Realistically, it's as meaningful as a Presidential poll or a lottery guess on when The Big One will hit California. In terms of relevance, it falls somewhere between Ben Carson and Rick Perry. That said, let us play:
If the season ended today... the Yankees would enjoy H.F.A. - Home Field Advantage - through the post-season. They would undress at their own lockers, bathe in their own Calgon-laced tubs, and sleep in their own beds, beside their own stuffed Teletubbies and singing purple dinosaurs. Better yet, they would play the winner of the one-game bloodbath between Oakland and Cleveland, hoping the game goes 18 innings with beanings and brawls. We could sit back and count the ambulances.
But - in fact - we might not sleep at all, due to one unsavory circumstance: Both wild card teams just proved themselves capable of beating us in a fiver. Both have deep rotations - superior to ours - with no Koufaxian super-ace that we would escape. Meanwhile, Houston would feast upon the homer-happy Twinkies, a post-season tomato can, if such a thing truly exists.
In fact, the Yankees might be better off playing Minnesota - victors of the lowly AL Central - except for one terrifying side-effect:
Home Field Advantage in the second round.
It's the ALCS HFA for which we are now battling. And let's not kid ourselves: Houston is the team to fear. The Astros will surely wipe out whomever they face in the first round. Their big three - Verlander, Cole and Grienke - will strangle the Twins, A's or Indians - whatever. And they will do us too, if we must play four times in Houston. The lack of H.F.A. killed us in 2016, and if we must win a 7-game set that involves strange beds, without Barney... nah.
So... here is where everything stands:
We have a half-game lead over Houston, but they have the easier schedule.
The Yankees have 29 games remaining:
12 home, 17 away
9 against winning teams: Oakland, Boston, Tampa
9 against playoff contenders: Oakland, Boston, Tampa,
The Astros have 30 games left:
16 home, 14 away
9 against winning teams: Tampa, Milwaukee, Oakland
9 against playoff contenders: Tampa, Milwaukee, Oakland
Most importantly: In the case of a season tie, they hold the tie-breaker over us.
So... we have the depth to rest players. We do not, though, have the luxury. And why... why... WHY does it always have to come down to four games in Fenway?
This is all because of a conspiracy by MLB (maybe funded by Hal!?) against the Yankees. If we lose home field by one game, it will be because of the theft of the Saturday game against the Dodgers.
ReplyDeleteMay the entire MLB hierarchy, especially Joe Torre, all be fucked as angrily as Hal should be.
Hal? You think Hal gives a shit about this unimportant stuff?
ReplyDeleteSurely you jest.
I know, don't call you Shirley. :)
It is amazing that there has not been a word out of the Yankees brass—or the local media—about the Rip-off in the Ravine.
ReplyDeleteOur misfortune was that this happened in the last week of August, when you could basically do anything and it wouldn't really register in the zeitgeist. There's a reason why Judge Crater disappeared in New York in August.
Beyond that, don't we all feel all the better now that Ma Boone essentially booted 3 games to the Witness Protection Rays so his guys could rest up for the All-Star Game? Yeah, that was some thinking...
This bizarre ignorance on Boone's part has been galling. Every game counts. Why is this so hard to understand? Then you can tack on the games when he gave up early and brought in a terrible bullpen pitcher who was guaranteed to put the game out of reach.
ReplyDeleteI know guys can't be overworked, and othy guys need a chance to show they can perform, but some of his moves have been inexplicable. It's as if a few games here and there are no big deal. But they all count. And we're arguably fighting for home field advantage because he gave some games away.
Just fucking amazing.
JM,
ReplyDeleteActually having an additional home game in the playoff$$$$ and $$$$$urvival into the next round does matter to Hal. I'm not sure exactly what the reason$$$$$$ are. I'm sure it will come to me..
Doug K.
Hi fellow esteemed peers, Romans, countrymen and fellow victims of abuse by the Yankee front office, our perpetrators. This is an off topic question.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of sticking it to AT&T, where I have been a loyal customer for many, many years, and moving to T-Mobile. Anybody were use T-Mobile and can recommend there coverage in NYC? On the road? Especially out west?
I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more.
Thanks in advance for any experience you can share with me.
Now, back to the Yankee Mental Abuse Network
P
Verizon and AT&T both suck. You're not actually happy with them, are you? We switched and now we're unhappy with too, but at half the cost. So why why why does it matter? It doesn't. Fuck them all. Fuck fuck fuck them, fuck'em!
ReplyDeleteAnd you too MLB and fucking fucknut Hal. Fuck you all!
13 Bit,
ReplyDeleteI use T Mobile in Nor. Cal. It's fine.
My take is that they are all the same. Just go for the lowest price or whatever bonus (Hulu, Spotify, free phone, whatever)they give you. A year from now you will hate them too.
Doug K.
Such a fucking racket. I used to buy them outright, but I did the "upgrade" program loan on the last one. because of that, I am tied to the carrier until the loan is over. So, I just paid off the loan - another fifteen minutes of my life waiting on phone menus. now, I wait for email confirmation, then I call AT&T to have them "unlock" the phone. how much you want to bet I get Larry Rothschild, moonlighting, as my rep? After that, I'm free to go with anyone I want. FUCKING RACKET, just like the new baseballs.
ReplyDeleteSing it, Cousin. Sing it.
ReplyDelete13 Bit
ReplyDeleteI just switched to T-Mobile after many years at Verizon. I'm very glad I did. Customer service is almost too perky. The price is much better since I'm over 55. The only downside is that in eastern CT the service is so 1990's bad my daughter had to switch back after 10 days. Where you are should be no problem.
Oh, things will change in a year or two but you won't have to buy a new phone moving to T-mobile as they and AT& T both run on the GSM system where 2 and 3 G are still operating whereas Verizon and Sprint use CDMA technology. When I switched to T-Mobile from Verizon, purchasing a new phone was basically mandatory if I wanted full coverage and data speed.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Judge is healthy.
ReplyDeleteNo thanks to you fuckyouHal.
Hey kiddies!
ReplyDeleteKnow what tonight is?
The last game of the year with a ridiculous starting time!
If they score a few more runs, I may even feel comfortable going to bed. At least Holder is on the EL and won't play.
So I was reading this blog post, taking it totally seriously, until I saw your list of “playoff contenders” the Yanks must play. I love the Red Sox being the punchline, but that was a very long set up. You almost had me fooled too!
ReplyDelete@Winnie...This is from a tweet...
ReplyDeleteMLB also spoke to the Yankees about the time-out call at Dodger Stadium. In short, their message was that time shouldn’t have been called, sorry about that.
Fuck MLB. And I'll help you here...Fuck you Hal.
Post also ran a squib on the fucked up call: https://nypost.com/2019/08/27/mlb-admits-it-botched-controversial-yankees-dodgers-call/
ReplyDeleteMLB also apologized (sorta kinda) for the fucked up balk call: https://nypost.com/2019/08/27/cory-gearrins-contentious-toe-tap-no-longer-yankees-issue/
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