Halftime Adjustments: Does October Baseball Favor Surprise or Experience?

Over the last few weeks, a minor debate has been ongoing about the wisdom of Joe Girardi not bringing in his most talented bullpen pitchers in to key games against the Tampa Bay Rays. When I first read the coverage, my response was to think that the reporters were missing a key element of play-off baseball. In a seven-game series against the Rays, Joe can't lean on the same talented pitchers seven times. He will have to go deeper into his bullpen than usual. What better way to prepare his less-talented and experienced pitchers for October pressure than to insert them into regular-season games against the Rays? This way he also knows which one of these pitchers he can rely on. So at first, I thought some bloggers might be giving Joe too little credit for managerial acumen. Also, I really like using the word acumen, it makes me sound edumacated.

However, there's a flaw in this theory. This assumes that players learn to play under pressure, rather than being born with the ability to remain calm. Is that truly the case? Isn't it quite clear rather early in life how a person reacts to stress?

Consider further that now, various members of the Rays have had experience against these lesser-known pitchers. Of course, there is plenty of film on each Yankees pitcher in action. However, there's a difference between trying to watch a pitcher on video and having actually seen his curve ball dip when you were in the batter's box. Might Manager Girardi's move rob his pitchers of the element of surprise against the Rays' hitters should the Yankees face the Rays in the playoffs?

I can't decide myself, so I leave the question open to you. Is using more pitchers than usual against the Rays in a regular-season game an excellent way to give those pitchers experience under pressure, or an unfortunate way of tipping the Rays off on how to best exploit those pitchers?

Washed-up Hotties Find (Fake) Love At Last

Let me vent for a minute before going back on hiatus. I can't believe how the impending Alex Rodriguez-Yankees deal is being covered. The Yankees and Alex Rodriguez both used to be the hot man/woman on the block. From 1996-2003 or so, they were too good to be true. Extremely talented and above reproach, they were the supermodel you can bring home to your parents. But now, both have squandered their reputation. The Yankees have spent the past 4 years seducing every small-market free agent with a pulse, while Alex Rodriguez has proved himself unable to handle commitment in any form. Let's put it this way; Ross from Friends and JD from Scrubs think Alex is being a wuss. The Man Without a (Baseball World Series) Country has shown surprising weakness under postseason pressure. Now that Alex is signing with the Yankees, it's somehow being presented as a win-win for all sides except for Scott Boras. Are you kidding me?!

The truth is, the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez, after years of having any body they wanted under their control, find that no one wants them anymore. This is a move of desperation. Their stupid puppet shows no longer draw crowds on Broadway. Whether it is George Steinbrenner's empty Mad Lib threats (If "name" doesn't "verb", then I will "verb" until he "verb") or Scott Boras' diarrheatic (ok, that's not a word) lying complete with Alex's Angst, the actors have been going through the motions for years. So now both are pretending that they have won each other's hearts and that this commitment ceremony, err, signing, is a true expression of love, instead of being the last desperate resort of washed-up hotties who have run out of people to exploit. If I were a Yankees fan, I'd be nauseated that my organization's owners can't say no to talent, even after promising not to resign Alex when he opted out. What message about talent over principles does that send in-house talent like Jeter, Posada, and Rivera, and young talent like Chamberlain and Hughes? And if I were Alex's family--what more can New York City do to prove that they resent you? Stone Cynthia in the streets and feed your kids to vultures? I mean, seriously, wake up Alex, when are you going to get tired of being manipulated? It's a tragedy that the only father figures Alex latches onto are abusive dominant types. Maybe that's what makes him such a great star, this attempt to get water from stones, but as a person, this is a terrible mistake.

Wait, what am I saying? Pity for the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez? Burn, baby, burn! It's so rare that the talented and arrogant get humbled and are forced to beg one another for scraps. Now if you'll excuse me, the Lakers-Kobe show is still going on. With luck, the Lakers will trade Kobe for Ben Wallace and the rights to Fran Vasquez, and Kobe will immediately slip on some ice in Chicago, get injured, and retire.

Posterized: Midwest Tough

I was hoping to feature all sorts of exciting action from the first round of the baseball play-offs...and three of the series are already sweeps. Oh well, more time for Indians/Yankees. (Click poster for larger view)

For my mini-rant, I'd like to thank the New York City media for doing their usual freak out job when confronted with anything different. Little did I know that the hordes of summer mites (aka Canadian Soldiers) in Game 2 were such a threat to life and limb. It's hard for us Midwesterners to compete in suffering with the Florida hurricanes, California fires, and Texas heat; maybe that's why we're sometimes stereotyped as nice and quiet. East Coast might talk smack to your face, South talks smack behind your back, West Coast, um, does smack, but the Midwest! Ah, we let our actions do the smack-talking. We heroically trudge through swarms of flies, mixed with snow. That's us earnest Midwestern types. Is this a good time to mention that I have jogged through swarms of summer mites without swatting once? Yes, that's me, Midwest tough. Please, ladies, don't swarm to me all at once--although of course, if I can handle those vicious, 1 millimeter, non-biting mites, I can handle any swarm.