162 games on and the regular season

is finished and I didn’t post much about the Yanks.

After all it took me a whole week of the season before the first post and there was only about ten posts that followed that one. What didn’t help was the serious lack of Yanks games on five this year.

That first one didn’t hold out much hope for the season, especially after Pavano started the opening game, neither did many that followed it up to the All Star break, where they were still under .500 and well behind the Sux and the wild card spot they eventually got, after the All Star break I didn’t want to test the Toxic Web Kiss of Death.

It’s the worst finishing placed they’ve had for some time, since the finished in the wildcard spot in 1997, and a record of 94-68 represents the fewest wins since 2000 but after that dog of a start they deserved to celebrate when they secured a playoff spot.

This wasn’t Sux style celebrations of the wildcard that we’ve taken the piss out of them for doing, it was celebrating 13 straight playoff appearances by getting from so far back, which almost got them right to the top, only 2 games from the best record with the pitching they had.

So in the end A-Rod never lived up to those April figures the projected projected 356 RBIs and 130 home runs never materialized, he could only manage a league leading 156 and 54 😉 With a hell a lot of them being clutch this year, where would they have been without both him and Posada in those first few months of the season?

Any other season Jorge would be team MVP and talk of him being in line for the top award a batting average of .338, 20 homers and 91 batted in are excellent numbers for a guy who is 36 and playing behind the plate, had a bit of work to do with the large number of kids on the mound as well.

But there’s only one name in the reckoning for the MVP in the AL, just have to hope that this new found Yankee stays the course and delivers in the playoffs.

One good thing about getting the wildcard is missing the Angels in the first round, though stuffing the Tribe this season suggests they’ll exact some revenge at some point and the Yanks never had to face this years should be Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia who along with their other 19 game winner Carmona face up to Wang and Pettitte in the first two games of the ALDS.

So is it better to face the team that has your number in the regular and postseason over the last number of years the Angels or a team that you’ve whipped when their lesser guys have been on the mound?

Another bright spot in the season has been the implosion of the Mets over the last few weeks, starting with there whitewashing by the Phils to miss out on the playoffs after we’d heard so much about how great they were top to bottom, good one. And Jimmy Rollins proved right at the beginning of the season, I’d have him down as my NL MVP.