Report: Alex Rodriguez would not block trade – Alex Rodriguez | NYY
2012
7-on-7: Special injured running back edition, featuring Richardson, Bradshaw
2012
Let's begin with an encouraging quote from Browns rookie Trent Richardson, who was sidelined for a stretch in Week 6 with a rib issue. These were his thoughts on Wednesday, after putting in a limited practice:
"I'm going to try not to let the coaches tell me I can't play," Richardson said after practice. "I want to be out there. I want to be out there with my team. I want to be out there fighting with them, playing every down with them. They usually see me, so in my head, most definitely, I'm playing."
It's clearly a nice sign that Richardson was able to put in some work, mid-week. Cleveland has the Colts on deck, so the match-up is plenty friendly. Indianapolis currently ranks No. 29 against the run, allowing 159.0 rushing yards per game and 5.0 per carry. If Richardson can't handle a full workload, Montario Hardesty will be a factor.
• Ahmad Bradshaw is again dealing with some foot problems, of as-yet-unknown severity. Bradshaw is coming off a pair of excellent games, so this is particularly unwelcome news. He didn't practice on Wednesday, so you'll want to pay close attention to the end-of-week reports. We should note that Andre Brown has returned to practice, having sufficiently recovered from his concussion. David Wilson would be in the mix as well, if Bradshaw's issues persist.
• Neither Rashard Mendenhall nor Isaac Redman practiced on Wednesday, and the pair is considered questionable for the upcoming Sunday night game at Cincinnati. You'll recall that Pittsburgh's O-line is also banged up (Pouncey, Gilbert), so things aren't looking great for that offense at the moment. The Mendenhall and Redman issues don't seem severe, so there's reason to believe one or both should be good to go.
• If Ed Werder can be believed on non-Favre matters, DeMarco Murray is apparently telling Dallas teammates that he'll return for the rematch against the Giants in Week 8. On behalf of Murray owners everywhere, I accept these terms. Felix Jones, of course, remains a solid single-serving play versus the Panthers.
• Houston's Ben Tate (toe) practiced on Wednesday, and his head coach had some nice things to say:
Kubiak said [Tate] was "back to work full-time" and "had a really good day."
So that's nice. With Arian Foster on pace for something like 12,000 carries this season, Tate's return to health is key.
OK, that's enough RB news...
• Saints tight end Jimmy Graham (ankle) didn't practice on Wednesday, and no one seems to be spreading much sunshine about his condition. This is a legit concern. Graham owners will clearly need to have a Plan B at their disposal. Here's a pile of TEs, for your review.
• A bunch of Dwayne Bowe-to-the-Dolphins buzz popped up yesterday, connected to Yahoo!'s Jason Cole. However, Jason himself threw cold water on that specific rumor not long after it erupted. But then he tossed out this nugget...
...so if you're a fan of a receiver-starved team (Washington, Miami, St. Louis, et al), feel free to speculate. Bowe is headed for free agency, unless he gets the franchise tag again. The NFL trade deadline — which is typically a lot less active than your fantasy league's trade deadline — doesn't arrive until Tuesday, October 30.
Report: Yankees, Marlins discuss A-Rod trade – Alex Rodriguez | NYY
2012
Familiar faces: Tigers, Yankees recall 2009 trade (Yahoo! Sports)
2012
When outfielder Austin Jackson tracks down a deep fly or Detroit Tigers teammate Phil Coke throws a scoreless inning of relief, New York general manager Brian Cashman doesn't fret about the fact that both players could still be Yankees.
Fallen Kings scouts Ace Bailey, Mark Bavis, still get their day with the Stanley Cup (PHOTO)
2012
Mark Bavis and Garnet "Ace" Bailey were scouts for the Los Angeles Kings. They died on September 11, 2001, when their flight, United Flight 175, crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
[Also: NCAA hockey referee arrested after making bomb joke at Alaska airport]
But, as the photo below illustrates, while they may have lost their lives, they didn't lose their day with the Cup. The Stanley Cup, alongside the families of Bavis and Bailey, visited the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York Sunday.
It's not the first time Bailey and Bavis have been honoured since the Cup win. Back in June, New York-based Kings fan Dave Krasne took a "Stanley Cup champions" hat to the memorial and laid it between the two men's names.
But a hat is one thing. A day with the Cup is something else entirely, and it's great to see that the Kings ensure the Bailey and Bavis families still got theirs.
While the Kings began a new era with their Cup win, it's great to see that they've still taken a moment to look back.
Follow Harrison Mooney on Twitter at @HarrisonMooney
Fantasy Fallout: Friday Rundown
2012
Deron Williams gave Nets GM Billy King advice on Dwight Howard, which likely didn’t mean much
2012
In some ways, you have to sort of admire the way Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams has elbowed his way into the sort of NBA-level celebrity pantheon we usually reserve for talents like LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul or Kobe Bryant. The first three on that list are as notorious for shifting uniforms midstream, while the last on that list is just super-famous/awesome/possibly a jerk to other jerks.
Deron? He's starting to become a mixture of the lot, even if he probably ranks a good step behind that quartet when it typically comes production and game-changing ability. He quietly did enough to force a trade from Utah to a rebuilding Nets franchise a year and a half ago, and had both Dallas and the would-be Brooklyn Nets patiently waiting out his 2011-12 season and eventual free agency before Deron decided to stick. And, as he decided to ramp up the stickiness, Williams wielded a little influence with Nets GM Billy King as Brooklyn considered a trade for Dwight Howard. From ESPN New York:
"One thing Deron did say to me, he said, 'Please, just don't wait on Dwight [Howard]. We can't wait and not have a team,'" King said during the premiere of NBA TV's "The Association: Brooklyn Nets," which will air on Oct. 16.
"The team of Brooklyn is bigger than one person. I owed it to the organization, I owed it to our fans, I owed it to Deron and the players that we have to build for Brooklyn, and we went forward and built our team."
That's all pleasant and show-offy, not unlike Deron Williams talking up Mark Cuban's apparently off-putting absence from DW's meeting with the Dallas Mavericks last July, but it's probably all a bit of "ain't Joe Johnson great?!?"-deflecting hogwash.
Had there been even a moderate chance the Orlando Magic were going to go for the Brook Lopez-led offer that would return them Dwight Howard's services in early July, the Brooklyn Nets would have held on through Labor Day for an attempt at the MVP-level center. And though the Magic ended up taking what we think is a pretty crummy deal after months of butchering their work with Howard's value on the market, and though the longer contracts the team took back from Denver nearly approximate the contract extension Lopez would have played for under the sign-and-trade guidelines, the deal just wasn't happening.
This is just King working as a GM, selling his team, selling his work. And he's done well enough with Mikhail Prokhorov's money — putting together a team around Deron, a re-signed Brook, Joe Johnson, Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace that's … eh … Pretty good?
This response is better than King going on NBA TV and basically just talking about how the Nets will be "a better version of the Knicks, probably." Which would be accurate, we suppose.
It's all part of the plan; all part of what every GM does once the Crazy Season ends and the talking up begins. Put Deron Williams on a pedestal as a LeBron/CP3/Kobe-styled front office shaker, argue away not being able to deal for Howard as some sort of response to wanting to move on. Even if you would have been at Dwight's doorstep with a year's supply with Skittles in a Brooklyn minute if it had meant you were in with a chance.
King didn't lose out on Dwight Howard; Dwight Howard lost out on the Brooklyn Nets because in a self-pitying whim he decided to opt in to the final year of his contract with the Orlando Magic last March. Every NBA observer on earth save for the Magic's t-shirt designers knew it wouldn't last, and Howard more or less signed off on that guesswork by inching back towards his trade demands a month later, but the move sealed his fate as a potential sign-and-trade option for the Nets.
As the Nets' first season in Brooklyn gets ready to tip off and Williams graces the cover of Sports Illustrated as a well-deserved result, it might be time to back off on the myth-making. For weeks at a time, D-Will will play like the league's best point guard, and he's certainly a franchise cornerstone to be proud of. Beyond that, however, we're tiring of him as a continual subject.
The kvetching about Mark Cuban's absence, bringing it up on your own and then backing away once Cuban hit you with a nicely-honed zing? The shots sent his ex-teammates' way? The hob-nobbing with ADMITTED ADULTERS?
It's a bit much; though we readily admit this is par for the course when you have a show to sell. Soon the noise will wash away, and Williams will have to push 20 points and 10 dimes while challenging for the Atlantic division title.
And like Deron, and Billy King, and Nets fans; we can't wait for the sound of that ball bouncing off of hardwood to replace any other aural discomfort we might be feeling as a result of this move.
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Marvin Williams is sick and tired of having to answer questions about the Atlanta Hawks’ mistakes
2012
In one of the most obvious instances of preseason tanking we've been around for, the 2004-era Atlanta Hawks decided to jettison most of the big names that led them to 26 wins during the 2003-04 season for a scab-y core bred to lose as much as possible in 2004-05. Youngish types like rookie Josh Smith and Al Harrington were brought in on the cheap, while expiring contracts belonging to Antoine Walker, Tony Delk and Tom Gugliotta dotted the roster. Kevin Willis played for these guys, and Jon Barry, too. Pig Miller, surreptitiously hiding that toothpick, saw nine minutes of action. This was a terrible team that won 13 games. On purpose.
Their reward for all that? The second pick in the draft. And, after the Milwaukee Bucks possibly did the Hawks a favor and selected Andrew Bogut first overall, the Hawks decided to draft North Carolina freshman Marvin Williams. He of the constant, "when all is said and done, Marvin Williams may have the best career of anyone in this draft"-analysis from those who happen to work on cable TV and be wowed by yet another fluid swingman with athletic gifts.
Chris Paul and Deron Williams were not chosen by Atlanta. Both have moved on to garner MVP consideration and starting roles on teams in Los Angeles and New York; even if they're not starting for that Los Angeles team or that New York team. Marvin Williams, having just turned 19 a week before the draft but having long before turned into a 6-9 glider with all-around potential, was selected by Atlanta. And, in his first season away from the Hawks, the current Utah Jazz veteran is kind of sick of talking about the 2005 draft.
From the Salt Lake Tribune:
"People talk a lot about expectations and living up to expectations," Williams said, "but I hit them up with the million dollar question every time. My question is: Whose expectations do I have to live up to?"
Williams is 26. The reliable outside shooter has averaged double digits every year he has played in the NBA except his rookie season. The Jazz acquired Williams in exchange for point guard Devin Harris to make room for newly acquired Mo Williams. An 18,000-seat community center bearing Williams' name is being constructed in his hometown of Bremerton, Wash.
Williams is content.
"I don't have to live up to anybody's expectations but my own," he said. "I have to look at myself in the mirror every night. And when I do that, I'm very satisfied with where I came from and what I'm working toward."
I'm good with that. You can beg Marvin to drive a bit more or wish he'd develop a steadier dribble and post-up game, but it's not his fault he's living up to someone else's mistake.
A mistake on several basketball levels, it should be noted. Former Hawks GM Billy Knight was the guy who took a chance on Pau Gasol in Memphis just four years earlier, but he's also the one who littered the Hawk roster with win-now shooters (Glenn Robinson, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Jason Terry) and badly whiffed on the Williams selection.
Knight's excuse, shouted to the rafters after the draft and especially after his bosses overruled him on a sign and trade for Joe Johnson a month later, was that picking for need in the NBA draft is always a recipe for disaster. You always take the best player available, if you're selecting in the NBA lottery, because you can always find a replacement for your perceived need either in that draft (with a trade down, to acquire extra assets along the way) or a deal for a veteran later in the offseason.
And he was completely correct in that regard. Save for the fact that he didn't draft the best player available, in Marvin Williams. And that just about 10 out of 10 observers would tell you the same thing all the way back in 2005, even with Marvin's potential still in high regard.
Paul was considered the best player available. Williams, even before he shed his college heft, was considered just a step behind him. This isn't revisionist nonsense — the Hawks were criticized then as much as they are now. And even if you fully commit to the "take the best guy"-ideal, adding another wing in Williams to a team featuring Josh Smith, eventually Joe Johnson, and a player in Al Harrington that you just signed and traded for? Even in that regard, you're stretching it.
Especially on a team that started Tyronn Lue and 34-year-old Kenny Anderson for 66 games in 2004-05.
Williams, at this point, is no seat filler. He's an average player on an average team looking to improve its station. He's done well to come back from a debilitating back ailment, he's a massive upgrade on a Jazz team that was terribly outclassed at the wing position last year, and his expiring contract is a boon for both Utah and Williams' own personal interests. Life is good.
We pride ourselves on watching nearly every game, moving from day to day and not living with imprints created years ago. It's hard, though, to disassociate Williams from the particulars of his NBA initiation. That doesn't mean we're expecting him to play better basketball than Chris Paul or Deron Williams, we didn't expect that 88 months ago. It's just the primary anecdote behind his bio. So it goes.
NHL 2012-13 Campaign Preview: Washington Capitals
2012
Yes, indeed, despite the promise of impending labor Armageddon and a prolonged work-stoppage, your friends at Puck Daddy are previewing the 2012-13 NHL season (whenever the heck it starts). Why? Because this is the most important election in the history of all-time ever, and you need to know the candidates — like the Washington Capitals.
The Capitals had retooled during the summer, jettisoning a few players (including the Semyon Varlamov trade) and bringing in veterans like Troy Brouwer and Joel Ward, with an eye on finally finding postseason success.
But first, they had to find regular-season success again: Two days after a humiliating loss to a depleted Buffalo Sabres team, the Capitals fired Coach Bruce Boudreau following a 12-9-1 start (that included benchings for both Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin). Boudreau had a record of 201-88-40 for the Capitals, led the team to the playoffs in each of this seasons there and once did an entire interview on HBO with food on his face.
Enter Dale Hunter, the Capitals legend who had coached the London Knights for the last 11 seasons. Long coveted by GM George McPhee, Hunter brought a conservative defensive style that the team finally bought into in the postseason; leading to a win over the Boston Bruins in the first round and the ascendance of rookie goalie Braden Holtby to postseason star. Alas, the run ended at the hands of the New York Rangers in Game 7.
After the season, Hunter walked away from the Capitals to return to juniors, and Washington inked another former player to replace him: New Jersey Devils assistant coach Adam Oates.
Can he be the one to finally get the team past the second round of the conference playoffs?
"Finally Drained of Semin"
As was just crudely mentioned, Alex Semin and the Capitals finally parted ways after seven years of brilliant offensive moments but frustratingly inconstant play and questions about work ethic. It was time for a change for both teams, as Semin signed with the Carolina Hurricanes -- but his offense isn't easily replaced.
The Capitals bid farewell to goalie Tomas Vokoun, who was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins; forward Mike Knuble, who was unsigned; defenseman Dennis Wideman, who signed with the Calgary Flames; winger Chris Bourque, was traded to Boston fro Zach Hamill; center Keith Aucoin, who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs; and center Jeff Halpern and defenseman Sean Collins, who signed with the Rangers.
The Capitals weren't overwhelmingly active in free agency — they added Wojtek Wolski, Ryan Stoa, Jack Hillen and Joey Crabb — but swung for the fences with a big trade: Acquiring C Mike Ribeiro from the Dallas Stars for C Cody Eakin and a second-round 2012 draft pick.
At forward … Alex Ovechkin finished with the lowest points per game average (0.83, the first time he was under a point per game) of his career, although he surged to 38 goals with a late-season push. Having center Nicklas Backstrom limited with 42 games due to a concussion was no doubt a factor. With Oates behind the bench, perhaps Ovechkin can make up some of the points he's lost on special teams in recent seasons.
Backstrom had 44 points in 42 games, skating to a minus-4. Having Ribeiro on the second line will help take some of the pressure off the talented pivot, rather than having a revolving cast of characters as the second option at center.
Marcus Johannson was third on the team in points, but managed only 3 in 14 playoff games. Still, he showed solid offensive promise in his sophomore season skating with Ovechkin and Backstrom.
Ribeiro should have Troy Brouwer on his line, as the former Blackhawk netted 18 goals last season. Mathieu Perreault is undersized but can create his own chances, as he frequently did in scoring 30 points in 64 games last season. Or perhaps, the Capitals will give speedy Jason Chimera a look after his breakout season with 20 goals.
Brooks Laich had 16 goals and 41 points on the season, and should be able to slide back into a defensive mode with the top two center spots solidified. Joel Ward, hero of Game 7 (well, at least to some) against Boston, will settle into a checking role again for the Capitals. Washington has several other truculent options down the lineup, like fan favorites Jay Beagle and Matt Hendricks.
Where Wolski and AHLer Stanislav Galiev fit are anyone's guess.
On defense … It wasn't a sterling year for the Capitals' top two remaining puck-moving defensemen (with Wideman gone). John Carlson posted 32 goals, but finished at a minus-15, taking a step back from a stellar rookie season, Mike Green was limited to 32 games due to injury and posted seven points. He had a very strong postseason and earned a new contract; will we ever see the old Mike Green again?
Carlson should be back with Karl Alzner again, who may have been the team's best defenseman last season. Roman Hamrlik, the 38-year-old defenseman who averaged 19:13 TOI last season, will be back in the top four.
Rounding out the lineup: Defensive defenseman John Erskine and speedy Dmitri Orlov, along with Jack Hillen and Jeff Schultz. Then there's Tom Poti, still under contract but likely done.
In goal … Holtby should enter the season (whenever it starts) as the top option between the pipes, and is getting more work in the AHL during the lockout. He thrived in Dale Hunter's system; can he do the same for Oates?
Michael Neuvirth called Holtby the "weakest competition" he'll have faced in a goalie tandem, and then walked away from that statement briskly. Which ignores the fact that he's right: Holtby doesn't have the body of work in the NHL that Varlamov and Vokoun had. But Holtby's also been groomed to be the starter for years, considered by many to be a better prospect than Neuvirth. Two young goalies trying to beat the other out of a job. Not a bad problem to have for the Caps.
BEAT DAT BEAT UP! GTL 4 LIFE! (Mike Green pops collar.)
Oates arrives having never been a head coach in the NHL but having served well as an assistant with the Cup Finalist Devils last season. His hockey smarts are off the charts, and his offensive credentials are unimpeachable. If he can apply some of this power-play efficiency to this Capitals roster, their offense could roll.
That said, Boudreau lost the team and Hunter didn't feel compelled to return. Can Oates manage this locker room?
McPhee once again has attempted to add the last touches to a contender, in the hopes that this formula works. He deserved much credit for hiring Hunter and making some of the moves that paid off in the first two rounds of the playoffs (like Ward, finally). But he didn't replace Semin's offense, he may miss Wideman's points from the blue line and there's a creeping sense that the window is closing on this group — despite McPhee having locked up so many of them long term.
We'll go with Backstrom, who from an offensive and defensive perspective might be the most complete forward on the team. He's two seasons removed from his 101-point breakout, but should thrive with Ribeiro behind him and Oates there to teach him.
Orlov. He was a scratch in the playoffs, but had 19 points in 60 games for the Capitals during the regular season. He's got speed and size, and is yet another offensive option for the Caps on their blue line.
Holtby. While we think the kid has the goods, let's take a step back and see what the numbers look like without Hunter Hockey in front of him -- and with teams being a tad more familiar with him.
[Female Narrator]
"Childhood obesity. A scourge on our society. A drag on our health system.
"Candy bars and potato chips: leading causes of childhood obesity.
"And yet Alex Ovechkin violently covets these treats:
"And tries to trick our children into thinking they can be used to create rips in the fabric of time and space:
"Let Alex Ovechkin know that childhood obesity matters to you.
"And by that, I mean poke him in the belly during the offseason.
"Paid for by George McPhee."
The Southeast is a more interesting place than last season: The Carolina Hurricanes have Jordan Staal and Semin; the Lightning have bolster their blue line and addressed their goaltending; the Panthers were a division champ last season (and are waiting on Luongo). The Capitals need a smooth transition to Oates next season, because a playoff spot isn't predestined for any team that gets off slowly in the East.
That said, the Capitals should be a playoff team. And Ovechkin should reclaim his form.
10 numbers for the ALDS: Yankees vs. Orioles
2012
With the 2012 postseason underway, Alex Remington takes a look at the statistics that might make a difference in each of the four first-round series. Last up is the ALDS featuring the AL East champion New York Yankees and the AL wild card champion Baltimore Orioles. The first two games of the series will be held at Camden Yards and the first pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 6:07 ET on Sunday night.
245 The Yankees' major league-leading homer total, the third time in the last four years that the Yankees have led the majors in that category. As a matter of fact, it's the most home runs that the Bronx Bombers have ever hit as a team — one more than the 244 that they hit in 2009, and five more than the 240 that they hit in 1961. Those are the only three times the franchise ever cleared the 240 home run mark as a team. These Yankees hit homers, and lots of 'em.
* * *
2.65 The difference between Chris Tillman's 2.93 ERA in 2012 and his 5.58 career ERA entering the 2012 season. Like Cincinnati's Homer Bailey, Tillman is a prospect whom the Orioles have been waiting on for a long time. From 2009 to 2011, Tillman shuttled back and forth between the minors and majors, making 36 starts with a 5.58 ERA: he walked too many people, gave up too many homers, and generally struggled to throw strikes and get batters to swing and miss. This year, after spending the first half of the year in Triple-A Norfolk, he came to the majors and looked like he was ready to stay for good. Likewise, Brian Matusz looked ready to stay in the majors after putting up a 1.35 ERA in 13 1/3 bullpen innings, a welcome change from the 5.51 ERA Matusz had posted in 68 major league starts.
* * *
3.83 Andy Pettitte's postseason ERA. Pettitte has started 42 postseason games and won 19 of them, both all-time records. Still, he hasn't exactly been dominant. His postseason ERA is almost identical to his career regular-season ERA, which is 3.86. But he'll start Game 2 of the Orioles series, and he has more postseason experience than just about the whole Orioles roster combined — Jim Thome and Endy Chavez notwithstanding.
* * *
.786 Adam Jones's second-half OPS. Jones was looking like an MVP candidate in the first three months of the year, posting an .897 OPS with 19 homers in 77 games through June. Jones may have worn down over the course of the summer — he played every single game — but he still finished with the best season of his career. Like Tillman, he came over from the Mariners in the disastrous 2008 Erik Bedard trade, which sowed many of the seeds for their present success. (Another pitcher the Orioles received in the Bedard trade was Kam Mickolio, whom the O's later included in the trade that brought them Mark Reynolds.)
* * *
18 The uniform number of Hiroki Kuroda, arguably the Yankees' best pitcher this year, with C.C. Sabathia making the first two DL trips of his Yankee career. Kuroda had been a good pitcher with the Dodgers, but some pundits wondered how his results would translate from the roomy confines of Chavez Revine to the pressure cooker of Yankee Stadium. Wonder no longer. Kuroda was one of the best pitchers in the division, and he'll take the ball in Game 3.
* * *
1 The number of times that Buck Showalter has ever advanced in the playoffs — and yes, that one time was Friday night. In his 14-year managerial career, Showalter has taken three teams to the playoffs: the 1995 Yankees, the 1999 Diamondbacks, and now the 2012 Orioles. For all his reputed tactical wizardry, Showalter has won a grand total of four playoff games, two in 1995, one in 1999, and one in 2012. Showalter would love to add to that total. So would the Orioles, who won successive division series in 1996 and 1997, but haven't reached the World Series since their 1983 championship.
* * *
3.43 The Yankees' bullpen ERA, 14th in baseball and fifth among playoff teams. The Yankees were hurt by Mariano Rivera's injury, but Rafael Soriano filled in capably as closer, and setup man David Robertson has been one of the best relievers in baseball over the past four years. The problem is depth, and perhaps the best illustration of that is the fact that 40-year old Derek Lowe — who had a 5.52 ERA as a starter in Cleveland — pitched 23 1/3 innings in 17 appearances down the stretch as the Yankees were trying to fend off the Orioles. In fairness, Lowe had a 3.04 ERA, but still. (The Yankees often have a far worse bullpen ERA, as a matter of fact: the Yankees' bullpen ERA was 3.12 in 2011, but 3.47 in 2010, 3.91 in 2009, 3.79 in 2008.)
+7 The Orioles' run differential this season, eighth-best in the American league and 16th-best in the majors. The Orioles scored 712 runs this year, and their opponents scored 705. Ordinarily, in order to win more games than you lose, you need to outscore your opponents in the aggregate: the "predicted won-loss record" of the Orioles, based on that run differential, was only 82-80. So the Orioles outperformed expectations by 11 wins. How did they do it? They were 29-9 in one-run games, and 16-2 in extra-inning games. Both measures are the best in the bigs by a fair margin. Maybe it's pixie dust, maybe it's something else, but when it gets close, the Orioles don't lose.
* * *
.838 The Yankees' OPS against power pitchers, best in the bigs. According to baseball-reference.com, "power pitchers" are defined as pitchers who are in the top third of the league in strikeouts plus walks. That could be partly because they're one of the walkingest teams in the majors, having drawn 565 free passes on the season, most among all remaining playoff teams. But their ability to stand down strikeout pitchers will stand them in good stead over the course of the next week, and possibly longer.
* * *
629 The number of home runs that Baltimore's Jim Thome has hit in his major league career, 612 in the regular season and 17 in the postseason. The 42-year old Thome has played 2,611 games in the regular season and postseason, and is older than anyone on the Yankees roster other than the injured Mariano Rivera. He was 1-3 with a walk against the Rangers, batting sixth. He may not hit four home runs in this series, like he did in the 1998 ALCS or the 1999 ALDS, but he still has terrific plate discipline. And hey, it's October. Maybe he'll get number 630. Anything could happen.
Are you ready for the postseason?
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