Yanks Key To ALDS: CC In Game 1?
I’ve been thinking about Game 2 of the 2009 ALDS for the Yankees.
For me, in the ALDS, Game 2 is the most important game of the five-game set. If you lose Game 1, then you must win Game 2 – or else you will find yourself in a situation where you must win three games in a row and where one loss means you’re dead. If you win Game 1, and then you win Game 2, then you put the other team in a spot where they must win three games in a row and where one loss means they’re dead. Basically, no matter what you do in Game 1, Game 2 is a contest that you want to win in a LDS situation.
Now, for the Yankees, you know that CC Sabathia will start Game 1 of the ALDS. But, what about Game 2? Do you start A.J. Burnett or Andy Pettitte?
Petttitte has been the more effective pitcher, than Burnett, as of late. But, do you really want to start two lefties, Sabathia and Pettitte, back-to-back in a five game series? Also, it appears that Games 1 and 2 will be played in the Bronx, for the Yanks, in the ALDS. And, this season, Burnett has been great at home (in New York) and rough on the road – whereas Pettitte has been the opposite (pitching better on the road than at home). So, even though Pettitte’s been better than Burnett, lately, it almost seems as if you have to start Burnett in Game 2…
…but, if, for some reason, CC Sabathia loses Game 1, then you’re putting all your eggs, just about, in the one basket of A.J. Burnett…hoping that he doesn’t put you in a situation where you’re down, 0-2, in a best of five series.
So, maybe the bigger question, for the Yankees, in the ALDS, is: “What can you do to make sure you win the first game, started by CC Sabathia, no matter what?” And, if you can do that, then maybe you can roll the dice with Burnett pitching Game 2 and Pettitte starting the third game of the ALDS…
the bright side is, if you lose the first 2 games, you at least have the yankee stopper in the 3rd. i’d prob do CC -> AJ – > Andy myself.
Watching how lefty batters “add excitment” in the NYS, I’d probably go CC & Andy at home and then AJ for # 3. That will keep more RHB in the opposition’s line up and Andy has done a great job of keeping the ball in the yard (a real plus in NYS). One other comment… Perhaps we should not think in terms of Joba for game, but in terms of Joba/Ace. I’m okay with that couplet going in game 4 of a 7 game series if we are up 2-1 or 3-0. Less eager to see that in a 5 game set.
IMO there’s no doubt: AJ starts game 2. As you said, Steve, AJ is better at home and Pettitte better on the road. More importantly, assuming either a split in the first 2 or an 0-2 start, I prefer Pettitte to start a critical game 3 on the road.
Regardless, I see us getting through the ALDS. The big challenge is a possible NY-BOS ACLS. There will be huge pressure on the Yanks to win that series.
ken wrote:
I seriously hope you’re right. It would be nice to get through the ALDS (for a change). I don’t really mind facing Boston in the ALCS because I truly believe in this team. The fact that we could avenge our 2004 defeat 5 years later would be priceless.
MJ wrote:
That brings up an interesting point: would a “routine series win” really avenge the loss in ‘04? Suppose we play well, they play OK, and NY comfortably wins the series 4-1 or 4-2? Does that wipe out the atrocity of 2004? I’m not sure.
As Steve alluded in another thread, if we can be down 0-3, losing in game 4, and then come back and win 4 straight then that would surely ‘avenge’ ‘04. Does anything less than that do the trick?
@ ken:
No event can ever truly be avenged. The Red Sox could beat the Mets in the World Series fifty times and it would never undo the heartbreak of ‘86. As such, there will never be true revenge for the ‘04 ALCS.
Having said that, simply beating the Red Sox in this year’s ALCS — assuming we even get that far — would be revenge enough for me. I don’t sit around crying about ‘04. I’m over it. I just want to beat Boston in the playoffs because it would be great fun.
ken wrote:
Not for me. Gotta be an eye for an eye. That’s the only thing to square the ledger.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Steve: I’m with you. A black mark that will likely forever tarnish our relationship with the team we love.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Not for me. Gotta be an eye for an eye. That’s the only thing to square the ledger.
Even if we do it to them the way they do it to us, that will never square the ledger. It still happened and we still lived through it and we were still the first baseball team to ever blow an 3-0 series lead. The cat is out of the bag on that one and that’s that. No erasing history, even if we do it to them (and worse) 10 times in a row.
Obviously to each his own but the way I see it…