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New York Yankees: Do You Like The 2011 Playoff Hats?

Posted by on 25 September 2011, 11:34 pm

Have you seen MLB’s 2011 Playoff Hats yet?

In case you didn’t catch the new lids last Wednesday night, when the New York Yankees clinched a playoff spot and won the AL East Division, here they are:

Not my personal favorite, as it seems that either someone got lazy or stumped because these hats are far from special. Maybe the black and white is what makes these lids so darn dull.

Regardless, won’t be adding this one to my collection of ALDS and ALCS hats over the years.

 

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New York Yankees: Postseason Deja Vu

Posted by on 24 September 2011, 11:29 pm

Assuming that most people reading this are baseball fans, but just in case the New York Yankees clinched a postseason and winning the AL East Division this past Wednesday.

As fantastic as the news was, it also let New York fans relax because the Yankees are expected to be playing in October and at the start of this season things were not as secure as usual.

Contending for the World Series is no easy task, but considering the Yankees were not playoff heavy favorites, safeguarding a spot with seven regular season games left is dumbfounded. There are many responsible for the team’s success from GM Brian Cashman to skipper Joe Girardi, to obviously the heart and determination of the players themselves.

Still, there are concerns but I am not referring to who the starting rotation will be for the cutthroat five-game ALDS series; or whether catcher Russell Martin will start all postseason games. What worries me is the timing.

Looking back at last season, the Yankees secured the Wild Card on September 27th, with five games left to play; and it took all of those games to decide the AL East division winner.

In the end the Tampa Bay Rays finished a game up on the Yankees. The fight for the AL East went to the last out of the regular season, which didn’t allow either team time to breathe before being thrown into the playoffs on October 6th.

The Yankees swept the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS without even a hitch and the idea of repeating as champs, or at least another meeting with the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series started to seem inevitable.

The ALDS wrapped up on October 9th with a sweep of the Minnesota Twins and the Yankees were rolling right along. That perfect momentum that any athlete will tell you plays a huge reason was brought to a screeching halt. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Postseason Deja Vu’ »

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New York Yankees: 2011 ALDS Schedule Possibilites

Posted by on 23 September 2011, 12:24 am

The American League Division Series starts next Friday night for the New York Yankees, but where and against who has yet to be determined.

Courtesy of MLB.com, both possible ALDS schedules have provided for Yankee fans:

The 2011 ALCS and 2011 World Series Yankees schedules will be posted pending advancement; prefer to just taking things one day at a time.

“In order to win you must be prepared to lose something. And leave one or two cards showing.” – Van Morrison

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New York Yankees Were Not Supposed To Win

Posted by on 22 September 2011, 2:57 am

The 2011 New York Yankees are the AL East Division Champions.

According to pretty much every baseball expert on earth, the champagne was supposed to be flowing in Boston at Fenway Park. Don’t you remember??? Let me remind you….

The Yankees own GM Brian Cashman thought the Red Sox were the better team when asked by Boston Globe’s Peter Abrahams back in January.

In ESPN’s predictions for the 2011 MLB season, all 45 analysts chose the Red Sox to win the division and 34 have Boston penciled in to win the World Series as well. Once you see the cover of the 2011 October issue of ESPN The Magazine, the above numbers are not such a surprise because the network has always seemed to belong in Red Sox Nation.

FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal’s prediction became a collective theme among baseball experts about the Yankees:

“Only question is which starting pitcher — or two — they will acquire.”

Even here at Lady Loves Pinstripes, I wrote this about the Yankees in my 2011 Predictions:

“The Yankees have more holes to fill than fans would like.”

Well, these predictions so far have been very wrong. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees Were Not Supposed To Win’ »

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Who Could Face The New York Yankees In October

Posted by on 21 September 2011, 2:20 am

First let me start by stating this article is based on if the New York Yankees make the postseason, because until that last out anything can happen, including elimination.

Yet there is no denying that the Yankees looked solid last night, cooling down the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0 and winning the opening game of this four game set. Rookie phenom Ivan Nova pitched 7.2 scoreless innings, as this kid is the real deal and seems to get better with every start. The Youngster’s timing couldn’t be more perfect either.

The Yankees still have a three game visit from the literally bitter Boston Red Sox’s over the weekend, before heading down to Tropicana Field to end the season.

So, things don’t get much easier for the three amigos in the AL East. The bottom line is at the very least one of these three teams are a postseason goner; with the possibility of two still looming.

Well, it never hurts to look ahead, so let’s play make-believe…. and pretend the Yankees have already won a coveted spot in the playoffs.

Who would the Yankees feasible foes be in the fatal, five-game series (aka. first-round of the MLB playoffs)?

As the Wild Card team, the Yankees would not have home-field advantage and Game One would take place in Comerica Park against the Detroit Tigers.

  • Playing away doesn’t worry me, but facing the formidable Detroit ace Justin Verlander twice in five games would give anyone nightmares. Verlander is without question going to be the 2011 AL CY Young winner and he is just lights out.
  • Tigers have a strong bullpen, with a closer named Jose Valverde who has yet to blow a save this season.
  • All five Detroit starters are righties, which gives the hard-hitting Yankees a huge advantage being so leftie dominant.
  • The last time these two clubs played was back on May 5th and the Tigers won four of the last seven vs. New York. The Tigers have also out hit the Bombers 36-33.
  • Tiger’s top slugger is Miguel Cabrera, who in my opinion is the best hitter in baseball.

As the AL East Division winners, the Yankees would play host for the Texas Rangers, as Game One would be in the Bronx.

  • The Rangers rotation is a mix of righties and lefties but other than CJ Wilson have had spotty outings against the Yankees. Starter Colby Lewis will have to come up big for Texas, but whether Matt Harrison can hold it together is another story.
  • The Yankees are 7-2 vs. the Rangers this season, while outscoring Texas 65-35.
  • Revenge has just cause for the Yankees to want to win this series, as New York was not happy after losing to Texas in the 2010 ALCS. It was an embarrassment.

If the world were perfect, the Yankees would be hosting the Rangers to start the playoffs because the Tigers are really hot and just oozing confidence that no team wants a piece of in a five-game series.

Well, getting back to reality and the Yankees still need to qualify for the playoffs or else the third option will start being discussed.

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New York Yankee: Proceed With Caution

Posted by on 19 September 2011, 6:11 am

The message is plain and simple; New York Yankee fans need to go ahead with caution because three is a crowd.

The reality is the Yankees have not clinched a playoff berth yet and there making life awfully hard after losing the rubber game 0-3 on Sunday vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. It is hard to believe that the Yankees could very well be the man out, but as Justin Bieber says, Never Say Never.

Watching ESPN or MLB Network, one would think that the Yankees were already packing for October. All the media focus has been solely on the AL Wild Card standings, along with a lot of long-winded banter excusing why the Red Sox are stinking lately and how they are still the best team in the AL.

Well, reality bites because even though the Bombers continue to lead the AL East by 4.5 games, not winning on their own merit is a cause for concern.

There is still a week left for the Yankees to get hot again, as limping into the playoffs is not an ideal scenario.

Over the next week the Yankees will face the Rays seven times and the Red Sox three. Just typing that scenario actually makes missing the postseason way to possible in my mind.

So, my point is that all Yankee fans need to stop acting entitled and be humbled instead.

Why?

  1. I will start with the apparent reason that three’s a crowd; this necessitates one, or possibly two of the AL East teams going bye.
  2. And the other reason is how hard pressed it would be to find more than a handful of baseball experts that didn’t pick the Red Sox as the AL darlings throughout the season; other than my favorite perennial debater, ESPN’s Skip Bayless who said preseason that the Bombers were not nearly done just yet.  I mean the Yankees were not supposed to be leading the AL East with just 11 games left on the season, as the Yankees forecast was to fail. Continue reading ‘New York Yankee: Proceed With Caution’ »

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New York Yankees Magic Number

Posted by on 17 September 2011, 1:06 pm

If you watch or read anything about MLB during the month of September, than you certainly heard the term ‘Magic Number’ over and over again.

With the New York Yankees losing 5-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night, accompanied by a Boston Red Sox win; the Bombers magic number lingers at 7 for a postseason berth, and 10 to win the AL East division for another day.

So, what is the infamous Magic Number? And how is it calculated?

To put it simply, it is the number of games a division leading team has to win to secure winning their respective division.

A win drops a division team’s Magic Number down by one; and so does a loss by the team right below them in the divisional standings.

If the AL East leading Yankees want to win the division, they have to win or the Red Sox have to lose a combination of 10 games with 13 games left to play. For a playoff spot, the Yankees need to win and the Red Sox have to lose to form a concoction of 7 games total.

In essence the Magic Number only applies to division-leading teams because the formula is as follows:

So, plug-in the Yankees 90 wins and the Red Sox’s 63 loses:

163 – 90 Yankee Wins – 63 Red Sox Loses = A Magic Number of 10

With the Yankees ahead three games in the loss column over the Wild Card leading Red Sox; for a playoff berth you minus that number, which is three from the Magic Number of 10, which equals 7; and that is the number of games the Yankees need to clinch a spot in the postseason.

I hope my explanation helped, and didn’t just confuse you more. The Magic Number is a pretty straightforward method that only applies to the top team in each division, but in September who else really matters anyway? Actually a lot if you play in the AL East like the Yankees. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees Magic Number’ »

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