In what was a virtual foregone conclusion since mid-season (if not earlier), the Yanks are back in the post-season after a one year hiatus. This is their 14th appearance in the last 15 years.

Outside of the handshakes on the field and a quick message from Joe Girardi that focused on there being more and bigger fish to fry, the Yankees did very little in the way of celebrating.

Great to hear that. As a Yanks fan, merely making the playoffs is not the goal. Missing the playoffs last year was tough for spoiled Yankee fans like me, but was almost necessary in order to restructure and rebuild the team.

Cashman had a staggering off-season, finding a way to land three of the biggest fish in the free agent market: Teix, CC and Burnett. This made them younger, more athletic, better defensively. It was a master stroke with a very expensive pen. Sure, it was about the money, because ain’t it always? But still, there are always teams looking to write checks and fail to land their target.

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There sure is plenty of blame and finger-pointing to go around regarding Joba’s performance the last several weeks. Blame the front office and manager for the seemingly fluid “Joba Rules”. Blame Joba himself for not pitching well and even worse, not being accountable for his own stink.

So it comes to this: Joba’s post-season starting role is on the line right now:

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As I was reading this interview with Nick Swisher, I couldn’t help but wonder why Milton Bradley can’t even come close to Swisher with regards to his obvious love of the game and his joy in developing a strong (positive) relationship with the fans:

SI.com: You’ve become a fan favorite in New York. How has your first season here treated you?

Swisher: New York has been absolutely wonderful, man. Coming here has been a godsend for me. Not only that, I really have to thank the fans and my teammates for the way they welcomed me in. They made me feel like part of the organization and family, and that’s exactly what you’re looking for when you come to a new team.

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The Yankees started Monday needing only a win (or a Texas loss) to clinch a playoff spot, however, their troubles in Anaheim continued. Pettitte returned from resting a sore shoulder and pitched well, but the Yankee bats could not solve Joe Saunders, as the Angels went on to win 5-2.

Much like Sunday, the Yankees got two runners on right away in the first and failed to score. In the bottom of the inning, Bobby Abreu singled. Vladimir Guerrero drove a RBI double to center and scored on Torii Hunter’s double, giving the Angels a quick 2-0 lead. Andy shut down the Halos for the next few innings, but found himself in trouble in the fifth. After Quinlan walked, Mathis singled. Quinlan moved to third on Figgins fly out to Damon, and scored on Aybar’s single.

In the top of the seventh, Alex Rodriguez got the Yankees on the board, driving a monster homer into the seats in left making the score 3-1. Unfortunately, the next three Yankee batters failed to add anything, going down in order. Bruney replaced Pettitte in the seventh and gave up a homer to Kendry Morales, pinch-hitting for Quinlan. Matsui brought the Yankees back within two again, driving another solo shot out in the eighth, however, Albaladejo gave up a single to Guerrero and a RBI double to Juan Rivera, giving the Halos the 5-2 edge heading into the ninth. The Yankees brought the tying run to the plate with two outs, however, Cano grounded out and the Yankees took the loss.

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Got a dentist appointment this morning so my updates will have to wait! But there were a bevy of postings yesterday to go thru so get reading and commenting, will ya?

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: 89-60. First in the American League West

Pitching match-ups:

Game 1: Andy Pettitte vs. Joe Saunders
Game 2: Chad Gaudin vs. Ervin Santana
Game 3: A.J. Burnett vs. Scott Kazmir

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Hot shot 102 MPH pitching prospect and recent Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman has established residency in the small country of Andorra. Why Andorra, you ask? Because it’s about the money, stupid!

“We chose Andorra because of its tranquility, its tax benefits for Aroldis, and also being a commercial mecca of sorts, particularly for its size,” Edwin Mejia, Chapman’s agent, wrote in an e-mail. “We felt that it could translate to unique marketing opportunities for Aroldis in Europe.

“Andorra is a winter playground for the wealthy and powerful residents of Europe, of which, God willing, Aroldis will be as well. Given all our options it became the perfect choice. He even has health insurance, life insurance, and a pension all before he even signs his first major league contract. We are very proud of this.”

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Looking at the 2009 schedule, it sure felt like September would be an exciting time, didn’t it? The Yankees ending the regular season with a three game series against each of their two toughest AL rivals, the Angels and Red Sox (oh, and these guys too) made many expect a fight to the finish, but in reality the playoff races were long over weeks ago. The only drama that now exists is whether the Twins will manage to fight their way above the Tigers (and without Justin Morneau, at that).

Of course, we’ll hear a lot of hue and cry regarding the series with Boston and Anaheim, with people making a big deal out of the performance of the Yankees against other playoff teams in September. Don’t be surprised if the words “must-win” make their way into the conversation (even with the games almost categorically defined as ‘not must-wins’).

So what does that leave for a Yankees fan, hungry for news and speculation, to do? Why, look ahead to the offseason, of course.

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I’ve been wondering about this for some time so I was happy to see Joel Sherman mention it, particularly since he’s on the committee to vote for the AL MVP:

However, the more and more I thought about the Yankees I wondered if there should be some kind of penalty for being in that fantastic lineup because it is hard to make a case that any one player is indispensable.

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‘Duk at BigLeagueStew raises a really good question:

Why didn’t Cowboys Stadium get the Yankee Stadium treatment?

Great question. I think, however, the answer might be pretty simple: Because it’s football.

Steroids and HGH in football? No problem. Stars getting suspended? No problem. Star players shooting themselves and others, and running over pedestrians? No problem. An obnoxiously large scoreboard that has been the subject of many critical arguments and has resulted in a rules amendment? No problem. Cheerleaders in stripper cages above the fans? No problem.

All that matters is the game on Sunday. Monday through Saturday is for the media to fret over such “triviality”.

Maybe that’s all Yankee Stadium needed to quell the “behind the moat” issues! Stripper cages. Or, strippers crow’s nests, whatever.

Picture credit: Shutdown Corner.

It’s good fun and everyone gets involved. Win for all!

As Tamar mentioned in the Game 150 write-up:

In his last 8 starts, Joba is 0-4 with an 8.42 ERA. Opponents are hitting .331 against him. On Sunday, he went three innings, gave up seven runs on six hits, walked three and struck out two.

Yet, Joba appears either blissfully unaware of his performance or just flat out stubbornly believing that his stuff was great:

“My delivery was great,” he said. “I threw some great changeups. My slider velocity was great. My fastball velocity was more consistent. It’s going to take a lot more than this to get my confidence level down, I’ll tell you that much. You can kick me as much as you want but I’m going to come back fighting every time. That’s how I live this life and that’s how I play this game of baseball.”

Chamberlain was asked whether he was concerned with how he has pitched lately.

“I’m fine, man,” he said. “I’m fine.”

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Most of you have heard of what baseball analysts call the ‘three true outcomes.’ For those that do not know, the three true outcomes are a home run, walk, or a strikeout. They are the true outcomes because the defense has no impact on those three results, leaving the result entirely on the shoulders of the hitter and the pitcher. The poster boy of the three true outcomes player is Adam Dunn. With nearly a thousand career walks, 1,421 strikeouts and 315 home runs, over half of Adam Dunn’s major league plate appearances have fallen into the three true outcomes category. This earned him quite a bit of disdain from the Cincinnati faithful during his Reds tenure, chiefly from Reds announcer Marty Brennaman. I bring this up just to call attention to poor Juan Francicso. Francisco, called up by the Reds this month when rosters expanded, has not put the ball in play his entire career. In limited action, he has one walk, one home run, and four strike outs. He better ground out or hit a sacrifice fly before he gets run back to Louisville on a rail.

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