Archive for Polls

Okay, I guess everyone’s favorite moment of the playoffs was the weak grounder to second that clinched the Yanks’ 27th World Championship. What about your favorite moment after that?

We already took a poll for the first half and second half, so surely you know how this works. Here’s some notable postseason moments:

ALDS Game Two: A-Rod’s game tying two run homer off Joe Nathan (video)
Twins starter Nick Blackburn kept the Yankees off balance all night, long enough for his teammates to push two runs across against Phil Hughes in the 8th. With a two run lead in the 9th, Rod Gardenhire turned to All Star closer Joe Nathan, who promptly gave up a single to lead off the inning. Alex Rodriguez, still dogged by his playoff choker reputation, took three straight pitches out of the zone before Nathan came in for strike one. A-Rod teed off on his next fastball, sending it deep into the Yankees’ bullpen to tie the game. The Yanks rallied to win the game in extras, but none of that would have been possible if not for A-Rod’s heroics against Nathan.

ALCS Game Two: A-Rod’s game tying homer off Brian Fuentes (video)
Nine innings wasn’t enough, as the the Yanks and Angels went into extras tied at two. The Halos pushed a run across off Al Aceves in the 11th, and turned to Brian Fuentes, another All Star closer. Alex Rodriguez, the first batter in the bottom of the 11th, took two straight fastballs over the plate for a quick 0-2 count, but turned Fuentes’ third heater around and parked it in the right field seats to tie the game. Much like Game Two of the ALDS, the Yanks went on to win, but it wouldn’t have been possible without A-Rod’s shot off Fuentes.

World Series Game Two: AJ Burnett dominates Phillies to tie series at one (video)
In their most important game of the year, enigmatic AJ Burnett went out and shut the Phillies down to tie the World Series at one game apiece. He pounded the zone and was dropping curves in at the knees for strikes when he wasn’t blowing his heat by batters. The uncertainty of middle relief was never a factor in the game, as Burnett handed the ball right off to Mariano Rivera. The Yanks carried the momentum into Philadelphia, where they won the next two games.

World Series Game Five: Johnny Damon singles and steals two bases on one pitch to ignite game winning rally (video)
After pulling ahead in the 5th inning before losing the lead thanks to a Pedro Feliz homer in the bottom of the 8th, Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter went down with ease against Phillies’ closer Brad Lidge in the 9th. Damon fouled off five pitches as part of a nine pitch at-bat, eventually dunking a single into shallow left. On the very next pitch, Damon took off for second, and not only did he make it safely, he headed down to third because no one bothered to cover the bag. The go-ahead run was on third, and before you knew it the Yanks pushed some runs across to win the game.

Those are just some of the highlights in the playoffs. Vote on your favorite below, but if you think another moment was the best of the playoffs – maybe Mariano Rivera getting out of a bases loaded, none out jam in Anaheim, or Hideki Matsui’s homer in Game Six of the World Series, or CC Sabathia’s start on short rest against the Angels – use the “Add an Answer” button to write in your own favorite moment. Don’t add any bad words like the jerk who did during our first favorite moment poll, we’ll just delete it and ban you from ever even accessing the site, let alone commenting. Yes, we can do that.

Everyone knows that everyone’s favorite moment this postseason was winning the World Series, so keep it out of the poll so we can have a little diversity. Consider this a “what’s your second favorite moment” poll. Thanks.

What was your (second) favorite moment of the postseason?
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Categories : Playoffs, Polls
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Record Last Week: 3-1 (19 RS, 16 RA)
Season Record: 103-59 (915 RS, 753 RA), won AL East by 8 games, finished with the best record in MLB by 6 games
Schedule This Week: World Series Game Five @ Philadelphia (Monday), Game Six at home (Wednesday, if necessary), Game Seven at home (Thursday, if necessary)

Top stories from last week:

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?
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Categories : Polls
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With just under 30 hours under the Yankees and the Phillies start the Fall Classic, anticipation is in the air. The Yankees are just four wins away from their first World Series title since I was in high school, and the match up against the Phillies promises to be a compelling one.

As we await tomorrow night’s 7:57 first pitch, everyone and their uncles are getting in on the World Series prediction party. My favorite though is definitely this bit from a Jay-Z interview. Here’s what Shawn Carter had to say:

I actually predicted the Yankees in six with the Angels, so I think I?m like Jigga the Greek. I?m gonna say, Phillies are a bit tougher than the Angels. I?m gonna take Yankees in seven. Dramatic A-Rod walk-off at the end of the game redeeming him for all the time the papers and the media vilified him. Is that specific enough?

Personally, I’d rather not see the Yankees and Phillies go to seven games. I don’t think my baseball-loving heart could take Jigga the Greek’s prediction coming true. An A-Rod walk off would be quite dramatic, but that would mean the Yanks would either be down or losing Game 7 of the World Series.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball is a less disinterested crystal-ball gazer. Jimmy Rollins today predicted the Phillies in five, and the Yanks basically laughed in his face. I couldn’t care less about what he says, basically, because that’s not what’s going to happen,” Mariano Rivera said. “What he says and what’s going to happen is far from that. You know what I mean?” Indeed, I do know what you mean, Mo.

I’ll open up this thread, then, with my prediction. I say Yanks in six. I think the World Series plays out quite similarly to the ALCS. The Yanks will enjoy success in the new ballpark, but the Phillies will win a pair in Citizens Bank. If all goes according to plan, CC Sabathia should take home another postseason MVP award. But that’s hardly the definitive word. What do you think?

Who will win the World Series and in how many games?
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Categories : Playoffs, Polls
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Record Last Week: 2-2 (25 RS, 15 RA)
Season Record: 103-59 (915 RS, 753 RA), won AL East by 8 games, finished with the best record in MLB by 6 games
Opponent This Week: World Series Game One vs Phillies (Wednesday), Game Two (Thursday), Game Three @ Philadelphia (Saturday), Game Four @ Philadelphia (Sunday)

Top stories from last week:

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?
View Results
Categories : Polls
Comments (76)

Record Last Week: 2-0 (8 RS, 4 RA)
Season Record: 103-59 (915 RS, 753 RA), won AL East by 8 games, finished with the best record in MLB by 6 games
Opponents This Week: ALCS Game 3 @ Anaheim (Monday), Game 4 @ Anaheim (Tuesday), Game 5 @ Anaheim (Thursday, if necessary), Game 6 (Saturday, if necessary), Game 7 (Sunday, if necessary)

Top stories from last week:

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?
View Results
Categories : Polls
Comments (88)

Record Last Week: 3-0 (15 RS, 6 RA) swept the Twins in the ALDS
Season Record: 103-59 (915 RS, 753 RA), won AL East by 8 games, finished with the best record in MLB by 6 games
Opponents This Week: The Yanks will face the Angels in the best-of-seven ALCS starting Friday.

Top stories from last week:

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?
View Results
Categories : Polls
Comments (95)

Record Last Week: 3-3 (32 RS, 29 RA)
Season Record: 103-59 (915 RS, 753 RA), won AL East by 8 games, finished with the best record in MLB by 6 games
Opponents This Week: Yanks will play winner of Tuesday’s Twins-Tigers game in the best-of-five ALDS

Top stories from last week:

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?
View Results
Categories : Polls
Comments (73)
Oct
03

Choose your own ALDS Opponent

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (117)

In a few minutes, the Royals and Twins will start their game. Zack Greinke goes for his 17th win as Nick Blackburn, on three days’ rest, looks to keep the surging Twins putting pressure on the Tigers. Right now, I’m just rooting for a one-game AL Central playoff on Tuesday.

But beyond that playoff, the Yankees will have to play someone on Wednesday in their hunt for an ALCS berth. Both the Twins and Tigers have their strengths and weaknesses. While the AL Central will be the worst, record-wise, of all AL playoff teams, we can’t count either out in a very short series.

So as the games begin and we await the time until the Yanks and Rays play game 161 tonight, let’s open this one up to a poll and a discussion. We’ll be back with the game thread in a few hours.

Which team would you prefer to see the Yanks face in the ALDS?
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RAB Note: Feel free to use this thread to discuss the FOX game as long as it’s the Royals vs. the Twins. We’d like to keep this one somewhat on topic.

Categories : Polls
Comments (117)

Every year, there are certain moments in the season that remind us just why baseball is the greatest game on Earth, and this year is no different. Sure, lots of us take this silly game far too seriously, but that’s only because we love it so much. We’re lucky to be fans of the greatest franchise in sports history, as the Yankees give us more great memories than we can handle at times.

RAB readers already voted Mariano Rivera’s bases loaded walk their favorite moment of the first half, and I figured now was a good time to see what everyone’s favorite moment of the second half was. Here’s a few of the highlights:

August 2nd: Melky Cabrera hits for the cycle (video)
With co-centerfield Brett Gardner out with a broken thumb, Melky was going to be a full-time player for the foreseeable future. He hit the first pitch he saw from Mark Buehrle and deposited into the bullpen for a three run homer, then doubled over the head of rightfielder Jermaine Dye two innings later. El Leche ended Buehrle’s outing the very next inning, dropping an RBI single into center to give the Yanks a two-run lead. With the Yanks maintaining that same lead in the 9th inning, Melky worked a full count off reliever Scott Linebrink before lifting a pitch into the right-centerfield gap. Dye misplayed the ball and it went all the way to wall, and the result was the first cycle by a Yankee since Tony Fernandez way back in 1995.

August 7th: A-Rod’s 15th inning walk-off vs. Boston (video)
In the second game of what would prove to be the biggest series of the season for both teams, AJ Burnett and Josh Beckett matched zeroes through 7+ innings before each bullpen chipped in another 7+ innings of scoreless ball. A loss would have brought the Red Sox to within 2.5 games of the AL East title, a win would have pushed the Yanks ahead with a commanding 4.5 game lead. Alex Rodriguez, 1-for-6 in the game up to that point, stepped to the plate with two outs and a runner on second against Junichi Tazawa, who was making his big league debut. After taking the first three pitches, A-Rod jumped all over a hanging curve and sent it into the visitor’s bullpen for a 15th inning walk-off win. If nothing else, watch the video just to listen to sound of the ball of the bat. B-e-a-utiful.

August 9th: Damon & Tex go back-to-back off Dan Bard (video and video)
With the first three games of the series already in the win column, pretty much everyone was content with taking three of four after Phil Coke served up a go-ahead, two run jack to Victor Martinez in the top of the 8th. Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira had different ideas. After two quick groundouts, Damon took a 1-0 pitch from the untouchable Dan Bard and sent it into the Yanks’ bullpen to tie the score. Two pitches later, Tex hit a curveball into orbit before it eventually settled into the second deck in right. It was only early August, but for all intents and purposes, the division race was over the instant Tex got the bat on the ball.

Sept. 11th: Derek Jeter becomes the Yankees all-time hit leader (video)
After a four week long assault on AL pitching that saw him pick up 44 hits in just 102 at-bats, Derek Jeter returned home to the Bronx on Sept. 7th just three hits shy of tying Lou Gehrig for the most hits in franchise history. After a quick 0-for-12 skid, Jeter tied the Iron Horse on a Wednesday night (with me in attendance), and came to the park Friday looking to pass him (Thursday was on off-day). O’s rookie Chris Tillman got Jeter swinging at strike three in the first, but Jeter returned to the plate to leadoff the third. Tillman’s first two pitches were outside the zone, and like any good hitter, Jeter took the 2-0 fastball and ripped it to right in typical Jeterian fashion for a single. With 2,722 hits and counting, Derek Jeter stood alone as the Yanks’ all-time hit king.

Those are just some of the highlights of the first half. Vote on your favorite below, but if you think another moment was the best of the second half – maybe the Sabathia-Verander duel, or clinching the division against Boston, or one of the various walk-off hits – use the “Add an Answer” button to write in your own favorite moment. And to the jerk that added the racist word to the poll last time, don’t do it again. I’ll just delete it, and I’m sure your bosses at Goldman Sachs in Jersey City wouldn’t appreciate you trolling blogs mid-day.

What was your favorite moment of the second half?
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Update (3:22pm): The Castillo Dropped Ball happened in early June people. First half.

Categories : Polls
Comments (74)

Every time Chad Gaudin and Joba Chamberalin take the mound this month, they are auditioning for the Yankees. They aren’t really trying out for much beyond two post-season starts, but these outings constitute auditions nonetheless. After two solid outings from both pitchers over the last four games, the Yanks’ fourth starter picture remains cloudy.

Joba, as we know, has been bad. After three strong starts to begin the season’s second half, he is now 5-4 with a 5.37 ERA after the All-Star Break. In 63.2 innings, he has given up 30 walks and 63 hits while striking out 51.

After a series of horrendous outings in late August and early September, Joba seemed to turn it around on Friday when he went 6 innings in a win. He allowed three earned runs on five hits while walking just one and striking out five. More important, however, was Joba’s opponent, as he seemingly broke out of his slump against the Red Sox, a potential ALCS enemy of the Yanks.

Meanwhile, Chad Gaudin has been more than serviceable as the team’s fifth starter since coming to the Yanks. He has made six starts and has thrown 32 innings. While Joe Girardi has kept him on a short leash, Gaudin hasn’t lost as a Yankee starter and owns a win. In those innings, he has given up 28 hits and 15 walks while striking out 23. His ERA as a Yankee starter is 3.09.

Yesterday, Gaudin did what he had to do in his audition. Against a weak Royals team, he went 6.2 innings and gave up a pair of runs on four hits, two walks and five strikeouts. He threw 57 of 92 pitches for strikes and generally coasted through the game.

In one sense, this past weekend did nothing to illuminate the Yanks’ pitching plans going forward. As soon as Detroit or the Twins clinch the Central, the Yanks will opt for the longer ALDS, and the fourth starter issue won’t come to a head unless and until the Yanks reach the American League Championship Series. Even then, we’ve burned a lot of pixels arguing over which pitcher stands to make two or perhaps three postseason starts.

Yet, in a way, this issue is important for Joba Chamberlain. If the Yanks are confident in Joba’s abilities and his arm strength, they will give him the ball. He has, after all, been the fourth starter for the entire 2009 season. He has stayed healthy and has generally given the Yanks a chance to win games. After all, the Yanks are 20-10 in his games. But the Bombers are undefeated in Gaudin’s six starts, and the team won’t overlook that fact either.

Right now, I have no answer, and when we have no answer, we do what bloggers do best: We poll the audience. So as we count down the hours until tonight’s Yankee game, riddle me this one. I voted for Joba, but I don’t think the Yanks could make a wrong choice here.

Who would you name as the Yanks' fourth starter in the playoffs?
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Categories : Playoffs, Polls
Comments (107)