This is The Rabbi, video editor of On The Sportslines. No need to write words out when I can speak them out loud right? Check out the first ever video blog for On The Sportslines. All you gotta do is click the link below.

http://www.justin.tv/rabbirabbi/b/272521611

Go easy on me folks. I don't always look my best at 1 am in the morning. Hope to do this every Sunday night.

Who Cares If You Disagree?...

You are not me, who made you king of anything? Yes, I am The Rabbi, video editor of On The Sportslines, and yes, I am quoting a Sara Barelles song. Why? Cause it fits perfectly with the decisions that have been made around the sports world in the past 5 days.

Who cares if you Disagree...Yankee fans, if you thought that Joe Girardi should have given the hook a little sooner to AJ Burnett last night. Joe didn't do that, and took the chances pitching with 2 men on in the bottom of the 5th, walking David Murphy, owner of 12 home runs this year, to get to Bengie Molina. You wanna know when it's NOT your year? When you see a montage of Bengie Molina's three straight home runs in Games 1, 2, and 3 of the 2005 ALDS as an Angel from TBS then right after that...BAM! Game turns in the Rangers favor and most likely the Yankees are about to see their stronghold that they had over Texas for 14 years go the other way. As much as a like Joe, I wonder of all the managerial mistakes would have been made by someone else. Joe Girardi, not anyone else (well, maybe the Yankee offense) have some 'splainin to do. By the way, Girardi was a bench coach on that 2005 ALDS-losing team so maybe he totally forgot about Benji's three home runs.

Who cares if you disagree... Florida Marlins management, for thinking Cody Ross was a washed up player. Yes, Cody Ross! Picked up on waivers from the Marlins on Aug 23rd, he now has had a series for the ages: 4-12, but 3 HR's and 4 RBIs. When the best offense in the NL this year (the Reds) looked like little pussycats against Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels, Ross has routinely looked like a tiger. Now the Phillies, just like the Yankees, bring an unproven guy in the season and postseason in Joe Blanton out there after not pitching for 20 days. No one pitcher has won a postseason game with 16+ days of rest in 60 years. Now, we can start feeling a Giant-Ranger world series, a series that can be enjoyed FAR FAR west of the Mississippi.

Who cares if you disagree...If the NFL thinks there is far too much defense in the game, which has been downgraded by the influx of illegal contact calls and protection of the QB...now comes the fact that people may be suspended just by leading with the helmet on a hit. Yes, there have been already 10+ more injuries then this point in the last 4 years due to defenseless hits, but d-backs are doing their jobs! You mean they now have to face suspension for going all out, when the "defenseless" wide reciever now gets full protection, knowing when they catch the ball, they won't be hit as hard? Stop it NFL. Don't you realize the d-back leading with his head is taking MORE of a risk than that wideout. The NFL has become so reactionary lately to so many things that could "possibly" happen, it's become ridiculous. Maybe if the NFL didn't want to switch to an 18 game season, you wouldn't put all these rules in to make wideouts and offensive players look better. I don't think the NFL gives a damn 'bout defense anymore.

Who cares if you disagree... BCS. (Cue the groans now!) After we were teased that Boise State were going to possibly be #1 in the first new poll, we get the Oklahoma Sooners as #1, with the Oregon Ducks as a solid #2. I've never been the biggest fan of the "mid-majors", as when the whole On The Sportslines panel picked Boise State to get to the national title game, I rooted for Virginia Tech! They lost that game, but sadly for Boise Tech, Va Tech lost the next one too. That whole stupid strength of schedule is killing the Broncos (and for that matter, the #4 TCU Horned Frogs too), to the point where they'll need everyone to lose in major conferences (some twice!), to get that national title berth. So why should BOTH mid-majors be playing in January in Tucson in my opinion? Look at the major contenders:

Oklahoma: Stuggled to beat Cincinnati, Utah State, and Air Force. All of them have 2+ losses, and (here's a shock!) the latter 2 are Boise State and TCU "patsy opponents" each year. Whoops.

Oregon: The Pac 10 has THREE ranked teams (compared to the Big 12 and SEC's 6), yet I keep hearing Oregon's far and away the best team in the country. The voters told me so! Yet in their last 3 games, they have let up 31, 31, and 23 points. You may have an amazing offense boys, but when you play a team with a real D, get back to me. They may not for the whole season. By the way, that 23 came against powerhouse Washington State, wonder how many points Boise would let up?

Auburn: Most deserving of the competitors, BUT...needed overtime to beat Clemson and were down late against South Carolina, both at home. As much as I love Auburn, and as much as I love (former Florida Gator) Cam Newton, I feel like Auburn is still missing some things. They need to be convincing against my next pretender....

LSU: Needed a 13 men on the field penalty against the Vols, needed a botched fake field goal against a mediocre Florida team. No comment as the #6 team in the nation.

Alabama and Ohio St: Hey didn't you used to be #1? Didn't you used to be good? Didn't you used to win on the road? Sadly, I feel like these two teams will come back very, very quickly.

So yeah, why can't Boise State and TCU, who both have only neutral site close wins to complain about, play for the national championship? Who made college football computers king of anything?

Yeah exactly. See you next time for another cornucopia of opinions.

And now, a follow up.

Well, that sucked.

Rabbi here, pulling a Manny Mota again for Jay on the "Yankee Post-season" Blog. Okay, I'll man up, I thought Cliff Lee would be a little bit vulnerable tonight. Ready for the game but making one big mistake. He was not vulnerable. In fact, Lee is just getting better and better. As much as Andy pitched a game that may have been as good as any of the matchups that he had won since coming back to the Yankees in 2007, he was outdueled. The breaking ball mistake that he made against Josh Hamilton was a killer.

The pessimist in you may think "game over" after that pitch, but guess what? The pessimist is a realist, and the pessimist is right. The Yankees weren't even close after that, not even by a inch. They got single digit balls out of the infield. It was a bloodbath that proved both how good the Ranger pitching has been this ALCS and how bad the Yankee hitting has come. Now, Lee can reach epic proportions, being one of the only pitchers to make the World Series for two teams in two years.

Now, Joe Girardi pays for an bad mistake (starting Hughes for Pettitte in Game 2 now looks like a terrible move, cause Pettitte wouldn't have had a Hughes start), by being forced to make another one, do they stay with AJ Burnett in Game 4? If they fail tomorrow night, a 3-1 defecit with 2 games in Texas, and a Game 7 start by Cliff Lee loom.

I will, for the sake of jinxing it, will not make a prediction on the game. What I will say is this, I think AJ pitches to keep the rotation in tow. If CC would god forbid lose a Game 4, everyone starts on 3 days rest again and they are toast. The only way for the Yanks to win this series, in my honest opinion, is to win games 4 and 5, and force the Rangers to start Lee in Game 6. The Yankees, are gonna have to slug their way to a World Series.

In this year of the pitcher, and the way the Yankees are going this postseason, that's becoming less likely of actually happening. The Quest for 28 has hit a roadblock.

Musings From The Jets-Broncos Game

Hey Sean Roman from "On The Sportlines" here.

Great to see Tim Tebow scoring his first NFL touchdown in the best game of the weekend.

In the 24-20 loss to the Jets, the crowd in Denver was super-pumped to see Tebow take the snap from the shotgun and run the ball 5 yards in the end zone.

Tebow's TD tied the game 7-7 in the second quarter. Tebow averaged just about 4 yards a carry (23 yards in 6 carries), but definately added a new dynamic to the lackluster Denver running game. In the loss, the Broncos ran for a season high 145 yards.

Tebow proved a useful decoy earlier in the game, when he handed off to Correll Buckhalter for a 13-yard gain as part of a fake option.

It seems quite worthy that Tebow became the first rookie QB to score a touchdown.

The Big Bad Wolf (Disguised as Cliff Lee)

My name is The Rabbi, the video editor of On The Sportslines. I am pitch hitting (Manny Mota style) for uber Yankee fan Jay Kaplan for a Yankee update.

This isn't your father's Texas Rangers Team, frankly cause the Texas Rangers/Washington Senators didn't make the playoffs till 1996. A series that was considered to be a sorta tough one for the Yankees has turned into a truly tough one.

The Rangers have essentially have been hitting almost .300 and the Yankees have been hitting below .200 in this series..that is, if you don't count the 8th inning on Friday. Yeah, the inning that defined the Yankees playoff strategy over the last two years: get the starter out of the game and start praying on the mismatches that is the bullpen. All in all, I find the Rangers probably are a better opponent to beat the Yankees than the Rays would have been.

Let's look at tonight's game though. Look at it 2 ways. The Rangers will start Cliff Lee, who looked pretty damn good this postseason for Nolan Ryan's boys. Lee has Koufaxian stuff in the postseason, essentially becoming the hired gun of the postseason, the assassin that will be on the mound to mow down hitters in Games 1 and 5 of a 5 game series, and games 1, 4, and 7 of a 7 game series. Except two major issues: Lee doesn't like 3 days rest and the Rangers 5 game series forced Lee to pitch tonight.

On the other side is Andy Pettitte. The Yankees flip flopped Hughes and Pettitte in the normal rotation for 3 reasons: 1. Phil HAD a 15+ scoreless inning streak in Texas (failed on that one) 2. Andy is more comfortable at home, and if CC won Game 1 (which he did, well the Yanks did) Game 2 was a little of a freebie. 3. Andy can match up with Cliff Lee.

Let me repeat that again, Andy Pettitte can match up with Cliff Lee.

In my humble opinion, I never have been a huge CC fan in the postseason. I think the stage has succumbed at time to CC in the worst situations. It always seems that CC cannot match up with a team's #1 pitcher in the postseason. #2 or 3 is usually golden, save for last Friday Night.

Andy Pettitte is gonna match Cliff Lee, pitch for pitch tonight I believe. Lee is a great pitcher, but I feel that the Yankees can do what they didn't do in Game 2, and that's take advantage with men on base. 5 innings the Yankees did that in Game 2, that will not happen again. Andy Pettitte, with a win tonight, can be a 20 game winner in the POSTSEASON, and in Game 2 looked like the dominant pitcher who found the fountain of youth in the 1st half of 2010. So, call it a hunch, call it intuition, but I think either Pettitte matches Lee blow for blow for 8 innings or the Yanks get that big hit once Cliff Lee pitches 9 innings and leaves 1-1. Either way I say Game 3 will be 2-1 Yankees. I've felt this series was gonna be 1-1 coming in here since the Rangers were finalized as the Yankees opponent (wrong order though, thought they'd lose Game 1 win Game 2), and I always thought they would win this game.

They better, or you have a spent CC or a rusty and unproven AJ Burnett in Game 4.

Excitement in the misery of others.

Hi, kids. This is The Rabbi here from On The Sportslines. Normally I am a person who enjoys the match ups of each and every NFL weekend, because usually, it'll have an impact on the postseason picture. It doesn't have to be my favorite team, the Giants, it can be any team and I will keep two eyes on the game.

Except for this Sunday, there is this one very special game between two very bad teams over the first four games of their seasons that I am riveted in. I will watch the battle between the 1-3 Vikings and Cowboys, and so should you.

The Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys were seeds #2 and 3 in the NFC Playoffs last year, both won a game, and both had Super Bowl asperations for 2010. Now, all of a sudden the loser of this game is 1-4. 1-4 is a hole that has only gotten one team into the Conference Championship, and that was the 2002-03 Tennessee Titans. Believe me, Wade Phillips and Brad Childress are NO Jeff Fisher (it's almost amazing both have been with their teams as long as they have).

The Dallas Cowboys are almost a victim of their own expectations. A team who expected themselves and had people expect them to be the first home team to get to a Super Bowl has fallen flat. Either the offense has failed them miserably (Washington game), the Defense has been lit up by an average offense (Chicago and Tennessee), or it's a combo of major mistakes and lapses in judgment that put Dallas in last place in the NFC East. Now Dallas is looking up at 3 teams, THREE teams, back by 1 1/2 game. The offense is Top 3 in the league in many major categories, but that doesn't win you ballgames.

Then there's the Vikings, who have had offensive sputters in the first two losses of the year (Dolphins and Saints), and have seen Brett Favre's bravado get them in many different types of trouble, whether it be on the field (7 INT's)...or off it (I think Brett shudders when the name Jenn Sterger is mentioned). Add to that the inactivity of Percy Harvin this year, and the panic button-esque (although clearly the right move in my mind) move to bring back Randy Moss. Last night, the Vikings almost proved that Brett Favre can bring this team back after almost 30+ min of funk. However, when you're playing opportunistic and good teams like the Jets, it's not gonna happen most of the time.

I'm not a fan of the Cowboys, and I bet when the Cowboys are featured Nationally, you can't wait to see them lose too. It's almost the Notre Dame theory, you either hate them or love them, there's no in between. There is a lot of people who hate Brett Favre, or just wish he would go already. Unless you're in Minnesota (and even some who ARE), you also agree.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy on Sunday. One of the "favorites" in the NFL is fighting to survive. Even then, we all may win and neither team may be relevent come Week 10.

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

Greetings and Salutations folks, Jay from “On The Sportslines” here with another Yankee Playoff Blog Post. The headline says it all. Another year, another post-season, another Yankee series win against the Twins. I know that Yankee fans are whooping it up over at 161st and River after tonight’s 6-1 win completed a 3-game sweep, but remember kids, this is just step one. Getting past the Twinkies shouldn’t surprise anyone. Even those Talking Heads who in response to the Yankees late-season swoon (8-11 heading into the playoffs) kept tossing out this little negative chestnut: “The Yankees have never advanced as the Wild Card.” Shouldn’t have been surprised. Guys, you know that stat goes out the window when the Yankees play the Twins in the first round. It doesn’t matter if the Yankees are the #1 seed or the Wild Card, the Yankees ALWAYS beat the Twins. They are now 12-2 since 2003 with 9 straight wins over the boys from the Twin Cities. Props to Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire for being a classy guy during his post-game interview with TBS reporter Craig Sager and showing his sense of humor telling Sartorial Sages that he’s still trying to find out where the TBS man buys his unique suits.

A playoff sweep gets you two things: a champagne shower in your lockerroom and a chance to get some extra rest while your potential opponents have to keep playing (Rangers couldn’t close out the Rays in their game 3, losing 6-3). Okay, there is a third thing – you can rearrange your rotation if needs be. Chances are the Yankees won’t, but it will be interesting to see if they follow last year’s blueprint and only go with 3 starters in every series. Game 1 of the ALCS won’t be till Friday.

If they do, Phil Hughes removed any doubts as to his spot as the third man. All the kid did in his first post-season start was throw 7 shutout innings, striking out 6, allowing only 4 hits on 99 pitches – 67 for strikes – earning the W in a series clincher. Welcome back First Half Phil.

The Yankee offense decided to play from out front for the first time in this series, putting up 6 runs highlighted by a 3 run fourth inning that knocked Twins starter Brian Duensing out of the game. Not to pat myself on the back here, but I kinda called this with my reference to the fact that he couldn’t get past the 5th inning against the Yankees in the 2009 ALDS. But I digress. Marcus Thames provided the big blow, crushing a homer to right field with Robison Cano aboard. Thames has provided big bops all year, especially against lefties – 9 of his 12 HRs came against southpaws. But Thames had plenty of help from his mates as for the second straight game they banged out 12 hits. Brett Gardner was the only one to take and O-fer, but his sac fly drove in one of the 6 runs.

By the time Hughes turned the game over to the Yankee bullpen he had a 6-0 lead. Now I guess Kerry Woods must have thought that the folks at The Stadium and at home were starting to snooze because he felt compelled to insert a little drama into tonight’s proceedings and making me looking a little foolish for saying that he seemed to have the 8th inning locked down. Wood allowed a run on 3 hits plus a walk, only managing to get 1 out in the process. His implosion forced Joe Girardi to turn to Boone Logan to get out Jason Kubel followed by David Robertson coming in to take care of Delmon Young and get the Yankees out of the inning without any further damage. That Mariano Rivera would come in the nail down the series clincher was a foregone conclusion. 12 pitches was all it took. Game, set, match Bronx Bombers who get to continue defending their title.

So what did we learn in this sweep? We learned that the Yankees 8-11 stumble into the playoffs didn’t mean squat. That getting guys rested and healthy for the playoffs meant more than winning the division. Yes, I know, every Yankee to a man said of course they wanted to win the AL East and have home field throughout the playoffs. I’m sure they meant it. But like I said in my first post, the Yankees have that intangible that no other team in the playoffs has: they KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can beat ANYONE, anywhere, anytime. Thus they don’t care about whose field they play on. But again, I digress. Back to lessons learned. We learned that the Yankees offense can do the job with runners in scoring position, going 9-25 (.360) in this series. We learned that the Yankees starting pitching very much resembles last year’s. We also learned that it’s a good thing that bullpen has some solid depth in front of the greates post-season closer in baseball history.

It’s almost as if the entire team flipped a collective switch the minute the post-season started. It’s as if they suddenly remembered “Oh that’s right, we’re the Yankees and it’s October. Time to start playing REAL baseball.” That attitude and the lessons learned from the sweep of the Twins will come in handy against either the Rangers or the Rays. The first step was easy, but like the Navy SEALS say “The only easy day was yesterday”. Come Friday the level of difficulty goes up. See you then.

CAN WE PLAY THE TWINS IN THE PLAYOFFS EVERY YEAR? CAN WE? PRETTY PLEASE?

Those of you who regularly follow "On The Sportslines" know that I am a stats/numbers guy. Rarely does a show go by without me crunching them one way or another. Now I freely admit that in sports stats can lie and Lord knows that agents like say, Scott Boras are known to use them to make their clients look A LOT better than they actually are come contract time. But once in a while you come across a set of numbers that no matter how you try to spin them, you just can't.

Take the Yankees and the Twins and the post-season. The Twins are a really good team, no doubt about it. They have put their stamp on the AL Central for a long time and are one of the blueprints for how a team without the resources/finances of the Yankees can be an annual playoff contender. The one thing they just CANNOT seem to do is beat the Yankees in the post-season.

With last night's 5-2 loss, the Twins playoff record of futility against the Yankees continued. The Yankees just seem to have their number; and the numbers don't lie. Since 2003 the Twins are 2-11 against the Yankees, 0-7 at home. Last night's loss was their 11th straight playoff loss, 8 of which have been at the hands of the Bronx Bombers. And to add some serious insult to injury, the Twins led in each of those games, only to be outscored by a combined 42-8 as the Yankees snatched victory from the jaws of defeat each time.

Last night's win by the Defending Champs was more like a 2009 win. They got great starting pitching from Andy Pettitte, who was as masterful as he usually is in the post-season. You'd never know that he was not far removed from an extended stint on the DL. 7 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits on only 88 pitches (58 for strikes - practically a 2:1 strike to ball ratio). Pettitte, who has won his last 9 post-season starts, set down 17 of the final 19 batters he faced before turning the game over to Kerry Wood (who looks like Girardi's top choice as 8th inning guy) and the incomparable Mariano Rivera to close out the win.

The Yankee offense once again provided big hits late in the game, breaking a 2-2 tie, scoring 3 of their 5 runs after the 7th inning. The Yankees banged out 12 hits last night, with Jorge Posada the only regular not to make it to the party. That Curtis Granderson is 4-8 in this series with 3 RBI doesn't really surprise me. He seems to turning things around at the right time of year. He finished the season on quite a tear: 9HR and 25RBI in his last 99AB from September 1 onward, with half of his hits going for extra bases. Another Kevin Long Reclamation Project. Is there a better hitting coach in baseball right now? But the REAL story of last night's game was Lance Berkman. After a decade plus in Houston where he averaged 31HR and 103RBI in the 10 FULL seasons he played, Berkman came to the Yankees in a July 31 trade for a couple spare parts and became a role player, a part-timer, a platoon guy at DH just to have a chance at a ring. Berkman didn't see much time down the stretch, but Joe Girardi took a look at Berkman's career numbers against Twins starter Carl Pavano (3-9 with all 3 going for extra-bases including a yard-leaver) and took a chance. The chance paid off with Lance going 2-4 with both hits going for extra-bases (2B and a HR). One gave the Yankees the lead, the other put the game away. Overall a VERY 2009-type win.

A PAIR OF QUICK NON-SHAKESPEAREAN ASIDES:

Apologies for the lack of any "Texas Two-Step" references to Pettitte and Berkman as the #1 and #2 stars of the game, but they've been beaten to death, so I abstained. This sentence here notwithstanding. As for the Yankees appearing to be the beneficiaries of yet ANOTHER bad call by an Umpire? Yes, Hunter Wendelstedt missed what was looked like an obvious strike 3 to Berkman on the pitch prior to the one that wound up as a run-scoring double. Yes, Wendelstedt has a lousy strike zone. Yes, it is POSSIBLE that things would've turned out differently without that run. But NO, it wasn't PROBABLE. You'll see why when you get to my last paragraph, but try not to skip to the end.

The Yankees now come back to the Bronx up 2-0. On Saturday night they will send Phil Hughes to the hill and ask the youngster to close out a 3-0 sweep. Which Phil Hughes will we see in the biggest start of his young career? The Yankees are hoping for First Half Phil (11-2, 3.65ERA) while the Twins know that the only chance they have to stave off an early off-season is an appearance by Second Half Phil (7-6, 4.90ERA). Especially since the Twins are sending up Brian Duensing. Yes, his 7-2 record and 3.05 as a starter look pretty good. But I guarantee you that Twins and Yankees fans alike remember that in last year's ALDS opener he was tagged for 5 runs on 7 hits and didn't make it out of the 5th inning of the Yankees 7-2 win.

We all know that teams that are up 2-0 in a best of 5 or 3-0 in a best of 7 win the series an inordinate amount of time. But as the hated RedSox proved in 2004, Yogi Berra was right - it ain't over till it's over. The fact that Murphy's Law, the Law of Averages or the Laws of the Universe can raise their ugly heads at any time is the reason we play the games on the field, not in a Cray Super Computer. Then again this IS the TWINS the Yankees are playing. Hell with all those Laws. I'll go with Deja Vu and numbers that just don't lie. Yankees+Twins+playoffs=Yankee Wins.

IF IT'S OCTOBER, I MUST BE TALKING YANKEE POST-SEASON BASEBALL

Greetings sports fans, Jay from “On The Sportslines” here. Been awhile, but it IS October, so that means it’s once again time for my Yankee Playoff Blog.

As those of you who followed my posts after each playoff game last year remember, I was quietly confident that the Bronx Bombers would bring home World Series Title number 27 in the inaugural year of the New Cathedral of Baseball (or the if you prefer, “The House That Derek and George Built”).

This post-season, my position on the defending champs is “Cautiously Optimistic”. Now granted, back in April on the On The Sportslines 4/8/10 - Final Four/Baseball Preview edition I did pick a Yankees-Phillies rematch for my Fall Classic prediction, but that was before several things that seemed to be strengths on paper for the Yankees turned into either question marks or outright weakness. Let’s review shall we?

STARTING PITCHING

Last year the Yankees had MLB’s best starting rotation and rode their top 3 of CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and AJ Burnett to their World Series win. This year, Carsten Charles is the only one of the three to have numbers even close to last year’s, going 21-7 with a 3.18 era after a 19-8 and 3.37 season last year. Old Man Pettitte’s 2010 numbers of 11-3 and 3.28 are pretty good, but his season was plagued by stints on the DL which is always a cause for concern with a 38-year-old pitcher. As for AJ, well, 2010 was hands down his worst season EVER. 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA and an average start of only 5.6 innings. Unacceptable numbers for even a number 5 starter, let alone a number 2. Thus Allan James finds himself out of this post-season’s rotation, replaced by Phil Hughes whose 18-8 record and 4.19 ERA are a little deceptive. The baby of the rotation went 11-2 with a 3.65 ERA in the 1st half, but only 7-6 with a 4.90 ERA after the All-Star break. Did he hit the wall? Is he out of gas? We’ll see come game 3.

The bottom line people is that this post-season, if the Yankees are going to add another trophy to the case, they will have to outhit/outscore their opponents because they really can’t count on getting shut-down starts from their rotation.

RELIEF PITCHING

Last year the Yankees Bullpen was the type of bullpen that we saw in the early Joe Torre years. With Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson setting up Mariano Rivera, if the Yankees had a lead after 6 innings, you could channel Don Meredith: “Say good-night, the party’s over.” With Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson averaging better than a strikeout per inning, setting up the Ageless Rivera, the Yankee pen threw gas past every opponent on the way to that World Series title.

This year, Mariano has been his usual self. Though his saves dropped from 44 to 33, he still shut teams down in the 9th. The case can be made that the drop was due in large part to the number games the Yankees had to come from behind to win – a stat in which they led MLB. As for his set-up crew, well they were an erratic bunch for most of the season. Chamberlain forgot how to get hitters out, gave up gopher balls seemingly every time he stepped on the mound and generally pitched himself out of the 8th inning role. Chan Ho Park was a disaster (one of Brian Cashman’s WORST moves), Damaso Marte and Swiss Army Knife Alfredo Aceves (10-1 out of the pen in 2009) battled injuries and only recently have Robertson, Boone Logan (who has replaced Marte as the Lefty Specialist) and Kerry Wood (jury is still out on this pick-up Brian) started to show the form that the Yankees will need from them in the post-season. So while this year’s pen is not as lights out as last year’s, they are still a force to be reckoned with if they are handed a lead.

OFFENSE

Here’s the where things get tricky. Yes, once again, the Yankees led the Majors in runs per game (5.3) and On Base % (.350); 2nd in walks (662) and OPS (.786) and were 3rd in HRs (201) and Slugging % (.436).

However, this year’s usual starting lineup (450 PA’s or better) only had 2 players hit .285 or better (Robinson Cano, .319 and Nick Swisher, .288), last year they had 5. Last year they had 7 players hit better than 20 HRs, this year only 5. Last year, 7 players topped 80 RBI, this year, only 4. And then there is Derek Jeter who set career lows for batting average (.270), on base % (.340) and slugging % (.370) and led MLB in outs made. Out of the leadoff spot. Not good. Only a late season tear (8-18 over his last 4 games - .444) got his average up to .270. Then again, we shouldn’t be surprised by Jeter’s closing the season on a tear, October (and November) is where the Yankee Captain shines. We’ll see if he rises to the moment this year.

Ultimately, despite the fact that this year’s version of the Bronx Bombers more resembles a Cruise Missle compared to last year’s version which was closer to a Tactical Nuke, this is still one hell of a potent offense. Remember, as I said earlier, this team led the majors in come from behind wins with 48. They NEVER think they are out of a game. They still do the things they did well last year. Take pitches (Brett Gardner is among the league leaders in pitches seen per plate appearance), work counts, get on base and get your starter out of the game early. They make you pay for mistakes. They also have something that only a World Series title gives you: they KNOW they can beat anyone they face. Call it confidence, call it arrogance, call it the Ghost of George Steinbrenner, call it whatever you want, they believe it. They may be in the unfamiliar position of underdog in this post-season, but they are the most dangerous underdog you’ll ever face.

Game 1

Yeah, I know I took the long road to get here, but last night’s game one was a microcosm of the points I made above. The starting pitching wasn’t lights out (Sabathia gave up 4 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings of work), but the bullpen did its job (no runs over the last 3 innings) and the Yankee bats came alive late to take their post-season opener 6-4 thanks to big hits by Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira. Yes, there was yet ANOTHER blown call by the umps on that fly ball to Greg Golson. All I’ll say about that is something I’ve said 876,432 times before: “Hey Bud! How many blown calls will it take for you to embrace the tech to eliminate such mistakes?”

That the Yankees won shouldn’t really surprise anyone (not even Twins fans). This is the Twins the Yankees are facing and after last year we all know the numbers. The Yankees are now 10-2 against them in the postseason, including a run of 7 straight counting last night’s win.

Game 2 is tonight and the Yankees will send the winningest pitcher in MLB postseason history to the mound in Andy Pettitte. He will be opposed by former teammate Carl Pavano, who had a career year going 17-11 with a 3.75 ERA in the Twin Cities. But none of those wins (or losses) came against the Yankees. Will the Twins finally snap that postseason 0-6 home record against the Yankees tonight? We’ll know in about 4 hours.

DIVISION SERIES TIME!

Hi, I'm The Rabbi, video editor of On The Sportslines.

The baseball playoffs are here! It's weird how there seems to be a split of the old (The Phillies, The Yankees, The Twins, and the Rays, all who have had runs in the postseason over the last 3 years), and the new (The Reds, Rangers, Braves, and Giants, all who have had 5-10 year layoffs from real October baseball). With that being said, here are predictions and 3 quick storylines from each of the Division Series.

Rays-Rangers

1. Familiarity. This is only the Rangers 4th trip to the postseason and the first time they aren't playing the Yankees. This is only the Rays 2nd trip to the postseason, and considering that most of the players have 16 games of playoff experience from 2 years ago, it's fair to say the Rays are the more experienced ballclub.

2. Rangers stars need to deliver. Josh Hamilton is only hitting .147 at Tropicana Field and Cliff Lee has lost to the Rays thrice this year (although two came with Seattle).

3. Carlos Pena. He can bop the homers (28 of them), but batted .196 this year. Almost unheard of numbers, even in this day and age. I wonder how that works in the free agent market when playing for a contract.

Prediction: Rays are a good match up for the Rangers and they won't succumb to pressure. Rangers in 4.

Twins-Yankees

1. Yankee dominance. Until a May 16th victory, the Twins had lost 12 straight games- regular and post-season to the Yankees. Add to that three playoff victories in series over the last 7 years. However, this will be the first time the Yankees have to beat the Twins without home field advantage. Speaking of....

2. Target Field! The Twins had one of the best Home Records in the regular season. The change of venue (it's gonna be below 50 for starting pitch Wednesday) may help. The Twins lost all 5 of their games in the Metrodome versus the Yankees in those 3 playoff series.

3. Andy Pettitte. Beat the Twins Twice this year, and will need to be that pre-July self to help the Yankees to the ALCS. Pettitte will start game 2, and if needed Game 5 on normal rest.

Prediction: The Yankees would look awful against anyone else, but I feel like they turn it on here. But it's not easy. Yankees in 5, and if that happens it would be the first DS Game 5 in 5 years.

Reds-Phillies

1. This could get crazy. Even though the Phillies won the season series 5-2, they lost 2 of 3 in Cincy, and they had 4 game sweep the closest way you can, winning 3 of the 4 in extra innings, and 2 straight 1-0. That was the first time the Phils won 1-0 games back to back in 97 years.

2. Joey Votto. If The Reds have any chance of winning, they'll need Joey Votto's regular season numbers again. He had a .324-37-113 year, making him 2nd in average, 3rd in homers, and 3rd in RBIs. This is why Votto is probably gonna get an NL MVP at the end of the season.

3. H20- the pitching version. After the Phillies got Roy Oswalt via trade on July 29th, the trio of Roy Oswalt (The o in h20, Roy Halladay, and Cole Hamels (the 2 H's) went 20-7. The fact that a #1 starter like Hamels in 2008 is now a #3? Scary.

Prediction: Well, there's been so many sweeps in the playoffs over the last few years, I gotta see another one here. Phillies in tres.

Giants-Braves

1. Bullpen. These two have darn good bullpens. For The Braves, Peter Moylan has had 85 appearances and an under 2 ERA. Braves closer Billy Wagner's final season was a stellar 40+ save one. As for the Giants, all it did in the crunch time of the final week of the season is not let up ONE earned run.

2. But can the Giants hit? The Achilles heel to end all Achilles heel's. Aubrey Huff was 2 for 23 against the Braves. Buster Posey was 1-11. Freddy Sanchez and Juan Uribe were both under .200 at the plate against Atlanta as well. Probably the worst hitting of all 8 playoff teams resides in San Fran.

3. But can the Braves continue to pitch? Bobby Cox will put out 2 veterans: Derek Lowe, one of the hotter pitchers in the game and reliable Tim Hudson in Games 1 and 3. Tommy Hanson, someone who has a lack of postseason experience gets the middle game. Can he hit the mark in his 1st postseason start?

Prediction: Braves in 4. I feel like this is the only series that can go either way, and Atlanta's second life and slightly better hitting will prevail.

I will be posting more frequently throughout the month as the baseball playoffs hit full swing, and college football hits it's stride. In fact, stay tuned about the SEC in the upcoming days, and a true look at why Les Miles is getting the criticism he is. Till then, I am out.