Statement from the BOSS

“The Yankees’ enormous will to win, tremendous professionalism and great team spirit, backed by the best, most vocal and supportive fans have propelled us into the World Series. We’re looking forward to our 27th ring.” This came from the BOSS earlier today, he is planning on being at the Game on Wednesday night. Jay-Z will be performing Empire state of mind before Game 1 and Alicia Keys will be singing the National Anthem. I wonder who will throw out the first pitch, I am going with Yogi Berra or Whitey Ford. A non World Series or Yankees related item today but interesting is that Mark McGwire was hired as the Cardinals new hitting coach. There will be a lot of stuff coming from the Stadium tomorrow with the official media press conferences, I am guessing Charlie Manuel will name his Game 2 starter and I hope it is Pedro Martinez, I am guessing the Who's your Daddy? chants will be revving up.

Photos of the Yankees Clinching

The Yankees win, theeeeeeeee Yankees win

The New York Yankees defeated the Anaheim Angels last night by the score of 5-2 and securing their 40th pennant in the process. Andy Pettitte got the start, the old warhorse and pitched 6 1/3 good innings giving up 1 run. Joba Chamberlain got 2 outs and then Old Reliable Mariano Rivera got the last 6 outs to secure the pennant. Andy Pettitte got the win and became the alltime leader in wins in the postseason with his 16th career victory. He passed John Smoltz on the list. The Yankees will now appear in a record 40th World Series but their first since 2003 which to many seems a long long time ago. It is a long time ago in the Yankees Universe but if you were around in the 80's or the mid 60's until the late 70's you know it hasn't been that bad. The new age fans are very spoiled and the players themselves at least the core four were spoiled but now realize just how hard it is to get to this point. Alex Rodriguez will be appearing in his first world series as well as CC Sabathia. A.J. Burnett made the world series vs the Yankees in 2003 but he was hurt and inactive so this is special to him. The young guys like Joba, Phil Hughes, Dave Robertson, Robinson Cano etc get to experience this for the first time as well. Jerry Hairston Jr. has been around for a while but never even made it to the playoffs, Eric Hinske is a guy that keeps getting on teams that make it so to him this is old hat but he will enjoy this as well. Joe Girardi with all the second guessing he has endured seemed to really really enjoy this as he wouldn't let go of the AL championship trophy last night according to the Lohud Yankees Blog. I was at the game and didn't get a chance to do a recap and that is why I am getting to you so late. I basically sleepwalked through the day today as you can imagine. CC Sabathia won the MVP which is interesting because he won 2 games and was dominant but A-rod impacted every game and was unbelievable. I thought they might go with co MVP's but that is just window dressing, A-rod said he didn't care and with this team you have to believe him, all year long they have focused on team and winning the world series. It will be interesting to see if the Yankees continue to go with the 3 starters in the World Series or use Chad Gaudin as the 4th, what they may do is use him for Game 5 so they could still use CC in games 1, 4 and 7 if necessary. The only problem with using 3 starters is everyone would have to pitch on short rest and I am not sure that is the best idea but I would use CC on 3 days rest as he has proved he can do it and do it well. There will be another day off but press conferences tomorrow and I will do a preview tomorrow.

Angels at Yankees-ALCS Game 6 again

The Yankees remain one win from a 40th pennant and first World Series trip since 2003. They were nine outs away from it on Thursday in Anaheim after a thrilling six-run rally, but could not hold a two-run lead and now have to win one of the next two games at Yankee Stadium to advance. The odds are certainly in their favor; 19 of the 28 teams to hold a 3-2 lead since 1985 have gone on to win the series. I expect the Yankees to win tonight, no one should of thought it would be too easy. Here are the pregame notes and lineups via the Lohud Yankees Blog. I will be headed out to the Stadium shortly so enjoy the game everyone and hopefully I will have a happy postgame reaction later tonight or tomorrow morning. The Yankees were a major-league best 57-24 record at home this season, including a 36-10 mark since June 30. They lost consecutive home games only once in that stretch and have won all four postseason games there so far this year. The Yankees bullpen was supposed to be a strength in the postseason but it hasn’t felt that way lately. Phil Hughes has allowed three earned runs, nine hits and has a WHIP of 2.36 in 4 2/3 innings during the playoffs while Joba Chamberlain has a 3.38 ERA and has seen opponents hit. 500 off him over 2 2/3 innings. Should Joe Girardi use Dave Robertson more often? He’s thrown three scoreless innings during the postseason. Melky Cabrera has five hits in the past two games and has upped his ALCS average to .381 (8-for-21). Cabrera also has three walks and four RBI. Nick Swisher continues to be a black hole in the lineup during the postseason. Swisher is 2-for-17 with 16 LOB in the ALCS and 3-for-29 in the playoffs with only one RBI. I personally would of started Gardner in CF and Melky in right but lets hope he breaks out and helps them win tonight. The Angels four first-inning runs in Game 5 marked the first time they’d scored in any of the opening three innings of any postseason game this year. The four runs also equaled the total runs they scored in all of Games 1 and 2 combined. Derek Jeter will play in his 47th LCS game tonight, moving him past David Justice and into second place on the all-time list (Manny Ramirez has 49). Jeter isn’t just showing up either; he’s on a nine-game postseason hitting streak that dates back to 2007. Alex Rodriguez had a down night, relatively, in Game 5, since he didn’t drive in a run for the first time in eight postseason games this year. He did go 1-for-3, though, with a double and run scored as well as two walks (one intentional). A-Rod has a hit in 10 straight playoff games. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Matsui(DH) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) Angels Lineup: Figgins(3B) Abreu(RF) Hunter(CF) Guerrero(DH) Morales(1B) Kendrick(2B) Rivera(LF) Mathis(C) Aybar(SS) The weather won't be a problem tonight as it is beautiful out, may be a little breezy later but that is just fine.

NFL Week 7

The New York Jets will be in Oakland to take on the Raiders and the New York Giants will be at home on Sunday night football to play the Arizona Cardinals. I will start with the Jets since they are playing early today. I just don't see how they lose this game but of course no one thought they would lose to the Bills last week. I think you will see a fired up Jets team and I expect their defense to just go wild and not allow much. I am going to pick the Jets to win 24-10. The Giants also should be fired up coming off a embarrassing performance in New Orleans last week where the defense was just torched. I expect them to have made adjustments and to blitz more to get in the QB face. I think the Giants are going to win this game but it won't be easy. If the Giants can run the ball well and control the clock that will also help so the defense will get some rest. I will pick the Giants 31-24. I am not going to pick a random game this week as I have just been too busy with the ALCS and the Yankees. I did not have a good week last week as I lost with both the JEts and Giants and now I am 5-4 on the season. I am looking to rebound with the hometown teams this week.