Yanks Keep It Alive, and Still Shouldn't Fear Lee

Yankees 7, Rangers 2. The Yankees keep it going, and Game 6 will be tomorrow night in Arlington, Texas.

CC Sabathia pitched out of trouble, and Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano hit back-to-back homers.

Here's the key: In his 1st 5 1/3 innings, before getting the last 2 outs in the top of the 6th, CC allowed 11 hits -- but no walks. Add 2 innings of Kerry Wood (who has really rebounded nicely from injury oblivion with the Cubs, first as a Cleveland Indian and now as a Yankee) and 1 of Mariano Rivera, and the Yankees allowed a turbulent 13 hits, but no walks, and just 2 runs (in a hitter's park). In other words, CC bent but didn't break, and the bullpen was masterful. In contrast, the Ranger pitchers allowed 9 hits and 6 walks, and the Yankees made the most of it.

The Yankees still need to win 2 games on the road to win their 41st Pennant. The Rangers only need to win 1 out of 2 at home to win their 1st Pennant.

Game 6's starting pitchers will be Phil Hughes against Colby Lewis. If the Yanks keep it going, Game 7 will be Andy Pettitte against Sandy Koufax. Excuse me, Cliff Lee.

The media is already turning Lee into this generation's Koufax. Even though tonight, in Game 5 of the NLCS, there's a dandy matchup, a rematch of Game 1, as Tim Lincecum hopes to close it out for the San Francisco Giants, against Roy Halladay trying to keep it alive for the 2-time defending NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Both the Freak and Doc have had better careers than Lee. Check this out:

* Harry Leroy Halladay. Hometown, Arvada, Colorado, outside Denver. Current age, 33 years old. Career won-lost record, 169-86. Winning percentage, .663. ERA+, 136. WHIP, 1.181. Strikeouts, 1,714. 7 All-Star berths. 1 Cy Young Award, just missed another, could get another this season. Baseball-Reference.com's Hall of Fame Monitor, where a "Likely HOFer" is at 100, he's already at 101. B-R's Hall of Fame Standards, which is more geared toward career totals, and the "Average HOFer" is at 50, he's at 39. Already sounds likely to make the Hall, barring an ethical calamity. Nor should we hope for a medical calamity.

* Timothy LeRoy Lincecum. (Same middle name, just about.) Renton, Washington, outside Seattle. Age, 26. Record only 56-27, but a .675 percentage. ERA+, 142. WHIP, 1.182. Strikeouts, 907. 3 All-Star berths. 2 Cy Young Awards. HOF Monitor, 44. HOF Standards, 28. Far from making it, but at the rate he's going, I wouldn't bet against him.

* Clifton Phifer Lee. Benton, Arkansas, outside Little Rock. Age, 32. 102-61, 46 wins behind Halladay at the same age. Percentage, .626 -- really good, but nowhere near Halladay or Lincecum. ERA+, 112, good but well below the other 2. WHIP, 1.256, ibid. Strikeouts, 1,085, ibid. 2 All-Star berths, 1 Cy Young but no other top-3 finishes yet. HOF Monitor, 42. HOF Standards, 19. Both lower than Lincecum despite being 6 years older.

And let's not forget: This season, Halladay was 21-10, 2.44 -- despite pitching in a hitter's park. Lincecum was 16-10, 3.43, though that ERA is a bit high in a pitcher's park, but it was in the NL. Lee? Between Seattle (pitcher's park) and Texas (hitter's park), was 12-9, 3.18 -- and since he joined Texas, 4-6, 3.98.

Suddenly, Lee doesn't look so superhuman, does he?

In all fairness, career stats don't tell a full story. (Ironically.) From age 25 to 33 (currently), Halladay has been one of the best pitchers in the game. Lincecum became a star at 24 and at 26 is fabulous. Lee had his 1st full season at 25 and was good, was sensational at 26, was awful at 27 (ironically, his 1st trip to the postseason, and did not appear in the ALDS against the Yankees or the ALCS against the Red Sox), then was great at 29, but at 30 and 31 (turned 32 this August), was good -- not great, not even very good, just good.

Over his last 2 regular seasons, he's been 26-22. His ERA, 3.20. So he's probably been a better pitcher than his record suggests (especially since the Indians and Mariners currently stink), but he's also pitched for the Phils and Rangers, and is only a combined 11-10 and 2.72 with them. Good, but not great.

So what gives? Lee's postseason numbers. He's 7-0, 1.26. Compare that to Whitey Ford, 10-8, 2.71. Sandy Koufax, 4-3 (nothing special there), 0.95 (well beyond special -- only Mariano's is better). Bob Gibson, 7-2, 1.89. Catfish Hunter, 9-6, 3.26. Ron Guidry, 5-2. 3.02. Randy Johnson, 7-9, 3.50. (Yikes.) And Curt Schilling, arguably the greatest Yankee Killer ever to take a mound, 11-2, 2.23.

Then there is Lee's prospective Game 7 opponent. Andrew Eugene Pettitte. Deer Park, Texas, outside Houston. Age, 38. 240-138, .635, higher than Lee's. ERA+, 117, higher than Lee's. WHIP, 1.357, significantly higher than Lee's. Strikeouts, 2,251, though that's not especially relevant, since he hasn't specialized in them. No Cy Young Awards (1 2nd-place), but 3 All-Star berths, which is 1 more than Lee, and look at the ages when he got those berths: 24, 29 and 38. Pretty impressive. HOF Monitor, 122, almost 3 times Lee's. HOF Standards, 42, equal to Lee's HOF Monitor score. Chances are pretty good he'll go to the Hall of Fame, regardless of whether he ever throws another pitch -- and, if the Yanks lose Game 6, he might not, as many people think he'll retire after this season.

Which brings me to the key point that the Yankees still have to get to Game 7 first, by winning Game 6. If Lee wins Game 7, then he becomes one of the all-time big names in baseball, regardless of his career record. But if Pettitte wins Game 7, they'd better get his Monument Park Plaque ready, because he could very well retire a Pennant winner (and maybe also a World Champion).

Anyway, this series has already been very interesting. And it could turn into an epic.

Halladay vs. Lincecum wasn't all that good a match in Game 1. It could be a great one tonight in Game 5, and if the Phils win it, then the next 2 are in Philly and I think they'll take it, and add another chapter to Giant fans' misery. But if the Phils can't touch Lincecum, then the Giants win only their 4th Pennant since moving to San Francisco, and they just might get that Team of Destiny aura around them and believe they can go all the way for the first time since Willie made The Catch early in the Ike Age.

Wow, that last Giant crown was so long ago, the Phillies weren't the only MLB team in Philadelphia. Not to mention the fact that the Series, and the season, ended on October 2. Today is October 21, and, for the moment, neither Pennant has been won.

Oh, Say, Can You CC? Yes, We Can! And Flash In the Hall

CC Sabathia is apparently about to sign with the Yankees. So he gets the best of both worlds: He pitches for the baseball franchise, and he can afford the off-season house on the West Coast that he wants, leading many to think he would sign with the Dodgers.

Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez, who set a new single-season record by recording 62 saves with the Angels, has signed with the Mets. Which means K-Rod walks home a Pennant-losing run with the bases loaded (think: Kenny Rogers in 1999), or gives up a cheap home run to some banjo hitter (think: Armando Benitez many times from 1996 to 2001 or Aaron Heilman in 2006).

The Cleveland Indians appear to be close to signing Kerry Wood, the former Cubs starter whose brilliant career was cut short by injury, until he became their closer this year, and was reborn. Then they got rid of him. Dumb decisions like this are why, in the words of Steve Goodman (the late, great songwriter who wrote the train song "The City of New Orleans"), "The law of averages says anything will happen that can, but the last time the Cubs won a National League Pennant was the year we dropped the bomb on Japan." 1945.

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Joe Gordon, the Yankee 2nd baseman from 1938 to 1946, was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans' Committee.

Good choice. But, again, two obvious choices got hosed: Ron Santo, the Cubs third baseman of the 1960s and 1970s, and Gil Hodges, the Dodgers first baseman of the 1940s and 1950s, who managed the Mets to the 1969 World Championship.

"Flash" Gordon, nicknamed for the comic strip character played in movies by Olympic swimming Gold Medalist Buster Crabbe, died in 1978, so he won't be accepting in person. Hodges died in 1972 while still Met manager, and has never been able to speak up for his own cause, which includes being one of the top power hitters of his era, the best-fielding first baseman of that time, and did I mention that he actually managed the Mets to a Series? Santo, the top National League third baseman of his time and a really good hitter, is still alive, and broadcasting for the Cubs, but has diabetes and has lost both legs to it, walking on prostheses and crutches. I don't know how much longer he has, but if anyone in baseball has reason to be bitter (through everything that's happened to both himself and the Cubs), he's the one.

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Days until the Devils play another nearby rival: 2, Friday night, at home against the Rangers (who suck).

Days until Rutgers plays again: 19. (I'll have an entry about them soon.)

Days until the end of the Bush Administration and the Obama Inauguration: 41.

Days until the dismantling of the original Yankee Stadium begins: 95.

Days until the new baseball season begins: 119.

Days until the new Yankee Stadium opens: 127.

Days until East Brunswick plays football again: 275.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 351.

Crumbs From the Hot Stove League; Pete Newell, 1915-2008

It's been a while since I posted anything. I apologize. Here's some crumbs from the Hot Stove League:

Assuming the Yankees can find David Wells' uniform from his last season with the team, 2003 -- probably the only one in team history that would fit CC Sabathia, and he does seem to have lost some weight since -- open the vault. The House of Steinbrenner will make its money back, and they'll have a more reliable pitcher than The Great Johan Santana.

Getting Nick Swisher was a good trade. He drives in runs. Who cares what his hair, facial or otherwise, looks like. He won't be Thurman Munson, but if he can hit anything like the old Captain did, then I don't care if he looks like a Geico Caveman. Or even like Johnny Damon when he was still with the enemy.

I still don't want Manny Ramirez in Pinstripes. We already have too much drama with Double Play-Rod. Let the L.A. Bums overpay to keep him.

Getting rid of Kerry Wood was a dumb move for the Chicago Cubs. Here was a guy who totally worked out for them in the last chance they gave him. He's not the reason they tanked in the Playoffs. And... they get rid of him? Decisions like this are why, in the words of the late songwriter and Cub fan Steve Goodman, "The last time the Cubs won a National League Pennant was the year we dropped the bomb on Japan." (Not to be confused with the Yankees sending Darrell Rasner to a Japanese team.)

But if the Mets signed Kerry Wood, he'd be going from the Curse of the Billy Goat, or the Curse of Fred Merkle, both of which hit him enough to make him a question mark, to the Curse of Kevin Mitchell.

I'd advise the House of Wilpon to stay away from him, but since when have they ever listened to me? Or to anyone with any sense?

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East Brunswick lost its "consolation game" to a garbage Howell team, 25-22. For the 4th time this season, we blew a 2nd-half lead. For the 2nd time this season, we blew a 4th-quarter lead, leading 14-6 going in.

We go into the finale with a 4-5 record, and have to beat the Purple B@$+@rds just to finish .500. They're 2-7. By all rights, we should be able to pound them. But the football team at Dear Old Alma Mater cannot be trusted this season. I predict the turkey will be one foul fowl this Thanksgiving.

Rutgers 49, South Florida 16. The Scarlet Knights are now 5-5 with two very winnable games left. Another bowl is still possible. Amazing.

Already, the talk around here is of a Giants-Jets Super Bowl. Oh, spare me.

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Pete Newell died at age 93. He coached the University of San Francisco to the 1949 NIT Championship, at a time when that was still considered college basketball's "real national championship." He went across the Bay and led the University of California to the 1959 NCAA Championship, with Darrell Imhoff as his center, beating West Virginia with Jerry West in the Final.

He took them back to the Championship Game in 1960, losing to an Ohio State team that had Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, and a reserve named Bobby Knight, who went on to become one of the great coaches himself and always looked upon Newell as something of an inspiration.

Newell was as high-strung as Knight, but more even-tempered: There were no embarrassing incidents on his record. Which was good, because of the role he had in the 1960s. At age 44, when he took Cal back into that '60 Final Four (only they didn't call it the "Final Four" yet), he was advised by his doctor to give up coaching.

He stayed on as athletic director, meaning he was in charge of the athletic department when the school -- known as "Cal" for sports purposes but "Berkeley" for just about everything else -- went through an incredibly turbulent period that included the "Berkeley Free Speech Movement."

His last active coaching job was in the 1960 Olympics. The U.S. team that won the Gold Medal was considered the best basketball team ever assembled, until the 1984 and 1992 U.S. teams. It featured Imhoff, West, Lucas, Oscar Robertson, Walt Bellamy, Bob Boozer and Terry Dischinger -- 7 future NBA All-Stars, and the first 5 are in the Basketball Hall of Fame, as is Newell. This team was so good that Havlicek, who went on to become the all-time leading scorer in Boston Celtics history (and still is, ahead of Bill Russell and Larry Bird), made it only as an alternate.

Newell later established a basketball camp for centers, where his students included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Ralph Sampson and Shaquille O'Neal. His effect on the game lasted from the 1940s to the 2000s -- from the era of George Mikan and Bob Kurland to that of Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and LeBron James.

UPDATE: Pete Newell has no gravesite: He was cremated, and his ashes were given to his wife.

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Days until the Devils play another nearby rival: 3, Friday night, at home vs. the Islanders.

Days until Rutgers plays again: 4.

Days until the East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 9.

Days until the end of the Bush Administration and the Obama Inauguration: 63. Nine... more... weeks. Hallelujah.

Days until the new baseball season begins: 141.

Days until the new Yankee Stadium opens: 149. (At least, officially. Two exhibition games with the Cubs have been announced, but they won't count.)