Archive for October, 2009
Dunn wild as Surprise loses their first game of the season
Posted by: | CommentsAzFL Surprise (11-2 loss to Phoenix)
Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 2-0 GB/FB - just 6 of 15 pitches were strikes (40%)
Lefty Wilkins Arias will pitch for Aguilas Cibaenas of the Dominican Winter League. Tomorrow night I’ll update you on all the action in Latin America.
ALCS Game Two Spillover Thread II
Posted by: | CommentsOh look, the Angels mounted a little rally. How cute.
ALCS Game Two Spillover Thread
Posted by: | CommentsThe Lazy Ninja gives the Yankees the lead.
ALCS Game Two: Angels @ Yankees
Posted by: | Comments
With four days off between the Division Series and the Championship Series, there was plenty of time to focus on the negative, as some are wont to do. There was talk about CC Sabathia‘s struggles in the postseason and against the Angels, Anaheim’s ownage of the Yanks, the weather, and just about everything negative you could possibly think of. Game One, however, could not have possibly gone any better for New York. Sabathia dominated (and J-Poz wrote about it), the Yankees got timely hits and capitalized on Angel errors, and The Sandman closed the door. It all adds up 1-0 series lead.
The Yanks get a bit of a break tonight, because Mike Scioscia is sending Joe Saunders to the bump rather than the grizzled AL East vet Scott Kazmir. It certainly is a curious decision, but I’m not complaining. The Yankees will counter with AJ Burnett, who will have personal catcher Jose Molina behind the dish. It’s a good thing, Jorge Posada did such a horrible job behind the plate last night. Sigh.
Anyway, here’s the lineups.
Angels
Chone Figgins, 3B
Bobby Abreu, RF
Torii Hunter, CF
Vladimir Guerrero, DH
Kendry Morales, 1B
Juan Rivera, LF
Maicer Izturis, 2B
Mike Napoli, C
Erick Aybar, SS
Joe Saunders (16-7, 4.60)
Yankees
Derek Jeter, SS
Johnny Damon, LF
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Hideki Matsui, DH
Nick Swisher, RF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Melky Cabrera, CF
Jose Molina, C
AJ Burnett (13-9, 4.04)
The weather doesn’t look great, but everyone’s hopefully they’ll get this one. The baseball gods usually take care of these things, so I feel pretty confident that we’ll get nine innings in tonight. FOX has the call yet again, first pitch is tentatively scheduled for 7:57pm ET. Enjoy.
What’s good for baseball…
Posted by: | CommentsAs all of the end-of-season numbers come out, certain trends emerge. Mostly, those trends involve the Yankees and their popularity. The team led the AL in home and road attendance, and the YES Network is more popular than ESPN in the New York City area.
Yesterday, Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball released FOX’s top most watched games of the season, and unsurprisingly, they all involved the Yankees. Take a look:
| Date | Game | Viewers (000) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 25 | Yankees @ Red Sox | 4.086 | L 16-11 |
| August 8 | Red Sox @ Yankees | 3,962 | W 5-0 |
| April 18 | Indians @ Yankees | 3,546 | L 22-4 |
| August 22 | Yankees @ Red Sox | 3,539 | L 14-1 |
| June 13 | Mets @ Yankees | 3,498 | L 6-2 |
First, the Yanks performed spectacularly poorly on FOX during their most popular games this year. They went 1-4 and were outscored 58-23. No wonder more than a few national baseball commentators were lukewarm on the team for the playoffs. If the representative sample looks so bad, baseball writers tend to ignore the 157 other games and the 102 additional wins.
Second, the Yankees are good for baseball. Their games draw viewers to FOX. Although one of these games was the first national exhibition at the new stadium, the rest were just your run-of-the-mill midseason games against a few archrivals. That popularity means more money for baseball.
For Yankee fans, this news means more Tim McCarver and Joe Buck and more weekend Boston/New York series. TV executives and the scheduling gurus recognize that these series are great for baseball. People are taken in by the games, and generally — although not as much this year — the baseball is crisp and compelling. Analysts and fans of other teams might like to complain, but in the end, the truth is simple: The Yankees are good for baseball. Just look at the numbers.
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
