Results tagged “Yankees” from The Southpaw

It's tough to be the greatest Yankee of all time when you have to compete against these two.

For the past few days, The Southpaw has tried to find a reason to defend Chris Rose, the host of Fox's pregame show during the World Series.
You see, Rose made a mistake of monumental proportions and we here at The Southpaw can't figure out why.
Maybe Rose got caught up in the moment.
Maybe a producer fed him the line and he didn't think about it before speaking aloud.
Maybe he was dropped down a flight of stairs at birth.
Even if all three of those things happened, there's no excuse for what he asked during the Game 5 telecast: Is Derek Jeter the greatest Yankee of all time?
Even if Rose hadn't heard of Lou Gehrig or Joe DiMaggio, the question still wasn't defensible.
He has to have heard of Babe Ruth. Right? Otherwise, would he be qualified to even be on the set?
Asking the Jeter question is like asking if the Earth rotates around Venus.
So, this Top 10 list is dedicated to Chris Rose.
It is the 10 greatest Yankees of all time.

The Yankees celebrate a 27th World Series crown.
The Southpaw will admit he was biased in this series. The Phillies are the team he's always rooted for. And the Yankees, well they conspired with two politicians in Northeastern Pennsylvania and stole the team he grew up watching, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons.
Of course, the problem there isn't that the Phillies weren't going to be associated with The Southpaw's hometown region, it's that the deal struck with the Yankees will probably end Triple-A baseball in the Dunder Mifflin region forever.
But that's another story for another day.
Today, and until a new champion is crowned, the New York Yankees get to be celebrated.

The New York Yankees are the 2009 World Series champions after fighting off the 2008 champion Philadelphia Phillies in a six-game series.
The Yankees, with baseballs biggest payroll, have won their 27th World Series and first under Joe Girardi.
This was also the first championship won in the new Yankee Stadium.
Check The Southpaw tomorrow morning for a recap.

New York Yankees fans hope Game 5 was just a blip on the radar.
Philadelphia Phillies fans hope that blip was the unnoticed warning of a coming attack.

The Philadelphia Phillies Cliff Lee has definitely arrived. Maybe those headlines of Frillies will disappear.
Cliff Lee was absurd.
First, there was the casual catch, then there was the "You're doin' great there," pat on the rear end tag.
Then he just plain showed off with the routine behind-the-back play.
That's one every Little League coach has in his playbook.
But he topped all that off by saying afterword that he wasn't nervous.
Joe Posnanski, for one, doesn't believe him.

Former Indians Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, above, will face of in Game 1.
Cleveland Indians can only ask themselves, "What if?"
It's a question that haunts us all, but is really pertinent to Tribe followers during this World Series.
Consider what they have to watch in Game 1.
CC Sabathia, who was the Indians' ace just more than 16 months ago, will throw out the series' first pitch. And not the ceremonial type either.
The Big Boy will be the Yankees' Game 1 starter.
To answer, the Phillies will throw Cliff Lee to the hill. He's the man who won the Cy Young while pitching for the Indians last season.
So, the Indians could have been much better off with those two making 40 percent of their starts.
Three good friends of the Southpaw - York Daily Record/Sunday News sports copy editor Matt Goul, St. Louis Post Dispatch photographer Emily Rasinski and Frederick News Post sports writer Greg Swatek. - are Indians fans and were willing to offer their perspective.
Here's what they had to say.

Here are some of the World Series stories worth reading from today's media outlets:

Bruce Jenkins says this could be a historic classic.

Jayson Werth almost left the game, but now is a key player on a team that has made it to consecutive World Series.

Joanna Malloy has a good time poking fun at Philly's new-found pride.

A Whiz Kid recollects

Aces abound in Game 1.

Let's marvel at the Yankees' ability to win over such a long stretch of time.
Here are some things we'll discuss.
Did you ever notice that the Yankees are not as successful when the Grand Old Party holds the White House?
What decades have been kindest to the Bronx Bombers?
How many World Series games have the Yankees won compared to the seven teams that have yet to win a World Series?
We know the Yankees have never had a real World Series drought, but how exaclty do their lean years compare to some other clubs?
How have Yankees managers done when they've been at the helm of other teams?

Every World Series has its memorable moment. Or two. Or three.
One player can make a name for himself as a goat or a hero.
Here is each World Series summed up in one sentence.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had a shot, albeit a very slim one.
All they would have to do was score one run against Mariano Rivera. Of course, Rivera had given up just 12 runs in 83 post-season games heading into Sunday's sixth game of the American League Championship Series.
But it was just one run. A bloop, an error or a hit batsman - anything strange - could have helped the Angels score one run.
Then, the Angels, who have an extra city in their name, gave away an extra run they could not afford to give up.
Then another scored.
So they would have to score three runs against Mariano Rivera. In the ninth inning. At Yankee Stadium
That's like scaling Everest in flipflops. Or losing weight on the Arby's diet.
You get the picture.

"I think it's a benefit for both teams."
Mike Scioscia, Friday night.

Sure, both teams get some assistance since their bullpens get a day off.
And CC Sabathia gets another day of rest. But let's be serious here, Sabathia has proven himself many times over on short rest.
However, if this series goes seven games, John Lackey will benefit the most of anybody.
The right-hander does not have a Sabathia-like resume when it comes to pitching on three-days rest.
With the rainout, he gets a full-four day break between starts.
Of course, the Angels have the nearly impossible task of getting him there.

There are four teams who have made it to the World Series at least 15 times. Who are they?

Historically, if you grew up a Philadelphia Phillies fan, you developed an inferiority complex along the way.
You looked to the north and saw the Yankees perennially winning pennants and the Mets occasionally pulling off the trick. You looked to the west and saw that the Pirates, until recently, were always in contention. Down south, the Orioles were always the class of the American League off the field and often on it.
You were surrounded by success. Just not a part of it.
The Braves, whether in Boston, Milwaukee or Atlanta, had plenty of reasons to cheer. They had Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn, Eddie Matthews, Dale Murphy, The Four Aces and division crowns in 14 straight seasons. Below them were the Marlins. They came around in 1993 and won it all four years later. It took your Phils 97 years to do that.
Then the Fish rubbed it in your face and won it all again in 2002. They'd done in 10 years what you hadn't been able to pull of in more than a century.
And let's not talk about the Cardinals or the Dodgers. But I guess we have to, at least to give the kiddos a lesson. In 64, the Cardinals did to the Phillies what the Phillies did to the Mets two years ago. The Dodgers beat the Phils in the playoffs twice in the 70s, giving Black Friday a totally different meaning in the City of Liberty.
The Phillies were't lovable losers like the Cubs or tragically cursed like the Red Sox.
Your team just lost in unlovable ways that meant they didn't even need a curse.
That's not the case now.

These American League playoffs belong to Alex Rodriguez.
CC Sabathia was nothing short of fantastic.
The umpiring, of course, was erratic.

Blogs have been abuzz since Monday's Angels-Yankees games.
It appears, at least at first glance of a video, that Mariano Rivera is spitting on the baseball.
The conspiracy theorists are having a day with this, as well they should be. This could be Major League Baseball's Zapruder film.
Now, if MLB makes the Web sites take this video down, but doesn't address the matter at all then there could be something to the conspiracy theories.

A deep double by the backup catcher gave the Angels a much needed win over the Yankees in Game 3.
Now, let's look at Andy Pettitte's career.
And stop praising Derek Jeter for routine plays.

Who is the only player to win the All Star Game MVP and World Series MVP in the same season?

They Yankees are expected to win this thing.
But the Angels, who are not household names, are just as talented.
So who will win this thing?
Will the Yankees' big money boys win out?
Or will the Angels run rampant?

Is Matt Holliday going to be a goat?
Momentum swings away from Philly.
The Yankees look to go 2-0.

Three teams are one win closer to the next round.
Three teams are one loss closer to tee time.
Are the Giants shopping for Prince Fielder?