You could call the Angels the team of destiny in 2009, deferring respectfully to the memory of Nick Adenhart. It makes for a nice theme for the AL Championship Series, but the Yankees aren’t buying it.
The real reason they’re sweating the coming war with Anaheim has nothing to do with the untimely death of a young pitcher. Besides, if destiny was a legitimate currency in October, wouldn’t the Bombers have won the World Series in 2001?
Truth is, there are no intangibles in baseball’s sabremetric era. It’s all about data now, and the numbers suggest the Yankees will be stripped of one of their most critical psychological weapons — intimidation. The Angels are the only team since 1995 to have a winning record against the...
Based simply on numbers, you can make the case the Yankees look desperate here, calling up Andy Pettitte to start Sunday in the Bronx before he’s truly ready. But that’s a silly way of interpreting a decision they had to... more »
If a man can make walking with crutches look effortless, well, who else but Mariano Rivera? Here he was, practically gliding across the clubhouse on his new crutches, when he noticed everyone studying his every move. “I didn't... more »
You want to take something meaningful away from Andy Pettitte’s first time back on a major-league mound in a year and a half? Then you go right ahead. Go ahead and break down Pettitte’s 6⅓-inning, 94-pitch... more »
Alex Rodriguez has played in every game this season. Sometime this summer, maybe on an extra-humid afternoon or during the 20-games-in-20-days stretch the New York Yankees face in August, manager Joe Girardi will sit him.... more »
Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher likes to call Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon “the mad scientist,” and with good reason. When the two teams met, in St. Petersburg, Fla., on the opening weekend of the regular ... more »
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