Good morning people. Baseball will finally return tonight as the Yankees and Rangers open up their LCS in Arlington. For now, here's some links to keep you busy this morning.
- Yankees.com posted this press release of Joe Girardi's Q&A from yesterday's workout.
- CC Sabathia is hoping to put that shaky ALDS start behind him.
"Last time, I was a little too strong and tend to get out of whack and it's tough for me to throw strikes," Sabathia said. "Just have to make sure I'm throwing enough."- Mark Simon believes all CC needs for a win is a 65 (game score).
- Don't be surprised if CC is called upon to start game 4.
"Nothing is ever etched in stone," Eiland said Thursday. "We'll see where we are before Game 4, but we haven't talked about that. It's A.J.'s game and that's it. Can we change our mind? Sure we can, but that's not our plan."- Many believe that white stuff on Cliff Lee's hat is more than simply resin, but as of now the Yankees aren't buying into the conspiracy theories..... Michael Kay, on the other hand, is, but Bob Raissman tells him to shut up about it.
- Michael Young isn't sold on the idea that Cliff Lee will be Bronx bound after the season. The veteran infielder believes Lee likes Texas and may want to resign there.
“I’ve gotten in his ear a little bit. To be honest with you, I think we don’t need [to convince him]. I think Cliff knows this is a good place to play. He’s said that in all of our conversations,” Young said yesterday. “It’s pretty obvious right now. We’ve got a good thing going. Great fan base and a huge city. It’s everything that a winning player would want to be a part of."- Wallace Matthews believes the key to the Yankees winning this series is limiting Lee's starts to one.
- Matthews also says that Kevin Long and the Yankees have a plan for Lee.
"He's not invincible,'' Long said at a Thursday afternoon media session at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on the eve of Game 1. "He's not the Messiah that nobody can beat. Everybody seems to be conceding him two games, but there's a lot of baseball yet to be played.''- TBS analyst Ron Darling spoke with the NY Post about the Yankees and their postseason success.
..."Look, we know he attacks the strike zone,'' said Long, an advocate of the patient approach practiced by Yankees hitters, who like to work the count and wait for a pitch to hit -- not always the best way to attack Lee.
"Should we be more aggressive than normal? I would say so,'' Long said. "But you can't be overly aggressive either, because nothing he throws is coming down the middle. If he's hitting his spots in and out, it's gonna be tough. We just gotta be ready to hit from the moment we step into the box.''
“From someone who won only one World Series, this is eerie,” said Darling, who was an analyst for TBS during the Yankees-Twins ALDS and will be again for the ALCS that starts tonight.
“They find a way to get it done in October to the point where the manager is able to change his number,” he said. “And for someone who used to play, it’s admirable to watch how they prepare, get ready and produce during the postseason.”
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“One of the great things about the Yankees is they know exactly what’s going to happen,” said Darling, who is analyst on Mets games for SNY during the regular season. “The level of play gets ratcheted up from round to round. They played against a team they dominated for whatever reason. But I don’t think that’s going to make the Yankees overconfident. It just reaffirms the kind of team they are.
“The next level you have to prove you can handle the pressure. And in the World Series you have to show you are a great team. They’ve been there many times before. They have fallen a couple of times, but they usually end up on top.”
"We have the most successful postseason pitcher in the history of the game, and now we have him lined up to pitch a Game 7," Eiland said. "In a crazy environment on the road, you'd feel good having Andy out there."- The pregame ceremonies for the games in Texas have been announced. Nolan Ryan and Ferguson Jenkins will throw out the first pitches, and a bunch of country singers I've never heard of will be signing the National Anthem and God Bless America.
