The torch is being passed once again
in New York. Aging stars Derek Jeter,
Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are
passing along the great pinstripe tra-
dition to Robinson Cano, Curtis
Granderson and Brett Gardner,
among others. And like Paul O’Neill,
Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams
before them, the role of postseason
favorite continues. But the Tigers
won four of seven during the regular
season, so winning three of five is not
unrealistic at all. On Opening Day,
the last day of March, Justin Verlan-
der of the Tigers faced CC Sabathia
in New York. It was a marquee
matchup then and it is on the last day
of September. The two teams haven’t
seen each other since May 5, so don’t
read much into the Tigers’ 4-3 season
advantage. Mariano Rivera and Jose
Valverde are the best two closers in
the AL making these contests eight-
inning games.
NEW YORK IN 5
Key for DetroitVerlander, a lock for the Cy Young
award if not the MVP, could get two
starts, but the Tigers must find a way
to win when he’s not on the mound.
Key for New YorkNew York must score runs in bunches.
The Yankees don’t have starting pitch-
ers — not even Sabathia — that can
consistently shut down opponents, so
they must outscore them.
Tiger to WatchDoug Fister, acquired from Seattle at
the trade deadline, will start Game 2
in New York. His last start for the
Mariners was a 4-1 loss at Yankee
Stadium. Fister tossed seven strong
innings and is pitching with much
more confidence with the Tigers.
Yankees to WatchIvan Nova (Game 2 starter) and
Freddy Garcia (Game 3 starter) must
prove they can keep opponents at bay
and pitch deep enough into games to
keep pressure off the bullpen.
This rematch of their ALDS last year
has Tampa Bay thinking revenge and
Texas believing it has unfinished busi-
ness. Last year, the Rangers defeated
the favored Rays in a five-game series
in which the visiting team won all five.
Cliff Lee, no longer with Texas, won
Games 1 and 5. C.J. Wilson, who was
the winner in the Rangers’ Game 2
two-hit shutout last season, is now the
ace. He tossed a shutout on Sept. 6 at
Tampa Bay when he allowed just five
singles and three walks and induced
four double plays. There’s no doubt
the Rays have the best manager in the
postseason, but do they have the best
players? Texas didn’t experience the
drama that the Rays did over the past
week, but the Rangers were winning
pressure-packed games in order to
gain home-field advantage and to
avoid playing the Yankees in the first
round. That provided a reminder of
what postseason baseball feels like.
TEXAS IN 4
Key for Tampa BayLast year the Rangers held Evan Lon-
goria, B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford
to a combined .177 average. Longoria
is still the most feared bat, but the Rays
must provide protection for him in the
lineup. Few managers use their entire
rosters as well as Maddon. He’ll need
contributions from bench players.
Key for TexasThe Rangers acquired relievers Mike
Adams, Koji Uehara and Mike Gon-
zalez during the season with the post-
season in mind. Being able to create
favorable matchups and shorten games
gives Texas a decided advantage.
Rays to WatchIf Upton and Ben Zobrist are able to
create some offense around Longoria,
the Rays can score enough runs to win.
Ranger to WatchNeftali Feliz showed signs of fatigue
during the season. But he threw on
back-to-back days just twice in Sep-
tember, converting all six save opps.
There are six players competing in thisyear’s postseason with as many as 32 ca-reer hits in LDS history. How many of themcan you name?
DETROIT VS. NEW YORK TAMPA BAY VS. TEXAS
Philadelphia is clearly the team to beat
in the National League. And the Car-
dinals appear to be little more than the
first victims along the way to the World
Series. The Phillies have the best pitch-
ing staff in baseball led by Roy Halla-
day, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. The
Cardinals counter with Jaime Garcia,
Chris Carpenter and Kyle Lohse. But
there may be more to this series than
meets the eye. Of the six combined
starts against the Phillies by Carpenter,
Garcia and Lohse, they have a 0.90
ERA. Halladay, Lee and Hamels are a
combined 1-3 vs. St. Louis this season.
Does that mean advantage Cardinals?
No, but it encourages you believe there
is a chance. The Phillies are in better
shape health-wise as Matt Holliday
will be limited to pinch-hitting with a
hand injury. Expect high-scoring
games and enough fails by the Red-
birds’ bullpen to allow the Phillies to
march on.
PHILADELPHIA IN 5
Key for St. LouisPitching, pitching, pitching. St. Louis
led the NL in runs scored this season,
but even that wasn’t enough to over-
come the porous bullpen. For the Car-
dinals to win, the starters must give
Tony La Russa at least six innings and
the bullpen must be at its best.
Key for PhiladelphiaThe Phillies rely heavily on their start-
ing pitching. If Halladay, Hamels and
Lee falter, this lineup doesn’t have the
punch to outscore teams as it once did.
Cardinal to WatchAllen Craig can be a hitting machine,
but has no real position and has been
squeezed out of playing time. Filling
in for Holliday in left, Craig will be
asked to do some heavy lifting now.
Phillie to WatchCloser Ryan Madson has been huge
for Philadelphia all season. He’ll be
asked to get big outs in this series and
Albert Pujols is hitless in 11 at-bats
against Madson.
Entering the final day of the regular
season, the Brewers and Diamond-
backs knew they were in the playoffs;
they just didn’t know where they would
be playing, because any of three differ-
ent cities were possible. Milwaukee
earned an extra home game by winning
one more game than Arizona, even
though the D’backs won the regular
season series 4-3. Aces Yovani Gallardo
and Ian Kennedy will start Game 1, and
it’s probably more of a must win for
Arizona than Milwaukee. Even though
they are at home, the Brewers have a
deeper rotation and lineup in order to
overcome a loss by their ace. If
Kennedy loses, the Diamondbacks will
begin to feel a little pressure. Typically,
Milwaukee’s big hits will come from
their No. 3-4 hitters, Ryan Braun and
Prince Fielder. You never know where
big hits are coming from in Arizona.
The Diamondbacks seem to have a dif-
ferent hero every night.
MILWAUKEE IN 4
Key for ArizonaYes, it’s a cliché, but getting strong
starting pitching is paramount for Ari-
zona. In three starts vs. Milwaukee this
season, Kennedy (one start) and Josh
Collmenter didn’t allow an earned run
in 21 innings. This lineup isn’t potent
enough to fall behind early.
Key for MilwaukeeThe top of the lineup must produce for
the Brewers. The first four hitters in the
lineup are batting .292; beyond that it
drops precipitously to .234. The first
positions account for 61% of their runs.
Diamondback to WatchArizona’s lineup needs a consistent
threat, and catcher Miguel Montero
hits the Brewers (.421) better than any
other NL team.
Brewer to WatchRickie Weeks, injured for much of the
season, has been hitting fifth, behind
Fielder. Look for Weeks to have some
opportunities early as Arizona will
show more respect to Prince.
ST. LOUIS VS. PHILADELPHIA ARIZONA VS. MILWAUKEE
0 Hits in 20 at-bats by the Rangers’ Adrian beltre off Tampa Bay closer Kyle Farnsworth. He also has never walked, but has only two strikeouts.
19-8 Record in postseason play of the Philadelphia Phillies over the past three years. The Phillies won the World Series in 2008, lost to the Yankees in the 2009 Fall Classic and were eliminated by the Giants in the NLCS last season.
102 Wins by the Phillies in 2011, a franchise record.
2 Number of teams in the National League that have missed the playoffs every season since 2003. Over the last nine seasons, every team except the Nationals and Pirates have enjoyed a postseason party at least once.
188 Days from the end of the 2011 regular season until Opening Day 2012.
16.1 Strikeouts per nine innings for the Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen, who became the first pitcher (min. 50 inn.) to average more than 16 whiffs per nine innings. He struck out 96 batters in 53.2 innings.
• During a night of baseball on Wednesday thelikes of which the sport has never seen, EvanLongoria hit a home run the likes of which hadnever been seen. His was the first final-day,playoff berth-clinching walk-off longball in anon-play-in game in history. (Delete the “non-play-in” qualifier, and the list expands by justone: “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World.”)
• Hunter Pence, traded from the Houston Astrosto the Philadelphia Phillies in July, became thefirst player to move from a 100-loss team to a100-win team in the same season. The ener-getic rightfielder has become a key componentof the Phillies’ lineup.
• Derek Lowe likely hasn’t pitched his finalgame for the Atlanta Braves, although many At-lanta fans would like to believe that he has. Withone year left on his exorbitant contract, Lowepicked a bad month to tank. September wasmuch kinder to the veteran righthander last sea-son. After going 5-0 with a 1.17 ERA in five Sept.2010 starts, Lowe logged an 0-5 mark with an8.75 ERA in five Sept. 2011 starts.
• The season couldn’t have ended soon enoughfor Adam Dunn of the White Sox. Among hismercurial maladies: From 2004-10, the sluggernever hit fewer than 38 home runs. This seasonin 496 PA, he scored only 36 runs.
• The Cardinals wedged themselves into theplayoffs despite setting an NL record by ground-ing into 169 double plays. (The Red Sox holddown six of the 10 top spots in major leagueannals.) Tony La Russa called this “irritating.”
• What could Joe Jackson, Vada Pinson andStarlin Castro possibly have in common?They’re the only players ever to stack up 200hits, 20 steals, 35 doubles and 65 RBI in theirage-21 seasons.
• Another selection from the statistical saladbar: Only two Red Sox have had 200 hits, 25homers, 100 RBI and 45 doubles in a season.Both did it this year: Jacoby Ellsbury and AdrianGonzalez.
• Kevin Slowey made eight starts this year, andthe Twins lost them all. (The modern record is 0-for-10 by Ike Pearson of the 1941 Phillies.) Healso came out the pen six times, and the Twinsdropped each of those games, as well.
• This couldn’t have been easy: The Braves’Derek Lowe led the majors with 17 losses on a89-win team. Then there’s poor Hiroki Kuroda,whose 3.07 ERA was the lowest in 19 years bya 16-game loser. But who’s luckier than MicahOwings? On Tuesday, he became the first NLpitcher ever to log a victory despite allowing fiveruns in an outing of an inning or less. That ranhis ledger to 8-0 – twice as many wins as anyother D’back who’s ever gone undefeated.
• R.I.P. Florida Marlins. On November 11, theteam with the lowest attendance in the NL eachof the last seven seasons starts over as theMiami Marlins.
OctOber 8, 1995
In the first year of the wild card era, the SeattleMariners defeat the New York Yankees in Game 5— overcoming a 2-games-to-0 deficit — to ad-vance to the ALCS. Down 5-4 in the bottom of the11th, singles by Joey Cora and Ken Griffey precedea series-winning double by Edgar Martinez scoringGriffey from first. Future Hall of Famers WadeBoggs, Mariano Rivera, Ken Griffey, Alex Rodriguezand Randy Johnson would appear.
OctOber 5, 1997
Cleveland’s Sandy Alomar takes Mariano Rivera ofthe Yankees deep to the opposite field in the eighthinning to tie Game 5 at 2-2. The Indians score an-other run in the ninth on an infield single to wrap upthe best-of-five ALDS.
OctOber 10, 1999
Facing elimination at home in Game 4 of the ALDS,Boston jumps on Cleveland pitching for 24 hits in a23-7 thrashing. Third baseman John Valentin leadsthe hit parade with four hits and seven RBIs on twohome runs and a double. Jason Varitek contributesfive hits. The Red Sox would go on to win Game 5and the series the following night in Cleveland.
OctOber 4, 2003
Florida’s leftfielder Jeff Conine throws out the Giants’J.T. Snow at home plate to preserve a 7-6 lead andsend the Marlins to the NLCS. Florida had taken thelead with two runs in the bottom of the eighth beforeSnow singled home a run in the ninth. With two out,Jeffrey Hammonds lined a base hit to left and Snowwas tagged out by Ivan Rodriguez on a bang-bangplay to end the series. Florida third baseman MiguelCabrera led the Marlins with four hits and three RBIs.Starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis helped his own causewith three hits, including a triple.
OctOber 6, 2007
The Colorado Rockies complete a sweep of theheavily favored Philadelphia Phillies as UbaldoJimenez combines with three relievers to three-hitthe Phillies in Colorado. Pinch-hitter Jeff Baker’stwo-out single scores Garrett Atkins with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for the 2-1 win.
Compiled by Charlie Miller. Follow him on Twitter @AthlonCharlie or email [email protected]
TRIVIAANSWER:DerekJeter,78;JorgePosada, 43. Andruw Jones, 36; Johnny Damon,35; Rafael Furcal, 34; Alex Rodriguez, 32.
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