Notes from yesterday:
1. Jeez, what a catch by Granderson in the first. He made it difficult on himself by taking that step in you see so often from centerfielders on balls hit right at them...but still a great catch.
2. But not as good as the catch he made later in the game, diving to his right and catching the ball at full extension. Wow.
3. Time to move Posada up to the five hole, with Texeira moving to six and Swisher to seven. Jorge has had good at bats the whole series, even against Verlander. Texeira and Swisher are both streaky hitters...who are in a bad streak.
4. AJ Burnett is one complex carbohydrate. Just when you are ready to blame the whole season on him, he comes thru with a very nice outing in an very big spot. He's thisclose to letting the game get away from him in the first, Granderson rescues him, and off he goes.
5. A-Rod may not be hitting as well as we'd like, but he's flashing some nice leather at third base. The guy has been a vacuum.
6. If you want a treat, listen to Jim Leyland's pre-game press conference. The man just says all the right things all the time. You cannot get enough of him...he puts it all in perspective. The post-game presser was probably good too, but I did not hear it.
7. Game five is a total toss up. Would be so much better if this was a seven game series, with the specter of Verlander hanging over another game.
8. Wow so many high strikes! I've been a high strike proponent, but it was really strange to see so many of Porcello's 'sinkers' staying high but sinking at the last second to the letters for a strike. Took a while for the Yankee hitters to adjust. Funny thing was, when you went to the Brewers-DBacks being played at the same time, it was back to the usual 'anyhing over the belt is a ball' strike zone.
9. Seriously, Tampa, the ugly blue uniforms in an elimination game? I just don't get it.
10. Speaking of that game, I'm a huge proponent of day playoff baseball. But yesterday's game was not a sellout, and I've read nothing but I'll bet the ratings won't be as good as the ratings of the night games. Not sure if that speaks to the fact that people are working and can't go/watch, the Rays have a terrible fan base, a terrible building...or all of the above. But you think with the way the Rays made it into the playoffs, excitement would have grown. It didn't.
11. I do believe Arizona had a sellout, however, after poor attendance for a first place team. Good for them.
12. So funny to listen to Philly radio the last few days, with people arguing about 'Black Sunday'. The Iggles blow a 23-3 lead in the afternoon, and across the street, at night, Cliff Lee blows a 4-0 playoff game lead. Philly improbably loses both games. The Birds dominate the city, so there a LOT of unhappy campers in the City of Brotherly Blame.
13. Well, I kinda made fun of Josh Collmenter this summer, when he opposed Roy Halladay in a regular season game. My bad. The kid can pitch...VERY deceptive delivery.
14. How on earth do they plug the pitches into the 'strike zone' when tracking pitches? Is it computerized, like tennis line calls, or is some dude sitting in the production truck touching a computer screen for every pitch. Do not understand the technology.
15. A good thing about playoff baseball is nobody cares about or discusses MVP, Cy Young awards, or anything else like that. It's all about what you do IN the playoffs.
Sandra