Dan Uggla - The New Soriano?

Tim Brown wrote a piece for Yahoo Sports concerning Dan Uggla's agent stating Dan Uggla wants to stay at second base. The agent is quoted as saying: "...he’s performed remarkably over these four years at second base and there should be no reason to consider a position change at this time.” In the words of modern philosophers: "What pipe has he been smoking from?"

All this sounds vaguely familiar. Not too long ago another second baseman, adept at hitting homers on a regular basis, but one who struggled in the field, insisted on staying at that position despite being asked to change. His name is Alphonso Soriano who now plays quite infrequently for the Cubs. Soriano eventually did become a left fielder and had a couple of good seasons there.

Well, we know agents are supposed to paint their clients in the best possible light. But shouldn't there be some truth or at least a hint of it in the babble that comes out of an agent's mouth? Dan Uggla has not been remarkable at second base. He was decent in 2008 and finished with a UZR slightly ahead of average with a score of 1.6. But in 2009, Uggla's UZR plummeted to new depths to -10.1. That low score tops his previous low of two years ago when he finished at -9.3. Plus, his range factor has dropped from his career marks around the 4.8 level to 4.4.

It's hard not to feel for Uggla's situation. Because of his bat, he's been worth $61 million in his four years with the Marlins while only making a fraction of that. The Marlins have had a steal for those four years. Now Uggla is reaching his arbitration years where he can finally cash in a bit and the Marlins won't be able to afford it and, since his career got a late start, he's going into 2010 at 30 years old and his abilities will only diminish from here.

And there is a economic advantage to being a good offensive player as a second baseman. The positional worth of a second baseman is higher than a first baseman or an outfielder. And as such, his WAR (Wins over replacement) value is higher as a second baseman. That all makes perfect economic sense for an agent and his player. But the reality is that he just isn't good enough to play that position. So any front office and fan of fielding stats can scoff at the "remarkably" comment as first degree hyperbole.

It's hard to know what kind of third baseman Uggla can be. But at least the value there is higher than an outfielder. Heck, he couldn't do any worse than Bonifacio did there last year. And his offensive worth is only marginal as a corner outfielder. That is the dilemma for Uggla.

Uggla is still a value at the plate. His 97 walks were a career high. He has hit over 30 homers for four straight years. He will get his dollars at arbitration this year. And there is no doubt he will be playing for somebody for the next couple of years. But any team that values defense will have to think twice about weakening their infield defense to play him at second. And if that's where he insists on playing, he will have a problem and be a problem.

Gold Gloves Not the Only Flawed Award

Anyone who has been reading the major sites and the most popular baseball writers knows the current outcry of scorn concerning the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. And while that award's results this year are again severely flawed, it isn't the only flawed award out there. This week we also had the announcements for the Silver Slugger Award which awards the best hitters at each position in the American and National leagues. This award is just as flawed but doesn't get as much ink.

There is no denying that the Gold Glove Awards are a joke. Several of this year's choices are puzzling and not anywhere close to being reality to who the best fielders are at each position. By the Fan's estimation, only six of the eighteen choices are defensible. That qualifies as a joke by a wide margin. And the scorn of writers and bloggers is justified. But hardly anyone talks much about the Silver Slugger Awards. Perhaps they are not as "big" as the Gold Glove Awards, but they are visible enough to be reported.

But whether the Silver Slugger is as "big" as the Gold Glove or not, shouldn't the process be correct? The award considers batting average and on base percentage among other things. But from this perspective, it does not consider slugging. To this writer, the awards should be based on OPS+. That considers all aspects of a batter's game. While it is true that this statistic has a few basic flaws, it is a truer valuation of a player's results than just batting average and on base percentage. Let's look at results per position.

American League

Catcher: Joe Mauer. Well yeah...

First base: Teixeira. They got this one right. Youkilis had a better OPS+ (he was second in the league behind Mauer), but the Red Sox screwed this one all up because they split Youkilis between first and third base, making him ineligible for either.

Second base: Aaron Hill. While Aaron Hill had a wonderful season and while the Fan is thrilled for him for his success, Ben Zobrist had a better OPS+ by quite a bit.

Shortstop: Derek Jeter. Jeter had the highest OPS+ among shortstops.

Third base: Evan Longoria. Longoria had a great season, but A-Rod had a much higher OPS+.

Outfield: Jason Bay, Ichiro Suzuki, Torii Hunter. The correct choices should have been Bay, Shin-Soo Choo and Jason Kubel. But if you want to rule Kubel out because he was a DH for 80 games, then next up would be J. D. Drew. Ichiro is a singles machine. He's also a prime outfielder and a good base runner. But his OPS+ was lower than Johnny Damon's for Pete's Sake.

DH: Adam Lind. This one was dead on.

National League

Catcher: Brian McCann. This one is correct. Montero for Arizona just missed with an OPS just points lower.

First base: Albert Pujols. Duh.

Second base: Chase Utley. Yes.

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez. Another Yes.

Third base: Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman had a break out year and also deserved the Gold Glove, but Pablo Sandoval had a higher OPS+ by nine points.

Outfield: Ryan Braun, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp. Bruan is correct as is Ethier, but Kemp was a mistake. It should have been Raul Ibanez who has Kemp by six points in OPS+.

DH: Oh yeah, the National League doesn't have one. Zambrano won it as a pitcher.

So the final tally is 12 correct out of 18 positions. Not quite as bad as the Gold Glove Awards, but still flawed nonetheless. The obvious point here is that the managers and coaches should not be picking either award. As long as they do, the awards will be flawed and we won't have a viable award that means anything.

Ugh. They Should Have Retired

Ken Griffey Jr. has always been a Fan favorite. And it was fine for him to have a swan song season in Seattle. But it should have ended there. Instead, the Kid has signed on for another year and once again, all an admiring and thankful Fan can do is hope that the latest off-season surgery will help.

The same with Jason Varitek. Other than leading the league in blocking balls in the dirt, Varitek no longer has anything to offer. His offense is gone and his throwing is gone too. But the Red Sox foolishing offered Varitek an option year and he took it. Now the Red Sox will have to endure another season of awkwardness with Victor Martinez playing first at times to keep him in the lineup.

Washington Nationals - 2009 Debrief

Our nation's capital hasn't seen a good team in a good long while. Going back and including the Washington Senators who left for Minnesota in 1961, Washington baseball teams have come in last place seven out of nine seasons and one of those seasons was a next-to-last-place team. Not only were the 2009 Nationals a bad team, but they were very efficient at being inefficient. Maybe it's the curse of Congress being so close. But the Nationals shouldn't use our senators and congresspersons as their role models. Perhaps they should try the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (There! The name is correctly typed).

What is meant by the last two statements in the previous paragraph is that according to the Pythagorean Over/Under, the Nationals should have won 70 games but only won 59. The semi-good news there is that most of those were in the first half under Manny Acta. The team responded much better to Jim Riggleman after Acta was fired (good luck Cleveland).

The further good news is that five of the eight regulars in the lineup are pretty darn good thumpers. They get nothing at the plate from their middle infielders and their catchers however. And they have a bonafide star in Ryan Zimmerman, who not only had a great year at the plate and should continue to get better there, but was also recently rated as the best fielding third baseman in the National League, if not in all of baseball.

Adam Dunn is who he is. He'll walk a hundred times, strike out 170 times, clunk out nearly 40 homers and rumble around the field like some kind of tank. He's not a good fielder at any position and really should be a DH, but the NL doesn't have the DH, so he has to play somewhere. After trading Nick Johnson, the Nationals have decided that Dunn can do the least amount of harm at first.

Josh Willingham had a good season with a 127 OPS+ and Nyjer Morgan was great until he got hurt. But the Nationals seem to have a knack for being the collecting zone for once promising prospects that washed up in the majors. There was Lastings Milledge, Alex Cintron, Corey Patterson, Austin Kearns and Elijah Dukes. The Nationals need to get off that particular train. Those guys just didn't have what it takes to be effective major leaguers. Stop it already.

But what really is troubling for this team is the pitching and the defense. They were dead last in the majors for pitching VORP and 22nd out of 30 teams in defensive efficiency AND fielding percentage. Their regular catchers couldn't throw anybody out. Defense you can fix somewhat. It helps to get Dunn out of left field. Make Jesus Flores your starting catcher and you've already got some improvement. Get a shortstop that can either hit or field instead of one that can do neither.

But how to fix the pitching is the tough one. Apart from Jordan Zimmermann and Joel Hanrahan (in a few disastrous starts), none of their starting pitchers struck out more than six batters per nine innings. And this Fan is definitely off the Lannan bandwagon. Yeah, his ERA was good. But his 3.91 strikeouts per nine innings just isn't going to cut it long term in the majors. Add that to the fact that the five guys who got the most innings in the bullpen averaged five walks per nine innings. Ugh!

The Nationals should sign every decent arm on the market. That's their only hope, really. They can hope that Detwiler is as good as projected and that their uber-prospect, Stephen Strosburg is the real deal and comes along quickly.

There is no real easy fix for this team. Constant mismanagement has forced them into a period of futility that will take time to crawl out of. Heck, the D.C. fans haven't seen a World Series team since 1932 and it will take a while to have any hope of getting there any time soon.

Bouncing off of Posnanski

Many of you know that Joe Posnanski is a favorite writer of this blog. His excellence is beyond pretty much anything out there. He is consistently entertaining and consistently on point. As a result, he has earned his new gig as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated.

One of the things that good writers do is make you think. When arguments and statements from that writer make the reader ponder their own point of view, that's good writing. Rob Neyer over at ESPN does that too, though he's more of a commentator on other writers than he is a writer himself these days. But he makes you think and again, that's what good writers do.

Mr. Posnanski wrote a fairly scathing (in his words) screed the other day about the big bucks the Yankees have and their competitive advantage. As a Fan of both that team and of Mr. Posnanski (and of Sports in the City, another great blog with the same opinion), it is a bit bothersome that this opinion exists. And, on the surface, the point is true. The Yankees do have a competitive advantage. But what is also true is that hardly anyone with that opinion puts things in a historical perspective.

The opinion doesn't take into account what the Yankees have built. The Fan was there when it started. And believe this writer when he tells you, the Yankees did not always have this advantage. They built it the good old American way.

The lowly Marlins and Pirates and Royals and all the other "poor" teams in terms of payroll all have higher attendance figures than the Yankees did for at least half of the 1960s. The lowest attendance figure in the sport this past year was 1.4 million seats sold. All of these seats cost much more than they did back in the 1960s. From 1966 to 1970, the Yankees averaged about 1.25 million seats sold in attendance. That attendance was uniformly bad in those days must be stated here for fairness. But even saying that, the Yankees usually finished those years in the middle of the pack in attendance in the majors.

The team was such a financial mess that George Steinbrenner could buy the team at $10 million from CBS. From that lowly state, Steinbrenner built an empire. He used a bit of P. T. Barnum bluster, a knack for finding the back page of the New York Daily News, he correctly gauged the minds of New York fans and he built a television monster. He really has been the Vanderbilt of baseball.

Ted Turner nearly equaled what Steinbrenner did with the Braves. His TBS, which was far ahead of its time, took a poor team and made them a financial success, which like the Yankees, allowed them to be competitive for a long, long time.

The point is that these men succeeded with smarts and business acumen to take moribund franchises and built them into monsters. John Henry, et al, have done the same thing with the Red Sox. As a business owner, this Fan admires their success and dreams of that sort of end story. And yet, their success has become some sort of evil. It's become a bad thing and shouts are made across the land of lack of parity and lack of opportunity. Well, that's disturbing.

It is disturbing on a couple of fronts. First, it says that if a team is not very good at PR or not very good at building their brands and their businesses, the Yankees should be punished because they are. Heck, the Yankees are already "taxed" for their success with some of their hard earned money being given to those poor business people. Plus, with revenue sharing, all profits from national television rights and MLB products are divided evenly among all teams despite the fact that the Yankees drive in more money to those accounts than anyone else. And the Fan is okay with that on some level. But on another level, it seems a bit communistic to have the rich (again derived from smarts) support the poor (who haven't been as smart).

The basic unfairness the Yankees have is their location. It is considered the best market in sports. But that hasn't helped the Knicks has it? Or the Rangers? Artie Moreno is another example of an owner who took a franchise that wasn't exactly succeeding in their market and making it a success. He also has a prime market. But he had to make that market work for him. The Yankees have been successful at making their market work. But that is evil?

Let's look at another team in sports that has become nearly as "evil" as the Yankees. Let's talk about the New England Patriots. Before Robert Kraft bought that team, the Patriots were an absolute mess. They played at a dreadful stadium which was a traffic nightmare. The team was more awful than it was good. They had a couple of good seasons, but basically, they were an also-ran. Kraft has made that franchise a jewel through good business sense and smart management. But success breeds evil in this country nowadays. It's like we've become a country of anarchists. We want to tear down all these success stories because not everyone is a success.

The dirty little secret in baseball is that success for the Yankees means more revenue for the other owners despite whether they are good at what they do or not. The Yankees are the biggest draw whenever they visit other venues. That television revenue and marketing revenue sharing along with the "tax" the Yankees pay for their payroll means more money for these other owners. Some of them may cry foul for the success the Yankees have and the advantage they have built, but the Fan would believe that most of them think of the Yankees like some creepy, but rich uncle that lines their pockets with more money.

The Fan will take all of this one point further. Any team currently in a mess, any team with a small payroll and in a hole when it comes to competing can turn it around just like the Yankees did. If they had the same flair, the same acumen and the same brand-building machine, the Royals could be a big success as could the Marlins, the Twins and any other team you mention out there. The Yankees started from a lower point than all of them. Look it up. Granted, they have a good market. But that didn't stop Sam Walton did it?

Bottom line: The Yankees have earned their success. They are an American success story. And it is a story that anyone can repeat. That's not evil. It truly isn't.

Flordia Marlins - 2009 Debrief

The Marlins came in second place in the National League East, six games behind the Phillies and a game ahead of the Braves. Here is a quick quiz: The Marlins won 87 games and came in second because: A) Great young pitching or B) Batting. Most people would answer "A." But really, the answer is "B." There is no doubt that the Marlins have great arms and have a reputation for developing such arms. But 2009 was no different than the years before. Those arms failed to come together significantly and it was the hitting that carried them.

Some day, the Marlins, who always have to go on the cheap, will gel at the pitching position. Every year it seems they have the best young arms in baseball. But every year, those arms fail to materialize in a dominant staff. Maybe 2010 will be the year. They certainly have the talent. But two things seem to get in the way. First, they walk way too many batters. They finished 12th in the National League in that category out of 16 teams. Secondly, their defense is awful. Their defensive efficiency ranked 22nd in the majors out of 26 teams. They were weak in fielding at second, first, third, left and right.

On the Positive Side

They have the second best player in baseball in Hanley Ramirez. With his glove, he may be even with Albert Pujols because he plays shortstop. The guy's talent is unlimited and he is still only 25 years old, meaning his best years should still be ahead of him. He had an OPS+ of 148. He has a VORP of 79.9. Wow! They also had a break out year for Chris Coghlan who mercifully took over the lead off position from Bonafacio (more on him later) and ended up with 565 plate appearances. Coghlan's line ended up: .321/.390/.460. That's a line that's not too far behind Derek Jeter from the lead off spot. He played out of position in left, but with his age, there is no reason why he can't develop into a top flight outfielder.

The Marlins also got productive years from Jorge Cantu, Cody Ross and Dan Uggla, all who finished well above the league average in OPS+. They are solid at catcher with a nice platoon split of Paulino and Baker. Both finished league average at the plate but Paulino is more solid as a defender. Baker had too many passed balls and wasn't nearly as good as Paulino in throwing out runners. Nick Johnson was a nice addition at the end of the year. It is doubtful they keep him, but he was well worth the time he spent there.

The Marlins also have one of the best starting pitchers in the league in Josh Johnson. Johnson finished the season with some eye popping numbers. He went 15-5 with a 3.23 ERA. His WHIP was 1.158 and he had an excellent 3.29 strikeout to walk ratio. Johnson is the real deal and barring injury, should be a big time pitcher for quite some time. Ricky Nolasco also had a better year than his 5.06 ERA would indicate. His strikeout to walk ratio is off the charts at 4.43 and he struck out more than 9 batters per nine innings. He gave up too many homers, but other than that, he was a good pitcher. A little different luck and he would have been fabulous. The 1-2 punch of Johnson and Nolasco is an exciting one.

Out of the bullpen, Brian Sanchez and Kiko Colero (one of the great names in baseball) are big time arms and had much success. Wheeler was decent and the Marlins got great efforts at the end of the year from Brenden Donnelly and Tim Wood.

The Ugh Factors

It is truly unforgivable that the Marlins gave Emilio Bonifacio over 500 plate appearances. His 61 OPS+ is enough proof that they had to be out of their minds to do so. Plus, he was terrible in the field, giving the team fits for an entire season. And yet, they kept running him out there.

It is also clear that the Marlins can't keep Dan Uggla at second base. He's just not very good there, which is probably a charitable statement. If the Fan were in charge down there, it might be considered worth the risk to switch Uggla and Coghlan and put Coghlan at second. Uggla, despite a consistently low batting average, is productive at the plate with good power and lots of walks. But man, he just can't play second. Those memorable errors in the All Star game was NOT a fluke.

The Marlins need to decide what to do about right field. Brett Carroll might be the best outfielder in baseball. But he doesn't hit. Hermida has already been traded to the Red Sox. It would probably be a good idea to move Cody Ross to right and install Cameron Maybin in center. Maybin hasn't proved he can hit in the majors but he is a big time talent. If he can put it together, the Marlins could be on to something. But that's a big if.

The Marlins need a closer they can rely on. Wheeler is better as a setup guy and Nunez gave up 13 homers in just 68.1 innings of work. That's not what you want from a closer. They have a lot of good arms. One of them should be able to get that job done.

What happened to Chris Volstad is a bit of a mystery. He was great in 2008 but was really not very good in 2009. He gave up a whopping 29 homers and his WHIP ballooned up to 1.434. He is a talented pitcher though and perhaps he will bounce back. This Fan has little regard for Sean West. He has talent, but he seems so immature (check out the web for some of his nightlife adventures). Plus, his body language on the mound is weak. He lacks the confidence you need to have to make his obvious talent work for him.

2010 Projection

As always with the Marlins, it's a question of whether the pitching can come together. A rotation made up of of Johnson, Nolasco, Volstad, West, Annibal Sanchez and Andrew Miller (the young phenom who showed flashes, but ultimately walked too many) could be dominant if they can put it together. They have some good arms in the bullpen and if they can develop a closer out of one of them, that could be a strength as well.

It's also obvious the Marlins can hit, but perhaps a few of the tweaks outlined above can make them a better fielding team, which is much needed. Hopefully, we won't have to endure another season of Bonifacio.

If the Marlins can get the pitching their talent indicates, continue hitting and improve their defense, they could be scary. There isn't much reason why they can't win 90 games. The Fan doesn't see them winning more than that, but stranger things have happened.

New York Mets - 2009 Debrief

The New York Mets and their fans have to be gnashing their teeth. Not only did they have their arch rival Phillies in the World Series, but also their cross town rivals, the Yankees. All that occurred while the Mets had one of the highest payrolls, the highest of expectations and it all evaporated in a New York minute. The team couldn't hit, they couldn't pitch and their front office was back pedaling after a myriad of scandals. It was a tough year for the New York Mets in their brand new stadium.

The big story for the Mets in 2009 was injuries. At various times, they lost Beltran, Jose Reyes, John Maine, Johan Santana, Carlos Delgado and J. J. Putz. And these stars weren't lost for just a week or two, but huge chunks of time. Reyes, their once promising building block at shortstop, has tremendous damage to his wheels. Santana had elbow surgery and will be lost for an extensive period of time. Putz, who was expected (along with Francisco Rodriguez) to shore up the bullpen, which led to catastrophic results in 2007 and 2008, was a huge disappointment and then went down to season-ending injury. The Mets have declined to pick up his option, so he is history.

Beltran came back at the end of the season and produced like he always has. He is one of the most underrated performers in the majors. So he'll be fine. Delgado is a free agent and probably won't be resigned. He is going to be 38 after all. Maine came back at the end of the season to mixed results. And nobody seems to know what will happen with Jose Reyes. Cora is a free agent as his backup, but it seems that the Mets should plan on a one-year fill in for Reyes as he tries to rebuild his body.

The other big story for the Mets was their new ballpark. Despite the Mets 92 losses and the fact they were out of the race by June, the fans came out in droves to the tune of 3.3 million. That's encouraging and should continue the stream of income. But the new ball park seemed to make Shea look like the Polo Grounds. Daniel Murphy (of all people) led the Mets in homers with 12. Yes, you heard that right. 12. David Wright, who hit 130 homers his first five seasons with the Mets hit 10 in 2009. And he apparently was so discouraged by the ballpark that he changed his entire hitting philosophy. That has to be discouraging for the Mets when they are used to him popping 30+ homers a year like he did in 2007 and 2008.

So you would think that the Mets would have a good pitching chance in such a ballpark. But in fact, the pitching was bloody awful. Santana pitched great despite his arm being all messed up until he had his surgery. Nelson Figueroa was decent and Fernando Nieve showed promise (plus, he can hit!), but too many starts went to Livan and then his replacement, Tim Redding, with predictable results. But perhaps the Mets' biggest mistake was resigning Oliver Perez. And that's a huge understatement. He was brutal. And many of us who write about baseball predicted this and yet, the Mets went ahead and did it anyway.

The Mets do have some hope for a decent rotation in 2010. Maine, Figueroa, Nieve, Pelfrey and young Jonathan Niese could hold their own. Pelfrey is a disappointment of sorts. His K/BB ratio shows he will never be more than a fourth starter, which is a lot lower than expectations. But if he is fourth or fifth, it's a lot better than at the top of the rotation where he was forced to be in 2009. The Mets also need to figure out if Bobby Parnell is a relief pitcher or a starter. He shows promise but seems to be in the same limbo land that faces the Yankees' Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.

The Mets' relief core wasn't all that bad. Francisco Rodriguez was perfect early and then stumbled quite a bit at the end. He ended up with 35 saves but finished with a 3.71 ERA and blew a lot of saves late in the season. Dessens (who is probably gone as a free agent), Feliciano and Ken Takahashi did some nice work. But Sean Green and Brian Stokes got way too many innings that didn't work out too well. It seems the Mets will need to pick up some arms in the off season.

As for the regulars, nearly all (with the exception of Delgado) are signed for 2010, so the cast will remain about the same. It will be interesting to see if they bring back free agent, Fernando Tatis, who was useful. Angel Pagan did surprisingly well while filling in for Beltran. But Beltran is one of the best centerfielders in baseball. Daniel Murphy is very questionable as Delgado's replacement at first. He doesn't hit enough for the position and he is a lousy fielder. The Mets seem to like the guy, but it doesn't make sense.

Their are questions at catcher. Schneider can't hit and is a free agent. Santos hit okay, but isn't wonderful. So it will be interesting to see if the Mets do something there. Other than that, the Mets will have Castillo, who had a decent 2009, at second. Wright will still be one of the elite third basemen (though he did make 18 errors and can be erratic in the field). Beltran will do his thing in center. That leaves left field (Pagan?), right field (is Francoeur staying?), first base and catcher as question marks.

The Mets certainly should be better in 2010 than they were in 2009. A lot will depend on the rotation and what the Mets do in the off season. But no matter how you look at it, this team does not look like an elite team and will do well to play around .500 ball and finish in the middle of the pack in 2010.

Philadelphia Phillies - 2009 Debrief

Right after the regular season ended, a series of posts began to debrief all the major league teams to look at the 2009 season and to look ahead to 2010. The series has already concluded the National League West and one post covered the Atlanta Braves for the National League East before the playoffs and World Series began and left little thought to anything else. Well, it's time to get back to business and restart the process. Since the National League East is our current target and since they just finished a World Series that is fresh in our minds, it seems fitting to start back up again with the Phillies.

It seems to be an obvious statement that the Phillies had a very good year. They had the second best record in the National League. They easily beat the Rockies and the Dodgers in the playoffs and handed a powerful Yankee team two losses in the World Series. They drew 3.6 million fans meaning the money has been good. But some of their weaknesses were exposed against the Yankees. This off season will be a critical one for the Phillies and toeing the line does not seem to be what's needed to repeat again next year as National League champs.

What Went Right

Again, it isn't difficult to pick the Phillies' strengths in 2009: Utley, Victorino, Werth, Ibanez and Howard. Those five players accounted for 228.3 of VORP or Value Over Replacement Players. That's a staggering number. Werth in particular, seems to be getting better and better every year. Howard and Utley figure to continue putting up the numbers. Ibanez doesn't figure to match this year's numbers next year as he is getting up there in age. Victorino is a little harder to figure.

One thing the Phillies have going for them is that Utley, Victorino, Werth and Howard are all in the 29 to 30 year old range meaning they should be at the peak of their baseball prowess. So they should all be able to at least replicate their statistics this coming year. The Fan isn't all gellin' with Victorino. The guy seems like a decent player. His OPS+ is just a little over league average the past two seasons after three seasons below league average. He has more pop in his bat from the left side (he's a switch hitter), but he's a better hitter from the right side. His range in centerfield is about league average and he only had one assist all year, meaning his arm seems to be below standard.

What seems to be the best case for the Phillies would be to move Victorino to left (the Fan insists that Ibanez was a one year hit and that's it) and then sign Marlon Byrd, who is a free agent this year. Byrd has more range, is growing as a hitter and has a better arm. Plus, Byrd hits right handed, which would seem to even things out more for the Phillies (more on that later).

Another thing that went right for the Phillies was trading for Cliff Lee. 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA and money in the post season. You can't ask for much more than that. Just ask the Angels about their Kazmir deal. The other pitching highlight for the Phillies was J. A. Happ. The question that has to be asked is: How can your most valuable pitcher during 2009 not get a post season start? The guy had a 46.7 VORP. He finished with a 2.93 ERA. What!? If the Fan was in charge of the Phillies, the post season rotation would have been: Lee, Happ, Hamels and then whomever.

Happ is only 27 and figures to continue improving if he stays healthy. Hamels had an off year, but if you look deep into the numbers, he wasn't much worse statistically than in 2008 when he was "great." It seems to this Fan that Hamels had an unlucky year and should bounce back just fine next year. So you already have Lee, Happ and Hamels in your rotation. Blanton is a decent fourth guy and the free agent list includes useful pitchers like Harden, Duchscherer (who has more consonants in his name than should be allowed) and Doug Davis if you want to round out your five. Pedro won't be back and it is doubtful that Moyer will be anything more than a swing man. The Phillies should let Brett Myers leave via free agency.

The Question Marks

Let's start with Jimmy Rollins. Despite a late surge, Rollins finished with his lowest batting average since 2002, his lowest OBP ever, his lowest stolen base total in five years and the lowest number of triples in his career. His 85 OPS+ was astounding. He's only 31, so the age thing shouldn't be a factor yet. Perhaps it was just a bad year. Perhaps he had an injury no one knows about. But if he doesn't bounce back, he can't bat lead off. You have to move him down in the batting order. His fielding seemed okay. Maybe it was just a bad year.

Pedro Feliz is a liability at the plate. He hasn't been above 85 in OPS+ since 2004. On the other hand, he's a very good third baseman. So do you sacrifice the offense for a slick fielder? It seems the Phillies have enough offense to warrant it. The Fan really thinks Adrian Beltre is going to have a bounce back year, especially if he goes back to the National League. He might be an intriguing possibility for the Phillies. He's just as good with the glove as Feliz and has more potential upside at the plate.

Ruiz is a good catcher. Granted, he doesn't throw many runners out. But he had only one passed ball all season. Plus, he's money in the post season. The Phillies are all set there, but they have no catching depth. Bako and Coste didn't cut it.

Sooner or later, you all knew the Fan was going to get to the bullpen. Frankly, it was a real liability in 2009. But Madsen has the potential to be a really good closer. He doesn't seem to get rattled and he did his job in the World Series. Just as frankly, what are the Phillies to make of Brad Lidge? From the Fan's observation, he can no longer blow you away with his fastball and has to rely on his slider, a pitch that can be an angel or a devil depending on the game. One thing the Phillies can't do is take too long to figure it out in the spring. They can't keep waffling when it comes to the closer. If Lidge doesn't light it up early, then they have to go with Madson or bring somebody else in. There are a ton of free agent relief pitchers on the market. Bring in a few of the top arms and see what happens.

The other weakness that the Yankees seemed to exploit was left handed pitchers versus the Phillies left handed batters and right handed pitchers throwing inside to those same Phillies lefties. As a team, the Phillies struck out 22% of the time against left-handed pitching versus 20% versus right-handed. And strikeouts are a problem. Werth and Howard struck out 342 times combined. Utley added 110 more. Werth needs more help from the right side of the plate and the Phillies could use a guy who puts the ball in play more often. Their team batting average was ninth in the sixteen team league.

2010 Prognosis

Again, the Phillies had a great year. They benefited nicely from the Mets falling apart due to injuries and a weak Washington team. They have horses and they know how to win. A few tweaks here and there and they should be right in the mix for their third straight NL pennant. The Braves figure to be stronger and you have to figure the Mets will be better. The Marlins' young pitching could always put it together some day. But it would be surprising if the Phillies weren't on top of the NL East again next year.

The Yankees Are Champions

The old guys did it. Derek Jeter had three hits. Pettitte did what he always does by keeping his team in the game. Jorge didn't have a great game but he's had a good season and some big hits this post season and Mariano Rivera...what is there to say? There has never been anyone like him. He is the difference. He always comes through. Even nearly forty and his cutter down to 89 MPH, he locates, he repeats his delivery, he doesn't give in and he's a champion.

It is easy to understand the ennui that exists around the country for the Yankees. It is easy to understand how hated they are. They spend the most money. They make the most money. They play in the greatest venue in sports. But you can understand all that and still insist that these guys deserve the special place they have attained in the sport. As the last nine years have shown, you can't just spend the money and make it happen every year. From 1996 to 2000, it seemed easy but it wasn't and it still isn't. Derek Jeter said it best, "People don't understand how hard it is to get here." And people don't understand. Just ask the Red Sox or the Cardinals or any of the great organizations that work so hard and so diligently. Everything has to fall into place and it's more than money. It's a team.

Joe Girardi and C. C. Sabathia deserve a lot of the credit for making this a team. Add Nick Swisher to that list and a new and different A-Rod who finally understood what a team meant. Girardi took the guys to a pool hall in the spring. Sabathia took the team to an Orlando Magic game. Swisher enjoyed every moment and kept people loose. And A-Rod took all those young latin players under his wings and kept them going. This was a team. You could tell by the way they played, by the way they celebrated and by the way they pulled for each other each and every game.

Punch all the holes you want in the games of Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. Posada isn't a great catcher. Jeter isn't the best fielder. Pettitte never overpowers you, but they are professional ball players. Much was made about the Twins and the fact that they had ball players. But these three guys know how to handle themselves. And they know what it takes to win. And after nine years of futility, they also know how sweet it is to be champions again.

And give all due credit to Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon. Both are near the ends of their careers. Both have big questions about next year. Both were in the last year of their contracts. And yet every at bat, every game, they battled and they scratched and they came up with big performances that won games. It will be tough for any Yankee fan to say goodbye to either one of them next year.

And let's give a little heap of appreciation for Mark Teixeira. He's a great player, but he also seems like a great guy with humility and faith. And pooh-pooh all you want about the importance of fielding at first base. Take all the points away you want in the fielding bible for playing that position, but Teixeira's fielding saved innings, saved games and was sparkling. He rarely if ever made a bad throw or made a bad decision. He rarely relied on the pitcher to cover the bag, and he scooped everything and he made some incredible plays around the bag. The Yankees don't win without that. The Fan will never be convinced otherwise about the importance of Jon Olerud, first for the Blue Jays, then the Mariners and later the Mets for his skills around the bag at first base and what it meant to those winning teams he played for.

And finally, it all comes down to Mariano Rivera. Everyone kept saying that this one was for George Steinbrenner. All well and good and the feeling is understandable. But this one was for Mo. Has any relief pitcher in the last twenty years been asked to do more? Has any relief pitcher been relied upon so heavily? Two innings, forty pitches several times in the three series and he never faltered. He never let his team down. He never looked ruffled or worried. He never gave in. It's been a remarkable ride watching his career. The Yankees may have won five championships without him. Maybe. But don't say that to any Yankee fans. The guy is class. The guy is a pro. But more than all of that, he is money.

Tell this to everyone. Some will say this was for George. Some will say this was for the fans of New York. But this Fan says that this one was for Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. If those four guys never taste a championship again, this one, at the twilight of their careers is validation and worthy caps to what has been an incredible ride.

Two Non-World Series Stories

While the baseball world waits for tonight's Game 6 between the Yankees and the Phillies, other teams are not standing around doing nothing. The Rays made a trade with the Pirates and a Blue Jay had a surgery that will hopefully help him start earning his pay.

The Tampa Bay Rays seem to be run by a bunch of smart people. Their two glaring weaknesses this past season were behind the plate and the relievers that threw to those catchers. The Bay Rays started fixing the relief problem by trading expendable Akinori Iwamura to the Pirates for Jesse Chavez.

Iwamura became expendable with the emergence of Ben Zobrist. The Bay Rays also have the added bonus of saving nearly $8 million in salary. Iwamura should help the Pirates as he is a smart player and a good fielder with a decent penchant for getting on base. His .354 OBP will do nicely for a Pirates team that hasn't always been great in that department.

Meanwhile, the Bay Rays pick up a cheap puzzle piece for their bullpen in Chavez who pitched in over 70 games for the Pirates last year and other than having more homers allowed than you would like, pitched admirably with a 4.01 ERA with 15 holds. Chavez is only 25 and his success despite being a 43rd round draft pick seems to show a fighter.

Fans up in Toronto might have some hope that struggling slugger, Vernon Wells, might have had a solid medical reason for his evaporation of skills in 2009. Wells underwent surgery on his wrist to repair some cartilage. Wells, who became a target for his large contract and small results became the boondoggle of former GM Ricciardi. Blue Jays' fans might now have hope that a bad wrist might have been Wells' downfall and can hope the repairs will fix the problem.

Let's face it, a batter with a bum wrist is in a heap of trouble since the wrists are instrumental in swinging the bat. One only has to remember the struggles of Nomar Garciaparra who suffered with wrist problems that sapped him of his former extraordinary abilities. A healthy Vernon Wells would be like picking up a new player for the Blue Jays and Blue Jays' fans can only hope he returns to the type of player that he has showed in the past.

The Phillies Hang On

Cliff Lee was okay, which is what he's always been. A. J. Burnett was atrocious. And that was the difference. That the Phillies built a big lead and then watched the Yankees chip away at it despite missing a third of their regular lineup for at least part of the game should be of concern. But the good news for the Phillies is that they are still alive and as long as you have life, you have a chance.

The Yankees scored a quick run in the first on a Damon single and an A-Rod double but A. J. Burnett couldn't hold the Phillies. He gave up a lead off single to Rollins on a fastball that tailed back over the plate. The next play was a big one. Victorino squared to bunt. Burnett's fastball came right at him. Before Victorino had time to react, the ball hit off his knuckles and he was awarded first base. Posada asked for an appeal at third, but the third base umpire said Victorino didn't offer on the bunt. The announcers of course, agreed with the umpire going so far as to call it a, "good call." But it wasn't. The bat never left the hitting area and was still across the plate when Victorino got hit. That, friends, is a strike. But it was a painful one. Victorino tried to gut it out, but it was easy to see that his hand was useless after that. It wouldn't be a surprise to see that it was broken when all this is said and done.

That blown strike call was huge as Chase Utley, now known around the world as, "Superman," hit a three run homer. Utley said after the game that it was surreal all the homers he has hit (he has tied Reggie Jackson's World Series record). What is surreal is the number of pitches Utley has had offered to him right in his zone. Take nothing away from Utley because you have to hit the pitches, but man, were they sweet for him. Every homer he's hit has either been a grooved fastball or a hanging curve.

Burnett continued his pathetic outing in the third when he walked the first two batters (Utley and Howard). That was followed by two singles to score two more runs. That was the night for Burnett as Robertson came in to clean up. Robertson allowed one more run on a fielders choice, but other than that, Robertson was great and held the game there for two innings.

Robertson was followed by Aceves who was also great for his two innings. Meanwhile, the Yankees scratched out another run on a ground out by Damon to make it 6-2. Lee was getting the job done, but he didn't look invincible like Game 1.

Phil Coke then got the call from the Yankees and he didn't fare well at all. Superman hit yet another homer and then Ibanez hit one too. The Phillies had built an 8-2 lead, which is a pretty big lead, even against the Yankees. Phil Hughes had a great outing in relief of Coke and ended the damage.

The Yankees got to Lee in the eighth and knocked him out of the game with three runs, the biggest blow by A-Rod on a double to plate Teixeira and Damon. Chan Ho Park came in and ended the threat.

After Hughes dispatched with the Phillies in the bottom of the eighth, Charlie Manual decided on Ryan Madson for the close instead of Lidge. Posada doubled to lead off and then Matsui hit a single to make it first and third with no outs. The body language of every fan in Philadelphia at that point was, "Oh crap!" The Fan looked at his good wife and said, "The worst thing Jeter could do at this point would be to hit into a double play." And that's what Jeter did. The dreaded rally killer. A run scored, but it took all the starch out of the inning. Damon, who has really been a hero this series, had another terrific at bat and after many pitches, hit a single to keep the Yankees alive. Then Teixeira came up.

The Fan looked at his good life and said, "Teixeira will swing at three change ups in the dirt." And that's what he did to end to the game. And so the series goes back to New York. There will be a Pedro repeat against all of Yankee Fandom as Pettitte tries to end it for the Yankees. This thing is far from over and the Phillies are a great team.

Observations from Game 5:

• Brent Gardner really hurt the Yankees on offense. He failed to put a single good at bat together. He made his reputation in the minors for his patience. But in a big game against a pitcher who throws strikes, you have to be aggressive and he was not. He let several hittable fastballs go right by for strikes.
• Losing Victorino would hurt the Phillies, but not as much as losing Melky. The Fan can't see Victorino coming back from that injury.
• Poor Matt Stairs. He finally got to hit off somebody not named Rivera but grounded into a double play against Hughes.
• Molina should really retire after this season. He has no chance at the plate anymore. When a guy has zero chances for a hit, then it's time to hang it up.
• Robinson Cano had a much better game at the plate. He had several good swings which is good news going into Game 6.

Yankees Surge to a 3-1 Lead

It was a game of moments and fortunately for the Yankees and their fans, the Yankees had more of them than the Phillies did. Thanks to three runs in the top of the ninth inning off of Brad Lidge (more on that later), the Yankees broke open a 4-4 tie and handed the ball to Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth to do what he does better than anyone else.

The Yankees started quickly on Joe Blanton, who was given the ball when Charlie Manual refused to consider pitching Lee on three days rest. According to news sources, Lee said he discussed pitching with Manual but apparently wasn't convincing enough to change his manager's mind. You can't blame this game on Blanton though. The first inning could have been worse and he settled down and pitched a decent game. But still, it was 2-0 after the Yankees first ups.

The Yankees had no reservation about starting Sabathia on three days rest. Heck, they really have no choice. Who are they going to pitch, Gaudin? Sabathia, who looked all game like he had ants crawling inside his uniform all night, promptly gave a run back to the Phillies in the bottom of the first. This Fan hates to say it but the more the series unfolds, the more easy it is to understand about Burnett and Posada. Posada seems like a bully catcher to his pitchers and Sabathia shook him off several times during his outing and Posada made a dozen or more trips to the mound to iron it out. Sabathia could be seen at one point shaking his head slightly and rolling his eyes.

Which leads to an interesting question concerning tomorrow's Game 5. The Yankees have already lost their DH for the game and now they have lost Melky Cabrera, who pulled a hammy on a ground out. Will they go into the game minus three of their hitters and put Molina out there for Burnett? Or will they go with Posada and roll the dice? Interesting.

Anyway, Blanton ran into trouble again and gave up two more runs on a single by Jeter and another RBI from Damon. Sabathia coughed up another run though and then it was 4-2. It stayed that way for a couple of innings as both pitchers gutted it out and hung in there. Sabathia and Blanton both deserve a lot of credit for the way they pitched when they really didn't have their "A" games going.

That guy again, Chase Utley tagged Sabathia for another solo homer. They graphic they showed was amazing. Utley is now 4 for 6 against Sabathia and the rest of the team was like 4 for 45 or something. After Utley's homer, Girardi brought in Marte who had another great outing by getting Howard to end the inning.

The Yankees didn't do anything in the top of the eighth and Joba Chamberlain came in (instead of Hughes - again, interesting). Pedro Feliz, who is having a good series, deposted a Joba pitch into the bleachers to tie the game. The Phillies fans were going crazy. The house was rocking. The hankies were waving.

And then Brad Lidge came in and pitched for the first time in the series. I'm sure the critics will blast Manual for the Lidge choice. But it almost worked out. After all, Lidge had been perfect this post season after a horrendous year. And Lidge got the first two outs easily and then Johnny Damon had the at bat of a lifetime.

And it almost wasn't. Lidge had two strikes on him and threw a nasty slider. Somehow, Damon just nicked it and it bounced under Ruiz for a harmless foul. Damon fouled off a few more pitches and worked the count to 3-2. They he rifled a single to left and the Phillie fans got a little quieter. They'd seen this happen before...not last year...but all this year.

And then Damon, that crafty little pest stole second on the first pitch to Teixeira. Manual had the Phillies in a shift on Tex with Feliz behind second base. Damon slid in before the ball, which was in the dirt. Feliz had to move in a little to catch it. Damon saw that and saw nobody on third because of the shift and ran over there ahead of Feliz. Beautiful base running!

The Fan doesn't know if Lidge was rattled at that point, but he promptly hit Teixeira to make it first and third with two out. A-Rod came up. What a difference this year makes for A-Rod. Last year, he looked fidgety in these situations. Last year, he flailed away at everything. But even though he's struggled in the World Series, he's never lost that relaxed and confident look. Lidge tried to get A-Rod out on sliders, Lidge's best pitch, but it didn't work. Then Lidge, who used to throw 96-98 MPH and now throws 92-93, tried to get A-Rod out on a fastball inside. It didn't work. A-Rod turned on it and laced a double to left, scoring Damon. Honestly, the Phillies are lucky that A-Rod didn't loft the ball because he crushed it.

Lidge got two quick strikes on Posada, but couldn't put him away and Posada hit a single to left to plate both Teixeira and A-Rod. Posada then ran into an out at second. Fortunately, A-Rod hustled and already scored.

Mariano then made it easy in the ninth. Matt Stairs must be wondering what he's done to deserve the fate he has. He has been forced to pinch hit three times now against Mariano and hasn't come close to solid contact. He was the first out. Rollins then ham-fisted one to Teixeira. Victorina then did the same to Teixeira and the game was over.

Some quick observations:

• The home plate umpire was horrible. He had no consistency and had complaints all night long.
• Victorina isn't nearly as scary looking from the left side as he is on the right side of the plate.
• The Yankees will have to decide whether or not to start Gardner tomorrow with Melky out. Another lefty against Lee isn't optimal, but the Fan doesn't see any choice for Girardi. You have to have defense out there. Let's all hope that his choice isn't Hairston.
• For all his lofty postulations before the series, Rollins isn't playing with any swagger and doesn't look confident as a player right now.
• Robinson Cano looks totally lost at the plate. But his defense has been spectacular. He is no Soriano.
• Let's see if the Yankees listen to the Fan's scouting report and swing more aggressively early in the game tomorrow off of Lee. Lee will start with fastballs to get up in the count and he can be had if you are aggressively looking for a fastball to hit early in the count.

Yankees Take a 2 to 1 Lead

The game turned on a ball four count to Mark Teixeira. Up until that point in the fourth inning, Cole Hamels looked in complete control. The Yankees hadn't even gotten a hit to that point. Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte looked off and the Yankees were quickly down 3-0. Then Teixeira came up and with a full count in the fourth inning, took a pitch that was low and inside according to the umpire. But the Pitch Trax thing featured by FOX showed the pitch to be a strike. Then A-Rod came up.

A-Rod could have been coming up with two out and nobody on. But instead, there was one out and a man on first. No way you can pitch around A-Rod at that point. Hamels jammed A-Rod just slightly but A-Rod got enough of it to send it to the wall in right. A-Rod chugged into second and Teixeira held up at third. But A-Rod thought it was gone and the replay showed it hit the camera in right. The umpires huddled and then looked at the replay and ruled it a homer.

The question that was never asked and we'll never get an answer to was whether the ground rules before the game discussed whether the camera was in play or a homer if hit. The replay didn't clearly show that the ball would have cleared the fence if the camera wasn't there because a bit of the camera hung out further than the fence, or so it appeared. This Fan thought the replay was inconclusive. But if the camera had been discussed during the ground rules before the game, and it was said that if a ball hits the camera, it's a homer, we'll never know.

That made the game 3-2 and the Fan isn't a sports psychologist, but Hamels probably had a bit more pressure on him at that point. After Pettitte held the game at three, Hamels gave up a double to Swisher, a single (lucky dunk shot) by Pettitte tied the game. Jeter then hit another dunk shot to center to make it first and second before Damon rattled a double to right to put the Yankees up 5-3.

At that point in the game, the Yankees had received a couple of favorable calls, gotten a couple of lucky hits and were up by two runs. But the Fan told the good wife that the game was far from over. Jason Werth made that statement sound ominous with his second homer of the game to make it 5-4, but Pettitte held it from there.

That's the thing about Andy Pettitte. Is Andy Pettitte a great pitcher? No. He isn't. He isn't overpowering. He isn't really tricky. But he consistently keeps the Yankees in the game long enough for good things to happen. He made 32 starts for the Yankees this year. He gave up six earned runs twice and five earned runs four times. That was the most he gave up in any game all year. He bends, but he doesn't break. He doesn't get blown out. The same holds true for the post season and Saturday night was no different. He gave up four runs in six innings. His ERA for the Series stands at 6.00. But it could have gotten much worse, but he doesn't let it. And that's why he has more post-season wins of anybody ever.

Of course, a good bullpen doesn't hurt either. The Yankees got a good inning from Joba, a great inning from Marte (surprise!), one out and a homer by poor Phil Hughes and a two out, non-save from Rivera. Rivera has probably already earned his Hall of Fame ticket, but if the Yankees can win this series, then it's more of a lock than ever. The guy has just been a life saver.

Sabathia goes tomorrow for the Yankees against Joe Blanton. On paper, it looks like a mismatch. But nothing is a mismatch until the game is over. If the Phillies win, we have a heck of a series going. If Sabathia is sharp and the Yankees win, then the Phillies are in a heap of trouble.

Addendum: According to a next day story, the ground rules DID state the camera was out of play. Aha! Click here.

The End of an Era in Baltimore

It wasn't hard to see this day coming as the Baltimore Orioles have declined to pick up Melvin Mora's contract making him a free agent. It seems all but clear that Mora's tenth season with the Orioles was his last. Mora, from Venezuela, will turn 38 in 2010 and will hope to catch on with a contending team, something that has eluded him as a player. He made his displeasure public in 2009 when he got off to a bad start, was injured and was not given his starting job back after his return.

Mora had some good years in Baltimore. He was better suited for the outfield where he put up some stellar defensive numbers. While he had a great arm at third, his RTOT consistently came up in the negative column as an infielder. Just two years ago in 2008, Mora drove in 104 runs while compiling a 114 OPS+. That was worth the nearly $8 million the Orioles were paying him. But this year's decline to a 77 OPS+ made the $8 million option untenable to pick up.

Depending on his attitude at taking a lesser role at this point in his career, Mora could be a useful backup for somebody. He can play multiple positions and has had some good years at the plate. He certainly has more skills than someone like Miguel Cairo. The question is if he can accept that kind of role after playing nearly every game for the Orioles for eight years.

It would be easy to see a team like the Angels, Rangers or Tigers picking him up as he hit those teams really well in his career. To be sure, the Red Sox will miss him as they play the Orioles in 2010. He only had a .689 OPS against them over the years.

Mora's best years were 2003 and 2004 when he put together back to back years with an OPS+ of 143 and 155, especially 2004 when he had a career year and set personal bests in all offensive categories including a .340 batting average.

Yankees Even It Up

Now that was a great, nail-biter of a game. Game 2 of the World Series pitted Pedro Martinez for the Phillies against A. J. Burnett of the Yankees. After the Phillies took care of Sabathia and Game 1, the Phillies had to look in good shape going into this one, especially after Pedro's press conference where he pulled out all the stops and stopped only short of calling himself the best pitcher that ever lived...even if he could be right by saying so.

Of course, at age 38, Pedro bedazzles more with guile than the power pitching machine he used to be. It sure seems that he gets into the minds of the apposing batters. He'll have them blinking in silence at 88 MPH fastballs right down the middle and then after the batter is thinking, "What the heck, why wasn't I ready for that meatball," Martinez throws a sloppy curve into the dirt and makes them swing. It's downright entertaining unless of course, you are a Yankee fan.

But like Dorothy pulling the veil down from the great magician in the Wizard of Oz, Mark Teixeira pulled the magician's hat off of Pedro's head on a change up over the outside of the plate. He absolutely crushed it into the Yankee bullpen. The next thing you know, the magician is handing out hearts and courage with another homer by Matsui and a later run to get the magician out of the game.

Meanwhile, Burnett, who puts more fear into Yankee fans than into the other team had a better time of finishing off Phillies' at bats than usual. So far in the playoffs, he would always start 0-2 or 1-2, then throw a couple of curves in the dirt and walk the guy. Then he would be all off and start throwing wild pitches all over the place. Thursday night, he got the two strikes and then finished the guy off to the tune of nine strikeouts and seven innings with just the lone run.

Mariano Rivera finished it off by pitching two innings for the save. If his arm doesn't fall off this series, the Yankees have a chance. He bends, but he hasn't broken and once he gets through the eighth inning, the ninth is money. Although that first out to Howard was at least six inches outside.

It was a game the Yankees had to have and it was a game the Phillies could have really put the cuffs on. But the Yankees go to Philadelphia with a tie. The Phillies have been a weird team this year and have been better on the road than at home. The Rockies took a game from them in Philadelphia and then the Phillies rocked them at Coors. It will be interesting to see what happens. Cole Hamels will face Andy Pettitte on Saturday night.

It Was Over Quickly

C. C. Sabathia was good. He was determined and despite not having his best stuff, he pitched a hell of a game. His only problem was twice running into Chase Utley's bat. Two solo homers and the way Lee was pitching, it was over. It wasn't pretty later when the Yankee bullpen imploded, but it wouldn't have mattered. Other than Derek Jeter, who hit Lee like he's always hits Lee, the Yankees were defenseless.

A couple of observations early. Lee was leaving some first pitch strikes right in the middle of the plate early in the game. One to A-Rod, one to Damon and one to Teixeira come to mind. Lee isn't one of those pitchers you try to tire out with long at bats. He throws strikes so it isn't going to happen. If you get to him early, he can blow up in lightning speed. That happened a few times after his great start after the trade when he won a bunch in a row. After that streak, teams started getting to him early. That's probably a scouting report thing. The Yankees should put that in the memory bank and look for fat fastballs early in the game. Lee is a very good pitcher. But he isn't THIS good.

A couple more observations. The Phillies are a seriously cocky team. Of course, it is completely impossible for this writer to be objective, but between Rollins' prediction, Utley's "Look at me, ain't I pretty" look after his homers and Lee's demeaner on the mound on the pop up and comebackers, all looked like a team pretty full of themselves. Keep that in mind as we go along.

One last observation that is completely subjective--impossible for the Fan to be objective here--it didn't seem that the Yankees and the Phillies had the same strike zone. Again, the Phillies flat out beat the Yankees, but the Fan is just saying.

So, it's 1-0 Philadelphia and it doesn't look good for the Yankees.

The Astros Make a Solid Choice

From this Fan's perspective, the Astros dodged a bullet by losing out on the Manny Acta sweepstakes (for gosh sakes) and today named Brad Mills, Boston's bench coach for the last six years, as their new manager. For the story, click here.

Here is why the Fan likes this move: First, the Astros get someone who has been a part of a winning culture...ahem...unlike the guy that got away. Second, Mills has had a front row seat to one of the best managers in the business for six years. Francona is solid. He knows how to face pressure. He knows how to handle the media and he knows how to handle his players. And apparently, he knows how to delegate, a secret every good manager in any business, needs to have.

Francona's words speak for themselves: "I have given Brad more responsibility than I have ever seen a bench coach have. He totally runs spring training and he handles all the communication with the players." That my friends, is high praise. The best thing a manager does is give his charges the opportunity to succeed and have enough personal confidence to have his under-managers grow in their responsibilities.

The only question that remains is if Mills will have enough clout to help turn the Astros organization into one that mirrors Boston's. You may love them or you may hate them, but there is no smarter organization that Boston's. They just get it. Does that mean that everything always falls into place? Well, 2009 proves that it doesn't. But if you run your organization correctly, you never fall into the depths of hell and stay competitive throughout. And that's all a fan base can really ask for: a realistic chance to compete every year.

For Some, the Off Season Has Started

The early off season moves have started and they seem to have begun with non-players. The Indians got a new manager...the one that the Astros wanted. The Padres have a new General Manager. Tony LaRussa decided to stay with the Cardinals and now the big news is that perhaps Mark McGwire will be his new hitting coach.

Let's start with the Indians. They announced that they have hired Manual Elias Acta as their new manager. Umm... Do you think the Indians' fans are thrilled by that choice? As they were out there wondering who would replace Mr. Wedge, could you see them pondering Bobby Valentine or Buck Showalter or some big name like that? Perhaps they could pry LaRussa from the Cardinals. Something splashy and all, you know? And they hired Manny Acta. It's a given that a manager is given too much credit for when a team wins and when they lose. Even so, Manny Acta's major league record as a manager is 158-252. His .385 winning percentage is 285th on the list of managers of all time, slightly better than Alan Trammell and Art Fletcher. Preston Gomez has a better all-time winning percentage. So does Larry Rothschild and Dave Trembley. Can you feel the collective thud of enthusiasm in Cleveland?

Okay, so Acta managed the Washington Nationals. Yeah, they were a mess. But now he is being asked to take another team that is currently a mess and do what he couldn't do in Washington? This Fan doesn't get it. And the funny thing is that the Astros wanted him too and only didn't get him because their owner wouldn't give him a three year contract. Would you? Well, the Astros can rejoice because the Fan is sure that Trembley or Rothschild are available. And Acta is from the Dominican Republic. It's cold in Cleveland in the spring. He better pack his long johns.

The dual news that LaRussa is staying in St. Louis and could perhaps be bringing Mark McGwire back to the majors as a coach is double-the-fun news. Anyone who has read this blog for long knows that the Fan has a healthy dislike for Mr. LaRussa. He is an arrogant SOB if you ask this writer. But you know what? If he brings McGwire back and thumbs his nose at the upper echelon of baseball, he's a hero. McGwire may be a paragon for what we abhor about what we now know about PEDS and baseball, but he's a good guy too. And you may not agree, and no doubt many of you don't, but if 70% of the guys were using, how come they didn't hit 70 homers too? The Fan loves the guy. Always will. Who can blame the guy for not wanting to perjure himself? Look what it got Clemens and Tejada? Lying to congress will cost you a bit. But this Fan will never forget that Labor Day weekend when McGwire hugged his son and made the world a fun place to be. You go, LaRussa! Hope you get to the World Series next year. The only question remaining is if Duncan will still be there.

The Padres hired a GM from the Boston Think Factory. Not a bad idea. It's refreshing that someone with Hoyer's pedigree in sabermetrics and smarts got him a job like that. It shows good signs in San Diego and their fans should be encouraged.

The Fan's Been Sick

{{Switching to first person}} I got a call from my son on Sunday. He said that he'd heard I'd been sick. "Yes," I wheezed. Sometimes he and his wonderful lady friend, who he should hurry up and marry, were supposed to come over for dinner, but I politely asked if he could let the old man moan and groan on the couch alone for the weekend. He understood. But then he mentioned that I hadn't written my blog for a day or two. I guess that's what happens when you write over 550 entries in a baseball season and miss a day or two. I should be thankful that he reads regularly. It's kind of a bonding thing. But then the pride kicks in a little bit and the thought occurs to me that he's written two whole entries in HIS blog in five months and he's making me feel guilty? Puh! Oh well. That's life.

I was thinking about that as I semi-watched the Yankees clinch the American League pennant. By semi-watched, I mean that I watched a few of the early innings, but after the Angels scored the first run and the Yankees started leaving men on base, I retreated to the basement to play Hearts. I have become such a stress coward. I can't seem to take it for some reason. But to be like that is to miss so much of what makes baseball such a grand game. I need a sports psychologist I think. Do you suppose John Smoltz would refer me to his? Doubtful.

As I was thinking about what my son said about the empty blog days, the other thought occurred to me that I built some momentum with all those blog posts. Readership tripled over the summer. They have dwindled down again some. Do the big-time writers worry about that stuff? Do they pour over the web reports and see who came and who didn't and in what numbers and what the trends are? Do they write stories they think will bring more people to the site? Nah. Couldn't be. But I have to admit that I think about that when considering what I am going to write about. It's a losing proposition I have concluded. You can only write what you are passionate about and in the end, the whole will be valued over the parts. At least that's what I think now. Next week might bring different conclusions.

Okay, so what about the Yankees and the Angels? Well, there is good news and bad news for the Yankees. The good news is that Sabathia is spectacular and A-Rod has come into his October prime. Pettitte is reliable and is money when the going gets tough. Jeter is still Jeter and does the little things that sometimes turn the tide. The bad news is that A. J. Burnett is as reliable as those pilots who somehow missed the Minneapolis airport. Swisher, Cano and Matsui were terrible in the clutch. And Phil Hughes has lost his mojo. The sort of good news is that Mariano Rivera still gets it done but it is a bit worrisome that he topped out at about 89 MPH in that last game. Mo is like the wall of a great old city against the franks and other hordes. The people depend on that wall and have for a long time. But sooner or later, you know that wall is going to come down. Perhaps it will wait until some time after this world series. One can hope so.

It was kind of sad the way the season ended for the Angels. They are such a solid team, but when it came down to the end, they just kept messing up: errors, base running blunders...things you wouldn't expect them to do. Personally, I don't think those two runs the Angels gave up in the 8th would have made any difference in the final outcome. Rivera had no trouble with the last three batters who went 1-2-3. But even so, from a mental standpoint, to see a guy like Kazmir, who hadn't been to war with the club all season, at least until the end, kick that bunt into right field had to be a morale crusher. I mean, if one of your tried and true warriors from the entire season messes up, well, he's family, you know? And how mad would you have been after Jeter's comebacker when Kazmir then makes a point of throwing his best fastball to first? The butthole.

As for the World Series, I'm just glad Jeter, Mo, Posada and Pettitte will get to taste it again. It would be nice if they could win it. But I'm just happy they put some ghosts to bed and got there.

Thursday Could Have Been Worse?

There is always someone who says very sagely that there is always someone else in the world worse off than you are. Don't you hate that person? Really. Don't you just hate that person? Because they always show up at the height of a grand pity party to throw a wet blanket on even that. Right? Here you are having a miserable day and you start to grumble. Grumbling at least makes it feel a little better because it's getting some of the frustrations out and perhaps someone who cares about you is even giving a little much needed sympathy. Then along comes the preacher, teacher, mother, brother, husband, wife, best friend, boss, co-worker or construction worker who says gravely: "There's always someone else in the world worst off than you."

Drat that person. May he/she absentmindedly walk right into a water-filled pot hole and fill up their boots. You know why? Because the Fan is having one of those weeks and really wants to blow up at somebody or perhaps have a good cry. And yet, without that person even being around, that voice in the Fan's ear keeps whispering..."There always someone else..." Yeah, yeah, okay. But the Fan sure pities that poor person because they must be flat out miserable.

First of all, the Fan has caught one doozy of a cold. Yeah, you know the kind. The nose plugs up or drips constantly. The wheezing in the chest sounds like someone is sawing wood in there. Between the sneezes and blowing of noses, this old Fan just feels like someone rolled over him with a steam roller that has the New York Giants written on the side of it. And no, the Fan will never get over that Super Bowl.

So anyway, the Fan and his good wife settled down to watch the 3-1 Yankees to see if they can get in the World Series. The Fan has already decided, as usual, that the Yankees are going to lose. But at least he has been doing better on that old temper of his. The good wife of course is more optimistic and scolds the Fan for his lack of faith.

With plenty of tissues available and the garbage can right by the lounge chair available when needed, a coke can chilled to just the right temperature and a box of Wheat Thins at the ready, the game starts.

Oh. The Fan forgot to tell you that it snowed on Thursday. That's right. 6.5 inches of the blasted stuff fell on northern Maine on October 22, 2009. For cripes sake, the golf clubs aren't even out of the trunk of the car yet! The front garden hasn't been pruned for the winter yet. And we get 6.5 inches of the white, cold stuff.

Okay, back to the game. Jeter singles (man, is he the Man or what?). Damon singles. Okay, boys and girls, here we go. Then Teixeira comes up. Had he stunk up the CS up until that point or what? Well, he gets two quick strikes on him, including one in the dirt that made him look like a lefty-swinging Soriano. But he works the count back to 3-2. Lackey throws a curve that is at least six inches outside. "Yesss!" the Fan cries. Except the ump called him out on strikes. What!? Why the heck can't major league umpires call the strike zone anymore? Someone tried to rebut the Fan a week or so back by saying that the little strike zone they show on the telecasts are not accurate. Yeah, right. Then why would they have them then? That pitch went around the plate.

Well, if you saw the game, you know the rest. A-Rod wasn't ready for a really good pitch to hit (despite what the announcers said - heck, he hit that same pitch into the 40th row the other night) and popped out to the infield. Matsui then grounds weakly to first (instead of taking the pitch the other way like he usually does). See!? The good wife shushes and the Fan gets himself under control because we don't want another episode like earlier in this series.

Just then the Angels are coming up and...and...and...the power goes out. VVPPFFHHTTT goes the sound and then we are sitting in the dark. The power returns shortly, but good old Time Warner Cable is down for the count. No phone, no food no pets...we ain't got no cigarettes. There is no television signal, no phone signal and no Internet. It's all down. The good wife and the Fan looked at each other for a good long while. The Fan briefly thought about the bedroom, but that would be fun for her with phlegm all over eh?

So long story short. The Fan took his Nyquil, prayed for that good old Nyquil coma. Then the Fan walked his sorry body upstairs to bed, all the while with that awful person whispering, "Somewhere in the world someone has it much worse than you do." Yeah? Well, kiss my furry butt. Heh. But it figures they could have been correct all the while. Somewhere in New York, someone with a bad cold and a leak in the roof actually got to watch Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain throw away Game 5.