[Sports] 2009 MLB Postseason Discussion.

[MKandNYYfan]

Yay Yankees!!!! A great end to a great season! I have truly enjoyed watching this team play and win this year. All those walk off wins...best record in baseball...ending with 11 postseason wins. How fitting Andy wins the series clincher. We lost two OFs this week and still grinded out the wins. Congrats to Girardi, a lot of his moves were questioned, but he stuck to what he believed, and has the last laugh.

Kudos to the Phillies for playing hard! The saying is you have to beat the best to be the best, so it was nice to see the WC from last year make it to the WS again. Not an easy feat.


NYY 2009 World Champs! Nice!

PS....CONGRATS to Matsui!!! Very deserved!!!

[michelle2006]

to you MKandNYYfan

to you Andy Pettite, Mariano Rivera

Hideki Matsui

Congrats Joe G

Congratulations to this entire organization. I really have NO WORDS.

NEW YORK YANKEES: 2009 World Champions, 27 time World Champions. I'm blessed to be rooting for a team like this. I never knew they were this good when I started rooting for them back in 1999. I didn't even have a baseball fan in my family , my parents are from Pakistan...

I'm just on cloud 9....er, 27.

[kittyjake5]

A big CONGRATULATIONS to the Yankee fans. Found out this morning, you all must be so happy. They were not going to be denied this year. I fell asleep during the game, have been battling a head cold all week (of course if it was my RS... next year, lol). Hubby watched the whole game and get this he put on his RS cap for good luck for the Yankees. I told him that he is mellowing in his old age and he said nah the Yankees deserved to be World Champs this year, simple as that.

[MKandNYYfan]

Your husband is a very wise man, kittyjake5!!!! Even my boyfriend, a die-hard RS fan, admits this was the Yankees year. I think my bf is also a true baseball fan, and he can appreciate the professional, just out to win players like Jeter, Mo, Matsui and Tex, so it's a little easier for him to deal.

[bearpaw]

Woohoo! Yeah! I am so excited!

I grew up a Yankees fan watching Chris Chambliss, Greg Nettles, Reggie Jackson and Thurman Munson play. Ha! It used to be so funny to hear the words - "Billy's Back". I wonder how Billiy Martin would do as a manager in today's baseball world.

Certainly, on this forum, I have been mostly vocal about the Braves. I am still a fan of theirs too. I became a fan because I could watch most of their games on TBS. I got to know the players as best you can on TV. But, once I couldn't really watch them play anymore, I went back to my roots a few years ago.

Congrats to the Yankee organization.
Special shout out to the fab four of Pettite, Jeter, Posada and Rivera. You guys rock!
We aren't supposed to wear t-shirts with writing on them to work, but well I couldn't resist and am wearing a Yankee t-shirt today. (I brought backup just in case )

[michelle2006]

Originally Posted by kittyjake5

A big CONGRATULATIONS to the Yankee fans. Found out this morning, you all must be so happy. They were not going to be denied this year. I fell asleep during the game, have been battling a head cold all week (of course if it was my RS... next year, lol). Hubby watched the whole game and get this he put on his RS cap for good luck for the Yankees. I told him that he is mellowing in his old age and he said nah the Yankees deserved to be World Champs this year, simple as that.

Thank you, I truly believe the best team won. Jimmy Rollins said that the Phillies lost, but they were the better team. I don't know about that Jimmy...the Phillies were an excellent team, they had some pitching issues in the World Series, obviously bullpen issues too...but they really have great players...I mean ALL STAR type players...Utley, Howard etc.. but the Yankees didn't win 103 games for no reason. I believe the best two teams made the world series, and the best team, won it.

I know people hate the Yankees and their payrolls...but within the wads the cash and whatever else you wanna call it, there is some real baseball being played out there. I read a blog story about Joba and his father Harlan Chamberlain.. Harlan was going through the crowd of guys trying to find his son, and Harlan is on a wheelchair too, raised his son all on his own, while Joba's mother was busy getting into trouble. Finally he saw AJ Burnett in the crowd and asked him to find his song...Joba and Harlan united and shared a long long hug, and cried, and all they said was, "We did it".

There are other players too..."little guys" like Gardner, Coke, Robertson, Hughes, Melky, Cano...players who're not making that much money and are just happy that their childhood dreams came true...and then there are the classy players like Mariano Rivera, Hideki Matsui, and Derek Jeter...who are wonderful players and role models...

A lot of redemption too. Lots of monkeys, if not...gorillas, off certain players' backs...including A-Rod...A-Rod....oh, and A-Rod...lol Also CC and his postseason issues and AJ and whether he could even win a single game in the postseason without his brain exploding...

It was just really really a wonderful moment. I'm proud to be a New York Yankees fan, I'll always be proud of it. I didn't know anything about baseball way back when I became a fan, I didn't know which was the team with the history, Mets or Yankees, I didn't know they had the most titles...or the most popular players...but I became a fan and fell in love with baseball and this team, and I've been rewarded with some of the most exceptional moment.

NEW YORK YANKEES

[wolfpacker]

Ya-hoo Yankees! Great Series!!!!!!!! (Now maybe I can get some sleep!) 2009 World Champion New York Yankees!!!!!!!!!!

[EigthAv]

The one Yank I did have to like was Matsui. I did like him taking series MVP. The Phillies are a great team. Good series.

[MKandNYYfan]

Originally Posted by michelle2006

Thank you, I truly believe the best team won. Jimmy Rollins said that the Phillies lost, but they were the better team. I don't know about that Jimmy...the Phillies were an excellent team, they had some pitching issues in the World Series, obviously bullpen issues too...but they really have great players...I mean ALL STAR type players...Utley, Howard etc.. but the Yankees didn't win 103 games for no reason. I believe the best two teams made the world series, and the best team, won it.

Agreed. When Rollins said that, my 1st thought was he HAS to believe that in order to play and win with his team. You have to have the confidence you have the ability to win every time out. But yes, I feel they had more weaker spots than the Yankees, namely their pitching outside Lee didn't stack up and Howard slumping at the wrong time really hurt them. Defensively, I think the teams are pretty similar, but the Yankees pitching turned out to be stronger and that was the difference, after all, good pitching will stop good hitting any time. Lee was/is amazing. I'm sure Hammels will shrug off this year and be a force again. Lidge is the baffling one-48 for 48 save opportunities in 2008 and he struggled quite a bit this one. Who knows. Goes to show us what a huge weapon Mo is and I dread the day the he retires.

I feel so much clicked for the Yankees this season. Yes, the acquisition of the Big 3 (CC, AJ and Tex) was huge, both in filling needed spots and in payroll, but they still have to play and win. And to do so in NY is a big deal. Then all the "little guys" you mentioned came through when needed-Joba, Hughes, Coke, Robertson...although I feel Robertson deserved a bigger role...did a great job in pressure spots all year. Gardner stepped up, both when Melky was slumping or when injured, and was a force on the base paths really made opposing pitchers work harder, and had a few big hits, too. Swisher has been fantastic. A-Rod finally shed the whole choke in pressure spots persona and it carried over to the postseason. Matsui was the consummate professional as he always, accepting his new DH role without hesitation and succeeded. And then the core group of guys who lead this team-Jeter, Mo, Posada and Andy-did what they always do.

My point is, everyone pitched in and took on a big role. It all starts with the manager and Giradi grew a lot in his role this year. He still made decisions that had me cursing and screaming at the TV, but I also thought he did a great job molding this team into a TEAM, which led to grinding out wins. I think when you follow a team for 162 games, you start to appreciate the little things, the quirks, the team chemistry, the details you may not notice when you don't watch them on a daily basis. It's easy for outsides to point to the payroll and say that is the reason they won. Sure, it helps and gave them an advantage, no doubt about it, but that's not the whole picture. I am proud of what this team accomplished and look forward to #28!


Hoping for a repeat match up in the World Series next year, Phillies!

[michelle2006]

Originally Posted by MKandNYYfan

Goes to show us what a huge weapon Mo is and I dread the day the he retires.

I feel so much clicked for the Yankees this season. Yes, the acquisition of the Big 3 (CC, AJ and Tex) was huge, both in filling needed spots and in payroll, but they still have to play and win. And to do so in NY is a big deal. Then all the "little guys" you mentioned came through when needed-Joba, Hughes, Coke, Robertson...although I feel Robertson deserved a bigger role...did a great job in pressure spots all year. Gardner stepped up, both when Melky was slumping or when injured, and was a force on the base paths really made opposing pitchers work harder, and had a few big hits, too. Swisher has been fantastic. A-Rod finally shed the whole choke in pressure spots persona and it carried over to the postseason. Matsui was the consummate professional as he always, accepting his new DH role without hesitation and succeeded. And then the core group of guys who lead this team-Jeter, Mo, Posada and Andy-did what they always do.

My point is, everyone pitched in and took on a big role. It all starts with the manager and Giradi grew a lot in his role this year. He still made decisions that had me cursing and screaming at the TV, but I also thought he did a great job molding this team into a TEAM, which led to grinding out wins. I think when you follow a team for 162 games, you start to appreciate the little things, the quirks, the team chemistry, the details you may not notice when you don't watch them on a daily basis. It's easy for outsides to point to the payroll and say that is the reason they won. Sure, it helps and gave them an advantage, no doubt about it, but that's not the whole picture. I am proud of what this team accomplished and look forward to #28!


Hoping for a repeat match up in the World Series next year, Phillies!

Mo- God Bless him, said he wants to pitch 5 more years, no joke, he meant it...I'm sure the Yankees will take their time and think about that one...

TEAM TEAM TEAM! Man they pounded that one out...every one of them said it over and over again...whatever Joe G did, it worked.

The quirks: yeah we see them more since we watch/listen to every game..like Swisher and AJ, Cano and Melky...etc...it was well spread out...CC's a wonderful teammate too, took the guys to a Knicks game after the parade yesterday...Tex is just a winner...he looked like he's THRILLED with every moment...

Speaking of AJ and quirks...here's a video of the Yanks at city hall yesterday...A-Rod wore a stylin' hat to the parade...and AJ definitely noticed....what a funny guy!

Watch out for it
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQKJRra9ZrU

[MKandNYYfan]

96 days til Pitchers and Catchers report!!!!

(((45 days til days start getting longer!!!!)))