The Real Story: Why the Yankees Don't Win in the Postseason

Here's a look at how some of the games’ most amazing offensive players—EASILY the best offensive players in this postseason—have fared in October:

CHICAGO CUBS

Alfonso Soriano:              Regular Season .299        33 HR’s                 70 RBI   

                             Postseason:      2 for 14 (.143) 2 K’s       0 HR’s    0 RBI

Aramis Ramirez:               Regular Season .310        26 HR’s                 101 RBI

                                         Postseason       0 for 12 (.000)  5 K’s       0 HR’s    0 RBI

Derek Lee:                       Regular Season .317        22 HR’s 82 RBI

                                         Postseason       4 for 12 (.333) 4 K’s       0 HR’s   0 RBI

                             COMBINED         6 for 38 (.158)    11 K’s    0 HR’s    0 RBI

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Ryan Howard:                  Regular Season .268        47 HR’s 136 RBI

                                         Postseason:      3 for 12 (.250) 7 K’s       1 HR       1 RBI

Chase Utley:                    Regular Season .332        22 HR’s                 103 RBI

                                        Postseason:      2 for 11 (.182) 5 K’s       0 HR       0 RBI

Aaron Rowand:                Regular Season .309        27 HR’s                 89 RBI

                                        Postseason       1 for 12 (.083) 4 K’s       1 HR       1 RBI

Jimmy Rollins:                  Regular Season .296        30 HR’s 94 RBI

                                         Postseason       2 for 11  (.182) 3 K’s      1 HR       4 RBI

                                        COMBINED         8 for 46 (.174)    19 K’s    3 HR       6 RBI

ANAHIEM ANGELS

Vladimir Guerrero:         Regular Season .324        27 HR’s 125 RBI

                                      Postseason:      2 for 10 (.200)    0 K’s       0 HR       0 RBI

Chone Figgins:              Regular Season .330        3 HR’s    58 RBI

                                      Postseason       3 for 13 (.231)    4 K’s       0 HR       1 RBI

Orlando Cabrera:          Regular Season .301        8 HR       86 RBI

                                      Postseason       3 for 12 (.250)    1 K’s       0 HR       1 RBI

                                     COMBINED         5 FOR 23 (.217)  5 K’S      0 HR       2 RBI

NEW YORK YANKEES

Alex Rodriguez:            Regular Season .314        54 HR     156 RBI

                                     Postseason       2 for 10 (.200)    4 K’S      0 HR       0 RBI

Derek Jeter:                 Regular Season .322        12 HR     73 RBI

                                     Postseason       1 for 12 (.083)    4 K’s       0 HR       0 RBI

Jorge Posada:              Regular Season .338        20 HR’s 90 RBI
                                    Postseason       1 for 10 (.100)    2 K’s       0 HR       0 RBI

Hideki Matsui              Regular Season .285        25 HR’s 103 RBI

                                    Postseason       2 for 9   (.222)    2 K’s       0 HR       0 RBI

                                    COMBINED         6 for 41 (.146)    12 K’s    0 HR       0 RBI

Would you trade Jeter for Stephen Drew?

Stephen Drew:    Postseason    7 for 14 (.500)    1 2B        1 3B        2 HR       4 RBI      5 K’s

…Cano for Kaz Matsui?

Kaz Matsui:          Postseason       5 for 12 (.417)    1 2B        2 3B        1 HR       6 RBI      2 K’s

…Posada for Yorvit Torrealba?

Yorvit Torrealba   Postseason       5 for 10 (.500)    1 2B        0 3B        0 HR       3 RBI      0 K’s

…Matsui for Chris Young?

Chris Young          Post Season       3 for 11 (.273)    0 2B        0 3B        2 HR       4 RBI      8 K’s

Of course not—it just so happens that these guys had a decent stretch of three games.

They aren’t “clutch”—they’re Stephen Drew, Kaz Matsui, Yorvit Torrealba, and Chris Young. 

Still, it must be nice to be able to go 1 for 12...hit into two double plays...strike out four times...make an error which leads to the first run in an elimination game...and have no one say anything about it.

Just ask Derek Jeter.

The REAL story, though, comes down to the ARMS!

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS:        (3 games) 2.00 ERA          27 IP      19 H       13 BB     24 K’s

                BULLPEN ONLY:                            0.00 ERA          8.3 IP     5 H          2 BB       8 K’s      

Runs Allowed    Game 1:               1              w

               Game 2:               4              w

   Game 3:               1              w

COLORADO ROCKIES:                     (3 games) 3.00 ERA          27 IP      16 H       12 BB     26 K’S

                BULLPEN ONLY:                              0.77 ERA           11.6 IP   6 H          4 BB       8 K’S

Runs Allowed    Game 1:               2              w

                           Game 2:               5              w

                          Game 3:               1              w

BOSTON RED SOX:                           (3 games) 1.50 ERA          27 IP      19 H       7 BB       16 K’s

                BULLPEN ONLY:                                 1.42 ERA          6.3 IP     2 H          3 BB       5 K’s

Their free agent pickups include Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Hideki Okajima and Daisuke Matsuzaka…not the best hitting players available at the time, but arms.

Runs Allowed    Game 1:               0              w

                           Game 2:               3              w

                            Game 3:               1              w

CLEVELAND INDIANS:                    (3 games) 3.10ERA           29 IP      19 H       11 BB     22 K’s

                BULLPEN ONLY:                               0.00 ERA           8 IP         3 H          3 BB       12 K’S

Runs Allowed    Game 1:               3              w

                           Game 2:               1              w

                           Game 3:               8              L              Guess which game they lost…

NEW YORK YANKEES:                    (3 games) 5.86 ERA          27.6 IP   34 H       15 BB     23 K’S

                BULLPEN ONLY:                               4.50 ERA           14 IP      12 H       7 BB       15 K’S

Runs Allowed    Game 1:               12           L

                           Game 2:               2              L  (Deceiving…Game 2 – 8 out of 11 lead off men reached base)

                          Game 3:               4              w  (Luckily Clemens left in 3 or else it could have been bad)

Which team doesn’t belong?

Which team doesn’t belong?

Every series winner has given up less than 20 hits to their opponents. The Yankees have given up 34.

This would be an easy discovery on Sesame Street...Ernie would laugh at you if you took more than three seconds to try to figure out that A-Rod and Joe Torre are NOT the problem. 

Would I like to see my man-crush come to the plate and have some success?

Sure, but so long as the Yankees are spending 24 million dollars on a left-handed pinch-hitting specialist and repeatedly failing to address their pitching, they're going to have problems. 

In this postseason, winning teams have allowd an AVERAGE of 2.16 runs per game. 

You simply don't win championships with superstar offensive players. 

Arguably the three best players in the last 20 years are Griffey, Bonds, and A-Rod. COMBINED they have 17 World Series AT BATS and no championships. 

Shhhh the secret is PITCHING!!!

Password: BULLPEN!!!

Ross Ohlendorf?!?!?

You’re down four runs in the fifth inning against a team that you came from behind on early in the season...and you bring in ROSS OHLENDORF?!?!

The kid threw 6 INNINGS ALL YEAR in the big leagues. At least he was fresh. 

Good thing he locked down hitters at the AAA level—he “held” his AAA opponents to a petty .320 batting average...and that was in 66 INNINGS PITCHED!!!

You’re the frickin' Yankees—FIGURE IT OUT!!!!!.

It reminds me of a movie quote from Armageddon. In the immortal words of Harry Stamper:

“And this is the best that you c—hat the government, the *U.S. government* could come up with? I mean, you're NASA for crying out loud, you put a man on the moon, you're geniuses! You're the guys that're thinking shit up! I'm sure you got a team of men sitting around somewhere right now just thinking shit up and somebody backing them up! You're telling me you don't have a backup plan; that these eight boy scouts right here, that is the world's hope, that's what you're telling me?”

MY version:

And this is the best that you c—that the YANKEES, the NEW YORK YANKEES could come up with? I mean, you’re THE YANKEES for crying out loud, you spend $200 Million dollars on players, you’re geniuses!  You’re the guys that’re buying everyone up!  I’m sure you’ve got a team of scouts sitting around somewhere right now just buying people up and somebody buying someone else up!  You’re telling me you don’t have a bullpen?!...that ROSS OHLENDORF right here, that he’s your postseason hope, that’s what you’re telling me?

With their backs against the wall in an elimination game, the Yanks start a guy who's five years away from his AARP card. 

He has a bad hamstring...hasn't started a game in a month...received two cortisone shots in his elbow...and he's the man for the Bombers. 

I could think of a lot better ways to spend $200 Million. It’s like Tales from the Crypt. I thought Guidry was going to grab the ball and give them an inning or two.

I can’t believe no one talks about this stuff.

Surely Alex Rodriguez is interesting, but can someone who knows baseball come out and say the obvious? 

I mean, it IS that obvious right?

I wish someone would tell the writers to get their heads out of their asses. If they want paparazzi duty, Lindsay Lohan gets out of rehab next week—but if they’re going to cover baseball, do it correctly!!! 

Stop chasing A-Rod to strip joints and start watching the games. I know it’s hard to call the best player in the game inconsequential, but seriously—has history not shown us that you don’t need the best player in the game to win? 

As a matter of fact, has history not shown that the best players in the game don’t even get to SNIFF the World Series? 

You can only hope that management buys into the idea that a team needs pitching to win.  In this particular case, it’s like the Yankees decided to take Paris Hilton to a spelling bee. 

Unfortunately for the Yankees, it’s so “not HOT.”

Yankees in 5?!