The legend of Mariano grows:

Have we always known?

Sometimes they say that the most important ballplayers are the ones that you don’t think about until after they are gone, but he has transcended this.

Not everything linked to from here will be hardcore stats or rants, facts or figures. This is one of those times.

This is as scathing an account of Joe Torre’s shortcomings as I have read from any major media outlet (if you consider Yahoo! to be part of the MSM now) in some time:

It also reinforces the double standard that exists for Torre as he skates to his ninth straight season without a championship after winning four in five years with the Yankees. A fall in New York without a World Series ring is considered a failure. Torre got run out of town because of that, though he left barricaded with excuses – the Yankees brought in the wrong players and the chemistry eroded – that, flipped on their head, say the Yankees teams with talent and camaraderie would’ve won regardless of their shepherd.

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Is Rivera getting a spitter ready, or is this video actually shown in reverse and Mo’s sucking the soul out of the ball?

Thanks to Jason Epstein for the link!

As the ALCS moved to sunny California, the Yankees were riding high on their 2-0 advantage over the Angels. Andy Pettitte put together a decent outing, but the Yankees failure to capitalize on base runners along with some….questionable….bullpen management (enjoy Jason’s rant!) led to another extra inning thriller. This time, the ending was not a happy one for Pinstripes fans, as the Angels walked off with the 5-4 victory in the bottom of the eleventh.

Derek Jeter got the Bombers going early, sending a leadoff homer over the left field wall. In the top of the fourth, Alex Rodriguez gave the Yankees a 2-0 edge with a monster solo shot to left. The Yankees home run derby continued in the top of the fifth when Johnny Damon drove the ball over the wall in right to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

The Angels finally broke through in the fifth, as Howie Kendrick hit the first homer given up by Yankee pitching in the postseason, making the score 3-1. In the bottom of the sixth Abreu singled and with two outs Vladimir Guerrero stepped up. The veteran sent a big two-run homer out of the park and the Halos had the game tied 3-3.

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I’m so angry about the way the Yanks lost, I’m having trouble typing. Not that they lost. The way they lost.

[For background's sake, it might be worthwhile to note that I left my office just before 6pm. For one hour, I listened to Sterling/Waldman, screaming profanities when Vlad hit the home run. At 7pm, I had to pay yet another visit to my dentist as part of my putting his kids through college for one dang root canal. Mercifully, he has TV's above every chair. I saw Posada's HR while they were taking an imprint. I caught the rest of the game at home from 7:45pm on.]

Also, let me say, beforehand, that the Angels deserve a ton of credit for their resilience. They came out and took this game from the Yanks. The rest of this rant takes nothing away from them.

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Launched! Not #fisted.

Lead off HR. Nice work, Jeter!

Nice start!

The ever-magnanamous Steinbrenner boys are at it again:

The Yankees announced on Sunday that they will open the Stadium Field Level and Great Hall to the public to watch the Yankees face the Angels in Anaheim as New York tries to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the ALCS.

“We wanted to provide a place for our fans to come together to cheer for our team, even if the game itself is taking place across the country,” Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a news release. “This is a way of saying ‘Thank you’ for their continued support.”

Of course, this move is meant to sound altruistic, as if they are giving back to the fans. Really, it’s about the money…concessions, parking, knick-knacks, do-dads and other sorts of tschokes.

Pure capitalism, baby. After all, these paychecks won’t write themselves.

In what is a mere formality for anyone paying attention to the ALCS:

Manager Joe Girardi confirmed that Sabathia has been tabbed to start the fourth game of New York’s series with Los Angeles on Tuesday at 7:57 p.m. ET on FOX, making that effort on three days’ rest.

“We wanted to make sure he felt fine, and he did great,” Girardi said. “We’re comfortable with him going on short rest. He’s had success going on short rest. If you look at last year’s numbers, we’re comfortable doing it. He feels good, and we’re going right to CC.“

In CC we trust. The rest of the series looks like this:

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Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record wonders aloud if the 2009 Yanks are on the same level as the otherworldly 1998 Yanks squad:

Eleven years ago, the Yankees were forced to fight their way to a championship. Today’s bunch are living even larger, having smoked the Twins and, so far, outperformed the Angels in brutal conditions in Games 1 and 2.

You could argue that the ’98 team was great precisely because of how they responded at the moment of truth like Hemingway heroes. But what if no one is tough enough to give the 2009 Yankees a fight?

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I’m quite sure that Ken Davidoff’s sources are top notch, well-placed and well-informed, but that doesn’t stop me from questioning this one:

According to a person in the loop, Matt Holliday’s top choices in free agency are: 1) Yankees; and 2) Mets. The Oklahoma native is apparently not intimidated by New York.

I can see him wanting to play for a perennial contender in a park that gave up the most home runs in baseball, but to say, with a straight face, that he’d want to go play in CitiCanyon amidst the mess that is currently the NY Mets, I find that hard to believe.

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If the Yankees have proven one thing this season it is that they do not quit. With chilly weather and rain pouring down, the Bronx Bombers pushed through five hours and ten minutes of baseball to pull off another walk off win in Game 2 of the ALCS. Another heroic evening by Alex Rodriguez and taking advantage of an Angels error with some speedy base running by Jerry Hairston, Jr. the Yankees secured a 4-3 victory and the 2-0 lead in the ALCS as they head to Anaheim.

AJ Burnett and Joe Saunders kept both of the offenses guessing through the early part of the game. The Yankees struck first in the bottom of the second when Nick Swisher worked a walk with two outs. Robinson Cano sent Torii Hunter chasing a line drive to center for a RBI triple, and the Yankees had the 1-0 lead. Derek Jeter added to the Yankee lead with a solo shot to right in the bottom of the third and the Yankees held a 2-0 edge.

Burnett, who had confounded Halos hitters through the first four innings, found himself in trouble in the top of the fifth. Maicer Izturis started the inning with a ground rule double to right. Erick Aybar then singled to center, scoring Izturis. Burnett then hit Figgins with a pitch and walked Torii Hunter with two outs to load the bases. A wild pitch to Vladimir Guerrero scored Aybar and the Halos evened the score.

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