Tagged: The Drama King – Alex Rodriguez
We’re In!
Yanks are Officially in the Playoffs!!!
The Yankees were playing so badly that I thought they were on the verge of a catastrophic collapse. It was sickening…embarrassing…the team was dead. I remember them being 2 wins away – so close I could almost taste it – and yet I felt those 2 wins might have well been 200, because I didn’t think there was any way they could win the way they were playing. But that’s all over now. With just 3 games left to play, the Yankees are tied for first with those pesky Rays in the AL East. Homefield advantage would be nice, but I don’t really care about it as much as I did a few days ago. I’m just THRILLED that the Yankees are in the postseason! I think that if they win the ALDS, then they are going all the way. But I’m getting ahead of myself: I want to talk about how we clinched!
September 26, 2010. Yankees vs. Red Sox. A game I surely thought the Yankees would lose, especially because they were losing 1-0 in the 7th inning, having shown zero signs of life with the bat. But all that changed with 1 swing of the bat by The Drama King himself, Mr. Alex Rodriguez. His 2-run homer in the 7th gave the Yankees a new life, and their first lead of the night. They were ahead 2-1.
Just like last year, Alex is arguably the most important player for the Yanks.
I thought that would be enough for them to win…but Mariano Rivera was icky – VERY icky – in the 9th, allowing 2 runs and letting the Yankee lead slip away. 3-2 Red Sox. But in the bottom of the 9th, Robbie Cano singled sharply with the bases loaded, tying the game. For the first time in ages, the Yankees were showing fight. They weren’t done yet.
In the 10th, Curtis Granderson led off with a single and Brett Gardner laid down the perfect bunt for a single. For some reason, which still seems mindless to me, the Red Sox intentionally walked Derek Jeter, to LOAD THE BASES WITH NO ONE OUT. Why on earth would anyone do that? ESPECIALLY when the other team can get a walkoff? I don’t know.
Patience proved to be a virtue for my Yanks and Juan Miranda. His patience at the plate and great at-bat resulted in a walk – a WALKOFF WALK, and the Yankees won 4-3. Sadly, I didn’t see any pies fly. But that’s okay…I was just glad to see them win!
Thank you, Juan!!!
The Heroes for this Victory which brought the Yankees magic number down to 1 were Phil Hughes, for his starting effort, A-Rod, for that super-clutch homer, and Juan Miranda for the walkoff.
The clincher came on September 28 against the Blue Jays, and the Yankees couldn’t have had a better guy on the mound for a game of this importance. CC Sabathia was fabulous, throwing over 8 innings of 1-run ball.
CC was his usual C”Cy” self, but what impressed me most about this win was the offense: the Yankees built every one of their runs. A-Rod, Teixeira, and Cano had sac flies. A-Rod also had a bases loaded walk. Greg Golson had an RBI groundout. There were no home runs. Everything was built, and that’s good. In the postseason, the Yankees are going to have to be able to score like that if they want to win. And they do want to win. So they’ll have to.
The Yankees won this game 6-1, and had a little fun with the bubbly. Watching my boys run around pouring ice cold champagne on each other’s heads is enough to make me smile any day.
The Captain gets a taste.
My Cutie-Curtis Granderson gets his first ever taste of postseason parties.
A bunch of my goofy boys ♥
I can’t decide how I think the Yankees will do in the postseason this year. Do I think they are as good as last year? I don’t know. There were a few bad stretches last year, and I guess I didn’t notice as much because the struggles weren’t right before the season’s end. This year’s struggles arrived at a more nerve-racking time.
Even so, I don’t think anyone, even myself, has the right to or should predict the Yankees postseason success. The postseason is a whole different animal. I enjoy it. But it also makes me a wreck – even when they win. I can’t take the pressure.
With that said, I’m going to enjoy these final three games of the regular season in 2010.
GO YANKEES!!!
New Life
Yanks Headed in Right Direction
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, and it’s been awhile since the Yankees really looked good. The past few series have been hard to watch. After that 8-game winning streak, the Yankees just fell apart: They lost 2 of 3 to the Orioles, and would have been swept if it wasn’t for Nick Swisher’s walkoff heroics. They were swept by the Rangers. They lost 2 of 3 to those pesky Rays, and they had opportunities to win each of those games. And the first game against the Orioles in this series looked like it was going to continue this losing trend. Magically, the Yankees turned the tides. And just like that, it seems the Yankees have a new life.
The Yankee jumped to a 1-0 lead in game 1 thanks to an Alex Rodriguez solo homer, but that was all the offense for awhile. Despite being in line for the loss, A.J Burnett pitched well, and I was satisfied with his performance. I felt bad that he wasn’t going to win it.
Bottom of the 9th, Yanks down 3-1. Jorge Posada took his turn at bat, and 11 pitches later he was on first with a leadoff single. I was thinking “Oh…here they go again…getting my hopes up for a comeback that will never happen…”
Jo-Po ♥
Or so I thought.
Little did I know, that brilliant at-bat by Jorge would set the tone for the rest of the inning.
Curtis Granderson singled with 1 out. With 2 outs, The Drama King Alex Rodriguez stepped up to the plate. I wanted to watch, but I just couldn’t – I couldn’t watch A-Rod make the final out, because my Dad would never let me hear the end of it. (I thought so negatively because honestly, the Yankees were awful for so long. Even though I had the slightest feeling that A-Rod would do something big, I didn’t want to express it…I didn’t want to jinx him.)
With 2 strikes, A-Rod decided to wash away my worries. His 3-run homer revived both the Yankees, and myself. Finally, things were looking brighter.
Alex drove in all 4 Yankee runs in game 1.
Mariano nailed down the save, and the Yankees won 4-3.
I wondered: Could the Yankees string a few wins together? For game 2, the Yanks had the perfect guy on the hill: my sweet Hefty-Lefty, CC Sabathia ♥
The game 2 victory was a perfect team win. The offense was back, and it exploded for the first time in a LONG time. Jorge Posada set the tone once again with his clutch 2-run single in the first inning. Cano had a 2-run homer, Granderson had a 3-run homer, everyone contributed.
CC Sabathia wasn’t CC-spectacular, but he was still good. Yankee fans get spoiled with CC. Even so, CC’s 7 innings of 3-run baseball was good enough to earn himself that 20th win.
Congrats on this milestone, C “Cy.” You are the best ♥
The heroes for the 4-3 victory in game 1 are A.J. Burnett, for a solid start, and A-Rod for all that offense. For game 2’s 11-3 win, the heroes are Cano and Granderson, for their homers, and CC Sabathia for yet another quailty outing, and for winning #20. And Jorge is a hero for both, because he set the tone for both wins.
All of a sudden, things are looking brighter for my Yankees. They are back in first place. Burnett pitched well. CC pitched well. Jeter is hitting again. Gardner and Swisher are back in the lineup. And best of all, Andy Pettitte is returning today. If Andy can be good, then I think the Yankees have a great shot at going all the way. CC, Andy, and Nova seem like enough to win it. And if BURNETT can stay sharp…..wouldn’t that be something…
These 2 wins very well may be the start of something good for my boys.
GO YANKEES!!!!
Back to Business
Sweet Relief!
-Peaceful sigh- THAT’S more like it. I knew the Yankees wouldn’t lose again yesterday, because the most they’ve lost in a row this year was 3 games. And yesterday’s 5-1 win was more than just a win: it was history. I don’t care what all those haters think about A-Rod. Unlike Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire, A-Rod admitted it. So you have to respect that.
I’ve been thinking about this whole steroid thing. I mean, SO many players were on juice. Does that mean Alex was right to do them? Absolutely not. Does that excuse his behavior? No way. Who knows how many players were really on steroids? It’s a sad era in baseball, but it happened. And nobody can possibly know of EVERY player who did steroids, so that’s why they are just including everyone in the record books. If the steroid era players are going to be included in te record books, then I want A-Rod to break that record. I don’t care what anybody else thinks. He’s my A-Rod, my Yankee, and I love him.
Let’s take a look at that milestone home run:
Congratulations, Alex. I love you so much and I’m glad you are on my Yankees.
Oh, and just for the record, Cano was SO safe at first!!!
That was no cheapie, Alex. Dead center. And look how relieved he was. The whole team, the whole city of New York was probably relieved. Because after that ball landed, it was back to business for Alex and the Yanks. Time to just focus on winning. And that’s what they did.
Pitching Analysis: Phil Hughes looked pretty darn good out there yesterday. He had that Philthy stuff and made that face that I just can’t help but love. He struggled recently, but those troubles look like a thing of the past. In his struggles, opposing hitters kept fouling off pitches from Hughes – pitches that when he’s on, they swing and miss at. Yesterday, Hughes had that swing-and-miss stuff. I think this is a good sign for Hughes.
Philthy!!!
The bullpen was really good yesterday. Logan, Robertson, Chamberlain, and Rivera all pitched well. In fact, Joba impressed me. I think it was his 4th scoreless appearance in a row, which is great for the Joba of 2010. I hope he can keep this up, too. If we can actually depend on Joba, that changes the entire bullpen. If Joba is on, I think the Yanks have the best ‘pen in the Bigs.
Come on Joba! Keep it up!
Offensive Analysis: The offense looked alive and well yesterday. And so many streaks were broken:
-The streak of 1st inning 2-run home run losses is over.
-Robbie Cano and Jorge Posada’s 0-for streaks are a thing of the past.
And, oh yeah! Alex Rodriguez’s 46 homerless at-bats streak came to an end in the 1st inning with that little 2-run homer he hit.
Aside from A-Rod, 2 Yankees who had fabulous days at the dish yesterday were Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira. How about Tex lately? He had 3 RBI yesterday. He seriously thinks he can get the stats on the back of his baseball card in to Tex-Territory. And if he keeps playing like this, he can.
TEX!
And how about that Derek Jeter? 4-4 yesterday. Seemed like he spent the whole game on base. The coolest hit was his bunt single. When A-Rod was up in the first inning, the commentators suggested that he should bunt. LOL. Instead he went deep. But in his turn, Derek Jeter noticed the infield was back, so he laid down the quintessential perfect bunt.
What a ballplayer ♥
I say this a lot, but I think I mean it this time: yesterday’s win was the most comforting win of the season. For many reasons: the losing streak is over, the offense didn’t die, the pitching was amazing, A-Rod can focus again because his milestone is a thing of the past, and most of all…….THE RAYS LOST! That’s right! My Yanks are tied for 1st again in the AL East. They just wanted to be nice and give the Rays a little taste of victory…tantalizing them with the feeling of 1st place before snatching it away from them! Lol…Anyway, the heroes for this win are A-Rod, and everyone else. This was a team effort.
Off day, and then a series against the Red Sox…Let’s knock them out of this race once and for all, boys.
GO YANKEEEEEES!!!!!!
Aren’t Offensive Explosions Delightful?
Yanks Score 10 Runs in 2nd Straight Game
Colin Curtis made me giddy with his dramatic 3-run home run to give the Yankees 10 runs in the Angels finale. And last night, the offense exploded once again. It was quite a hitting frenzy for both teams, but my Yankees came out on top. The Bombers took the first of four against KC by the score of 10-4.
Pitching Analysis: CC Sabathia really wasn’t very good last night. And this time, he made that customary flustered face of his because he got into a ton of jams.
That’s the face. Aw, CC….
Despite the struggles, CC got the win. And rightfully so. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t the usual C “Cy” performance we have become accustomed to, but it was good enough to keep the Yankees in the game with a chance to win it. In 6.1 innings, CC allowed 4 runs on a jaw-dropping 11 hits. He gave it his all, throwing 120 pitches. David Robertson inherited CC’s mess in the 7th, and got out of it unscathed.
One thing I love about offensive explosions is that the Yankees have the luxury of using their stinky pitchers. But last night, they did this before the game reached blowout status. In the 8th inning, when it was 6-4 Yankees, they put in Joba. He loaded the bases, but managed to get Jose Guillen to ground out to end the inning. Crisis averted.
In the 9th, the Yankees had a 6-run lead, so they turned it over to Chan Ho Park to close it out. He did so fairly easily. I wonder why he is still on the team. Every time I see him, my mind plays a montage of him blowing leads and talking about diarrhea. It’s not pretty.
Nightmares….
Offensive Analysis: I had a feeling this game was going to be a slugfest. The starter for the Royals was Bruce Chen, who, to put it nicely, hasn’t seen much success against the Yankee hitters. This trend continued last night. Let’s take a look at the Yankees’s numbers against Chen and the rest of the Royal hurlers from last night:
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeter, SS | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .274 |
| Swisher, RF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .303 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .261 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .275 |
| 2-Pena, R, PR-3B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .193 |
| Cano, 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .332 |
| Posada, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .268 |
| Thames, DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .289 |
| 1-Curtis, PR-DH | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .259 |
| Granderson, CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .239 |
| Gardner, LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .296 |
| Totals | 36 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 14 | .273 |
Ooh. That’s not pretty. Offensive explosions are so exciting. But last night, there were certain swings that really made me cheer. One of these came in the 3rd inning off the bat of Derek Jeter:
Connection…
It’s deep….
A valient effort by DeJesus, but no catch!
Jeet rounds third, and breaks for home….
He slides….
HE’S SAFE! INSIDE THE PARK HOME RUN BY DEREK JETER!!!!!!!
It was pretty cool seeing Jeter fly around the bases like that. But I was upset that DeJesus got hurt. I was looking forward to seeing him play this series because he is my favorite Royal, but he’s going to miss the remainder of this series. I wish him a speedy recovery. Anway, Jeet’s home run tied the game at 3.
The other swing that genuinely excited me came in the 7th inning off the bat of the Drama King, Alex Rodriguez. He’s such a beast. It was an opposite-field blast…
Oh boy! Oh boy oh boy oh boy! You know what’s next…HISTORY! #600! I can’t wait….I hope he gets it this weekend in the Bronx!
The heroes for this Game 1 win are Jeet and A-Rod, as well as everyone else in the lineup who beasted last night. I would love to see more offensive explosions this weekend, but if I can’t, then I’ll just settle for 1 bomb from A-Rod.
Good luck, Alex. And Go Yankees!!!!
Trail of Tears 2010
Yanks Win 3 of 4 From Tribe
Trail of Tears: during Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the relocation and movement of Native Americans from their homelands in the Indian Territory in the Western United States. The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the Chocktaw Nation in 1831. Many died during the journey.
My AP exams are over, but I still have to review for the New York State Regents Exam for history, which is later in June. I know. I’m a nerd 😛 The Yankees just closed out their wrap-around weekend series with the Cleveland Indians. Aside from game 2, they really killed the Indians. The offense was superb, for the first time in a long time. Today was a prime example of the Yankees Offensive Explosion at best. But after awhile, I began to really feel bad for the Indians. I mean, they were so deflated, and the Yankees just kept piling on the runs. In 1831, Andrew Jackson did what he had to do because he thought it was the best thing for the country. Naturally, it was painful for many. The Yankees have to win, and the best thing for winning is to not give away at bats, hit hit hit, and get that confidence back. I honestly felt very bad for the Indians today. But I love my Yankees, and am glad they won. My Yankees beat the Indians 11-2 in this Memorial Day series finale.
Pitching Analysis: Andy Pettitte looked to follow up on his fabulous performance in his last start against the Twins. Today, Andy was as dandy as always. 7 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, ZERO WALKS, 4 strikeouts – just brilliant. The only run he allowed was on a solo home run by Jhonny Peralta in the 2nd. He was so sharp today. And although the game ended in blowout fashion, it was really close for most of it. Andy did a nice job of shutting down the opposition, and giving the Yankees a chance to win it.
He might be an All-Star this year if this keeps up!
Offensive Analysis: The game remained tight early. The Yankees struck first thanks to an RBI single by A-Rod, but then Peralta’s homer made it 1-1. Brett Gardner gave the Yankees the lead with his RBI single in the 4th. It remained 2-1 for what seemed like such a long time.
Things changed in the 7th inning, as they have in every game this series. After Gardner made the first out at 2nd base trying to steal, Jeet and GrandyMan singled. I was annoyed because they would have had another run if Gardner didn’t get caught, but I don’t blame him for running. He is the best at that. Anyway, with 2 men on and 1 out, Mark Teixeira got ahead in the count, and was intentionally walked. That brought up the big guy – Alex Rodriguez. Drama always seems to find Alex, or Alex always seems to find drama. Either way, the Drama King of the Drama Club struck again today.
With a 3-1 count, Alex got a ball right down the middle. He deposited it over the wall in dead centerfield. It couldn’t have been a more perfect swing. The curtain call was great. Above all, Alex’s grand slam gave the Yankees a 6-1 lead.
Beeeast
Robinson Cano was so good in the cleanup spot the other day. Now, he’s competing with A-Rod’s every swing. Following up the grand slam, Robbie Cano crushed a ball for a solo home run, making it 7-1 Yankees. He is so cute. Cano and A-Rod had a nice discussion in the dugout after their homers.
My baby Francisco Cervelli tacked on another run in the 7th with a sac fly. In the 8th, Ramiro Pena led off with a single, then Tex singled with 1 out, setting up an RBI opportunity for A-Rod. Again, Alex delivered. His RBI double made it 9-1. Cano didn’t want Alex to stay in the spotlight – he then singled in 2 runs, making it 11-1 Yanks. They held on to win it 11-2.
I know the Yankees are supposed to beat up on these teams, but I felt bad for them. They are a young, adorable group of guys. I wish them luck in the future. Aside from the pity factor, today’s game was beast. Seeing the Yankees play like the Yankees is comforting. The heroes for the victory are Andy Pettitte, for yet another spectacular start, A-Rod, for yet another grand slam and for 6 RBI today, and Robinson Cano, for yet another good game and adorable smile.
Keep up the good baseball, guys!
GO YANKEES!
Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees 