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Alright, so I'm watching the Yankees vs. Angels and the only thing I could think of was each manager was trying their best to mess up the chances of their team winning (Lackey should have been left in, Burnett should have been taken out)!
The first thing I thought about when I saw that awkward moment on the mound between Scioscia (I never spell this guys name right) and John Lackey was thinking, "Oh shit, he's going to Oritz me!"
Remember when Dusty Baker came out and took out Russ Ortiz in the bottom of the 7th with one out and two on of game Game 6 of the 2002 World Series? Baker was so sure he was doing the right thing that he gave Ortiz the ball right there on the mound to keep as a souvenir! Barry Bonds and the Giants had their World Series all locked up! Seven more outs and they would have won the darn thing?
 Ortiz was tossing a shutout, Baker took him out and brought in Felix Rodriguez. On a 3-2 pitch to the first batter 1st baseman Scott Spiezio, BANG a 3 run HR. 3 more runs in the 8th and it was good night turn out the lights. The Angels won that game 6-5 and then game seven 4-1 and the 2002 World Series was blown on a quick hook pitching change as the Giants lost the series four games to three.
Without the counter rally in the bottom 7th by the Angels last night, Mike Scioscia would have been the Dusty Baker of the 2009 MLB Playoffs. Lackey had only thrown 104 pitches and there is no way he should have come out of that game. And you gotta love Lackey doing his best Bob Gibson out there. 'This is my game, this is my game!'
I know the guy doesn't put up the best regular season fantasy stats, but he's going to make a ton of money on the free agent market. He's a gamer. My guess is that he goes to the Mets because they are one of the few teams out there looking for pitching that will be able to pay him and they desperately need to put someone behind Santana.
I can't remember the last time I saw the Yankees come from behind like that and then give it back. These are the Yankees we are talking about. That doesn't happen to the Yankees. Once the Yankees were up 6-4 there was not one person in America (including those in Yankees uniforms themselves), regardless of who you were rooting for, that didn't think the Yankees would not close it out. Ca'mon, let's be realistic, who of us watching the game wasn't thinking about the Yankees vs. Phillies matchup?
Closing thoughts on last night's game
- Jeff Mathis!!! Another 3 frozen ropes last night! He's literally a career .200 hitter now hitting .600 in the series.
- Joba Chamberlian. They had a diamond and in the rough and turned him into a cubic zirconium. What a shame.
- Brian Fuentes. Gee Wiz does he have to give you a heart attack every time out? I know he led all of Major League Baseball in saves with 48, but anyone who plays for Scioscia gets a lot of saves, that's the way Scioscia uses his closers. F-Rod had 62 for him.
- Mario Rivera. The guy is like Hudini. Is their a jam he can not get out of?
Great game.... A few more games like this one and we will forget all about the wonderful umpiring we've seen throughout the playoffs...... but that's for another post.
Mike Cardano is the founder of the Around the Horn Baseball Blog and the Extra Point Football Blog.
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