Vintage Andy tonight. mufferfugging bugs.

With both the rotation and the odd line-up choices, it’s amazing how seemingly nonchalant Torre’s thought processes have been in this, his putative swan song. Is he just supremely confident (hard to believe) or is he resigned to his fate as the ex-manager?

Lineup posted @ Bronx Banter

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Mientkiewicz 1B

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Not sure I agree with Giambi sitting, don’t agree with Matsui so high in the order, though not surprising given the way Torre likes to stack the order (L-R-L-R)

How about an Angels vs Rockies/Diamondbacks WS. Think anyone would watch?
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I would. But I’m a baseball fan and always watch the World Series…

That would be a tough series to sell. The only true “star” among those teams is Vlad, and he has no real personality. Non-hardcore fans don’t know who Drew, Webb, Holliday, Tulowitzki, et al., are.

MLB had collective heart burn when the Cubs lost game two. That was their nightmare, no doubt — the Cubs getting bounced in the first round. The Cubs had the best ratings potential.

But I don’t think the Angels have a chance. They might beat Schilling at home, but they won’t beat Beckett again. It’s definitely going to be Red Sox v. Yankees/Indians (hopefully this sentence works as a reverse-jinx against the Sox).

Instead of sitting Matsui, which seems the obvious thing to do, Torre has moved him back to the five-slot. We can all safely assume this means A-Rod won’t see a pitch closer than ten feet to the plate. Not to mention Matsui, when in a funk, can be a double-play machine.

I don’t get it. Matsui is clearly injured and/or ice cold. Giambi has taken some decent swings in his last few games. Why not DH Giambi?

It’s pretty obvious right now that Matsui and Melky can’t be counted on to hit. Minky, another auto-out, just plain stinks. So why not put Betemit in the lineup over Minky to give the bottom of the lineup a chance?

We have to hope Pettitte has a no-doubt good performance and takes this game out of Torre’s hands.

How about an Angels vs Rockies/Diamondbacks WS. Think anyone would watch?

I find it amazing how the Angels suck against the Red Sox as much as the kill the Yankees. It makes no sense.

And, yes, it would not shock me to see the Rockies reach the WS – and that would bother me as a Yankees fan – since the Yankees pitchers seemed gassed when they had to pitch up there this year.

Unless, of course, if it’s the Red Sox that go to the WS – then I want the games to be played at Coors.

Also… don’t want to hijack this or anything… but has anyone been watching the other series?

I was really surprised by what the D’Backs have been able to do. I’ve been a Drew fanatic since he tore up the minors and he looks like everything he was supposed to be. I never thought the D’Backs had enough pitching to win this series. Stealing a game started by Doug Davis last night was huge (Ted Lilly was horrible) — now all they need to do is win another game started by Brandon Webb, which, while not a lock, is an awfully good bet.

The Phillies — what a letdown. Fighting that hard to get into the post-season and then dying a quick death. Their pitching absolutely stinks and losing the Hamels-started game one was the end for them. The Rockies are a pretty scary offensive team. If it ends up Rockies-D’Backs, the Rockies will be in the World Series. Webb will beat them every time he starts against them, but you can’t squeeze four starts out of him. And a team like the Rockies will murder Davis and Hernandez.

Unless Matsuzaka implodes, I think Boston is going to sweep the Angels. Angels are “beat up” as everyone keeps saying, but they also just don’t look that good.

It sucks when people quote a comment and it has a typo in it. Sigh. Damn my effin’ poor eyesight. Anyway, yeah, it’s worth noting. Having HALF — HALF!!!!! — of them. You’re free to point that out. But within the post, I just think it would be fair — FAIR! — to also point out all the good starts Andy has had, when he saved the team. And it would also probably be fair to note that those six starts came within 34 post-season starts.

Those six starts would look a lot worse to me if Andy didn’t also have a lot of good starts on his resume (even sometimes within the same post-season). That’s all I’m sayin’, bro.

~~~But instead of focusing on the negative, but not detail the big games he’s won?~~~

You don’t think having 1/2 of the 12 worst is worth noting?

Having HALF of them?