It's official--Joe Girardi is now the new manager of the New York Yankees, and reportedly will earn $7.5 million over three years, considerably more than the $6 million that was initially reported. To reiterate, I'm in favor of this move, and think that he'll bring a lot to the table for the Yankees. They got a good manager, a person with a very good history in the organization, and someone detail oriented. Good move.

Pete Abraham is reporting that Grady Little has resigned as manager of the Dodgers, and presumably Joe Torre is waiting in the wings. In all likelihood, Don Mattingly will come on board with the Dodgers as bench coach. To some degree, things have worked out all around--the Yankees have a new, hands-on manager, and Torre and Mattingly will probably land on their feet. I wonder what the chances are that Rodriguez could go to the Dodgers; wherever, as long as it's not back with the Yankees.

Abraham also reported that Mariano and his agent were meeting with Yankee executives in Tampa, hopefully indicating that a new contract isn't far away. That would be another step in the right direction, hopefully with Posada and Pettite not far behind.

Citing ESPN, apparently the Yankees have officially offered the vacant manager's position to Joe Girardi, with an offer of roughly $6 million over three years. Like the rest of us, they expect him to accept it. Also, and somewhat sadly, Don Mattingly and Tony Pena were told that they were not going to get the job. I'm more sad about Mattingly because it does not seem that he'll be back, while Pena said that he would be willing to continue to coach the Yankees in some fashion, a real plus for the team. I know that Mattingly wanted to manage the Yankees, but Girardi's experience, smarts (which Mattingly shares) and handling of pitchers surely had very much to do with the decision. I hope he's not too put off by their hiring Girardi.

It's a very good move, both with the quality of the person they hired and when they did it. To start with the second first, it relegates A-Rod to right where he belongs--the back burner. Good. A-Rod ended up being overshadowed twice, once by the culmination of the World Series he tried to upstage, and again today by the Yankees hiring Girardi, which they said they would do before that toad A-Rod began his preening. Again, good. 

On Girardi, the Yankees made an excellent move, and Hank, while still prone to doltish comments and egotistical behavior, has again upped his stock in my eyes. Following nicely on his indirectly telling off A-Rod, Hank and the gang, with Cashman, have hired a player with his own rich history with the Yankees as a player. They also got a guy who is well-known as a thoroughly prepared coach, hands-on, detail-oriented, and having served ably as bench coach and statistical guru for Torre.  They got a guy with fire in his belly but, hopefully, enough restraint in using it along the right avenues. He is familiar with how New York works and is strong enough to handle the pressure. He'll push the team to win now, and has the ability to command respect from players, fans and upper management alike. As a former catcher, he has a good perspective on pitchers, their form, their fatigue, their temperament and their importance to the team, especially this one in which the rotation has been in a constant state of flux since 2004.

This is a great move. While I love Mattingly, the Yankees hired the right guy at the right time. I'm feeling better already. Don't let Mariano, Posada and Pettite go, guys. Keep doing the right things. Let's Go, Yankees!

My conscience is clear in writing this. I've been a supporter of A-Rod from the beginning, not overlooking his foibles but not making too much out of his shortcomings, either. Watching A-Rod's exploits, excellence, and ineptitude intertwined as a Yankee has been a privilege of sorts, allowing me a vista into the multi-faceted world of professional athletics and all its motivations and machinations. I'm glad to say this phase of observance is now at an end, and I feel nothing but good about it.  Combined with the team's pursuit of a new manager--about which I still feel remorse and some anger--this morning really brings the dawn of a new era for the New York Yankees, post-A-Rod.

Good.

A-Rod came to the Yankees before the 2004 season promising not to be the squeaky wheel, loaded with the promise of the most talented baseball player of his era not to have won a championship coming to the team with the most success, by far, in baseball history. A-Rod provided a terrific spark to an offense that illustrated its faults in the 2003 World Series, utterly unable to hit a big-league fastball as a group. A-Rod provided much-needed punch from the right side of the plate, increasingly rare in the game today as so many up-and-coming players hit lefty to ensure the most at-bats against the righty-heavy pitching staffs. A-Rod cranked many tape-measure shots in his four years with the Yankees and, in his few years in pinstripes but especially in 2007, even managed to hit some in the clutch, carrying the team with Jeter and Posada through the first half of the year and keeping the team from falling too far from the playoff chase. He bounced back from being vilified by segments of the New York fan base in 2006 with a monster 2007 season, truly one of the greatest in the history of the game. For that, I thank you A-Rod.

But never again will I feel the urge to thank A-Rod, after he opted out of an already incredibly rich contract to choose free agency, to try to extort more cash from some team because his $252 million over ten years just wasn't enough. Never again will I have to suffer through his post-season ineptitude, his abject failures, his somewhat humorous futility as he mangles his own swing and flails in vain when it counts the most.  Never again will I need to discuss with Frank the Sage, after a post-season disappointment, whether or not A-Rod just won't ever be a winner, because he won't. He's a loser, a sinkhole of talent in a spiraling cylinder of ego, caught up in himself and concerned only with himself and his own well being. There's just no other way for me to assess A-Rod after turning his back on the team that bailed him and the Rangers out of that pointlessly excessive contract, after taking him and his ego on board, after putting up with his post-season failures, after watching him self-destruct in 2006, after all his 2007 season meant to him was an even bigger payday somewhere and not having arrived and been wholly accepted in The Bronx and beyond. Good riddance, A-Rod.

Imagine the limitless vanity it requires to release word, during the final game of the World Series, that you're becoming a free agent, with the full implication that you deem yourself bigger that the Yankees, bigger than the Red Sox who were on the verge of salting away a championship that A-Rod could never achieve, bigger than the game itself. Imagine the unmitigated gall it takes to declare your love for a city that embraced you and paid a good portion of your bloated salary with their money for tickets and concessions, then leave. Imagine the transparent phoniness it requires to talk through your agent about the uncertain status of several key players on the team requiring that you not make a decision about leaving, then make the decision to leave when there was still a good ten days to both settle the free-agent status of Mariano, Posada, and Pettite and make an informed decision about the team. Imagine the infinite arrogance required to hear through the media that the Yankees, despite all the post-season failures, would offer you a sizable raise and extension, yet reject it without so much as a face-to-face meeting. Good riddance, A-Rod.

With the money that the Yankees were apparently prepared to offer A-Rod, they could easily sign three very good players--perhaps for even less. Though one of them must be a third baseman now, they can now afford to add starting and relief pitching depth without increasing their payroll. Though there will be uncertainty and changes this off-season, perhaps well beyond Torre's non-dismissal dismissal and A-Rod's opting out, this period was coming sooner or later. Better it be sooner, and perhaps in one fell swoop. I certainly want the Yankees to keep Mariano, Posada, and Pettite, and they need all three without having adequate personnel to step in for these aging but excellent players. But best of luck to A-Rod in his flying leap into the pile of cash he eagerly awaits, and I hope there's less of it to cushion his plummet than he and miscreant Boras had thought.

Hank Steinbrenner just raised his stock in my eyes quite a bit. Despite botching the Torre situation, and coming across as a foot-in-the-mouth type, his statement to the media regarding the Yankees' position on A-Rod was perfect, and I fully support it:

"We really wanted him back, but obviously he didn't want to be a Yankee," Hank Steinbrenner said late last night. "I just think that's a shame. But if that's the case, then this is goodbye." Exactly. It didn't mean enough to A-Rod to continue to be a key member of the most storied sports franchise in the history of sports franchises. It didn't matter enough to A-Rod to support his words of affinity for the team and city with actions. It didn't mean enough to A-Rod that he already made a ton of cash. It didn't mean enough to A-Rod that the Yankees provided him with the best chance at the immediate success of a championship and the long-term immortality of historic achievements. It wasn't enough to sate his ego. Good-bye is right, Hank. That's the right call.

Enough of the cancerous signings. Enough of the glory-hounds masquerading as team players. Enough of the dead-end moves for the short-term at the expense of team chemistry and the long-term stability of the organization. Enough of the me-first types whose approaches to the game and the team flout the ways in which the organization has won championships.  Enough of players like A-Rod [and others] in pinstripes. I can't say that I'm holding my breath about this, because after all the Steinbrenners are in charge and George, at least, has a history of doing exactly what I described above. But hopefully the failed A-Rod experiment will provide a sobering wake-up call to the organization and especially the ownership that hundreds of millions can't buy character or championships, that the quality of the people they sign can't be measured simply by bank accounts, that actions speak louder than words or cash, that the proper currency at that level isn't measured in green but heart and soul--neither of which A-Rod has. What a shame, but in the end, what an opportunity to move on, rebuild the team the right way, find the right mix of talent, hard work, appreciation, character, and success, and not pay through the nose for anything short.

You provided some very good on-field memories, A-Rod. Thankfully, the Yankees didn't have to pick up all of your salary the past few years, because despite a lot of promise, you weren't worth it.

See Pavano on that bench next to you in the recesses of my mind? That's the bench of Good Riddance, You're Dead To Me, and forever you will stay. Good-bye, A-Rod, and good riddance.

[Edit: It might be piling on but, given the quality of the quote from Hank, it's worth incorporating here:

“It’s a shame, but we are all in agreement: myself, my dad, my brother, all the baseball people,” he said. “If you don’t want to be a Yankee and paid what you’re being paid, we don’t want you, that’s the bottom line. You’d be hard-pressed to argue that point. If you don’t understand the magnitude of being a Yankee and understand what that means, and being the highest-paid player in baseball, I think it’s pretty obvious.”

You bet your bippy, Hank. Amen. I'm also glad that in the positive ledger, this kind of organizational pride is what Hank learned from his father. Of course, like his father, he doesn't exactly know what it's like to be a Yankee, and still needs to recede into the recesses of the front office for the next few months after the manager--presumably Girardi--is named, but still, good show for a change.]

According to ESPN as well as Jon Heyman from Sports Illustrated, quoting A-Rod's agent Scott Boras, A-Rod is opting out of his contract with the Yankees. If what the Yankees said remains true, this ends his four-year stint with the Yankees, for Brian Cashman has said that the Yankees would not pursue him because his opting out would cost them the $30 million that Texas was due to pay the Yankees for taking him and his already-bloated salary off their hands. According to Heyman, "Rodriguez's agent Scott Boras said he sent word of the opt-out in writing Sunday and left phone and text messages for Yankees general manager Brian Cashman."

I have some strong opinions on this, but will wait to express them until it is verified that A-Rod has in fact opted out, and the Yankees confirm that they will in fact not pursue him. In the meantime, I'm puzzled by something that Boras said, presumably passing as an excuse for A-Rod's money grab: "Alex's decision was one based on not knowing what his closer (Mariano), his catcher (Posada) and one of his statured pitchers (Pettite) was going to do," Boras said. "He really didn't want to make any decisions until he knew what they were doing." Correct me if I'm wrong, but has anyone actually confirmed what Mariano, Posada, and Pettite are doing? Is A-Rod privy to something the rest of us are not? Stranger still, he didn't know what they were going to do, so he apparently opted out, yet didn't want to make a decision until he knew what they were doing?  Soooo, which is it? Did A-Rod leave because he did, or didn't, know what the other three were doing? Thus far, A-Rod and Boras have handled this worse than Hank and the Gang That Couldn't Talk Straight handled the Torre decision.

If it is in fact true that the Yankees were going to offer A-Rod an extension worth about $30 million per year over five years, and A-Rod opted out knowing this, then good riddance, despite the fact that it would be very difficult to replace his regular-season production. Then again, if the Yankees make the playoffs in 2008 without A-Rod, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to replace his post-season production from the past few years, which has been garbage.  I'm finding it harder to refrain from commenting, and the harsh commentary is starting to well up within me.

I had the feeling that this would be a tough, eventful off-season, and unfortunately I've been right on that front. A-Rod's opting out and leaving would be a big blow for the Yankees, and would deprive them of their right-handed power almost completely, but it might have a bright side to it. The Yankees could get a few very good players with the money they were willing to offer A-Rod, perhaps some good pitching for a change, and honestly have needed some good grind-it-out, get-the-hit-at-all-costs players, which A-Rod is not. We'll see, and if this comes to pass, I'm going to let loose.

[Edit: I'm actually not going to wait that long. I say let A-Rod go. I'm as pro-player, pro-union as they come, but this would be nothing more than a move motivated by abject greed, particularly if the Yankees' extension offer was legitimate. A-Rod was already making a ton of cash, and already was in a great position for immediate success and long-term achievements. To abandon that, knowing the threat from Cashman and the Yankee organization, is disgraceful and illustrates what A-Rod is all about--A-Rod. Should this be it, A-Rod, good riddance. I'm waiting for you to tell us that this, like the Texas contract, wasn't all about the money.

Yankees, please, enough of the rent-a-bats.  Enough of the flakes for hire, enough of the overtly selfish players. Find the players like Brosius, O'Neill, Chili Davis, Tino. That to me was mistake number one after 2001, jettisoning a productive, proven winner in Tino for that selfish pustule, fragile, one-trick pony Giambi. If this is the end of the Alex Rodriguez experiment, then let it end. Great stats, no titles.  Thanks for everything, but take your traveling selfishness show and hit the road. if you want out, then get out, and like my friend Chris G. once said about his former girlfriends, "Once you're out, YOU'RE OUT!"]

According to Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees will honor the long-standing tradition of waiting until the end of the World Series to announce their decision on the new manager, meaning that it will be at least after the weekend until we know whom they chose. In the process, Hank gave his opinions on what they're looking for in the next manager, as quoted in Newsday:

"What we're looking for," Steinbrenner said, "is a guy that's maybe going to be one of the greatest managers, maybe, of all-time, over a period of 10, 20 years, who knows? And it could be any of the three. I think all three of them have great capabilities, they really do...It's going to come down to who we think is the absolute best guy for the job," Steinbrenner said, "the guy that really can be the best leader. Joe was a great manager, Joe Torre, and he was like a father figure to some of these guys. We want a guy who can do that, but at the same time, it's going to be a younger guy, and we want a guy who's going to be a real leader. This guy's got to take charge and be a real leader. We're not looking so much for a father figure now as a real leader."

Setting aside the echoes of his father for a minute, Hank is right about a couple things. One is the qualifications of the three, which I think are strong. They all will work extremely hard, should command the respect of the players for some similar and different reasons, and appear very smart. Any one of the three should be a credit to the organization and the profession. I'm also fine with shooting high with their next manager, which falls in line with what I think fans should always expect their teams to do--put the organization in the best position to win immediately. Wanting someone who could be considered one of the all-time best is a lofty, but inspiring goal. The Yankees should aim high, and the successor, even with Torre's big shoes to fill, could certainly hit the ground running and fly with the 2008 team. Who knows if it will happen, but I'd love to see it.

Yet the trajectory about not wanting a "father figure" but a "real leader?" Since when are the two mutually exclusive? Torre's demeanor made him no less a leader at the end of his tenure than it did at the beginning, diminished results notwithstanding.  Fathers and father figures are real leaders. Now, the Yankees may want a different kind of leader, which is fine. They may want someone more aggressive in demeanor and on-field strategy, which is also fine. But the implication that people such as Torre aren't leaders is more than patently false, it's ridiculous. Players repeatedly cited Torre's leadership for righting the Yankees' ship after the team was 21-29, and he did it with an admixture of boosting confidence, maintaining their focus and morale, but chewing them out at the end of May when enough was enough. His personality also endeared him to the World Series championship teams of the 1996-2000 era, allowing and trusting in them to play baseball the right way and as hard as possible.  Maybe part of the problem is not having the players to respond to such tutelage, I don't know. But what they're seeking is stylistic, not substantive as Hank tried to make it seem.

This also appears to be the latest in the back-and-forth between Hank and Torre--and it's clearly personal--whose latest barb referred to the problems that result when non-baseball people are involved in baseball decisions, basically questioning the aptitude of people such as Hank and Levine to make qualified judgments. Clearly, this will continue for some time, especially with two big egos involved. In these quotes, I cannot help but hear his father. It sounds so much like George in the late 1970s it's unbelievable, yet perfectly believable--the willingness to do personal battle in the open, the aiming high, the grand statements interspersed with reining himself in but too late, the staccato syncopation of his speech--that he is his father's son. The likeness is fascinating. It reminds me of one of the clips after "The Bronx is Burning," in which George told of his father ushering him back to school and questioning the teacher about why George occasionally faltered and didn't get an "A" on an assignment, of being pushed to learn about finances, of being driven ceaselessly by his father. Like grandfather like father like son, it seems.

It also simultaneously inspires me and makes me cringe. If the drive, passion for, and understanding what it takes to achieve success so evident in his father have rubbed off on Hank, then I can more easily tolerate his prodigious bluster. There's a tangible sense that this team is striving for the brass ring. I like that. But it's that same prodigious bluster that has its down side, that led to so many free-agent busts in the self-destructive, buy-the-best and ****-the-rest pattern of behavior that upset team chemistry, that led to rampant, destructive interference in the day-to-day affairs of the team, that led to impulsively unnecessary managerial replacements, and that led to the Yankees being an organization that so many players wanted to avoid in the 1980s. George made it into a successful nut house, and it unraveled into an unsuccessful nut house soon enough, with the late 1980s and 1990s devolving into a pathetic joke. Part of me is thinking about a push upward to big-time success; a bigger part of me is fearful of a four-base, front office-driven circus. I hope I'm wrong about that.

Hank really cannot afford to let that happen again, especially with the franchise moving into a huge, expensive new stadium, with the franchise as high-profile as ever in baseball, on their own network, and around the world, on the heels of the Torre debacle, with the team in genuine need of key improvements, and with proven, articulate people who can easily--and probably better--handle such public matters.  Hank needs to disappear into an office for a stretch and just shut up for a while. Yet with his family's ego as pedigree, I doubt that will happen. As with George, it may not be good the next few months and beyond, but it probably won't be dull.

Just a few things flying through my brain as I await the Yankees' decision on their next manager...

I hope that people who have questions about Mattingly's potential managerial aptitude recall what a great thinking first baseman this man was, in addition to the sharp physical skills he continually displayed around the bag. While a lot is required to manage, and it remains to be seen how anyone succeeding Joe Torre does in The Bronx Pressure Cooker, Mattingly may have more smarts than detractors realize. A case in point: has anyone ever seen the great Mattingly highlight when he charged a ground ball near first and, as he stepped on the bag for the first out, wound up and gunned out Al Oliver at the plate for a double play? It was easily one of the greatest plays I've ever seen a first baseman make, and if nothing else, that showed the smarts and forethought required to manage--being two steps ahead of everyone else, thinking of what to do beforehand but also implementing it with originality and aggressiveness, particularly in nailing a fast runner in Oliver. I've never seen it anything like it before or since. If Mattingly gets the job, he may surprise us in a few positive respects.

I'm going ahead and saying that if, if, they are healthy, the Bulls are my favorite to win the NBA Eastern Conference. That's a team that can go 10-11 deep, has great skill and depth at the guard positions, tremendous athletic ability and agility on the front line, and can really get after it defensively. Though they still lack a good inside scorer, and have since Eddy Curry, they may well be able to make up for it with scoring from the other four positions and outstanding defensive flexibility. Joakim Noah has his limitations offensively, and might always who knows, but the guy is a scrapper, a hustler, skilled defensively and can run the floor. There is always, always, room in the NBA for someone who plays defense, especially when he's 6'11". Wallace, Thomas, and Noah all went down with ankle injuries last night, so they might be slow out of the gate. But watch out for the Bulls.

I had the misfortune to listen to the fool also known as "Mancow" on the radio after bringing the kids to school, and it was a stark reminder of what an insufferable dolt he is. Today, he tried to claim that the nooses left on the door of the African-American professor at Columbia University, on the tree in Jena, Louisiana when several black students deigned to sit in an area where white kids usually sat, and on a Tupac shakur statue weren't racially motivated acts of racism. Worse, there were several people who had called in and e-mailed supporting this nonsense. It's amazing how people critical of what they wrongly term "revisionist history" spend so much time themselves ignoring or re-casting history in a daily basis, warping the historical legacy which plainly, painfully shows what a long, sordid legacy of racism there is in this country, not the least of which has been acted out through the noose, not merely as symbol but instrument of racism. The noose not a symbol of racism, sure, because they so frequently appear on statues and homes of white heroes and people. To ignore the overtones of this is to court genuine ignorance.

There is so much about the Red Sox that I cannot stand--the disrespectful screaming of Papelbon, the shameful, post home run preening of Ramirez, the grotesquely obnoxious segments of their fan base, the incessant whining about big-money managerialism as they spend gobs of cash (only to compete, of course) and soak their patrons at Fenway, Bill Simmons (worthy of mentions outside the reference above to parts of their fan base), and more. Yet it would be wrong to ignore that the Red Sox are an excellent team, win or lose the World Series. They're tough, they play hard, they don't quit, they've got pitching depth, they're well-coached, and they're relentless offensively.  They deserve a lot of respect, despite the fact that so many of their fans won't give it to the Yankees. They can play, and the Rockies have their hands full.

At this rate, the New England Patriots may well clinch their division at least a week before Thanksgiving. I knew they would be good, but they're downright ridiculous right now, all without Philip Seymour, who has started to practice this week. As long as the Colts and Patriots stay focused on the Panthers and Redskins, respectively, their November 4 match-up in Indianapolis--which should see them both undefeated--should be enormously entertaining.

I hope everyone is doing well and weathering the post-season that we didn't want just yet. Don't worry, just 112 days until pitchers and catchers report.

Apparently the Yankees have finished their interview process, and the three candidates--Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi, and Tony Pena--apparently impressed. Having listened to the audio post-interview interviews, all three handled the questions well without being too forthright about details in their best efforts to portray a managerial elan. I have to say that I slightly favor Girardi because he has managed before, he's a former catcher which made him involved in various facets of the game--especially handling pitchers--hardworking, and he's smart and aggressive.  Mattingly appears a good candidate--smart, laid back so similar in temperament to Torre, and a hard worker.  Mattingly threw himself into his various coaching responsibilities when he became the hitting instructor in 2004, and paid immediate dividends by helping the offense rebound.  Pena has been great as a first-base coach and catching instructor, is as hardworking as the other two candidates, and has apparently been a terrific mentor for the Latino players on the Yanks. I don't think that the Yankees could go wrong with any of the three, and I wouldn't lose sleep over any of them being hired.

That said, I think it should be Girardi. I believe he would command the respect of the players about as much as Mattingly would (though I clearly don't know for sure), would infuse a measure of aggressiveness into a team really needing it, and would provide an emotional boost right away. He's managed before, and took a lousy Marlins team into playoff contention.

Was I the only one struck oddly by Hank the Crank Steinbrenner's comments today? Below are some extended quotes of his Hankness in an ESPN article:

"It's going to be a tough decision, but what we want is no different than what the fans want. We want to win,'' Hank Steinbrenner said. "Be the best manager, be the best leader and win. We're in a transition period. We've got a lot of great young pitchers, a lot of great young players coming.

   "I'm not saying we don't have a chance next year. Obviously, the Marlins beat us a few years ago with the same kind of young pitching staff. And Detroit got to the World Series with the same kind of young pitching staff, so it can happen.''

   But he also cautioned that success might not be immediate.

   "I think the most important thing is whoever we hire, give 'em a chance because he's not getting the '96 Yankees. He's getting an even younger team or for the most part a team in transition. Give him a little while,'' Hank Steinbrenner said, "We want to win the World Series every year. We're not stupid enough to think we can do it. Of course, we'd love to win the World Series next year.''

So let me get this straight. Hank, Hal, George and Ringo, er, Randy fired Joe Torre by offering him an incentive-laden contract he could not accept, under the guise that the incentive-filled contract was necessary to "motivate" Torre to win now and progress through the playoffs. Yet Yankees fans, and presumably the organization, need to be patient with whoever succeeds Torre because this is a period of transition, he's not going to get a '96 Yankees team, and it's young (though no younger than it was for Torre). Sooooo, what was the pressing need to fire Torre, again? He didn't lead the team to a World Series victory in the past seven seasons and needed to go, but his successor somehow has circumstances that require patience and understanding. I sure hope that Torre's successor gets this little Hank riff printed and notarized, because I have a feeling that he might need it for his own defense, hopefully not early in the 2008 season.

One thing is for certain. Yankees fans are not as obtuse as Hank thinks we are, and Hank might be at least as slow-witted as I think he is. The next manager, like Torre, better be patient himself. Serenity Now...

"It was that sound. THAT SOUND! That sound that the Yankees were back, that sound that the Yankees had taken their best and tied it, that sound that after those losses in New York the Yankees were right back in the thing. That's a moment that I won't ever get tired of talking about."---Frank the Sage describing Jim Leyritz's game-tying eighth-inning home run off Mark Wohlers in Game 4 of the 1996 World Series.

Listening to The Sage discuss that monumental homer brings me right back to it eleven years ago tonight, as if I were back in my dark, quiet living room on the edge of the couch, waiting for that return salvo. And when it came, boy did it ring loud and true. In the second-last game ever played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Jim Leyritz's blast not only brought the Yankees back into a tie after being down 6-0 in the fifth, not only shifted the momentum in the Yankees' favor. I would argue that it was the initial moment of the Yankees' late 1990s dynasty. I'll never forget that feeling of elation that engulfed me when he tattooed Wohlers's hanging slider to deep left, drifting farther back so that by the time it landed, creating the onomatopoeic sound in the title, the crowd had known it would travel out. As a result, when the ball careened off the facade of the outfield seats and quickly back off the inside wall and camera platform stationed in left--hence the bah-bam! or, as Frank would say, G'DUZH!--the now-historic sound of that blast was awash in near total silence.

It was at that moment that I knew, right down to my core, that the Yankees would win the 1996 World Series.

The Yankees had been trounced at home in Games 1 and 2, losing to the Braves 12-1 and 4-0 in The Bronx, with Pettite really getting plastered in the opener. I was fearful that the best part of the 1996 World Series would end up being John Popper's outstanding harmonica rendition of the National Anthem before Game 2. Thankfully, the Yankees had the tough, clutch David Cone going in Game 3, and he delivered one of their all-time great clutch performances, avoiding the worst of trouble to keep the Yankees in the lead before Bernie's big two-run blast in the top of the eighth opened it up.

Yet Game 4 was a stomach churner from the get-go, with Kenny The Pine-Tar Gambler Rogers starting and yet again, as was his wont in the 1996 post-season, pitching badly. In the top of the second, Rogers came unglued as he allowed a 3-1 homer to dead center to Fred McGriff, missing his spot low and away and grooving one down Broadway. He then walked Javy Lopez on five pitches, walked Andruw Jones, and got Jermaine Dye to fly out to right, allowing Lopez to take third. with one out, Blauser laid down a terrific squeeze play that scored Lopez--and that Minutiae McCarver called--2-0 Braves, with Blauser safe at first because a stunned Mariano Duncan forgot to cover first. Denny Neagle, future solicitor of prostitutes in Colorado, started and sac bunted them over, two down, second and third, when Marquis Grissom lined a single past the diving Jeter, 4-0 Braves. When The Pine-Tar Gambler got into trouble to start the third, allowing back-to-back hits to Chipper Jones and McGriff, Torre wisely pulled him and went with Brian Boehringer, who allowed Jones to score on a deep sac fly to center, 5-0 Braves, but he yielded no more through the two big innings he pitched. But David Weathers allowed a run in the fifth to make it 6-0, and the Yankees were in big trouble.

The soft-tossing Neagle was sharp through most of the night, allowing only a single off Chipper Jones's glove at third through the first three innings. Though he walked three in the top of the 4th, Bernie hit into a 6-4-3 DP to retire Jeter and make it two outs, and Neagle stranded the walked Fielder and Hayes to retire Strawberry looking, ending the rally. Yet in the 6th, Neagle struggled. Jeter fisted a single into right, Bernie walked, and Fielder lined a hard single to right that whacked off Dye's shin and caromed past him, scoring two, 6-2 Braves. It was a tough inning for Dye, who had a foul ball off Jeter land near him in foul territory when the RF ump Tim Welke didn't look behind him and stayed just inside foul territory, seemingly unknowingly obstructing Dye behind him from taking a clear path to the ball. Hayes's single to center scored Big Cecil, 6-3 Braves. When Strawberry walked against Terrell Wade, it looked as though the Yankees might make up the deficit in one inning. But Cox brought in Mike Bielecki, who proceeded to fan Duncan, as well as pinch-hitters O'Neill and Tino, allowing the Braves to temporarily escape.

The Yankees' bullpen began to clamp down even more tightly, with Jeff Nelson pitching two excellent scoreless innings, routinely throwing his frisbee slider for strikes.  For the eighth, Cox made the bold move to bring in Wohlers for a two-inning save, and it backfired. Charlie Hayes hit an amazing swinging bunt straight down the third-base line that never wavered from its path, rolling straight on the dirt alongside the grass to Jones for an odd, but important, single. The Straw Man then showed a great piece of hitting, taking a pitch low and away and singling through the hole at short, first and second with no outs. Duncan grounded into a 6-4 force that the normally reliable Belliard, had he not bobbled the ball, might have been able to turn into a DP, first and third, one out. In stepped Leyritz, pinch-hitting for Girardi. he fouled off a 98-mph fastball, laying a good rip into it and perhaps getting Wohlers a bit shy, for he threw two sliders high, 2 and 1. Wohlers returned to the heater, which was 99 mph and Leyritz fouled it off, 2 and 2. Then came the hanging slider.

I remember sitting on the edge of my couch in the old apartment, the first that my wife and I shared, she in bed, late, pregnant with out first child, GLG, and not quite the Yankees fan she is now--no shame in that, I suppose. C'Mon, get right back into this, right now, I muttered in the dark living room, illuminated only by the glow of the TV. Show this team that the first two in The Bronx were a fluke. When Leyritz cranked that ball, sending it off the wooden planks in left, I jumped up and let loose a wild, silent scream in order not to wake my wife--the kind of scream that's a frenzied whisper, arms and fists pumping in frenetic silence. I could hardly stand still, but finally sat down, back on the edge. Now it's our turn, I said out loud, you had your chance. In my mind, though I knew it wouldn't be easy, though it was still 2 games to 1, though it was still tied in the 8th--it was advantage Yankees. There was no doubt in my mind that the Yankees would win it.

Mariano buzzed through the eighth, but the Yankees left the bases loaded in the top of the 9th. Pitching for the third straight game and day, Mariano was still sharp and bringing the gas, but was tired. After getting Grissom to pop out to Jeter, Lemke lunged and clubbed a high fastball off the mound and into center, and Mariano then walked Chipper Jones, first and second, one out. Torre then pulled Mariano and went to his ace in the hole, Graeme Lloyd, who had a 17.47 ERA for the Yankees in the regular season but was untouchable in the post-season, to face Fred McGriff, whom he owned in the '96 Series. After falling behind 2-1, McGriff hit a sharp grounder right at Jeter, who started a smoothly turned 6-4-3 DP to send the game to extra innings. Somewhere, I'm sure McGriff and Ryan Klesko still wake up in a cold sweat, yelling "Graeme Lloyd!"

In the 10th, the Yankees won it. With two outs, like so many great Yankees rallies of this era, it started with a walk. Raines worked a four-pitch walk off Steve Avery, Jeter singled just under Jones's glove at short, Bernie--who batted .378 as a righty with 16 homers during the year--got an intentional pass, and the Yankees sent up Wade Boggs to hit for Andy Fox. Boggs started with a ball, a strike made it 1-1, his foul made it 1-2, but two straight balls low pushed the count to full. The payoff pitch wasn't close, walking in Raines and giving the Yankees, who were down 6-0, a 7-6 lead. Hayes popped up to Klesko at first, but he lost it in the lights and dropped it, while Clontz in for Avery failed to cover first, 8-6 Yankees. Lloyd began the 10th by fanning Klesko on a slider, one down for Wetteland. Andruw Jones singled, Dye flew out deep to left, two down. Terry Pendleton the lined a fly ball deep to left that Raines got, as he tumbled and fell on the warning track, dramatic to the very end. 8-6 Yankees in a classic.

Pettite then out-dueled Smoltz in a 1-0 classic in Game 5, capped off by O'Neill's running, stretching catch in right-center off Luis Polonia's shot, after which he slapped the wall in exhilaration, with the Yankees heading back to The Bronx up 3-2 after leaving The Bronx 2-0 several days before. I don't want to overlook Cone's gem to get the Yankees back to 2-1, for he's one of my favorite all-time Yankees. But to me, when I discuss the Yankees dynasty of the late 1990s, it all goes back to G'DUZH!

I would be lying if I said that I was surprised by this, because I really wasn't. There was something final in the Steinbrenner maxim that he wrongly issued during the ALDS, rightly showing some fire but wrongly targeting Torre for eradication for the Yankees' failure, again, to advance in the playoffs. There was something of the old Steinbrenner--that I suspect has never really left him, leopards and spots--in that cantankerous statement, a reflection of dormant, muted ego and control that has been the hallmark of Steinbrenner's ownership of the team. Winning throughout the late 1990s only abated that, it never eliminated all that smug, self-righteous posturing, that "look what I've done for you and this is how you repay me" condescension, that blue-blooded arrogance that distant, well-paying ownership is somehow as responsible for success as the people who put it all on the line, in front of literally billions of people, who risk success and failure by their direct actions and talents.

I'm Just Getting Warmed Up.

Joe Torre was the gracious and graceful face of the Yankees for twelve magnificent years, a terrific manager of people and a good in-game manager who, like Casey Stengel, went with hunches as much as he did by the book, though probably more than Stengel. In the biggest of American big cities, in a ravenous media market, in a city with a big heart but a lion's appetite and regard for weakness and poor performance, Torre unfailingly stood tall. He granted the media amazing degrees of pre-game and post-game access to him while very rarely showing his teeth, illustrating great patience for the pap and superficial tripe that too often pose as journalistic inquiry. He handled the tough questions and heat, when it surfaced, with dignity and aplomb, never shying away but never going nose-to-nose with his close and distant inquisitors and detractors.

Torre was the archetype for shielding his players, from the superstars all the way down to the bench-warmers. He ceaselessly trumpeted the greatness of proven winners like Jeter, Mariano, Pettite, Cone, Clemens, Posada, Bernie, Strawberry, O'Neill, Girardi, El Duque and many others. To say that he was a players' manager somewhat misses the point, to me. He was a terrific player from a previous era who managed, and I say it as such because he never gave the impression that he forgot about the triumphs and travails about being a player. It permeated all aspects of his managerial style, from his patience with players to his detailed, quasi-psychological descriptions of players' struggles to his seemingly innate sense of the rhythms of the season. Torre was a player who managed, and did so at a historically high level.

Let me repeat that.

Torre's managerial record stands with anyone's in the long, storied history of the game of baseball. Four World Series titles, twelve straight playoff appearances, 2,067 victories to rank him eighth on the all-time list, ten AL East Division titles, revered status among so many baseball fans and people for his accomplishments and the dignity with which he carried himself along the way. To recap this past season that got his essentially fired--and make no mistake in think that he wasn't; the new, second-generation Steinbrenner cabal just didn't have the balls to do it correctly--Torre passed several managers to move within the top ten list of all-time managers' wins.  He passed the great Casey Stengel in 2006, and passed greats Leo "The Lip" Durocher and Walter Alston, sitting just shy of the winningest Yankee manager, Joe McCarthy. 2,067 wins is winning 94 games for 22 years, and while it took 27 years for Torre to accomplish that, he led some bad teams in St. Louis and with the Mets. It's pathetically facile to say that he wasn't a good manager with them because of his record. Those teams stunk, no two ways about it.

Torre showed himself to be nothing if not a good human being during his magnificent twelve years with the Yankees. He would get choked up during successful times--World Series victories, division-clinching wins, historic accomplishments--revealing the deep humanity he carries.  He would pat players on the cheek like a father, put his arms around them, smile at them, tell them he loved them one-on-one, in small groups and in public without shame or reservation--do all the things his father likely never did, or did not do nearly enough. Torre was the right kind of man and manager for and in this age--a man unburdened with the notions that he was required to behave as a tough guy, some crusty-faced gunslinger facing down enemies real, perceived or anticipated. Torre was a manager who covered the full positive range of human decency, being strong enough to let his teary emotions show and not be concerned with how people interpreted it. Torre managed from the heart a lot, while keeping a cool head in pressure-filled situations. He weathered unfair critiques against him--"Clueless Joe," the unfounded charges of tacit racism from that miscreant Gary Sheffield (and I'll briefly take this moment away from the reverence rightly heaped on a great man in Joe Torre to say to Gary Sheffield, for your nonsense that you charged Torre with, now and forever, with well-earned profanity, F*%k You). Torre wore it all with grace and dignity and made it look easy, when it was never anything but.

As much as anything, Torre should be remembered for his charitable work in and outside the game, most notably his "Safe at Home" foundation to raise money and awareness to prevent domestic abuse, which he bravely revealed to have had inflicted on him when he was a child.  To have done this, to have let people know that it is not OK to abuse your family but it is OK to talk about having been abused, was something in this testosterone-laden sport and society so rarely discussed, presumably with the notion that to speak about them, and not to perform such vile acts, was a sign of weakness. Torre inverted all of that, and he deserves the unwavering respect of people, not just Yankees fans, for such courage and strength.

You won't find any disquisitions of Torre's managerial shortcomings here today; that's for another time. My only negativity--aside from my well wishes to that stain of an individual Sheffield, who is hereafter dead to me--is reserved for the new Steinbrenner cabal. It's generous to say that your incentive-filled "deal" offer to Torre was an insult. It was an affront to his immediate and historic legacy, to a man who provided more dignity and humanity to your ownership family that has at times shown its decent human side, but has never failed to reveal its arrogant, self-serving,  egotistical, power-hungry side.  The specious notion that Torre somehow had to earn as much, or potentially a bit more, in salary in 2008 should he have taken the offer because Hal, Hank and George felt he needed to be motivated is an incredibly stupid belief, one rooted in the shallow, superficial, wanna-beism that George exhibited in his early years of living vicariously with the Yankees' "Bronx Zoo" days. It belies a passive-aggressive approach to running the team that will not serve them or us well, putting the onus for one's decisions on the recipient of those decisions rather than those making them. It's ownership by default, displaying a cowardly unaccountability for the choices we all knew they made--they didn't want Torre back, but they made him fire himself rather than do what we know they decided to do--not bring him back. 

To say that I'm not enamored with the Steinbrenner clan and especially the recent incarnations of vacuum-packed ownership would be an understatement of the level of disrespect, distrust and disdain that I feel for a blue-blooded family that ran Joe Torre out of town on a rail, while making it seem as though he bought the ticket. These silver-spoon spoiled brats and their equally pompous, unappreciative father kicked the most successful manager in the game--not just the team--since Joe McCarthy to the curb. The real shame of this sequence of events is I don't think that the Steinbrenners ever deserved Joe Torre. They never deserved his decency, his stoically human stewardship of a franchise that reached the heights of success and routinely provided hope and inspiration for a fan base that demands success, but at least among its most sentient fans, never fails to appreciate where the team has been, how they got there, and with whom. Don't think for a second that this is done and settled, that Torre isn't going to have some measure of revenge with this. It might be by going to another team, it might be by a simple, steadfast refusal to participate in the pageantry of Old Timers' Day or the retirement of his number--which is more than assured. Torre, in his own way, will remind them of the callous inhumanity in which this proceeded, and I can't say I blame him. This has been a travesty, an abysmal start to what will be a tense, acid-churning start to the off-season that I really figured would be bad. It certainly has started out that way, worst of all right at the top both with the decisions and where the ax wrongly fell. Horrible.

Joe Torre, you'll always have a lot of love and respect from me and plenty of others, especially your players. For all you've done for the Yankees players and the pathetic ownership, you deserved far better, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't shed a few tears writing this post.

I've honestly been so busy writing a rough draft of a chapter the past several days that I couldn't legitimately take the time that I wanted to, and that you all deserved, to express some genuinely heartfelt thanks without feeling guilty for not finishing my work, which was pressing.  I'll take some time in the next few days to cull and post some of my favorite baseball and blog moments from this year, something that will likely take a couple hours. Also, look for a few fresh posts in the next week or so that will hopefully serve as uplifting blasts from the past--literally--given the lack of Yankees' October baseball this 2007.

I've been watching from afar the "Torre Watch,' and I'm curious to see that he has not been fired yet, if it will occur at all. I really don't know what to think, and won't make any predictions. I'll just say this: despite some managerial screw-ups he's had this year and a few in the playoffs, there is no way that Joe Torre's managing cost the Yankees this season. Absolutely none. Ask yourself some things. Would Tony LaRussa be able to withstand the media scrutiny of The Big Apple without blowing his stack forty times a year over a stray peanut on the floor? His in-game managerial prowess aside, would he possibly get through a season without alienating a good portion of a star-studded team with his dour, crotchety demeanor? Don't think for a second that those aren't important questions for any potential candidate who may or may not replace Torre. Again, regardless of what happens the next couple weeks, many deep, heartfelt thanks, Mr. Torre. You've been a gift for the Yankees and us as Yankees fans for the past dozen years, and it's never been lost on me how lucky I was to have witnessed the great run from 1996-2007, especially the championship years. More importantly, you showed what great character you have by starting your "Safe at Home" charity to raise money and awareness for preventing domestic abuse. As a father, that work means more to me than anything else, including your  shepherding the Yankees to four World Series championships. Through your forthright and touching discussions about your own unfortunate experiences with domestic abuse, through your time and fund-raising efforts, you've no doubt made a fundamental difference in the lives of countless people. That alone should get you into Cooperstown.

Moving along to the regular readers of The Heartland, many thanks to everyone who came by this year, reading my thoughts and those of the many others who grace this blog with their time and thoughtfulness. I'm really touched, and would love to hear from all you good fans--both of you--who read but don't comment.

To my fellow bloggers--you've inspired me to be smarter, more focused on, and more knowledgeable about baseball than I had thought possible. Geoff from Bleeding Pinstripes, I consider myself fortunate to have ambled across your blog last February as I was jonesing for some Yankee baseball around the start of Spring Training, and was immediately impressed with the high quality of your writing, your sharp insights, your wit and humor, and the loyal base of commenters you justifiably attracted. Reading your blog was reason #1 why I decided to start a blog myself, and it's been my honor to have at times interacted with you on this forum. The Yankees will get after it full force next year and, if we don't cross paths, I hope the next several months bring you the peace and good tidings that you deserve.

Beth from Yankees Chick, you were the first person to comment on my blog, and I never forgot that. If no one had ever come by and left a comment, it would have been fine because I started The Heartland with the idea of keeping a daily journal of sorts of the season. But that I got to talk baseball with you early (or late) and often was a genuine privilege that got the season started right, even if too many early Yankees games went wrong. Stump Merrill behind a gin mill getting hosed down...Yep, and here's a Diet Coke raised high for...Robert Eeinhorn.

Mike, this blog quite simply wouldn't have been the same without you, both in the HDLR and the comment section early in the season onward. When things felt bleak when the Yankees were in Detroit, you slammed my window of despair shut and put distance between me and the ledge, and I won't forget that. You supplied endless amounts of humor, positive vibes, good stories and links, and lots of good cheer to carry me well beyond the unfortunate end of the season. You've become a staple here, and The Heartland and HDLR are in some ways as much yours as they are mine.

levelboss, it's been a treat having you by as much as you've been. Your hanging with me early in the HDLR experimental phase--the gone but not forgotten Heartland Virtual Stadium--onwards has been outstanding, and it's always been nothing short of hilarious to see us unintentionally copying each other's thoughts as the games went on. You've got your name embossed (no pun intended) on your own digital leather recliner for your steady presence and various clutch calls. If we get to copy each other's words as much next year as this year, I'd consider myself a lucky man.

Vanessa, purveyor of the excellent Flair for the Dramatic, you give me great hope for the future of our country. You're articulate, you carry yourself well, you see a lot about the game time in and time out, and you still have time before choosing your future career. Your coming by the HDLR was always something to look forward to, and I hope you make school look as easy as you did commenting on Yankees games.

Lola, scribe of For Everything Else, There's Yankees Baseball, it's amazing that you took the time to come by as much as you did given how much you seem to have had going on any given day. You always brought a boost when you stopped by to lift the rest of us up, like a cool summer breeze. I hope you're not too bummed about this year, because next year will bring even better memories.

Kiowa of It's Yankee Magic Time, if only the Yankees playoff run had fulfilled your terrific blog's title. Despite that, your coming by to hang out in the HDLR was always something I and the others treasured, and you too always had lots of sharp things to say and add. I hope you land the plum gig of your dreams this off-season, and hope to see you around The Heartland during the off-season and next year.

Jason from Baseball and the Boogie-Down Bronx, great to get to know you, and keep piling the love on Cooper. Lowest of the Low, buddy...Yep. We Western New Yorkers (even we transplanted ones) need to stick together. BTW, Matthew Good Band's "Everything Is Automatic' is one of the greatest Canadian alternative songs of all-time, and I've been giving it a good listen often.

luckyleftie, you were one of the most important staples of the HDLR, and were someone who was profoundly missed when you weren't around. You always put a bounce in our collective step with your witticism and passion for the game, and I wish I could have seen your special dance you told us about. One of these days, maybe when the HDLR does its first podcast...

red, talking with you has been like an excursion into the mind of Hunter S. Thompson, and as a fan of HST from the old school, believe me when I say that I mean that in a good way. In fact, I might start assigning nicknames, and if so, you'll be the first--Gonzo (for his writing style, not the Muppet). You clearly get all fired up, which I think is great, and you're the lead-off hitter here at The Heartland--the table-setter running wild for the middle of the order. You can leave 37 consecutive rambling posts at The Heartland anytime, buddy. Hopefully next time, it won't be after a season-ending loss but win.

Joseph, the Statistician Magician, you made me believe that I could have an intelligent, non-heated discussion about baseball--anything--with a Red Sox fan for the first time in a long time, and that means a lot to me. You've never hated on anyone here or elsewhere, you play things cool, and you know your stats and baseball. I appreciate that last item as much as anything--you're a baseball fan, and believe me when I say that it carries a lot of weight with me. Get back in school and go for sports journalism. Thank me in a few years with tickets to a Yankees game, please.

Happymediums, I understand why you don't come around more, given your pressing duties as BPS greeter. But what times you've come by have been a blast, and discovering that you're a fellow Zappa fan immediately earned you a coveted digital leather recliner here in the HDLR. Use it anytime, buddy, and hopefully more often. Did you find that woman who looks like Willie McGee yet?

If there is anyone I've left out, my deepest apologies and rest assured it will occur to me sooner or later, probably after I get more than the seven hours of sleep I've had in the last four days. even if I haven't named you directly, it doesn't mean I'm not thankful for your coming by. I'll be around periodically, especially with the Torre situation and free agency looming. Don't be strangers, people. It's been my privilege this year to have hosted and interacted with all of you, really, and I look forward to doing so in the very near future. You are the best. Things will slow down here from my end, for a little while anyway, but will never stop here at The Heartland.  Let's Go, Yankees!

Before getting to the actual thanks that I have to give, I'd like to send out a special thanks to Chris Doane, who e-mailed me late Tuesday night to pass along these kind words: "I saw your blog off of mlb.com and its TRIBE time, the yanks were shut down again, you guys were out hit and we definately HAVE alot better pitching, go TRIBE."

AWW, Chris, you're so sweet for passing along your well wishes, especially since I'd never heard of, or from, you before the Indians won the ALDS series.  Before I move along to people I actually care about, Chris, I wanted to point out a few things to you. When you wrote your e-mail, presumably through mlb.com, there should have appeared a red line underneath "definately." This denotes a misspelling, and whether or not you realize it, it really is OK for you to go ahead and correct it. Now, I know you were probably busy compiling your scintillating analysis, packed with lucid details of and keen insights into the four-game series in your one run-on sentence. But if you're going to take the time to scribble such a brilliant e-mail to a total stranger, you might want to polish the ol' apple, right?

Speaking of total stranger, it appears that I, a die-hard Yankees fan, might be the only person you contacted with your single-minded sagacity. What a pity, since you chose to contact me rather than savor the series victory with, oh, I don't know, an Indians blogger here at MLB.com. Now, I know that there were only a half-dozen Indians bloggers a couple days ago when you sent your run-on terms of endearment--a few of which hadn't been updated anytime recently--but was it really so pressing for you to e-mail a total stranger with your so-called thoughts, especially when I don't root for the same team as you? Oh, yes, but that was the point now, wasn't it? Expressing just how much you love your team and their ALDS accomplishment by...e-mailing a Yankees fan and trying to rub his nose in your stink. Well, right back at you, genius. Did you really think that I wouldn't respond in some way? Did you really think that I wouldn't call you out for being more of a Yankee-hater than an Indians partisan? Did you really think that I wouldn't label you the lowest form of fan for hating on the team of a stranger rather than extolling the virtues of your own?  Did you really think that I wouldn't tell you publicly what a gutless stain you must be to e-mail to a total stranger your scribble that a seven-year-old with half a functioning brain and a cursory attention span could pick apart for its painful grammatical flaws and utter dearth of analytical worth? Did you really think I wouldn't call you out for your cowardice in sending an e-mail with the hopes of avoiding public assessment of your "thoughts" on my blog? Gee, Chris Doane, eternal thanks for taking a break from your eleventh Rolling Rock to send your road apple of an e-mail. I won't soon forget you.

I have to confess to feeling pretty sick and empty right now. It's been a pretty emotionally draining night, and when things end with such disappointment, again, it's hard to find the words. What boggles me is how the Yankees, yet again, lose to mediocre pitchers such as Byrd, yet again fail as a team to hit in the clutch, yet again bottom out offensively at the wrong time, yet again have a top-flight pitcher--today Wang--who just doesn't have it. Yet again.

It's hard to find the words because it's hard to find the explanation, other than the Yankees just didn't get it done. That becomes trite, but it's too true again this year. Again, the Yankees failed to score runners on base, and they had plenty tonight. I know the team gave its all, and I respect and appreciate that. But falling short is falling short, and this team has fallen short every year since 2000.

This off-season won't be very nice. Count on it.

Pete Abraham, suggested that Torre should state outright that he won't be back. Listening to him in the post-game, I have the feeling he won't be back. I could be wrong, and I don't believe that change for the sake of change is a good thing.  But one way or another, he won't be back unless yet again Cashman convinces Steinbrenner to retain him. I don't think Steinbrenner will renege on his word. Playoff failures are playoff failures, and they've unfortunately failed in the playoffs the last several years.  But who would be better? Would Girardi, a hot-head who openly bickered with Florida's owner? Would Mattingly, who lacks experience? Will the Yanks go outside the organization, as they did for Torre? Will anyone manage the bullpen better, or will a possible successor realize that managing three of garbage is still garbage? I don't know, but I'm confident they'll be asking those questions. I don't believe for a second that bringing in a fiery manager is what this team needs. They're grown men. They don't need generals. They need to perform.

It's too early to tell, but I believe A-Rod opts out and comes back for a big raise. The Yankees cannot afford to let him go, they need righty power, and A-Rod is in the best position for a ring and baseball immortality in The Bronx. I believe Jorge and Mariano should be back, but wonder if their loyalty to Torre will lead them elsewhere should Torre be gone. I would hope that they wouldn't go for that reason. I love Torre. I love the guy, but the players are Yankees first. I also think that steadier work will provide Mariano with a better year and start than he had in 2007. Jorge was nothing short of great in 2007, and the Yankees need him and his power. Molina is a very good backup and should be brought back, but he's not a starter, not with Jorge in pinstripes.

The Yankees need bullpen depth yet again. Nuke LaFarnsworth hopefully saw his last work in pinstripes tonight. He's not reliable, and should be shipped off post haste. Nor is Vizcaino, though it would be interesting to see how he'd pitch if he weren't over-worked by June. Other than Mariano and Joba, the Yankees simply couldn't trust a reliever with a lead and, if the team's plan holds true, expect Joba to start next year, opening up a gaping yawn in the bullpen before Mariano. The starting staff will change dramatically. Clemens will likely retire, given his injuries after gutting it out to get in shape quickly for the Yankees this June. Pettite has alluded to hanging it up, and Mussina has just not been reliable--though he was pretty good tonight. This would leave the Yankees with a staff of Wang, Hughes, Joba, Kennedy, and in need of a fifth. Mussina would be very difficult to deal because of his big salary and no-trade clause, so he might stay, but that would be a big mistake.

The Yankees need changes, but will they make the right ones?

I would hope that the Yankees keep Abreu for another couple years. He had a great second-half and fits in very well with what the Yankees try to do at the plate to wear down opposing pitchers. The Yankees would do well to trade Giambi for whatever they can get and eat most of his $21 million for next year just to be rid of him. Big bat, but a one-tool player for the past four years; enough already. Make Matsui the DH, make JD the left fielder to ensure a solid defensive outfield of him, Melky and Abreu. I like Mientkiewicz and his great glove, but first base is a top target for an upgrade. As much as anything, the Yankees need to play team offense better, and do the right thing in clutch situations to get the hit. They seem to swing for the fences a lot, stranding runners in the process. The Yankee teams of the late 1990s not only hit in the clutch, they got hits and walks, not necessarily homers, to wear out opposing pitchers. Sure, homers came, but often with runners on base after previous batters wore them out.

There will be some things about this post-season that we as fans don't like.

For me, this starts with Torre's likely departure. The guy is a class act, has brought the Yankees great respect and dignity after Steinbrenner's nonsense, has reared a lot of young talent into greatness and maturity, and has treated players almost unerringly (with the main exception to me being the Sports Illustrated hit piece on A-Rod in 2006) the right way. Torre deserves better than to go out in this way, but the fact is the Yankees have been stuck in a playoff rut for a long time, and people will pay for that. Managers under Steinbrenner have been given far shorter leeway. I don't think that Torre will be the only casualty, but I believe he will be the main one. I can't thank you enough for all the memories you've provided for us as Yankee fans, Joe. Seeing your tears of joy after the four great World Series wins of the 1996-2000 era was most touching, and made following the Yankees' championship runs all the sweeter. Should you come back, that would be great, but I believe it won't happen. I look forward to the day when you're enshrined in Cooperstown as the great Yankee manager that you've been. Thanks, Joe.

I also have the sense that some of my roster predictions for next year will be wrong, and not for the better, either. That's not so good when the farm system lacks major-league talent at positions, despite the plethora of young pitchers.

I know this is all a bit rambling, but it will have to do. Many thanks for everyone who came by this inaugural year for The Heartland, and many thanks for the die-hards in the HDLR who have helped to make the 2007 year a great one as a fan. I'll devote more time to individual people as the next couple weeks goes on, but I have a lot of work to do, and I'm honestly a bit drained. Get 'em next year, Yanks. I'll be there for it.

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the Heartland Digital Living Room, where the hot dogs and beverages are always free, the confines are always comfortable, the chin-wagging is always brisk, and I am continuing with my confident motif and again calling that the Yankees will win Game 4. Period. Last night, the Yankees responded gamely to pound Westbrook in the middle innings, taking his sinker to the opposite field and getting a big go-ahead blast from JD to rock the Indians, 8-4. Tonight, Wang goes on short rest against Paul Byrd, whom the Yankees have pounded this year and historically hit. The Yankees would be well served if they continue to have patient at-bats, recognize Byrd's various off-speed stuff, and jump all over what he leaves over the plate. Clearly, they need Wang to pitch as well as he usually does at home, where this year he had a 2.75 ERA and allowed opposing hitters a .235 batting average. Come on in, get comfortable, and enjoy the game. I'll be in by the second inning or so. Win Game 4, guys. I believe in you. Let's Go, Yankees!

Non-believers, please leave, for I know that Yankees fans sensed this somewhere, deep down if not right on the surface, that the Yankees would respond and press on. They did indeed, winning Game 3, 8-4. After struggling offensively for 22 innings, the Yankees finally scored a run to get back into the game in the third, then opened it up in the fifth and sixth to dust the Indians and perennial Yankee whipping boy Jake Westbrook. Clemens struggled, probably showing he had not recovered from his hamstring injury in allowing three runs and failing to get the ball down. But Phil Hughes bailed him and the Yankees out with 3 2/3 brilliant innings of two-hit, scoreless ball while striking out four and walking none on 63 pitches, tremendous clutch work from the kid.

The game had a tense start, with Steinbrenner's threatening words about Torre's job should the Yankees not win the ALDS hanging over Game 3. Clemens got Sizemore to start the first, but a bad play by Jeter, what should have been an error but was ruled a hit, gave Cabrera first. Clemens then walked Sizemore, but got Martinez on a fly out, two down. But Garko singled in Cabrera, 1-0 Indians. Though Damon led off with a single, Jeter hit into a DP, one of three in the first three innings to let Westbrook off the hook. The Indians made it 2-0 in the second on a Trot Nixon solo homer, with Wedge's insertion of Nixon, who hits Clemens well, paying dividends. In the third, Clemens was really laboring and, after striking out Martinez on a 3-2 pitch, was mercifully lifted for Hughes, who allowed a double to Peralta to make it 3-0 Indians. The Yankees responded for a run in the third, when Matsui beat out an infield hit. Cano's ground out moved Matsui, who was running, to second, and the Yankees got a break when Melky's nubber in front of the plate gave Matsui third, when Martinez went to third instead of first.  Damon singled past Garko to right to score Matsui, 3-1 Indians, but Jeter grounded into his second double play to end the third.

But Hughes held the line, fanning Nixon and Sizemore in the fourth to get on a roll right away. Other than Cano's error in the fifth, Hughes set the Indians down, getting Garko looking to end the frame. Then the Yankees finally turned the worm in the bottom of the fifth, with Matsui starting the damage with a single to left, Cano then doubled down the left-field line, just missing a two-run homer, making it second and third with one out. Melky the Clutch then singled to left, 3-2 Indians. JD, one of my player picks for this series, then made me look like a genius by homering to deep right, yanking a 2-0 pitch over the plate way out to finally give the Yankees the lead, 5-3. On the homer, GLG again came to the rescue, calling her famous home-run mantra, "a home run would be nice here," and so it happened. Again, GLG sprinkled her magic dust on a Yankees game, again saving her famous call for just the right time, again coming through, just as the Yankees did. What more can you say? What a great kid, one of two I've been blessed with. In the sixth, after Hughes allowed a lead-off single to Peralta but retired the next three, the Yankees blew the game open with three more. A-Rod singled to short, Jorge singled to left, Mientkiewicz came in for Giambi in a perfectly timed substitution by Torre to lay down a great bunt, second and third one out. Fultz then intentionally walked Matsui to load the bases, and Cano cleared them when he singled to right, and the hard-charging Nixon missed the ball to clear the bases, 8-3 Yankees.

Joba relieved the brilliant Hughes, looking mad after the disappointment Friday, and immediately fanned Sizemore and Cabrera before getting Hafner to end the seventh. Though allowing a run in the eighth on a double to Nixon, Joba got the Yankees to the 9th with an 8-4 lead, throwing 38 pitches but still might be available for an inning tomorrow. Mariano threw a great 9th, retiring the side on 10 pitches and finishing the game by fanning Hafner looking on all three pitches, and you know Mariano will be there for at least two in Game 4 if needed. Great game.

Damon was the offensive player of the game, going 3-4 with his big go-ahead homer in the fifth. Matsui bounced back nicely, going 2-2 with three runs and two walks, a-Rod was 2-4 with a run, Cano was 2-4 with a run and an RBI, and Posada and Melky the Clutch each had a hit and Melky the Clutch added an RBI. But to me, the story was the kid Hughes, who pitched with incredible poise and brilliance in easily the biggest moment of his career. Hughes earned his first playoff win in relief of the greatest righty pitcher of the last half-century, and saved the Yankees season for the next game. It doesn't get any bigger or more clutch than that and, having thrown 63 pitches, could well be available should there be a Game 5, as I believe there will be. Joba was good and Mariano brilliant, as he usually is.

Though Mussina is listed as the Game 4 starter, I'd be surprised if Wang doesn't start. He might wait in the wings should Mussina struggle. On the other hand, it seems that perennial Yankees punching bag Paul Byrd is starting Game 4. Whether it's Byrd or Sabathia starting, or if Sabathia comes on in relief, I'm confident the Yankees will force and win a Game 5. But first things first. The Yankees need to win Game 4, and need the same kind of clutch offensive performance they got tonight. I'm confident they will get that, seemingly breaking the ice tonight to regain their confidence.

Huge win tonight, guys. Great clutch performance. Win Game 4. I believe in you. Let's Go, Yankees!

[Edit: According to Pete Abraham, Wang will start Game 4, which I think is a great move. He's phenomenal at home, with an ERA of 2.75 and a batting average allowed of only .235. I'm even more confident now that the Yankees will win and force a Game 5. Let's Go, Yankees!]

[Edit PS: Great to hear the great Ronan Tynan sing his stirring rendition of "God Bless America" tonight; it's always just beautiful. It's always a great sign of Yankees playoff baseball.]

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the Heartland Digital Living Room, where the hot dogs and beverages are always free, the confines are always comfortable, the chin-wagging is always brisk, and I am starting this off by saying the Yankees win Games 3 and 4 at home. Period. Might I be flashing an inordinate degree of confidence in a team who lost the first two games, and rest a mere game away from elimination? Yes and no. Under the immediate circumstances, the Yankees are in a hole. Yet like the Indians, the Yankees have the second-best home record in baseball this year. They are also playing in front of a home crowd that will no doubt be loud and emotional, and with the extra emotions of the words of The Boss, who basically said that Torre won't be back if the Yankees don't win this series (more on this in a minute). Advantage Yankees. Clemens takes the hill against Westbrook, whom the Yankees have lit up this year to an ERA of 12.46 and a .425 batting average.
Advantage Yankees.

On Steinbrenner, his quoted words are: ""His job is on the line," Steinbrenner told The Bergen Record. "I think we're paying him a lot of money. He's the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don't think we'd take him back if we don't win this series." I'll talk after the year is over about whether or not Torre should stay or go, and what ramifications it will have for the Yankees. That said, I like Steinbrenner's move. Dollars to doughnuts, Steinbrenner knows this team is down and was offensively flat in Cleveland. More importantly, Steinbrenner knows how intensely loyal this team is to Torre, and a little extra motivation and/or anger couldn't hurt at this point. Lastly, while I love Torre and think he's easily been one of the greatest managers for the Yankees and in the game, and is a sure-fire Hall-of-Fame manager who will enter the Hall with a Yankees cap, Steinbrenner has fired people for far less. The Yankees can solve all these problems by winning two at home, then playing their collective @$$es off and winning Game 5 in Cleveland. I'm sure they want to do that anyway. Now they have another reason for it.

Come on in, get comfortable, and enjoy the game. Win. I believe in you. Let's Go, Yankees!

A wretched game for the Yankees to lose, and to sit through for that matter, as they dropped a 2-1 game in the 11th on a walk-off bases-loaded single by Hafner off Vizcaino. The Yankees managed just three hits all night, as Carmona and Perez had the Yanks on lock-down. Thankfully, Pettite and Mariano were just as clutch to hold the Indians. But I started to get a bad feeling in the eighth, when the usually reliable Joba Chamberlain surrendered two walks (despite allowing just one all season) and two wild pitches to allow Sizemore to score from third to tie the game. The Yankees just have not fared well this year in extra innings games, especially on the road, and tonight unfortunately was no different.

The Yankees got their only run when Melky absolutely tattooed a breaking ball from Carmona left hanging over the inside part of the plate to deep right, 1-0 Yanks. Pettite allowed lead-off runners to reach but avoided trouble at every turn, remarkably. He struck out Cabrera to end the third and strand Michaels at third, he stranded Hafner at second to end the fourth. On a great play, he picked off Lofton as he tried to steal third to end the fifth, getting an arm up as a heads-up from Jeter that Lofton was going. The sixth was intense, as Sizemore tripled to lead off, but again Pettite escaped, getting Cabrera on a come-backer for the first out, and striking out Hafner and Martinez, remarkably great work from Pettite. In the seventh, Peralta doubled and Lofton walked, with Pettite being extra-careful to the (thankfully) ex-Yankee, who has been hammering Yankee pitching the first two games, to get to Gutierrez and to allow Joba more time to warm up. Joba then fanned Gutierrez and got Blake to fly out to right to send it to the eighth with the Yankees still ahead.

Then the bugs came.

In a terrible coincidence, the field became infested with "Canadian soldiers," annoying flying ants that covered the players, not the least of whom was Joba, who literally had them all over his neck and face as he pitched. There's no question he was distracted, as he gave up two walks and threw two wild pitches, allowing Sizemore to score from third on a wild pitch to tie the game. Kudos to Joba for gathering his composure and getting out of the mess--and the swarm. But it was one of the few times we've seen Joba act his age. He can't be faulted too much for that, and such incidents are bound to happen--it's baseball. The whole mess came at the worst possible time and, with the offense generating practically nothing, became more significant than it should have. The Yankees generated a brief rally in the ninth, with Abreu singling to short and stealing second with two outs, but A-Rod struck out on a tough pitch from Carmona under the hands. I suspect A-Rod might be getting some grief among some Yankee fans, but let's face it, he's struggled against the best the Indians have to offer, as have the rest of the team. On those pitches from Carmona, I'm not sure how A-Rod could have either hit or laid off them; they were perfectly placed under the hands, going 94-95, and close enough to be called strikes in Laz Diaz's annoyingly amorphous strike zone last night. Was it just me, or was Diaz horrible behind the plate? He was terrible on Mariano and Vizcaino, I thought, not only calling close pitches balls but pitches that he had earlier called strikes. It was a terrible job, hardly why the Yankees lost but nonetheless fair to say a shoddy performance from someone supposed to have earned the right to call playoff games. Horrible.

Vizcaino was not sharp in the 11th, allowing two hits and two walks, and it was a feeble way to end a great game--Vizcaino and the anemic offense floundering. Indians up 2 games to none.

But there is hope.

The Yankees return to Yankee Stadium for the next two, and they are a great home team as well, oddly enough tied with the Indians for the second-best home record in baseball in 2007. They also face Jake Westbrook, whom they have hit well in the past. They also get last ups, significant given last night's turn of events. I have the strong feeling that given the Yankees' struggles in the first two games, and how well he pitches at home, the Yankees will go with Wang on short rest in Game 4. Whether or not the Indians counter with Sabathia on short rest to try to seal it, I don't know. But the Indians have the advantage of having Game 5 at home if necessary. But first things first. The Yankees need a very good start from Clemens, and they need to make their patience at the plate pay off with much more hitting. What the Yankees could really use is a good blowout win to really shake things up, to send a message to the Indians that anyone short of their very best pitchers will get creamed, and to be fair, Westbrook and Byrd are hardly Sabathia and Carmona. In short, they need a big response Sunday.

The Indians had their turn at home, and credit them for holding serve. Now it's the Yankees' turn. This team has been up and down this year, with great performances interspersed with deep frustration. We've had the frustration in Games 1 and 2. How about some greatness, guys?

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the Heartland Digital Living Room, where the hot dogs and beverages are always free, the confines are always comfortable, the chin-wagging is always fast and furious, and I am bouncing back from last night's debacle like it ain't nobody's business. This afternoon, the Yankees look to rebound by sending ace stopper Pettite (15-9, 4.05 ERA) to the hill against Carmona (19-8, 3.06 ERA) in another terrific pitching match-up. The Wang and Ohlendorf got cuffed around by clutch hits and the long ball, and the Yankee hitters failed to take full advantage of the immense amount of work they inflicted on Sabathia. They failed to follow their game plan in clutch situations, chasing bad pitches outside the zone to bail out Sabathia. They need to stay patient, work over Carmona, and get into an Indians' bullpen that might be depleted because Wedge inexplicably used both Betancourt and Perez last night in a blowout. They also need better production than five hits, as anyone can see. Working around teaching and some writing today, I set the positive mood by listening to some great tunes, such as "Sorcery" and "Sombrero Sam" from Charles Lloyd, "Mulling It Over" and "New York Prophesie" off "Live From the Fall," the outstanding double live CD from the incomparable Blues Traveler. The Yankees WILL respond today, I feel it in every fiber of my body. Come on in, get comfortable, and enjoy the game. Be the stopper, Andy. Win in Cleveland. Let's Go, Yankees!

Not a good start to the ALDS, for certain. The Yankees worked over Sabathia but let him off the hook, driving up his pitch count to 114 through five innings and working six walks but failing to plate any of the six walks he issued, while Wang had a meltdown and coughed up eight runs to a hot-hitting Indians team that won going away, 12-3. The bats went cold at the wrong time, not entirely unexpectedly considering Sabathia's talent, but the Yankees showed impatience at the wrong time. How much it would have mattered is very much a matter of conjecture, since neither Wang nor Ohlendorf could keep the Indians' bats down.

The Yankees started well, with one of my players picks JD starting the game off with a homer to deep right, 1-0 Yankees after the umpires grabbed a coffee to straighten out the obviously blown call from RF ump Jim Wolf. With one out Abreu and A-Rod each came back from 1-2 counts to work walks, but Jorge struck out--part of a bad day at the dish for him--and Matsui grounded out to end the threat and begin the feeling, yet again, that the Yankees let another pitcher off the hook to start the game and precipitate the team swoon. It hurt them as Wang struggled mightily in the first, hitting Sizemore on the first pitch but getting a double play to erase the HBP. Yet he walked Hafner with two outs, and the Indians rolled from there to score three in the bottom of the first, 3-1 Indians. Cabrera's homer in the third made it 4-1, but Cano rekindled hope with his homer in the 4th, 4-2 Indians. But although the Yankees climbed closer in the 5th, they really blew a chance to knock Sabathia from the game, and failed to tie it despite loading the bases with one out. Abreu doubled to make it 4-3, second and third with one out, and the Indians intentionally walked A-Rod to load the bases and get to Jorge. He worked the count to 3-0, then swung at a 3-0 pitch, fouling it off--not the worst idea given that Sabathia had to throw a strike, but the real sin for Jorge was swinging at a 3-2 pitch outside the strike zone to make it two outs, instead of walking to make it 4-4. Matsui then popped out to let Sabathia escape with the Indians still in the lead. The Indians then crushed the Yankees for five in the 5th to end any real threat from the Yanks, despite my best efforts to stay positive.

Wang looked horrible, leaving pitches up and getting rocked. I don't know why he struggles so badly on the road, but struggle he does, and his poor performance will fuel some second-guessing about why he wasn't saved for Game 3 at The Stadium, where his ERA is a full two runs a game lower. But an ace is an ace, and Wang should, should be able to pitch well on the road. Yet he bombed tonight. Ohlendorf struggled in relief, but bought others in the pen a reprieve for tomorrow.  Hughes pitched two innings in relief getting good playoff experience and pitching well, despite allowing a homer to Garko to right-center in the eighth. But the bats were just as big a problem as the pitching, with the Yanks leaving seven on base and failing to score any of the six walks that Sabathia issued. Just as importantly, they gave the Indians confidence that the 6-0 season series loss indeed meant nothing, when in fact it could have meant a lot with a better, more effective, more spirited performance. Jeter, Jorge, Melky, and Matsui all went 0-4, and A-Rod was 0-2, not good when the middle of the lineup and such key guys come up empty.

Thankfully, the Yankees have stopper extraordinaire Pettite going tomorrow afternoon/evening, and he is outstanding after a Yankees loss. The Yankees also typically bounce back very well after such a downer of a loss, and I expect nothing less tomorrow. I'm not entirely surprised the Yankees lost, just that Wang looked so bad tonight. But the Yankees have lost other first games, have bounced back after losing badly, and tomorrow should prove that true. Carmona is certainly good, but the Yankees' patience was a good sign tonight; they just didn't hit in the clutch. All the Yankees need to do is win one in Cleveland and reverse home-field advantage to their favor. Given Matsui's struggles tonight, I wouldn't be surprised to see Giambi DH tomorrow. No time to sulk, guys. Get back on the horse and bounce back strong tomorrow. Let's Go, Yankees!

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the Heartland Digital Living Room, ALDS Edition, where the hot dogs and beverages are always free, the confines are always comfortable, the chin-wagging is always brisk, and the bunting for the playoffs obstructs neither the plush digital leather seating nor the choice view. Tonight, at long last, Game 1 is here!! In the series opener, Wang (19-7, 3.70 ERA in the regular season) faces off against Sabathia (19-7, 3.21 ERA in the 2007 regular season) in yet another stellar Game 1 pitching match-up in the 2007 playoffs. The Yankees will clearly look to take at least a game in Cleveland, and what better way to start the playoffs and the series than a big win on the road against a very good pitcher. Like my close friend Frank the Sage always says, yes the Yankees have to concern themselves with the other team and their strengths, but the flip-side of that equation is also true--the Indians need to concern themselves with the Yankees and their strengths, and I'll put the Yankees' strengths up against anybody else's any day of the week and three times on Sunday. To that I say (in my own pidgin Frenglish) a hearty Amen, mon freriest of frers. The Indians will be tough, and have a good 1-2 punch with Sabathia and Carmona, but the Yankees are the Yankees, stout and patient at the plate, and with genuine strength on the mound as well with Wang, Pettite, Clemens et al. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I like the Yankees' chances this game, this series, this year. Come on in, get comfortable, and enjoy the game. I'll be in for the duration by the late first inning, and around a bit before the game begins. Lots of good vibes going people!! I can feel it. Let's Go, Yankees!!

[Edit: According to the great Pete Abraham and the equally excellent Mark Feinsand, apparently Doug Mientkiewicz had a Cleveland-area cameraman run into/over him on his way off the team bus at the stadium. He was taken to the clubhouse on a cart, had his ankle wrapped, and went through some agility drills during team warm-ups to test it. It seems as though he'll be ready to go, and the guy is all guts anyway, but it's well beyond unnecessary for such a dumb incident to have happened, before such a big game no less. Get some extra security for the post-game departure and the next game, please, before Shelley Duncan tries to exact revenge by tackling Ryan Garko in the parking lot. Hopefully, this will just be a minor bump in the post-season road for Mientkiewicz and the Yankees.]

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the Heartland Digital Living Room, where the hot dogs and beverages are always free, the confines are always comfortable, the chin-wagging is always lively, and I am so psyched for the Yankees game that am nearly jumping out of my own skin. Today, as per Mike's request, there is an all-day, three-game HDLR special in-games open thread. Welcome to anyone who normally may not come in for the Yankees games. Come on in, get comfortable, and enjoy the games. I issue this not as prior restraint but rather as a fair warning for newcomers in what might be hotly contested games and series--be civil, people. Anyone not comporting themselves well by abusing others in the HDLR, or ranking on others and their teams, will be evicted by the flying squadron of digital bouncers we've hired for the playoffs. Keep it lively but keep it fun.

[Edit: Thanks to the good people at MLBlogs for linking The Heartland to the MLBlogs front page featuring series match-ups. I'm honored.]

After a couple days away for writing, it's good to be back to doing some blogging. It seems like it's been a month. Taking a break from my other work, I figured that it would be a good time to do some analytical work for the first time in a while, assessing some match-ups and why I believe the Yankees will win in four tense games. I respect the Indians, and they didn't win the Central by accident. They have a good staff reliant on two excellent starters in Sabathia and Carmona, they have two good young, hard-throwing arms out of the pen in Perez and Betancourt, they have hit 178 homers, good for 5th in the AL, and they have a good, deep lineup. They are not to be taken lightly, and I don't think for a second that even though the Yankees won the season series 6-0, they are taking the Indians lightly.  That said, the Yankees have several advantages over Cleveland, and a few aspects favor the Yankees to move on to the ALCS.

1.) The Indians are a free-swinging team, striking out over 200 more times than the Yankees. Four players struck out more than 100 times (Sizemore 155, Peralta 146, Blake 123, Hafner 115), and had Garko (94) and Barfield (90) played full seasons, they would have as well. They are not patient--not a good characteristic to have in the post-season. If the Yankees avoid giving up the long ball against the Indians, they will be in very good shape.

2.) While Sizemore (33 of 43) and Lofton (23 of 30) are very good on the base paths, the team is 12th in the AL in stolen bases with 72, while the Yankees are 4th with 123. Sizemore is an unusual combination, striking out 155 times but still having a high OBP (.390) due to earning 101 walks, and Lofton still runs well at the age of 40. If the Yankees can keep them off the bases, they will make the Indians struggle mightily to manufacture runs.

3.) The Yankees have had success against Indians starters, all of them. While the Yankees have not faced Sabathia since 2004, and he has significantly improved in part due to lowering his walk total, he still gives up the long ball, allowing 20 this year. In 2004, the Yankees beat Sabathia, scoring three runs and earning four walks on 109 pitches in six innings. In 2003, they beat Sabathia twice in two weeks, scoring four runs (two earned) on five and working six walks on 120 pitches in seven innings, and scoring six runs earned off six hits and a walk in six innings the second time around. Carmona is tough, but the Yankees beat him once and scored four runs off him this year. I think the last thing the Indians would want to see is them down 2-1 in the series, and starting Paul Byrd in The Bronx. He has given up 27 homers this year, and the Yankees historically pound him.

4.) Joe Borowski is not a top-flight closer, not even close. He is 4-5 with a 5.07 ERA, has allowed nine homers in 65 2/3 innings, and has blown eight saves. He is not overpowering, A-Rod hit his massive walk-off homer against him, and he is certainly beatable. If I were the Yankees facing Borowski in a tight or tied game, I'd feel very confident.

5.) The Yankees are an offensive juggernaut, leading the AL in homers with 201, runs with an amazing 968, hits and OBP. They can light up any one at any time, they can struggle for a few innings then drop a half-dozen without an out, they can hit the long ball, hit the gap and steal bases. After some good mid-season acquisitions, call-ups and people returning from injury, the Yankees' bench is as strong as it's been since the late 1990s. No one, no one, wants to face the Yankees' offense.

6.) While the Indians played terrific ball this year, the Yankees are the hotter team, having gone 73-39 in their last 112, and 51-25 since the All-Star break. They beat poor teams and division leaders, including Cleveland. The Yankees were simply the best team in the second half.

7.) The Yankees have a significantly improved bullpen. Joba Chamberlain gives the Yankees a shutdown set-up man they haven't had, of that quality, since Mariano in 1996 and, in more recent playoff years, since the terrific Mike Stanton. Nuke LaFarnsworth has had a good second half, and the Yankees have other arms such as Jose Veras available to supplement Mariano and The Viz. They're deeper than last year, more reliable, and can and have put up consecutive zeros late in the game.

8.) The Yankees have lots of playoff experience, running the gamut from recent playoff years to World Series victories in the 1996-2000 years among their roster. I also believe they're hungry, very hungry, for that elusive ultimate success of a championship. The players on this team have high expectations, and pushed themselves like dogs to meet them the second half.

9.) The Yankees have significantly improved their defense with Mientkiewicz at first, Melky in center and JD in left with the speed of the transplanted center fielder that he is.

I believe the Yankees will take one of two in Cleveland, and finish it in The Bronx, where they are as tough a home team as there is in baseball, another important aspect. Yankees in four.

Players to watch: Jeter, Posada, Mariano, Joba, Pettite and A-Rod [absolutely A-Rod] will be there, count on it. But the key swing players, pushing the Yankees from threatening playoff team to title contender will be Abreu, who could make the Yankees frightening with patient at-bats and RBIs, Matsui if his knee is healthy, Cano to make the middle of the lineup extra long, JD healthy, and Clemens. I know Clemens will give his all, but the Yankees have been torn asunder the past two years by an unhealthy and ineffective Randy Johnson in Game 3 of 2005 and 2006. Clemens needs to be good in 2007. They cannot have another bad, truncated outing from a starter in this pivotal game, regardless of whether the series is 2-0 Yankees, 2-0 Indians, or tied. The Yankees need pitchers to go 6 or more good innings time in and time out, period, and if Clemens can do that in Game 3, can give the Yankees a solid start to support the bats that will be there, the Yankees will be very hard to beat.

My guys in the ALDS (aside from the first few I believe can surely be counted on): Abreu and JD are most key; pitcher: Clemens.

The HDLR will be bouncing Thursday early evening, and I can't wait. Let's Go, Yankees!