissfully optimistic that next year would be better. The Yankees, on the other hand, always spangled their yearbooks with crowns--often with a crown for each World Series title that they had won--and wrote in serious fonts. The Yankees wanted to tell you that they were baseball royalty, and don't you ever forget it. While the Giants and Dodgers' respective images have changed since their moves out West, the Yankees still make a habit of counting their Series rings out loud.

[Guest MattP]

Got to give a big mention to CC last night as well.

Pitch a one run complete game if a series decider and you've got milk.

[Jordan]

Got to give a big mention to CC last night as well.

Pitch a one run complete game if a series decider and you've got milk.

I love CC. He had injury problems for the first time this season, but the guy is a workhorse. Even outside of what he did yesterday, he is always willing to pitch on short rest, and always willing to go deep into the game if his bullpen needs a breather. He's our ace (he's certainly getting paid ace-starter money) but he's a team player through and through.

Nothing more you can say about the Cards, last night was incredible, these guys just know how to win baseball games.

Some outrageous odds matched for them in Betfair to win the WS while they were 6-0 down.

I'd wonder just how long those odds were and if they could beat what one better got at the MGM Grand on September 12 last year, when the Cards were 4.5 games back in the Wild Card race with 12 to play. He put $250 on the Cardinals to win the pennant at 500/1 and $250 on the Cardinals to win the World Series at 999/1 odds. The payout? $375,000.00 (although I wonder if the live odds would have been that long late in Game 6!). What a bet.

[SimonMagoo]

I grew up 6 miles from Yankee Stadium and now live outside of Boston so have been a close observer of big spending clubs. But I can not escape the fact that St Louis is the classiest organization in MLB. Good front office, good record of quality players coming up from the minors year after year, and a great fan base. I like the Giants but I can't dislike the Cards.

@LanguedocFox - I visited Memorial Stadium a few times and thought it was a great venue. Sat in the mezzanine. I guess the new ballpark is a show place, but I never saw any reason to replace the old one.

[Jordan]

I grew up 6 miles from Yankee Stadium and now live outside of Boston so have been a close observer of big spending clubs. But I can not escape the fact that St Louis is the classiest organization in MLB. Good front office, good record of quality players coming up from the minors year after year, and a great fan base. I like the Giants but I can't dislike the Cards.

@LanguedocFox - I visited Memorial Stadium a few times and thought it was a great venue. Sat in the mezzanine. I guess the new ballpark is a show place, but I never saw any reason to replace the old one.

It's hard to tell exactly which organization is the classiest in MLB, but the Cards are definitely right up there. They have been consistently competitive for quite some time and, yes, they do have excellent support (they are always among the league leaders in attendance despite St. Louis being a relatively small city by MLB standards). The Cards do spend a bit of money on players every now and then but they go about their business quietly.

I don't really know what public opinion in Baltimore was in the early '90s when they built the new ballpark at Camden Yards, but if I'm not mistaken, the locals didn't particularly want nor felt they needed a new stadium. That said, though, Camden Yards is a really nice place, and it made a lot of other franchises envious, spurring a boom in modern-retro stadium construction. It seems like most teams in the league have sought to emulate Camden Yards--with its excellent sightlines, Eutaw Street promenade and the now iconic B&O Warehouse--since.

On one hand, the new stadium boom has come at great cost to taxpayers, an increase in ticket prices, at some cost to history, and with dubious economic benefits. On the other, the new stadiums are usually in convenient locations with regards to transportation, are often quite nice to look at, and have largely replaced the cylindrical eyesores (often with AstroTurf, ugh) that were built from the late 1960s through the 1980s.

[Jordan]

Joe Girardi should call the NYPD because it looks like someone has stolen his team's bats.

Sanchez and Coke were great for the Tigers today, but this slump has spread around the clubhouse like the flu. This is perplexing for Yankees fans; we (especially at home with that short porch in right field) are used to seeing this team do a conga line around the bases.

Our pitchers have done more than enough for the Yankees' lineup to win in every playoff game so far, but they wasted another solid start today, this time from Kuroda.

Down 2-0, losing those games at home, losing Jeter to a broken ankle and going to Detroit to face Verlander is quite a predicament. Ouch. If these bats don't wake up, the next flight back to NY will not be for the Yanks to play Game 6, but rather to clean up their lockers.

[LanguedocFox]

It's hard to tell exactly which organization is the classiest in MLB, but the Cards are definitely right up there. They have been consistently competitive for quite some time and, yes, they do have excellent support (they are always among the league leaders in attendance despite St. Louis being a relatively small city by MLB standards). The Cards do spend a bit of money on players every now and then but they go about their business quietly.

I don't really know what public opinion in Baltimore was in the early '90s when they built the new ballpark at Camden Yards, but if I'm not mistaken, the locals didn't particularly want nor felt they needed a new stadium. That said, though, Camden Yards is a really nice place, and it made a lot of other franchises envious, spurring a boom in modern-retro stadium construction. It seems like most teams in the league have sought to emulate Camden Yards--with its excellent sightlines, Eutaw Street promenade and the now iconic B&O Warehouse--since.

On one hand, the new stadium boom has come at great cost to taxpayers, an increase in ticket prices, at some cost to history, and with dubious economic benefits. On the other, the new stadiums are usually in convenient locations with regards to transportation, are often quite nice to look at, and have largely replaced the cylindrical eyesores (often with AstroTurf, ugh) that were built from the late 1960s through the 1980s.

When I worked in Baltimore in the 1980s, none of the fans wanted to lose the Memorial Stadium, and as a City fan (this was before the Carling Stand had been built) I thought it was a fantastic venue - far better than Wembley even. However, there was a big push at the time for an NFL franchise (part of Baltimore's regeneration plan through the 1970s and 80s was to have a professional team in every major sport). The city was going to help with a stadium for the football team, and part of the funding was going to come from relocating the Orioles to the same stadium complex, which is more or less what happened - though at one time there was talk about the two stadiums back-to-back.

I must get back to Baltimore before I shuffle it off. Lovely city.

[Guest MattP]

Last night was quite incredible, Yankees 2-0 down in the Series and 2-0 down in the game and A-Rod is sat on the bench chewing gum, what on earth has gone on there?

They'll probably stay in tonight with CC on the mound but Detriot won't lose 4 straight, Verlander just gets better and better every season.

[Jordan]

Last night was quite incredible, Yankees 2-0 down in the Series and 2-0 down in the game and A-Rod is sat on the bench chewing gum, what on earth has gone on there?

They'll probably stay in tonight with CC on the mound but Detriot won't lose 4 straight, Verlander just gets better and better every season.

I don't like seeing the Yanks go down meekly like this. A-Rod cannot hit righties but there has to be more to this... There's always something going on with A-Rod's psyche and his head is just not in the game right now (apparently he's more focused on throwing balls and pens to blondes in the crowd to have them write their numbers on them than hitting).

CC can all but carry the team when he's on--and he has looked great so far this postseason--but he's going to have to be nearly perfect tonight if this team-wide slump continues. You can't score runs when you're pitching, so I wouldn't be surprised the least bit if the Yankees waste yet another great pitching performance and lose tonight.

The silver lining is that CC and Pettitte are both capable of big time performances, but the lineup is a mess and is going against pretty damn good pitchers themselves. I would be pleasantly surprised but surprised nonetheless if the Yankees can take this series back to the Bronx.

[SOCCERROO FOX]

I'm sure there are alot of people out there getting enjoyment from seeing the Yankees lose like this.

[Jordan]

I'm sure there are alot of people out there getting enjoyment from seeing the Yankees lose like this.

When your team is the center of the baseball universe, it doesn't matter what any other fans think.

This one's delayed because of thunderstorms that are about to roll into Detroit... I'm not sure if this is a lucky break or a stay of execution.

BTW Granderson was set to start on the bench with the struggling Swisher replacing him. A-Rod is also sitting in favor of the 0-for-14 Eric Chavez... Girardi is getting desperate.

EDIT: Game 4 is postponed until tomorrow afternoon, with Game 5 moved to Friday night, if necessary. A rain delay is one thing, but a postponement is another altogether as now the Yankees will have to win four straight games with only one start from CC.

[Guest MattP]

This is just absolutely pathetic from the Yankees, embarrassing.

11 hits to 0 through 4 innings

[Jordan]

Just end this game already so we can start talking to the Marlins about sending them A-Rod...

[Guest]

Shocking postseason from the Yankees culminating in an absolute drubbing from

Detroit.