I have absolutely no interest in baseball. But I'll read anything that Michael Power writes; such lively and precise writing is rare.
Looks like their bullpen will be an advantage !
Bases loaded no one out Severino at that situation brought it home for the yanks like Nettles did with his glove against the Dodgers.
A 4:02 baseball game in October (vs. August) is worth watching! Maybe, Michael, you should cover a different sport?
1
Honestly, just disrespectful. It's easy to win when you spend $90 million/year more and come from a big market. Most people have the decency to understand this and not gloat. Yankees fans are not most people
2
@Sam I am the furthest possible creature from a Yankees fan. Dipped in Mets from birth, God help me. But recognize domination
3
@Sam
It's just so easy to pick on the Yankees and their fans because you have so much company.
The fans of any team, and I mean any team, will act the same way if their team become serial winners. Just look at the Patriots and their fans, and that does not even include NFL and sports media which aid and abet them. The Red Sox recent string of success has created the same attitude.
Now I am seeing it in Houston Astro fans, who have to date one championship to boast of and now, because the Red Sox did not make it this year, have become the new team to beat.
I embrace your hate, so there!
@Sam Yes, Sam, the Yankees do indeed carry a bloated payroll, but just look at who played a huge part in getting them to the postseason this year: Gio Urshela ($555,000), Luke Voigt (573,200), Domingo Germán ($577,500), Chad Green ($598,650), Gleyber Torres ($605,200), Gary Sánchez ($669,800), Aaron Judge ($684,300). Their biggest contract, Giancarlo Stanton ($26M), played in all of 18 games this season. The third-biggest, Jacoby Ellsbury ($21M+), has been MIA since the 2017 season.
I am so sick and tired of hearing about the Yankees buying themselves their championships. Give some credit to the scouts who spot the young and undervalued talent. Most people who are not Yankees fans don't understand this.
1
I know the Twins used to be the Washington Senators before moving to Minnesota. Apparently, they're still the Washington Generals.
1
Looking forward to watching the Houston Astros run over the Yankees.
3
@Socrates agreed that is quite likely
2
@Michael Powell
Zack Greinke got spanked by the Rays and now they will use Verlander on 3 days rest. Meanwhile the Yankees have already concluded their series against the Twins.
Rays are the wild card team facing division champs the Astros with 107 wins. Not really a fair match. Yankees faced division champ Twins with 100 plus wins and over 300 home runs, a fairly equal match. Tell me which is the tougher series, please.
2
@Socrates Houston has to get by Tampa Bay first.
Yawn. Yankees are tiresome. Let's all move on. Better that the Astros win the WS - WAY better.
1
I object to the description of a farmer putting down an old cow clinically and with minimal fuss. I would not be surprised if a farmer developed significant affection or even love for an old cow. Putting this animal down would be anything but clinical.
4
If the comment emanates from The Gopher State it's a bulls-eye to chalk up to sour grapes. The games were excellent matches between two powerhouse clubs. So please, lose with dignity to the Bronx Bombers—something apparently that's out of the wheelhouse of John Smoltz whose NYY bias extends back to 1996. He was one-sided and terrible.
1
Twins are a good club with 101 wins. Their Bull Pen isn't deep, which hurt them last night, but they are already working on for next season.
Boone and the Yanks gave props to the Twins after the game last night. I agree and look forward to meeting up with them again next year.
Our beloved Yankees move on!
I don't know why NYT is writing about a Yankees Houston showdown. That is the last thing I want.
@Hope
Let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.
1
Happy to read about Yankees success but also happy to see that someone at the NY Times can still write. I read the game recap article and the writing is brutal.
2
Hat off to the Tampa Bay Rays for keeping it real !!!
Boston Red Sox $229,146,106
Chicago Cubs $218,090,085
New York Yankees $218,019,037
Los Angeles Dodgers $200,600,814
San Francisco Giants $174,582,126
St. Louis Cardinals $173,817,164
Washington Nationals $168,307,808
Houston Astros $168,304,925
Los Angeles Angels $160,270,385
New York Mets $160,023,984
Philadelphia Phillies $157,192,244
Colorado Rockies $156,582,629
Seattle Mariners $143,391,293
Atlanta Braves $137,947,963
$137,228,694
Texas Rangers $128,838,766
Milwaukee Brewers $128,614,019
Cincinnati Reds $128,391,569
Minnesota Twins $124,756,003
Cleveland Indians $121,578,675
Arizona Diamondbacks $118,377,905
Detroit Tigers $114,631,137
Toronto Blue Jays $111,371,067
San Diego Padres $103,554,790
Kansas City Royals $100,773,003
Oakland Athletics $92,894,531
Chicago White Sox $91,371,201
Miami Marlins $75,151,271
Baltimore Orioles $73,370,109
Pittsburgh Pirates $72,731,474
Tampa Bay Rays $64,178,722
Department of equal innuendo. All information from baseball-reference.com.
Brett Gardner hit a career-best 28 homers in 2019 at age 35. His next-best season total is 21 homers. His career 162-game average is 13 home runs. He has played his whole career with the Yankees.
D.J. LeMahieu hit a career-best 26 four-baggers in 2019, his first season with the Yankees, at age 30. His second-best season total is 15 circuit clouts. It occurred while he was playing for the Rockies with the rarefied air of Coors Field as a home park. His career 162-game average is 11 big flies. Prior to 2019 his career was spent with the Rockies for all but 62 plate appearances (with the Cubs, 0 home runs in 2011).
Pretty big single-season best increases at advanced ages for baseball players. Unlike Rosario and Cruz neither Gardner or LeMahieu has been caught using PEDs, but their “improvements” certainly raise questions. Or are they above suspicion and not ripe for inclusion in this column for some reason? Because they are Yankees? Because they are white and not Latino?
4
@Marlon Griffing . You are certainly welcomed to raise an eyebrow at Gardner. But to raise the accusation of anti Latin bias is silly. PEDS use recognizes no ethnic or racial boundary — Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, for instance. The two Twins players are proven to have doped. Doping carries with it known advantages
1
As a longtime Twins fan and witness to summary executions at the hands of various Yankees teams, I found this column all so obviously true, but not particularly insightful. Granted, the David-Goliath story has been beaten into submission. Yes, the economics disparity is well-known. But the dirt digging on Polanco and Cruz seemed out of left field, especially without mention of past damn Yankee transgressions: A-Rod, Cano, Clemens, Petitte, Giambi, Cabrera, Sheffield, Canseco ... who else? The Babe? Fueled by beer and hot dogs? Brett Gardner's HR stats have seemingly spiked the past several years – shouldn't we ask what's in his urine? If anything, Mr. Powell could've mentioned the Twins up-and-coming hitting machine, 22-year old rookie, Luis Arraez, perhaps the only Twin save for the "soulful" (but apparently tarnished in Mr. Powell's eyes) Cruz, with some moxie worthy of the Yankees. Now there would've been some baseball insight. Or, some digging into just why players who perform well during the season seemingly tank in these situations. Mr. Powell is content to just tell us someone was run over by a truck.
7
@stevekap
The Yankees you mentioned are no longer playing but Cruz and Polanco still are, in a season of increased HR production. Home runs are up league-wise, and there is also the new ball. There are also many more pitchers throwing 100 mph, so let's investigate the entire, league shall we?
BTW: What about David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez then?
Contrary to popular belief, it's not always about the Yankees.
2
Well, I didn’t bring it up, Powell did. But if he’s going to question the rise in HR stats of two players as suggested proof of doping, then let’s question everyone. And while we’re at it, sully those from the past, including the Yankees’ glorious past. P. S. I actually like the Yankees and appreciate how they play the game.
1
@Stevekap Steve, I have written in the past in scathing terms of ARod. And the NYT has written at length of the others. I wrote of Polanco and Cruz for the simple reason that they were proven cheaters and playing in this series. And the long term effect of PEDS is often remarked upon. I have mentioned the PEDS use of Cano, as well, and he plays for the team I grew up rooting for. Doping is a scoutlrhe and there is no point served by tiptoeing around it. Best, Michael
1
Masterful writing.
Thank you Mr. Powell.
1
I love the Yankees, love the fact that they swept the Twins and hope they go on to win their 28th championship. I do not like the way the writer accuses the Twins of doping. Sure he did it with some measure of subtlety but accuse them he did and with no current evidence. I call that nothing more than a cheap shot.
9
The game has changed with more trips and conferences on the mound as pitchers are replaced even after three innings. Starters pitchers are being replaced with opening pitchers, an idea pioneered by Sparky Anderson with his pitching by committee strategy with the Big Red Machine in the 70s.
Four hours and two minutes for a 5-1 game is just too long...I realize it's an elimination game in the postseason, but it just drags and loses any sort of drama and urgency.
Using a combined 10 pitchers doesn't help matters.
7
Its not the team, the Yankees, good as they are.
It’s the stadium.
The Twins come to Yankee Stadium in post-Season and they suddenly play like zombies with mouths agape staring at Yankee legends and ghosts of the past.
No disrespect to the current NY roster.
But the Twins are still struggling with the ghosts of Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle, all haunting the stadium grounds itself.
The Twins play there like schoolboys because they feel that way, up against legends. Conquer that feeling and someday they will give the Yankees a run.
But not this year.
9
It is disrespectful to gloat like this. Particularly, considering the $90 million/year more that the Yankees spend.
11
LOL @Sam
@Sam
Who exactly are you accusing of gloating?
Yankees were criticized for being too subdued when they clinched in Anaheim. It seems someone will always find a reason to criticize this team. Everyone seems to forget that were a record number of players on the IL this year, at least 30. Many of the most effective players on this team were the so called "replacements", most of them not stars or household names. You just have to like guys like that. They have won on merit. That's it.
1
Aaron Judge has the potential to be the next Mickey Mantle, who generated a murmur of anticipation in the crowd at home and away whenever he came up to bat. I just hope in future discussions about greatness, I don't have to mimic the conditional "if" that the Mick always had -- if only he hadn't been injured so much. Mick also did not take care of himself, but I don't think Judge has that issue.
6
When my kid speaks of being a Yankees fan instead of a Twins fan I remind him of the enormous payroll disparity. $100,000,000 this year. We don’t cheer for Goliath to beat David. Do we?
6
Back in the day, the late, great sportswriter Jim Murray wrote that rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for U.S. Steel.
1
@Ann B Your owner still spent a lot of money on that team and the team hit 307 home runs. Stop making excuses. Kansas City won just a few years ago. St. Louis, a small market team, has won the second most World Series. On top of that, most of the Yankees are young players who came through their farm system, not expensive free agents.
So I say to your son, "good for you for being a Yankees fan. Don't let your mom bring you down."
4
@Ann B Sour grapes........ You lost and you lost soundly.
1
"Unfortunately, baseball is its own worst enemy even in its glory. Postseason games routinely stretch hour upon hour upon hour, made worse and worse by the vogue for summoning a steady march of faceless relievers."
The unfortunate "vogue" is having writers cover baseball who seemingly have only passing knowledge or interest in the mechanics of the game. Like having the Auto Section beat writer cover the opera and complain about "too many Italian lyrics."
13
@Gina
So you think the trend toward excessive use of relievers is actually enhancing the game?
@Gina
The average time to play a game in 1981 was 2 1/2 hours. it's over three hours now. All they added was more waiting and doing nothing time. I have been a baseball fan for over fifty years, and as impressive as many of the players are, watching a complete game is almost unbearable.
1
@aaron I cannot imagine preferring to watch three relievers trudge to the mound in one inning as opposed to a great pitcher like a Verlander or Cole or deGrom spin a masterful complete game. I pay pretty close attention to sabermetrics. I am also aware that some of what passes for analytic wisdom is in fact the vogue, the receive wisdom of the moment. Our reliever obsession is ripe for reconsideration; the so called 100 pitch rule does not stand up to analysis either. Best, Michael
1
I've been rooting for and following the Yankees since 1958, so I've seen a lot of the great teams and players, and the worst ones. My favorite teams were the 1978/79, and the 1996-2001 models. They had great players, but also had great role players, and all were what I call "professionals". This team is the newer, improved version of those models.
I don't know if they can win it all - the Astros and Dodgers are very strong teams with great pitching and that always seems to be the key - but the Yankees pitching has come on strong, and their bullpen is the best in baseball, so I give them a very good chance of adding #28 to the wall. But even if they fall short, that won't diminish what this team had to overcome to get this far, or the job that Aaron Boone has done, and the best news is that they're relatively young and should only get better (and healthier!)
Go Yankees!
20
I'm a long term Twinkies fan but this group does have a PED whiff.
And don't forget the Michael Pineda suspension.
8
@bobw
What is a "PED whiff"?
@bobw
Yankees had Pineda for awhile. He was caught on camera using a foreign substance which you could clearly see on his neck which he kept touching. We could have told you not to get this guy. He just won't learn.