MLB Playoffs: Day 13

In the long and proud history of the New York Yankees, they have perhaps never put on a more embarrassing display than what happened in this year's American League Championship Series.  The Yankees were playing the Detroit Tigers -- a team that won only 88 games all year, and that only just scraped past Oakland in the first round.  The Yankees had home field advantage, and a team that won 95 games, allowed two fewer runs than the Tigers, and scored 78 more runs than the Tigers during the 2012 season.  The first game was a hard-fought, 12-inning saga that ended with a 6-4 Tigers victory.  But Derek Jeter was hurt in the last inning of that game, and the Yankees seemed to give up after that.  New York played 27 innings of baseball after Jeter's injury.  In that time, they got 11 hits and scored exactly 2 runs.  Their batting average in the ALCS was only .157.


Since losing the 2003 World Series, the Yankees have made the playoffs eight times.  Only once -- in 2009 -- did they win the AL pennant.  My sense is that the folks in New York have had it with this team, and that they will want to see major changes in the off-season.  That may not go so well -- Boston made major changes after last season, and this year was their worse season since the mid-1960's.  But I can't see the Yankees going on like this.

By the way, Detroit was the last team to sweep the ALCS -- they did it against the A's in 2006.  That year, they beat the Yankees and A's before losing to the Cardinals.  This year, they have beaten the A's and the Yankees, and the Cardinals may be next.  Odd.

Over in the NL, the Cardinals jumped all over Tim Lincecum and cruised to an 8-3 win that puts them within one game of their second straight pennant.  Lincecum, who is only 28, won the Cy Young Award in 2008 (18-5, 2.62 ERA) and 2009 (15-7, 2.48 ERA), and was an all-star in 2010 and 2011.  But this year he went 10-15 with an ERA of 5.18, and Giants' fans have to be concerned about his future.

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Best of 7):
St. Louis leads San Francisco 3-1

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Best of 7):
Detroit beat New York 4-0