Last postseason, Cole Hamels took MLB by storm, bringing home both the NLCS and World Series MVP awards. He ended up with an ESPN commercial, a Sports Illustrated cover and a shiny new world championship ring for his efforts.

In 2009, he’s the owner of a sterling 3.91 K/BB, a solid (if not spectacular) 3.72 FIP and the third highest swinging strike rate in the majors (11.8%, behind Javier Vasquez and Rich Harden).

Hamels hasn’t been as superhuman in this season as he was in October of 2008. He’s been merely very good remember that 3.72 is not nearly as impressive in the NL as it would be in the AL. Over the last month, though, he’s been doing his best Livan Hernandez impression See the table below:

The thought here is that Hamels is simply worn out. Consider his innings totals since coming to the majors 181.1 in 2006, 183.1 in 2007, and then 227.1 in 2008. Now, it appears he may have hit a wall after 160 innings in 2009.

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I’ll miss having Matsui’s bat in the lineup when the Yanks venture down the NJ Turnpike in Game 3 tomorrow. However, I can’t endorse this idea:

“That’s something we’re going to have to talk about,” Girardi said of using the 35-year-old Matsui in the outfield for the first time this season. “We’ll see how he’s doing. We’ll have to see. We’ll make a decision when we get there. We have all day to think about it [during Friday's off-day.]“

Despite the ice wrapped around both his knees, Matsui, who went 2-for-3 and reached base three times, was confident his legs could hold up in the outfield at Citizens Bank Park.

Does that sound like a smart move? Granted his bat is worthy of starting, but at the expense of the defense? And would he play LF (bumping Damon to RF or the bench?) or RF (bumping Swisher or whoever else Girardi would otherwise start)?

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For those of you (myself included) who are all fired up about the 2009 post-season of UMPFAIL, Wezen-ball reminds us that these guys have been bad for decades:

That was forty-one years ago and, even then, players, managers, and fans were questioning umpires’ calls through instant replay. And people are trying to say that things have changed? That the umpiring has somehow gotten worse? I don’t buy it.

Just go have a read and a chuckle. Then think about Frank Drebin.

After a disappointing World Series debut at the new Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers looked for revenge as they faced the their old nemesis, Pedro Martinez and the Phillies. Both pitchers started strong, but the Yankee bats caught up with Pedro and Mo closed it out for the 3-1 victory. The series is tied 1-1, as it moves down to Philadelphia.

In the top of the second, Raul Ibanez drove a ball that bounced just fair along the left field line for a ground rule double. Matt Stairs followed with a hard single which Alex Rodriguez couldn’t quite catch up with, driving in Ibanez for the first run of the game. Mark Teixeira tied the game in the bottom of the fourth, when he got all of Martinez’s changeup, sending it to deep right center for a solo home run. The Bombers got their first World Series lead in the bottom of the sixth, as Hideki Matsui drove a solo homer into right to give them the 2-1 edge over the Phillies.

In the bottom of the seventh, Jerry Hairston Jr. singled into right to lead off the inning. Brett Gardner came in to pinch run and Melky singled him to third. Pedro then exited the game when Jorge Posada pinch hit for Jose Molina. Jorge smacked a RBI single to center and the Yankees took a 3-1 lead. In perhaps the most confusing moment of the game, Jeter went to bunt with two strikes, fouling the ball off for the first out of the inning. Damon hit a hard liner to Ryan Howard, who caught it on a bounce and made a bad throw to second, however, the umpires called it an inning ending double play. The officials claimed Howard caught the ball in the air, however, instant replay showed that the ball bounced right in front of the Philadelphia first baseman’s glove.

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Below are my notes, inning by inning, from Game 2. Just in case you’re interested in or enjoy the quick burst, stream-of consciousness, bullet-point style:

Top 1^st inning

• First pitch strikes
• Looks like AJ has wicked movement on the FB; could simply be the offset camera angle.
• Speaking of which, why aren’t we using the over the top camera angle to better see the true strike zone and ball movement?
• Three up, three down. Quickly.

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If you are anything like me, this evening petrified you. Certainly not because Pedro was pitching for the Phillies (though, in hindsight, many of us underestimated him). Not because of the Phillies lineup, which is simply inferior to that of the Yankees. I’m not that worried about the struggles of Phil Hughes, or even about Girardi’s lineup calls. I’ve already resigned myself to most of the issues with the Yankees–but then there’s A.J. Burnett. You simply can’t pigeonhole him. There’s no one specific reason he does poorly on any given night. He’s not foreseeable. He terrifies me.

Because how he does doesn’t depend on his fastball velocity, how hot or cold the temperature is, whether it’s a day game or night game, etc. It depends which version of him (and his command) shows up.

Tonight, we got the good version.

Burnett threw 108 pitches over 7 dominant innings, allowing only 4 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 9 Phillies. He allowed 8 fly balls, 6 grounders and just a single line drive. He registered 10 swinging strikes, 4 of which were in the zone. Of the 26 batters Burnett faced, 22 were greeted with a first pitch strike.

Ryan Howard is one of the best batters in baseball against right handed pitchers, with a slash line of .320/.395/.693/1.088, and Burnett struck him out three times on 15 pitches. Which is good, because I almost lit my TV on fire when Girardi had Burnett intentionally walk Chase Utley to get to him.

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All that handwringing and consternation and what do we get: The Good AJ and there’s no serious issues with Hairston or Molina. Of course, as I said earlier today, about Molina and Hairston:

Remember this: If it works, that doesn’t make it the right move

So what, exactly, did we witness tonight? Let’s do a quick recap with a full recap to follow later:

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Whoa! This can’t be true, can it?

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Hairston RF
Cabrera CF
Molina C

We’ve second-guessed many of the moves Girardi has made this post-season, but this is utterly baffling. We’ve upgraded to first-guessing now.

Remember this: If it works, that doesn’t make it the right move.

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Evidently, he’ll strip down at a moment’s notice (emphasis mine):

“The way people perceive me in New York — I don’t know if they got to know me a little bit better after I got to the Mets — is totally different than the way I am,” Martinez said. “I just compete. And yes, I will do whatever it takes to beat you. But I’m a human being after I take my clothes off. A lot of people can witness that any time, anywhere, any moment.”

Yeah, I needed a chuckle today.

Thanks, Petey.

Ignoring the mist that covered the field, the first game of the 2009 World Series got underway in the Bronx Wednesday night. In what was a much closer game than the final score would lead you to believe, the Yankee offense could do nothing against last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee. The bullpen was little help as the Phillies ran away with the game in the end, winning 6-1.

After getting a quick two outs to start the game, CC loaded the bases, but was able to get Raul Ibanez to ground out, escaping trouble. Cliff Lee handled the Yankees lineup through the first two innings. With two outs in the third inning, CC gave up a solo home run to Chase Utley, who put it over the wall in right. The big lefty battled back to strike out Ryan Howard, but the Phillies had the early 1-0 lead.

Both pitchers continued to keep the hitters quiet allowing few hits and base runners. With one out in the bottom of the sixth Utley went yard off CC for the second time in the game, giving the Phillies the 2-0 lead and leaving Damon wondering when the short porch in right would be renamed for the Philadelphia infielder.

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Given the night to ponder Game 1, there’s little to really analyze and debate:

1. Cliff Lee was flat-out awesome
2. The Yanks bullpen has more cracks than the Yankee Stadium ramps

So if we can all agree that Points #1 and #2 above are indeed true, then we just have simply put Game 1 behind us and stop sweating it. The Yanks were beaten by a great team with a pitcher who couldn’t be any hotter if he were sitting in a chaise lounge on the surface of the sun. It happens.

I don’t know about you, but I woke up a heckuvalot less angry and bitter than I did following some of the losses to the Angels in the ALDS. In those games, the Yanks had a chance –more than one chance in most cases– to win and failed. The Yanks had no chance last night. Great pitching should beat great hitting. I’m trying to follow my own advice and simply wipe the slate clean.

So where do we go from here? I’ll tell ya one thing: Now’s not the time to panic.

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Hard to find the words to adequately describe this game, from a Yanks fan’s perspective. However, this nonchalant catch by Cliff Lee on Damon’s pop-up (to the right*) might have been the most emblematic of the night for the Yanks:

It was too easy.

Let’s get to some of the points quickly, with a full game recap to follow:

• Cliff Lee was better than impressive. Flat out dominant. If I wasn’t rooting for the Yanks, I’d be giving him a standing ovation from my living room.
• Lee made seemingly every hitter look foolish.
• A virtual no-look basket catch and a behind-the-back stab. What’s next? Between the legs? Pitching right-handed?
• Sabathia wasn’t bad, but he served up two longballs to Utley. His control seemed “off” but he was able to keep it to just 2 runs through 6 innings.
• Good to see the umpiring crew huddle up to get that wacky double-play called right.

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Was there clause in a standard contract back-in-the-day that prohibited you from a) having fun while playing it or b) enjoying the game once you left it? Jim Bouton’s the latest crusty, cranky old former ballplayer who thinks players should just keep their head down and not have any fun or celebrate, unless it involves “real men” putting live reptiles in others underwear:

In my day, they had more creative ways to sort of celebrate,” said Mr. Bouton, 70. “Pieing would have been silly, kids’ stuff. We would put a live snake in a guy’s underwear. That is something that real men would do. This is silly stuff, you know what I mean? it’s kid stuff. The guys today, they’re inexperienced.

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