Please have Berkman be a NICE Tony LaRussa comeback story

In the last few years, Lance Berkman's stats have been falling off. He was a part time player for the Yankees in the playoffs last year, pressed into starting duty after Mark Teixeira's injury.

Well now he is in St. Louis and is putting up All Star numbers again.

Among the leaders in batting, he knocked his 15th homer tonight and drove in his 45th run.

It's a terrific comeback.
Tony LaRussa has had a lot of players comeback for him.

Dave Stewart in Oakland became an Ace, as did Chris Carpenter in St. Louis. Jim Edmonds refound his stroke and countless pitching reclamation projects.

But there have been other kind of comebacks.

The Mark McGwire comebacks... the lots of players who played for him being connected to stuff kind of comebacks.

Remember how quickly the Rick Ankiel story turned from the feel good baseball story of the decade to "Oh dear..."?

I so hope this is a NICE comeback on a LaRussa squad. But my guard is up.

Will Cliff Lee's free agency be like the end of Superman 2?

There's a great scene in Superman 2 that I will spoil here.
If you haven't seen the movie... it came out nearly 30 years ago. Take your time.

In the scene, the evil Kryptonians led by General Zod have been obsessing over one thing: Capturing and defeating Superman.

And when they cornered him in the Fortress of Solitude, Superman was forced to go into that chamber that takes all of his powers away. When he was in there, Lois Lane was crying, Zod and his two lackies were smiling knowing that they were about to win.

And Lex Luthor, brilliantly played by Gene Hackman, was looking around puzzled. There was something odd happening and he was the only person who noticed (being the smartest character in the movie.)

When Superman came out of the chamber, Zod thought he had won. But actually Superman had reversed the process and all the evil Kryptonians were powerless and Superman crushed General Zod's hand in a moment that made a 10 year old Sully jump up and start cheering and STILL gives this 38 year old Sully goose bumps.

So why the hell am I going over that scene?
Beyond the fact that it is awesome... it kind of reminds me of the Yankees pursuit of Cliff Lee.

The Yankees have been obsessing over Lee since the 2009 World Series when he handed them their only 2 losses. And then this year, it looked like the Yankees were going to pry him loose from the Mariners... only to be outfoxed by the Rangers and have it haunt them in the ALCS when Texas and Lee man handled them for the pennant.

(Jesus Montero, the prospect the Yankees wouldn't part with to get Lee, had better turn out to be good!)

But now in the open market, it is assumed he will leave Texas for New York. Even Nolan Ryan thinks so.

So in this scenario, Cliff Lee is Superman and the Yankees are of course Zod.

Superman is about to kneel and swear his loyalty to Zod and the Yankees.

Lois Lane, crying, would be the Rangers... and frankly the rest of baseball seeing the Yankees get what they want.

In this one?
I'M Lex Luthor looking around, noticing something is wrong.

First of all, if the Yankees are looking to give Lee a seven year deal like they gave Lee's former teammate C. C. Sabathia... that is assuming he will be a premium pitcher in his late 30s.

That's not always a safe bet. Cy Young candidates can break down in an awful hurry. Don't believe me?

Take a look at the top 5 Cy Young finishers for 2007: Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb, Brad Penny, Aaron Harang and Carlos Zambrano.

3 years later you could get all five for a six pack of Sprite.

And before you think I am being just a gloomy glass is half empty guy, remember that at at age 31, he was having back issues.

His numbers in Texas were good but hardly the stellar stats he was piling up on a dreadful Seattle team.

Remember his stretch in mid August when he was getting clobbered?

Do things like "bad backs" tend to get better with age? If he was with the Yankees, he would probably turn to Andy Pettite and ask "Hey, when your back was messed up in your 30s, what did you use?"

And Pettite would reply "Sorry man, they test for that stuff now."

Imagine if injuries catch up with him like those 2007 Cy Young candidates. Isn't a bad back a red flag?

And of course there is the New York factor.
He needs to come up bigger than Clark Kent's alter ego in order to justify a huge contract.

Now Sabathia came up bigger than his waist size when he arrived in 2009. He won the ALCS MVP and looks like he'll be an ace stud for years to come.

He's been the exception.

It's easy to think of Kevin Brown as being the hot head, hand breaking bust blowing Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS.

But remember when the Yankees acquired him, he was a stud who was coming off a solid year with the Dodgers and was going to take Roger Clemens spot in the rotation. I still can hear Charlie Steiner describing him as "a warrior."

Think his heroics in the 1997 NLCS and 1998 post season earned him any good will in New York?

How do you think Cliff Lee's Game 1 World Series clubbing this year would have gone over in New York?

How did A. J. Burnett fare? He won the GIGANTIC Game 2 of the 2009 World Series... and that bought him good will for almost 45 minutes.

And if Cliff Lee might not be a fit in New York, there's the question of New York not being the right fit for Cliff Lee.

Sometimes those warning signs of a guy not wanting to play in the big spotlight are not unfounded.

How did Randy Johnson, one of the best pitchers of the last quarter century, do in New York? He was miserable before he threw his first pitch.

Even the great Johan Santana has lost some of his luster since arriving in Queens.

And then there is the bizarre contract circus that's going on in New York.

With Prince Hank sounding off and the team playing the contract haggling with Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter in public, the once stable Yankee organization is slowly looking more and more like the old Bronx Zoo... remember the one where they kept signing big players and couldn't make the playoffs.

And I know this is sacrilege to say, but if things don't go well in the free agent season are the Yankees as big a lock to win a World Series as they used to be?

A team where Rivera isn't there... or only signed for a year?
A team where the veterans are tied up to huge unmovable contracts as they are rewarded for past seasons (when they ALSO made big bucks)?

And remember, this team is getting older and their young players aren't exactly challenging the veterans for playing time.

If their young players were any good, they would have been able to TRADE for Lee in the regular season.

So yeah, Cliff Lee is Superman this off season... but there is ample Kryptonite out there.

The Yankees might very well end up with a crushed hand.

And before any gives me grief for comparing the Yankees to evil General Zod, remember that in this scenario, I'M Lex Luthor!

Now enjoy the awesome scene by clicking here.

Color me impressed, Rangers fans

Soak it in Rangers fans.
It's called passion for baseball. It's a long season... it's not 16 Sundays. It's every day and investing time emotion and having moments of great joy and winters of agony.

And if your team wins, you are overwhelmed with joy that can make each summer after wards a celebration.

Enjoy it. This frustration will pay off.

I started the post season needling Rangers fans but from the response on the blog and in the stands of Arlington, you are out there and you care.

I'm impressed.
Fill that park up next year. Don't be like the Tampa fans who need to be bribed to show up to the game.

Wear those AL Champ T shirts. Make those antler signs.
And oh yeah... DEMAND that they sign Cliff Lee!

The Texas Rangers - A film by Clint Eastwood

The Texas Rangers story this season has unfolded like a movie... but not just any kind of movie.

Specifically it has been a Clint Eastwood film.
I'm not talking about the Spaghetti Westerns, the Dirty Harry films or even the Clyde the Orangutan movies.

I'm talking about the respected Clint Eastwood films of the 1990s and 2000s.
You know, the ones he churns out about once every 8 months. The ones where, even if you didn't like them, you'd think, "Well, at least it was well made."

Bear with me, but the story of the 2010 Texas Rangers would be an ideal film for Clint not only to produce and direct but also to star in.

It is a story like Unforgiven or Million Dollar Baby where Clint is the grizzled old timer brought in to do what he was born to do... and paired up with a partner his age and a young whipper snapper.

Think about it!
You have Nolan Ryan leaving his ranch to save the Rangers.
You have Ron Washington and Josh Hamilton overcoming their drug past.
You have a Rangers team that is filled with cast offs from other teams giving each other antler signs.

And they beat the Yankees! It seems that every baseball movie, with the exception of Pride of the Yankees and The Scout, has the Yankees as the bad guys. Even the Bad News Bears had the evil little league team called the Yankees.

It adds juice to seeing them win the pennant at the end.

Rent your tuxedo for the Oscars, Clint... the movie is tailor made. The script would practically be a Mad Lib.

And let this blog post be one of two things:

1) My pitch, in case anyone at Clint's Malpaso Productions reads my blog.

or

2) A way for people to see I predicted this movie before they even rolled cameras.


The film stars...

CLINT EASTWOOD as NOLAN RYAN

Yeah, he doesn't look like Ryan (as Ryan has clearly discovered the Rawlings All American Grill). But Clint has Ryan's imposing presence. He's the legendary cowboy whose background makes everyone stand at attention. He's the old school hero who wants nothing to do with these crazy new ideas. You can imagine him responding to the concept of pitch counts with a quiet, "Say what?"

MORGAN FREEMAN as RON WASHINGTON

Sure he's older than the real Washington, but this is Hollywood. Stockard Channing played a teenager in Grease for Christ's sake! Besides he can play the instant respect card when he arrives in the dugout. And he can play the troubled side when his cocaine use comes out. Plus let's face it, he could narrate the hell out of the film. Give it the ole Shawshank Redemption - Million Dollar Baby treatment.

MATT DAMON as JOSH HAMILTON

Clint has used Matt in his last few films, and why not? He's awesome. He doesn't really look like Josh Hamilton, but who cares? He can play the many layers of Hamilton. Ryan will inevitably get Hamilton pumped up, reminding him not to throw away his gifts and chance to be a great player. The Rangers are his third team and best shot at redemption. And Clint is big on redemption. Plus, when Washington has the cocaine problem, it can be Hamilton, the young player, who reaches out and helps him. When he stands by his manager, it will bring a lump to the throat like Jimmy standing by Coach Dale in Hoosiers.

HILARY SWANK as CLIFF LEE

Let's face it. Hilary is dying for a third Oscar... and Clint loves her. She's already won an Academy Award playing a woman pretending to be a man. Why not push it all the way? She'll just play a guy! And just treat it as if it is normal. By the end people will be saying, "I completely forgot it was a woman playing Cliff Lee" and BAM! She'll have a third golden guy for her collection.

And there are the supporting roles.

ADAM ARKIN as CHUCK GREENBERG

He's the investor who lures Ryan out of retirement to save the team. He has to visit Ryan at his cattle ranch and no doubt steps his expensive shoes in some cow pies. He has to deliver the inevitable "We need you to come back" speech and tell him he can run the team HIS way. Then later in the film they'll cut to him a lot clapping.

JESSICA LANGE as RUTH RYAN

It's a shame Sondra Locke can't play this role, which will inevitably be thankless. Ruth, Nolan's wife, initially is skeptical about Ryan's going back to the Rangers. She realizes how it will be his last bit of youth sparked again and agrees. Then later in the film they'll cut to her a lot clapping.

GIOVANNI RIBISI as JON DANIELS
Ribisi would be spot on as the super young GM who works well (and shows respect) to Nolan Ryan. And along the way teaches Ryan that the young kids may have a few good ideas in their head. He looks concerned during a lot of the ball game scenes and gives Nolan Ryan someone to growl to.

NATHAN FILLION as C. J. WILSON

The left hander has a great season pitching the Nolan Ryan way... and let's face it. He looks like the star of Castle. And why would Fillion turn down a role in a Clint Eastwood film?

MICHAEL PENA as BENGIE MOLINA

The actor from Crash worked with Clint in Million Dollar Baby. He comes over to the team in mid season and gives the pitching staff a boost... plus when he hits for the cycle and later steals a base in the playoffs, it can be a comical moment.

RYAN KWANTEN as MICHAEL YOUNG

The Aussie does a nice job with an American accent on True Blood, and he's in shape enough to play the versatile Young in the film. Plus he's a nice looking man.

JAIMZ WOOLVETT as MIKE MADDUX

OK, he looks NOTHING like Mike Maddux. But damn it, Woolvett was GREAT as the Schofield Kid in Unforgiven and proved he could handle himself in a scene with the likes of Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. He should be in the cast, damn it!

TIMOTHY BOTTOMS as GEORGE W. BUSH

The former owner of the Rangers who dabbled in politics will show up from time to time. No, you can't put Will Farrell in this movie. Besides, Bottoms played serious Bush in a 9/11 TV movie and silly Bush in "That's My Bush." He can handle the cameo.

So, come on! You can picture it! Even the poster can say

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER CLINT EASTWOOD

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER MATT DAMON

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER MORGAN FREEMAN

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER HILARY SWANK

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER JESSICA LANGE

IN A FILM BY CLINT EASTWOOD

(WHO HAS 3 MORE OSCARS NOT COUNTING THE FIRST ONE WE MENTIONED WHEN WE LISTED CLINT IN THE CAST!)

It smells like Oscar bait.

I demand a producer credit.

The ghost of George visits Hank and Hal

(Hank and Hal Steinbrenner sit in their Tampa offices. The TV is on showing the Giants and Rangers playing in the World Series. Each are reading over details of Joe Girardi's contract offer. They both look up when they hear a strange rattling.)

HANK:
What the hell was that?

HAL:
Who's there?

(The ghost of their father, George M. Steinbrenner III, appears.)

GHOST:
I am thy father's spirit,
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night.
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love--

HANK:
That doesn't sound like you, dad.

HAL:
You never spoke in iambic pentameter.

GHOST:
What? Your old man didn't have a flair for the dramatic?
I ought to fire you both.

HANK:
Now THAT'S dad.

HAL:
What are you doing here?

GHOST:
(Pointing to the TV.)
First of all, I want that turned off. There's no World Series being played
this year. Not as far as we are concerned. Now for the last few years my
body has slowed me down a little. But let me tell you... I am charged up
and ready to be the old George again.

(Ghost sees they are reviewing papers.)

GHOST:
What are you working on? I assume the apology to the fans of New York
for such a poor showing this October?

HAL:
Um... no dad. We're not issuing a statement like that.

GHOST:
Why not? What are you satisfied with this showing? Did you break camp
in April saying "Ooooo. I hope this rag tag bunch of misfits scrapes together 95 wins and gets the Wild Card?" You think New Yorkers want that? You see those "Wild Card" hats and shirts flying off the racks? We should donate the whole damn line to Goodwill. It's a disgrace. What are you working on?

HANK:
These are about Girardi.

GHOST:
Ah. Good work. Get him out of here.

HAL:
Actually it's a three year extension. We're bringing him back.

GHOST:
WHAT?

HANK:
We believe in Joe.

GHOST:
Oh I believe in him too... I believe he just cost us a trip to the World Series. Did you see how he managed that ALCS? He wouldn't bring in Mariano Rivera with the season on the line, but in every big spot out came David Robertson. I read the box scores and kept thinking "Why the hell are they listing his social security number?" Then I realized THAT WAS HIS PLAYOFF E.R.A.!

HAL:
The Rangers were tough.

GHOST:
Tough? We used to beat them and they'd score only one run all series. And those were the Rangers who were all on steroids. But it's easy to score runs I guess when you don't use your Hall of Famers and keep throwing the Robertsons and Mitres of the world. Where the hell was Sabathia when the season was on the line in Game 4?

HANK:
Joe didn't want to wear down his arm.

GHOST:
Wear down his arm? He threw 10 innings over 2 weeks. Billy Martin used to throw Sparky Lyle 10 innings every other day out of the bullpen. Does Sabathia look like a guy who is going to wither away? He's built like a brontosaurus. But I guess Joe got his wish. He'll be well rested for spring training!

HAL:
Burnett actually pitched well.

GHOST:
6 innings and 5 runs for the loss. That's a 7.50 ERA.
For $16 million I'd expect a little more than that.
Catfish Hunter could throw better than that and he's as dead as me!

HANK:
That's not fair, dad. Burnett pitched well for the first 5 innings.

GHOST:
Well unless they shortened the game to 5 innings since I've been gone,
those other 4 innings count too! And going into that game, every Yankee fan out there would ask a GENIE for 5 innings from Burnett... then 2 from Wood and 2 from Rivera. But Clueless Joe kept Burnett out there until his arm fell off. Which reminds me, when the hell did we start letting players wear tattoos on their arm?

HAL:
Molina hit a fluke homer right after the intentional walk.

GHOST:
That's another thing. Why was every other batter intentionally walked?
David Murphy was walked? Did David Murphy become Joe DiMaggio since
I went away? And what's he doing walking Josh Hamilton twice early in
Game 6?

HANK:
Well, best face Guerrero. He didn't do anything all series.

GHOST:
He got 4 hits in one of the games! What happened to going after the hitters?

HAL:
Joe likes to go "By the book."

GHOST:
Let me give you the Cliff Notes for that book. "I have the biggest payroll in baseball and I spit the bit 2 out of 3 seasons." I've read it. Let me spoil the ending for you. It ends with the words "You're fired."

HANK:
He has Cashman's vote of approval.

GHOST:
There's another one. This guy has Monopoly money to play with. He can just keep building Hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk... and we don't have a #4 starter? We don't have a decent pen? That poor shmuck Joba kept being shifted back and forth that Girardi tried to bring him into the game as a reliever but forgot he was starting. Get rid of Cashman.

HAL:
We can't do that!

GHOST:
Why not? There's good GMs floating around out there. Let's see how
they'd feel about working with blank checks. They might even put a Division
Winner on the field... something we've only done ONCE since 2006. And get a
manager in here with some guts.

HANK:
Like who?

GHOST:
Why not Bobby Valentine? I liked that whole "disguise" thing he pulled in
Queens. Very clever. Or hell, Joe Torre's available. Get the author back in here and have him write a sequel.

HAL:
Torre? We've already parted ways. There's too many bad feeling there.

GHOST:
Like Billy Martin and me were singing Kumbaya. I'd bring Billy back sometimes WHILE I was firing him. Let's go. Let's shake things up. I can only do so much from the other world.

HANK:
What should we do first?

GHOST:
Can you shake up the coaching staff?

HAL:
We already let Dave Eiland go.

GHOST:
That's my boy! And by the way. I saw my monument at the Stadium.
It's nice. Understated.

HANK:
Thanks dad.

GHOST:
Fare thee well at once!
The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu! Hank and Hal, remember me.

(Hank and Hal look confused.)

GHOST:
That's Billy Shakespeare. Good guy. Turns out he has a wicked curve ball.
Lived in the wrong century. I would have paid him Kei Igawa money.

(Exit Ghost. Hank and Hal exhale, look at Girardi's extension, and then search for Joe Torre's number.)

HANK:
(Into Phone)
Joe. It's Hank Steinbrenner. You won't BELIEVE why I am calling you.

THIS is why people hate the Yankees

I've had some interesting exchanges with people regarding the whole "people other than Rangers fans are going to take pleasure with the Yankees losing" concept.

One person, whose name I will NOT say but you know who you are, kept trying to defend the Yankees saying "Hey, they had a terrific year and you have to give them that."

As if people were saying "Man, Joe Girardi led a rag tag bunch of misfits to the AL Wild Card... NOBODY thought the Yankees were doing ANYTHING this year. They were a bunch of no name players relying on grit and heart to beat the Goliaths of the league!"

No! EVERYONE picked them to at least make it to the World Series (including yours truly)... Girardi changing the number on his back could be considered arrogant and cocky... BECAUSE IT IS!

And it is awesome when it is YOUR team that is arrogant and cocky. I used to love it when Kevin McHale would say that he wasn't packing for Game 4 in the best of 5 first round back in the Celtics Hey Days. "There isn't going to be a game 4" he'd say. It was dickish... but cool for MY team.

So here we have a scrappy Rangers team that forced their way past the Yankees setting up a potentially wonderful World Series... and Yankee land is already treating the players landscape as their own personal shopping spree.

"Ooooh. That guy was good. We should get him!"

Yes, I know that it is part of the process.
And yes I know my Red Sox are also gluttonous and sign away a lot of players.

But it is the presumption of "Well he's NATURALLY going to want to come here!" and planning for 2011 as if he is already there that make people root against the Yankees.

And Yankeeland... that's fine to act that way. You've got a team that always breaks out the checkbook. And you get your Sabathias that way (and your Randy Johnsons, Kevin Browns, AJ Burnetts, Jaret Wrights and Kei Igawas that way as well.)

But if you are at the prom and someone else gets to be Homecoming King, don't be surprised if other people are pissed off when you are leering over the Homecoming Queen saying "Hey! Enjoy the dance... you'll be coming home with me later."

What can I say, Rangers fans? I WAS WRONG!

Lots of people doubted the Texas Rangers.

Guess who was one of them?

ME!

I didn't buy them in the first half...

I didn't buy them in the second half...

I didn't pick them in the Division Series...

I didn't pick them in the ALCS...

I didn't think they'd recover from Game 1 of the ALCS...

And I wondered if they had fans.

And guess what?

I was wrong every time.

I tip my hat to the Rangers and their fans (who have been posting on my comment sections and calling XM Radio.)

I've got egg on my face.

I messed with Texas.

(If only there was a sign or two in the state to remind us to NOT mess with them.)

I hate to say "I told you so"... no wait! I LOVE saying "I told you so"

10 days ago I wrote a blog post... basically calling Joe Girardi's pitching rotation for the ALCS insane.

I thought that lining up the rotation so Sabathia would not be available to pitch Game 7, flip flopping Hughes and Pettitte so Andy faced Cliff Lee and throwing A. J. Burnett in Game 4 gave the Rangers a clear and almost unfair advantage in Games 3, 4 and 7.

In other words, Girardi had set up the rotation so the Yankees had no margin for error in Games 1, 2, 5 and 6.

I said that Sabathia needed to throw games 1, 4 and 7. (Spare me the "he's tired" act. He had thrown 6 innings over 2 weeks.)

They needed Pettitte to throw game 2 (because he was their second best option) and start A. J. Burnett against Cliff Lee (consolidating their miserable match ups).

Hughes (available for bullpen work in Games 1 and 2) would be on full rest for Game 5... Pettitte 6 and Sabathia 7th.

Instead they sent out the mismatched 3 and 4 games and lost by a combination of 18-3 in those two games.

The fact that the Yankees were outscored 31-6 in the four losses shows that the pitching kinda sorta favored the Yankees.

It didn't have to be that bad.

I told them so.

Rangers fans might not want to be throwing stones here

Hey, it's a clever sign... but remember something, Rangers fans:

You are the same team that had Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Pudge Rodriguez when he was VERY pudgy.

And A-Rod admitted he did the stuff while in Texas.
(Oh yeah, they traded for Jose Canseco as well.)

Best watch out while throwing those stones.
Your walls are made of glass.

Yankee haters... give them 24 hours. Yankee fans... expect to get it BADLY

I urge my fellow Yankee haters to not taunt Yankee fans tonight. In fact give them 24 hours to grieve.

Out of courtesy.
Out of dignity.

Unless of course if you are a Texas Rangers fan.
Then by all means let loose. But you must also supply a photograph of you wearing a Texas Rangers hat PRIOR to 2010.

Preferably a picture of you with some classic Rangers player. Maybe with Ruben Sierra or Rusty Greer.

But all other fans... hold back for 24 hours. And that means YOU TOO, Red Sox fans! And Mets fans!

The Red Sox and Mets were playing golf when the playoffs started. Our fan bases have little to crow about.

So seriously... do something that a lot of Yankee fans don't do that often:
Show a little respect to another fan base and put yourselves in their shoes.

Their season went up in smoke... and they didn't even have the moment of facing the big Kahuna, Cliff Lee, in a showdown.

Let them have their 24 hours.

But Yankee fans... know what is coming and know it is going to be bad.

As I said in my Vlog the other day, you MUST understand that your role in baseball is to be the bad guy.

It isn't a Red Sox fan thing... or a Mets fan thing... it is general in baseball.

The check out girl at Trader Joe's in my town in California was hearing me talk about Baseball with someone else. She said "I don't care who wins, as long as someone beats the Yankees."

I was in a bar in Walla Walla Washington in 2002 when the Angels eliminated the Yankees. You would have thought everyone in the bar was born and raised as Angels fans.

It is part of the fabric of America.
You either love or hate the Yankees. And guess what? A lot of people LIKE TO SEE THEM LOSE!

And a lot of people think the Yankee fans are a smidge arrogant. I don't know why. Maybe because they remind you of how many times they have won constantly... the greatest of their team constantly... how they will win and how it is a given constantly... and are entitled to have every single superstar in the game.

If you walk around beating people up, driving an awesome car and saying "Hey... your girlfriend is hot... pretty soon, she'll be with ME!"

You root for Billy Zabka.

And sometimes Billy Zabka wins... like last year.

And sometimes Billy Zabka loses.

And when Billy Zabka falls down, EVERYONE cheers.
Billy Zabka can't look up and say "Hey! Only Ralph Macchio can be happy now. The rest of you punks I beat up have to be quiet."

No.
It doesn't work that way.

When the bully gets knocked down a peg, everyone else that person bullies wants to cheer.

And they will.

So brace yourselves, Yankee fans. If you want to chant "27 titles" and remind everyone how awesome your team is... don't be surprised when some people revel in your misery.

It's the price you pay.

But you should get 24 hours to grieve.

A SULLY BASEBALL VIDEO "Needing a Bad Guy" October 21, 2010

It is feeling a lot like 1992 around here

A franchise that had been a post season monster was on the verge of losing the ALCS 4-1 in their home park.

A franchise that had never ever won a post season series had stunned the biggest and baddest team in baseball to take a 3-1 lead in the ALCS.

The proud recent champion sent their stud ace to the mound... and he held serve. The big bad recent champs won Game 5 convincingly and sent the series back to the road.

Which series am I talking about?
The 2010 ALCS?
The 1992 ALCS?

That year the A's, who seemed ready to reclaim the World Series run they went on from 1988 to 1990 faced off against the Toronto Blue Jays, who were always talented but couldn't get out of their own way in the post season.

When the A's, behind a 9th inning homer by Harold Baines took the opener in Toronto it looked like business as usual. But the Blue Jays won Game 2 in SkyDome and Game 3 in Oakland. And shockingly, Dennis Eckersley let up a 9th inning game tying homer to Robby Alomar and the Jays took a 3-1 lead with the extra inning win.

The A's were stunned that their October march was going to come crashing so soon.

So they handed the ball to Dave Stewart, the biggest bad ass in the post season (yes, even more than Jack Morris.)

Stewart went the distance, getting the 6-2 complete game win and saying to the Jays "Not on MY watch!"

How did the Jays do after that in Game 6? They pounded Mike Moore and won the game 9-2... winning the first ever pennant for Toronto.

Does that bode well for the Rangers coming home to Arlington?

Well we DO know that they have a rested and ready ace for Game 7... if it goes that far.

And you KNOW he'll say not on MY watch.

10 thoughts about Game 4 of the 2010 ALCS

Thought 1: A. J. Burnett wasn't good.

There will be some defenders of his outing... that he was effective until the 6th inning and that he pitched better than expected.

But let's get down to brass tacks. It was only his jaw droppingly low expectations that made this game look good by comparison.

6 innings, 5 runs, 6 hits and 3 walks is not a good line. That is a 7.50 ERA.

They needed a quality start. They didn't get one.

Thought 2: After throwing out the first pitches, Girardi should have seen if Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams could stay in the lineup.

Isn't the total lack of pop from the Yankees startling? Take away the 5 run outburst in Game 1, and the Yankees have scored 6 runs total in the series.

Thought 3: Maybe Mariano Rivera is a better 9th than Sergio Mitre

I could be wrong about that. For the second straight day, the scrubs of the Yankee bullpen let the game get out of hand in the 9th inning while Mariano Rivera sat on a chair, reading Bazooka Joe comics.

I know that Girardi doesn't want to over use him this post season... He hasn't thrown a pitch since Friday and has thrown 4 1/3 innings in the last 17 days.

I don't think he's worn out.

Thought 4: I think Josh Hamilton's ribs are fine

If he hits 2 more homers, then he will have hit the most in a post season series history. So much for his swing not being strong.

Thought 5: Speaking of ribs, it looks like Bengie Molina found a good rib joint in Texas

At one point when he had his catchers gear on, his chest protector looked like it was going to pop off like a bad cumberbun.

Like he cares! He can have his cake and evidently eat it all too as long as he keeps crushing 2 out 3 run go ahead homers in the playoffs.

Thought 6: I don't want to hear Yankee fans complaining about other fan bases leaving before the end of the game

For the second straight night, by the end of the game Yankee Stadium was so empty that it looked like one of those high school tournaments where they play the championship game in a big league park that only has friends and family sitting in the first few rows.

Thought 7: Remember when Joba Chamberlain could have fetched Johan Santana on the trade market?

Could he even be worth a used Santana CD now?

Thought 8: Doesn't Game 5 starter C. J. Wilson look a little like the dude who plays Castle?

Could be just me.

Thought 9: This isn't a best of 5 series

This series isn't over... sure it LOOKS like the Yankees are dead from the neck up.

(Being outscored 25-5 over 3 games including losing by a combined 18-3 at home looks bad.)

But Sabathia isn't going to have another subpar outing. This series is probably headed back to Texas. And if we've learned anything, it is don't count this Yankee team out.

Thought 10: This isn't 2004

I had a Yankee friend e mail me saying "This must be what it felt like for you after Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS." Obviously he's trying to pump himself up for a big 3-1 comeback.

And they could win... but here's the big difference:

In 2004, the Yankees were left with Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez and Esteban Loaiza to pitch Game 7.

The Rangers will have a rested and ready Cliff Lee.

See the difference?

It is subtle.