GO JOHNNY, GO! GO! JOHNNY BE GOOD!
-That Johnny Damon play will go down in World Series history as one of the great, heads up plays in Yankee playoff history and will be trivia question (what Yankee stole two bases on 1 pitch in the 2009 world Series?) forever. Don’t forget the situation at the time. The Yanks were tied and there were 2 outs in the 9th inning when it happened. Had he stumbled, or Feliz dives and tags him out, the game moves to the bottom of the 9th with Phil Coke on the hill and Johnny is the goat instead of the hero. There’s an old Baseball axiom ‘Never make the last out of the inning at 3rd base’ since you were already safely in scoring position at 2nd base in order to do so. Making the last out at 3rd base with Teixeira at the plate would only compound the felony further. Gutsy, aggressive play when it works, horrendously stupid when it doesn’t. Like most Yankee fans I was stunned and confused when he took off, guessing that Johnny was deeked into thinking the throw got away, which it clearly didn’t. But then I was relieved when I saw nobody was covering 3rd. Then I remembered the guy chasing him was actually the Philly 3rd baseman, and it all made sense.
-Tim McCarver noted ad nauseum (shock!) about how Damon being on 3rd base affected how Lidge was able to pitch to Alex, so I won’t go through that again. But the Yanks have now beaten Lidge twice this season. The one victory the Yanks had against the Phillies in the 3 game series back in May was a tying homer by Alex and walkoff by Melky off of Philly closer Brad Lidge. I will be surprised if Manuel goes back to Lidge in a save situation if Alex is due up in the inning. I suspect he’ll give Madsen a try, who looked good last night and struck out Alex in the 8th.
-Despite the HR to Feliz, Joba looked outstanding last night. Maybe the best I’ve seen him all year. He was pumping 97 MPH fastballs and had a vicious break on his slider. He blew away Werth and Ibanez on fastballs, fell behind 3-2 on Feliz after two nasty sliders out of the zone, then came back in with a fastball that got too much of the plate. I had no problem with his pitch selection or stuff last night, he just made one mistake and paid for it. It was nice to see Jorge Posada give him a hug when he returned to the dugout after he scored, because Joba was clearly down after giving up the lead. I go right back to Joba in the 8th inning tomorrow if I’m Girardi. I liked what I saw much more than what I’ve seen out of Hughes lately.
–The Phillies must feel demoralized after losing their first two games at home on the heels of getting the split they hoped for at Yankee Stadium. But this series isn’t over, not by a long shot. Philly’s not the type of team that will pack it in, and they have their Ace in Cliff Lee going tonight. Let me draw up a very plausible (and even likely) scenario where this thing still goes 7. Tonight, Cliff Lee (on full rest) out-pitches AJ Burnett on short rest. On Wednesday night, Pedro tosses another gem and Pettitte is shaky on short rest, giving up 4-5 runs in 5 or 6 innings pitched. Manuel gets 8 innings out of Lee, patches together an inning or two out of his bullpen with Pedro and closes out both games with Madsen. All of a sudden, it’s Game 7 and the Yanks are the team facing elimination with Philly having all the momentum on their side. Girardi’s getting killed in the NY papers for pitching his guys on short rest. Yankee fans will be biting their nails heading into Thursday night. The good news is that even if this does go 7, the Phillies will be throwing Cole (“I wish 2009 was over”) Hamels in hostile Yankee Stadium facing CC Sabathia, which is a game Yankee fans have to feel confident about. But just don’t count these Phillies out yet. Manuel said in last nights press conference that they’ve come back from many (15?) blown saves this year. They’ve battled back from late, back breaking losses all year. They’re not dead yet.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
18 Responses to Random Thoughts-World Series Game 4
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
NOT down a run – it was 4/4 at the time
You’re right. Steve S. you got to fix this piece. I know in your head you figured if this game goes to the bottom of the ninth tied its over because our pen has been unreliable at best, however it would not have actually ended the game and takes some of the thunder of your piece away. Your initial reaction on him getting up and running was the same as mine — WTF is he doing he’s a dead duck and when the 3rd baseman stopped chasing him I figured it was because he had an easy toss to 3rd to nail Damon. Turned out to be a brilliant play and flustering Lidge definitely played into the endgame.
I cant on my phone, hopefully Mo will do it for me.
Actually just heard Damon interviewed. Apparently he had been planning this move for some time when the shift was on for Teixeira and 3rd base was uncovered. He chose just the right moment to implement it. Brilliant AND planned!
Of course it was planned! He had probably been looking for that all year, heck I’ve seen Jeter do it more than once!
Man, Steve must have been up real late. In game 7 BOTH teams are facing elimination.
People are way to down on Joba today. I agree with Steve he looked great. He got beat last night, but it wasn’t necessarily because he doesn’t or didn’t have the stuff to succeed last night. He just missed his location. Certainly a bad time to do it, but hey it happens. I’d trust Joba in a big spot tonight if need be if hes throwing like the did last night.
Besides other than Joba who else did people want in that spot? I guess you can argue Robertson, and he certainly has earned that right, but he wasn’t exactly lights out in Game 1 either. If Joba can throw again like he did last night, I def would take him over Robertson in a big spot.
He threw a 95 MPH fastball right down the middle of the plate somewhat in… What what good about that throw? Joba had a good heater last night and better slider but his mind still isn’t right! On the 1-2 slider he threw that Feliz didn’t chase he started to pump his fist in anticipation, Joba was looking over Feliz and already thought the inning was over!
I’ve said it before but I think the smart thing to do is pitch Gaudin tonight and give the ball to AJ on normal rest as well as giving Pettitte a chance to come in to game 7 if CC runs into trouble (keep in mind he has looked progressively worse and this would be the third time the team faced him…).
If Lee is on they have the pitching advantage anyways. Pedro against a short rested Andy may be an advantage for them as well. Then you have CC going back to back short rest – could be bad for us seeing Cole did look ok to start game 3.
On the other hand you have AJ and Pettitte on normal rest and you think we have the clear advantage in two games. We need ONE more win, best chance to get it is game 6.
When the Yankees beat Lidge in May, it was an ARod homer that tied the game. It wasn’t a walkoff. Melky won it in the 10th with a base hit.
Yup. Hey, Steve was high on euphoria when he wrote this. Can’t blame him.
That, and 4 hours of sleep last night. Reading it now, I’m wondering who wrote this.
Mo, could you edit those 2 lines out for me? I can’t on my phone. Thanks
they actually have now beaten Lidge three times this season, but the second time the Phillies came back to win the game in extras
Everyone beats Lidge!
I like how Manuel tried to spin 22 heartbreaking losses into a positive for his team. I’d rather be the team that shows heart by coming from behind to win, than the one that has to do it by recovering after their bullpen tossed away one victory after another.
Yup. He sees resiliency, I see huge fatal flaw.
He also is old and can hardly see!
I just hope Damon’s steal last night didn’t make everyone fall back in love with John come lately and want him back on the team! The guy isn’t deserving of a spot on the roster next year!