LeBron vs. Kobe Muppets, Part IV: Mrs. Lewis

(Via WFNY) Now this is hilarious. :)

AAAAUUGGHHHH!!!

V'Hamayvin Yavin.

8 Down, 8 To Go

As the Cavs keep rolling, a few good and fun pieces and videos to watch courtesy of a few, especially Mom. First, muppets LeBron and Kobe:

Good thing he decided against football, at least for now. Finally, I wish they had one of these from the entire series, but then again, considering this isn't even all his highlights just from Game 3, I guess it would be too long:

Totally Inappropriate

Its not every day that someone sends me something so totally inappropriate, that I refuse to publish it on my blog. However, despite the totally insanity of this anonymously sent video, I felt it needed to be published somewhere.

Since Ezzie's a die hard CAVS fan, his blog is the only possible venue I could think of.

This youtube video was sent to me anonymously this morning, and depicts a shul (supposedly in Raanana) and it's electronic message board with Shabbat information on it.

Around 17 seconds into it, is when the Mazal Tov announcement appears that would probably cause Ezzie to get up and cheer.



Sheesh.

Something For Everyone

For those who love the kids:
For those who love sports:

And for those who actually come for the blog:

Apocalypse Arriving Sunday @ 6:30pm EST...

...just thought you might want to know.

REPENT! FOR THE END IS NIGH...NIGH, I SAY!!!*



The Baltimore Goon Squad versus The Pittsburgh Spawn of Satan

The dark clouds marking the end of days gather on the approaching horizon. The time has arrived when there is no force for good left to fight for all that is right in this world. Only the forces of darkness are left to do battle, there is no more chance for a winner as regardless of the out come we are all to lose in this contest. These are the times prophesized, the times that we read about in long forgotten books that lie long forgotten on the bookshelves of history. We choose not learn of these times as they are too horrible to imagine, too terrible to contemplate. Alas, we now must pay a great penance for this act of self delusionment as the reality of those times are upon us. Woe unto us that we are the people who have allowed such calamity to take place, that we have not done enough to prevent such a confluence of evil to meet and propagate its ideals on an unsuspecting and unprepared public. It is too late now to do anything about it, this I know...and this I lament greatly. There can be no chance now for salvation - only misery awaits us all.

But I shall not type here and simply allow this to pass without at least making it known to one and all what we are witnessing. Do not be fooled by the spin doctors and soothsayers who would have you believe that all is well and life will go on as before. That next week nothing will change and all will be as it was. HERETICS ALL OF THEM! BLASPHEMERS! Know well that the result can only be that of doom. So stand tall and proclaim with me the valiant cry of a great man who also stood alone before a group of a the damned and the dirty who wished to suppress the right and the good from this world. Call out his cry of defiance...even if it may do no good...even if the future has already been foretold...even if the outcome is one that has no chance of being positive...CALL OUT!:

"Damn them...damn them all to Hell" - may G-d have mercy on us all
::sigh::...yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of...


*bitter? i'm not bitter

Something G Would Write

That was the first thought that came to mind after reading this hilarious conversation the 2007 Kenny Lofton would have with the 1995 Kenny. (via the Daily Fix)

Also, a huge mazel tov to our friend and rare commenter STF on her engagement! Now we know why you passed on coming here this Shabbos. :P

The Stupidity of Sports

...scheduling, that is. (What, did you really think I'd write about the stupidity of sports?!) I couldn't agree more with this article, which details how baseball has really blown up its own fan base in the quest for the almighty dollar - a way of doing business that has come back to hurt them, or will, when FOX et al are no longer willing to pay outrageous prices to show games.

Along the way, the game lost a generation who couldn't stay up at night. In the chase for the almighty dollar, baseball gave up its youngest fans.

No need to look any further than the second game of the NL championship series for proof. The game didn't begin until after 10 p.m. ET and by the time it mercifully ended nearly five hours later, people not only had fallen asleep at the game but some early risers had awakened to it.

It's only logical that the later a game goes, the fewer the people watching. And the longer a game takes to be played, the more people will get bored watching it. It's a pretty simple equation: Late and long is killing the postseason.

You would think someday baseball folks would figure it out.

It's pathetic. One person just told me that they couldn't help but enjoy watching their daughter be so elated when Damon hit that HR in Game 3 of the ALDS... only to have her go to sleep soon after. And she certainly couldn't watch Game 4.

As a note, basketball is the worst offender, dragging the postseason out for months on end. One of the reasons the NCAA tournament is so popular is that it happens awfully fast - 3 weekend to turn 65 teams into 1 champion. The NBA can't finish a single series in that time period. The NFL has it the best, where their games are already a week apart; as it is, they get criticized for the week extra between the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl, though I don't think those are all that bad.

All Over the Place

As can be imagined, I'm a bit all over the place today. Life is both very exciting and very nerve-wracking at the moment. So... here are a few tidbits I found interesting in a wide array of topics, along with some of my own thoughts. (Occasionally, I do post my own thoughts, too, ya know...)

• The controversy over the telecommunication industry's helping out the government with eavesdropping on terrorists. I understand why Congress wants to know what was done before giving immunity for past cases, but this is not just or even primarily a terror issue; only about 10% of the instances were requested by the White House (et al). Most had to do with mafia or other crime issues, from what I can tell from the statistics. [I saw them yesterday in an article, but cannot find it now.]
• Imagine if Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity had made an outrageous claim like this - would he not be looking for a new job by now? Making up stories that the "right-wing hate machine" mugged an Air America host to "silence" her - when her own lawyer says she fell while walking her dog?! Gotta love this apology:

  Host Jon Elliott issued a written retraction of his remarkable on-air charge, saying: "I shouldn't have speculated based on hearsay that Randi Rhodes had been mugged and that it may have been an attack from a right wing hate machine. [Ez: Ya think?] I apologize for jumping to conclusions based on an emotional reaction."

  What does it say about the left that their "emotional reactions" make them jump to such insane conclusions against the right so quickly? Yes, all talk-show hosts jump to extreme interpretations of events - it's what gets them ratings - but this is way beyond the pale.
  
• I'm sure James Taranto will write about this far better than I later on, but I'm not sure what to think about this media shield law. There are a nice amount of common-sense exceptions, which is a good thing, but wouldn't it behoove this country to force reporters and media outlets to use a little more common sense and care in their reporting in the first place?! The largest problems that caused reporters to be jailed stemmed from completely false reports, such as Joe Wilson's infamous and false editorial that the NY Times printed that set off the firestorm about Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame. Moreover, this is an important note, too:

  The Justice Department, in questioning the need for the legislation, said it had approved the issuances of subpoenas to reporters seeking confidential source information in only 19 cases between 1992 and 2006.

  It sounds like this will shield law will simply encourage people with political agendas to constantly leak information without worry of it coming back to bite them. This will only hurt the country in the long run, because administrations will be incredibly secretive about everything they do to avoid leaks.
• Obama & Cheney are distant cousins. It's just funny.
• An Israeli Bedouin Arab who has 67 (!!!) kids from 8 wives is looking for wife #9.
• This was fascinating and very smart:

  Two key RBI singles in the inning came from second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera and first baseman Victor Martinez, each switch-hitters, both of whom were notably batting right-handed against the right-handed Wakefield. As Cabrera explained, Wakefield's knuckler more often that not breaks in on right-handed hitters and away from lefties. So the more effective way to attack it, if you have the choice that a switch-hitter does, is to go right-handed.

  Nice. Note that the left-handed hitting Travis Hafner struck out three times against Wakefield; Sizemore was 0/2 with a walk to lead off the game; and Lofton grounded out twice, for a combined 0/8 with a walk. Righties were 0/5 with a BB and 4K's the first time around, 3/5 with a 2B, HR, and HBP the second time around, and 2/2 the third time around.
• Finally, I don't get why everyone was this down on Westbrook and Byrd. Yes, they're not amazing pitchers, but they are both very consistent - Byrd throws strikes [fewest BB/9 in baseball], Westbrook keeps the ball down and gets ground balls and double plays. That has been their modus operandi for a few years, which is why they pick up 15 wins a year. Westbrook hasn't given up more than 4 runs in his last 15 starts; he only gave up 4 twice. Last year, when he was healthy all year, he led the league in ground-ball DPs.

Go Tribe!

Thoughts from a Sports Guy Reader

This was an e-mail I sent in to Bill Simmons (the very funny and actually intelligent sportswriter known as the "Sports Guy") at 3:45am after reading his latest column... I decided it was good enough to post.

I'm an Indians fan currently living in NYC (yes, the ALDS rocked), and I thought you'd enjoy a few tidbits from the Indians' announcers and an Indians fan in light of your latest article.

• 1) Tom Hamilton announced as Blood Pressure Borowski came in that "Indians fans might be shocked to learn that he had more 1-2-3 innings this year than Mariano Rivera." My brother called me up to tell me this and say "Yep, I was shocked."
• 2) Every ex-Clevelander I know has come up to me this postseason and said "You know, this year feels different. I'm not waiting for something horrible to happen that ends it all... I feel like they actually might win!" I'm sure that until 2004, you could appreciate that one.
• 3) Then again, as I listened online to Game 2, when Youkilis hit that liner on the 11th pitch in the bottom of the 9th, I almost had a heart attack. (I'm 24.) Within 60 seconds of that moment, I'd spoken to my brother in NY, my sister in Baltimore, and my father in Cleveland. And amazingly, we'd all survived.
• 3a) Indians' announcer Hamilton about 2 seconds after pausing after that catch said "Cleveland, you can breathe again."
• 3b) I hadn't been breathing.
• 4) You haven't seen enough Browns games. That's the only way you can think that Indians' fans won't stay loud in the freezing cold. I've been to subzero Browns games at the end of the year when they're WAY out of it, and you'd think they were still in the playoff hunt. 40 degrees?! That's like a sauna to Cleveland fans.
• 4a) The Indians' announcers in Game 2 noted in about the 4th or 5th inning that the Sox fans didn't seem as loud as the Indians or Yankees fans had been in the first series. It could be because it's a smaller park, but Hegan thought that they seemed like they were waiting for the World Series to get really into it.
• 4b) As a total throw-in, Bill Belichik is an *******. He completely sucked when he coached the Browns, and while he's not at Jordan/Elway/Modell/Jose Mesa/Steelers level of hatred in Cleveland, that's only because everyone thought he was too boring to listen to to even hate.
• 4b2) I think the only reason Romeo Crennel didn't get fired as the Browns' head coach after Week 1 is because people are afraid he'll be the next Belichik: Supposed defensive genius, clueless-looking head coach, sounds like he's going through the motions in press conferences, never looks like he cares about anything, spends a couple of years squandering great offensive talents (Kosar/Metcalf; Winslow/Edwards), brings in semi-washed up but decent LBs from his old team (Pepper Johnson;Willie McGinest)... it would be typical Browns to let him go and then watch as he somehow turns up in 7 years in his 2nd Super Bowl, citing what he "learned" in those "hard times" as a Browns head coach.
• 5) Whenever Joe Borowski enters a game, I have terrible Jose Mesa flashbacks, thinking "NO! Leave in Mike Jackson!!" (Betancourt)
• 6) You know that if the Indians keep winning these games, there's a strong possibility there will be no good ALCS MVP choice. If Borowski has 4 scoreless innings and 3 saves, would it not be the funniest thing ever if he's standing up there, receiving the award? Wouldn't you (in between tears and yelling) crack up at your TV screen? This could really happen.

Quote of the Night

"Cleveland, you can breathe now."

WTAM's Tom Hamilton, after Grady Sizemore made a diving catch of Kevin Youkilis' line drive on the 11th pitch of his bottom of the 9th, 2 out, runner on second at bat against Rafael Betancourt.

As a note, I wasn't breathing at the time. I also spoke to: My sister (in Baltimore), my father (in Cleveland), and my brother (in New York), all within 60 seconds of that happening.

Geez.

UPDATE

Holy. Freaking. Crap. This is the strangest and most amazing game I've listened to in a LONG, long time.

Current thoughts:

• 13-6 in the 11th!?
• I think even Joe Borowski can hold a 7-run lead. I think.
• I agree with TheApple - too bad baseball doesn't go by sudden death! On the other hand, scoring 7 is SO much more fun... and really kills the Sox bullpen.
• Eric Wedge has incredible guts.
• Trot Nixon must be the happiest man in Boston.
• I wonder if Manny knows they lost... Manny Ramirez is one of the best players to ever play the game. He waited until the last possible moment to swing at that Perez pitch... and took it DEEP out of the park to the opposite field. That's insane.
  
• CC Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, and Rafael Perez ALL got rocked... and the Indians still split in Boston. If I'm a Sox fan, I'm shaking so hard right now. As an Indians fan, I'm beyond thrilled.
• As a Clevelander, all these good things happening is just strange. I'm not even worried about using the Browns as my survivor pick tomorrow. Is that crazy?!
• Geez. YES! I don't even know what to say. This is craziness. It's only 1-1!! AAAH!!! I just hope I don't have a heart attack over the next 3 weeks.
• GO TRIBE!!
  

A Little Bit of Everything

Whenever people ask me what SerandEz is about, my most common answer is either that it's really about anything, or that it's a little bit of everything. So here's a little bit of everything, from Sukkos to Cleveland to Pobody's Nerfect to G to Las Vegas to LA to Holy Hyrax; from Red Sox-Tribe to Milk 'n Honey to Google to LeBron:

SerandEz Sukkos

• Traveling by plane all over the country with an 18-month old who suffers from motion sickness: Not fun.
  
• Traveling holding a lulav in your hand: Not normal.
  
• Traveling for 11 days, 6 of which are Shabbos or Yom Tov, and realizing when you arrive at destination one that you left your garment bag (holding all of your suits) on your bed in New York: Not good.
• Not being stuck in the middle of two hours of traffic in Delaware with less than an hour and 60 miles to go to Baltimore: Actually... not as fun.
  

So, while the lulav held up fine, and Elianna made it through the flight okay, my suits were living it up in NYC. Next, Elianna threw up during the 45-minute car ride from Akron to my parents' house in Cleveland. Luckily, Macy's had a nice pair of dress pants for $15 that I wore all of the first days; and thankfully, my sister- and brother-in-law were able to bring the suits when they came to LA.

Cleveland: The weather was surprisingly gorgeous (and didn't suddenly switch from gorgeous to snowing like it did on Pesach); SIL and OD and the -ens were there; and all in all, it was nice, calm, and the Indians were the talk of the town. At least they were when people weren't talking about the Browns beating up on the Ravens. Elianna enjoyed playing with her "big" cousins Ben & Hen, and of course started saying a whole bunch of new words: "OW" (right before she tries to hit at someone - learned from accidentally hitting Serach who said it); "NO!" (from Hen, who didn't want her to steal the car from her); "Dai!" [enough], which she seems to have simply picked up; and "Yesth!", which we taught her to offset 'No'.

We were kept entertained on Yom Tov itself by Pobody's Nerfect and her brother S[-]oner, who visited and even hosted us at their sukkah (minus Elianna) for a meal. On motzei Shabbos, we joined them and their family and a friend at laser tag, a bit of 'Dance Revolution', air hockey, etc. Note: Serach is not just tone-deaf, but lacks any sense of musical rhythm whatsoever. We also got to see G, whose conversation with my Dad bears repeating. My brother OD, who is 5 inches shorter and 100 pounds lighter than me, was not around. {note that that used to be a 50-pound difference...}

Dad: Hey G, you look good... you lose weight?
G: Yeah, I did.
Dad: I think I gained what you lost.
G: No, I think that Ezzie did. [pause] Actually, I think Ezzie ate OD.

Throughout the chag, we had some delicious Shannon Road Ice Cream that Dan (the Ice Cream Man) had dropped off at my parents' home - more on that another time. It was so good that Pobody's family bought some after she tasted a drop by our house.

On Sunday, we had a really nice time, heading out with OD & family and my parents to one of the coolest places I've seen in a long time - the LakeFarm Metroparks. They had this amazing place that had trains that hobbyists had made... mini-trains that people can ride on, that are as real as any train in make, from blowing steam to burning coal to smoke. They've built 3 miles of track over 14 acres with dozens of switch-tracks, about a dozen trains... it's amazing. After about a 40-minute wait in the long line of kids and parents, we got on... and I'm not sure who enjoyed it the most. Elianna LOVED it (despite the constant cloud of smoke that was puffing from the front of the train), crying "Maw! Maw!" when it finally slowed to a stop.

After that, we headed to LakeFarm Park and enjoyed the Corn Maze (Elianna loved this, too) and then seeing all the animals, where Elianna quickly learned what sound each animal made. She wanted to pet them all, but only a few got close enough for her to have a shot; she had an amazing time petting the sheep inside one of the buildings. The next day, after visiting Great-Grandma, she had even more fun at the zoo, seeing all the elephants, monkeys, fish, and of course, a ton of Jews.

Los Angeles: After that, it was off to LA. On the drive from the zoo to the airport, Elianna threw up, resulting in a quick cleanup in the trunk as I checked our bags in. Thankfully, there was enough room on the first leg to Vegas for her carseat, so we didn't have to hold her... but she threw up right as we landed, and we had about 15 minutes until our next flight to LA. We were so rushed I didn't even have a chance to gamble in the airport - nebach. She was fine on the flight to Burbank, and we had a nice relaxing night in the guest wing of Serach's sister's in-laws. (Gotta love LA.)

Yom tov in the Valley was really nice - pretty much spent the whole time with family and family friends, just rushing into the city one evening to meet a friend, until motzei Shabbos. On that night, we drove to meet another good friend whom Serach had never met - the one, the only, the famous: Holy Hyrax! We had some great Chinese, and ended up sitting there shmoozing with the Hyraxes until about 2:30 in the morning while Elianna slept in the (really cute) kids' room. Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Hyrax is much more fun than Holy, and got along almost too well with Serach, particularly in their opinions on subjects such as blogging. She's also going to closely monitor anything he says on the blog from now on. Hehe.

On our last day in the City of Angels, I'd been hoping to meet up with Jack (of the infamous Shack), but when he was available we got a bit bogged down with packing and the like and it didn't end up happening. I also missed a friend's engagement party and we couldn't go out with Ser's aunt and uncle, either - not the best ending to our trip, but okay. At least Elianna slept the whole way to New York - two flights holding her in our arms, though at least the first showed Evan Almighty which was somewhat funny.

There's definitely something nice about traveling through Cleveland to New York and seeing how everyone just seemed to calmly feel that there was no way the Indians were blowing the series. It's quite a change from what Clevelanders are used to. Sweet.

Indians vs. Red Sox

What a series this is going to be. Of course, the first two games will be on Shabbos, meaning we will miss what might be two of the best pitching duels in an LCS game in years. What's interesting is that the Indians are really given a boost by the 2-3-2 format due to the makeup of their team: The Indians, led by CC & Carmona in Games 1 & 2, have a legitimate shot in both games in Boston. They can come back to Cleveland 1-1... maybe even UP 2-0. Even 1-1 puts a ton of pressure on the Sox, who would need to win at least one in Cleveland, and even then could easily be in a 3-2 hole by the time they head home with Carmona pitching Game 6. I do think that the Sox are an amazing team - all-around, probably slightly better than the Indians - but the Indians' pitching may actually put them at an advantage in a series like this. Whatever happens, I think this will be an amazing series to remember. Indians in 6.

I don't know why people were pushing the D-backs to pitch Brandon Webb three times against the Rockies. He's given up 4+ runs to them four times this season, with his ONLY good start against them their only loss in the last 3 weeks. And, unsurprisingly, he got hit again today and gave up four runs. People would have been wiser to suggest Livan Hernandez, who had a number of really good starts against the Rockies this year. Rockies in 7.

Milk 'n Honey

I was eating at Milk 'n Honey in Manhattan today, and their pizza is actually very good. When I started working a little over a year ago, it cost $2.25/slice - expensive, but not crazy by NYC standards. A short time later it was at $2.50; soon after, it hit $2.95. Somewhat outrageous, but hey, what can ya do, right? Today I bought 2 slices and a can of soda ($1.25) and was surprised to see the bill was $8.94 including tax. I asked the cashier how much a slice was, and she responded immediately:

"Three-fifty"

WHAT!? $3.50 for a SLICE OF PIZZA!? Is that not insane?! I know the price of milk [and therefore cheese] is up, but has it gone up 56% in one year like the price of this pizza? I know that rent in Manhattan is high, but this is absolutely crazy. Am I wrong for thinking so? Please tell me if there's justification for price hikes like this - I just don't see how it's possible.

Google

Google scares me. I've said this for a while, but now it's starting to become a lot more obvious. People forget that Google is a for-profit corporation run by people who have their own beliefs and agendas; it's not some purely automated search engine with no human touch. Google's GoogleNews has often been accused of severe left-wing bias, taking information from far-left sources but ignoring mainstream right-wing ones. They allowed the Chinese government to censor all information coming through Google in China. They're not concerned with "truth", they're concerned with money and what they believe... and they have every right to do so. The problem is that people have become too reliant on Google: This blog, for example, is on Blogger, a service owned by Google, and they could theoretically delete it at any time. I use Picasa for my pictures... and that's owned by Google, too. I upload videos on YouTube, owned by... you got it. Google. Now, they're banning ads that attack MoveOn.org, the far-left group infamous recently for their "General Betray Us" ad scandal involving the New York Times.

The flow of information is likely the single most important factor that affects the future of this country. When one group that is not checked in any way, that has this much money and power, that has absolutely nothing that stops them from doing what they want, and can control that flow of information at will in very subtle ways [by simply not showing the information which they don't like, for example], it can be a very dangerous power. [Note: While Google leans strongly left, this would be true of ANY similar company or organization on either side of the spectrum.]

LeBron

I don't get the big deal over LeBron rooting for the Yankees, though flaunting it at the Jake may have been pushing it a bit. He's a Yankee fan - he should have to change as a player for Cleveland in a different sport? Give the guy a break - he was honest, not playing dumb games and making false claims. It's more troubling that he was a huge front-runner: I mean come on... Bulls, Cowboys, Yankees? I used to hate guys like that. Bill Simmons has a good piece on ESPN basically saying the same things.

PostScript

I think that the only thing this post is missing is a roundup. Chana tagged me with a meme that asks the writer to link to five posts that show the evolution of their blog. I'm not sure I can do that - this blog has definitely changed a lot in many ways since it began, but overall, it really has stuck to the About This Site blurb in the sidebar, which is that it's about just about everything. SerandEz is really centered around the 'community', so to speak, and not just me and my opinions; a lot of were or have become good friends of ours, both on the blog and off. I'll consider doing the meme for real later, but in all honesty, I think that this post symbolizes a lot of what this blog is all about and always has been.

Why the Yankees Lost

The most important and obvious reason: The Indians simply beat them.

In Moneyball, Billy Beane was quoted as saying that all a team can really do is get to the playoffs; everything after that is basically luck, with perhaps having a couple of great starting pitchers making a difference. I think that's basically true. (Nephtuli? NoyG? G?) Managing actually plays a small role in the playoffs - when to make moves, whom to start, etc. - and in that aspect, I think Wedge had a clear edge, helped a lot by Torre's terrible decisions, such as starting Wang.

The Indians hit about .500 with RISP in the series. That's astounding, and pretty lucky. The Yankees hit .100. That's unlucky. But the number of chances each team had to hit with RISP (27[!] to 10 with two outs) is a lot of the difference, and that comes back to simple things like walks and OBP. The Indians had a .417 OBP; the Yankees were at .300. The Indians walked 20 times, the Yankees 14. The Indians constantly had runners on base and IN scoring position, helped by 10 doubles; the Yankees didn't (just 3 doubles), and perhaps pitching out of the stretch affected things as well. Certainly the worry about wild pitches was justified after Chamberlin's.

While there's no real "clutch" in baseball, there is "choke". I don't think the Yankees really choked, though Joba might have when the bugs were flying around his head; Carmona had the same problem in the 9th yet never stepped off the mound.

Torre starting Wang was idiotic. "Let's throw out a guy who got shelled against the same team on short rest, even though guys on short rest are 12-30 since 1999 and Mussina is perfectly fine." If he were truly concerned about Mussina, he should have started him but had Wang available to come in as a reliever. I don't get why he wouldn't put (LH) Giambi up against Byrd. Wedge starting Nixon against Clemens was good. The only two players who really didn't play well in the series are two starters who are hard to replace at their positions - 3B Casey Blake and 2B Asdrubal Cabrera - and both play the field well. Wedge using his bullpen properly was great, though putting in Borowski was the only time I was nervous last night. As I discussed with the friends I was watching with last night, having Borowski as the closer who only really pitches in save situations is brilliant from a different standpoint: It means that the Indians' best relievers can be put in when you really need them, such as with runners on or to get past a rough part of the lineup, etc. Betancourt and Perez faced 70 inherited runners this year; just 9 scored. Using them and Jensen Lewis just to place more pressure on the Yankees by having them chew up those 6th-8th innings is great.

I have to admit to rooting against the Indians for one AB - hoping ARod would HR off Perez. It just stuck it more to Yankees fans who whine about ARod not being 'clutch'. I also couldn't help but enjoy the constant camera panning to ARod, as if he were at fault for Jeter grounding into double plays or Posada whiffing. Anyone else notice how ARod seems to be the only player on the Yankees (maybe Matsui, Giambi do it sometimes) who goes back to the dugout and advises his teammates what to look for, who listens to coaches telling him little things before the AB, etc.? Meanwhile, if you watch Indians' games, you see just about the whole team doing it (especially Casey Blake, Victor Martinez, and Hafner)?

There's plenty more, but that's good enough for the post. Whomever is interested is welcome to join in in the comments. :)

GO TRIBE!

Oh - Indians in 7, because I have to. Can CC/Carmona pitch 1-2, 4-5, and both be available in 7? Or at least CC in Game 7?

WAHOO!!!!

THE INDIANS WIN! THE INDIANS WIN!!!!!!

And it was by really beating the Yankees. I don't think anything but a World Series victory could be better at this point.

Ahhhhh....

Indians in Five

...in case you were wondering. I actually think they can do it in less [see below], but five is a safer bet.

I'm actually a bit surprised: I thought the Red Sox would choose the Thursday start to keep the Angels from starting Lackey and Escobar twice and to stick it to the Yankees; a Wednesday start would have been great for the Tribe. Even so, I don't think Yankees fans appreciate just how good CC and Sabathia are - I expect a dominating Game 1 from CC, and as long as Carmona stays calm, a very good Game 2 out of him. He'd also be available in

The Yankees haven't seen CC since 2004; he's a power lefty with amazing control. That's pretty much all the Yanks' biggest problems in one... and it's on the road. Then comes Carmona, who has improved drastically on his own control, and who throws that amazing power sinker. He shut them down in his first start until Borowski blew his 6-2 lead, and that was in Yankee stadium.

I don't see any Yankees pitcher having a great start. Okay, maybe even good - but not enough to win a game if the Yankees aren't hitting. People get caught up in the Yankees' lineup and their 6-0 record against the Tribe that they forget who they actually beat and that the Indians are one of the best hitting teams in baseball, too - and they've only gotten better with guys like Asdrubal Cabrera, Franklin Gutierrez, etc. The Indians also have the best and deepest bench in the playoffs.

Hafner is finally hitting, which will be huge - he was a real hole in the middle of the lineup until the past couple of weeks.

People think the Yankees are the hottest team in baseball... even though the Indians have been hotter. Since August 13th: 31-13 vs. 28-17.

I can't say I love Westbrook or Byrd in Games 3 & 4, though Westbrook always keeps the ball down and has been very good lately, while Byrd at least doesn't walk anybody. I still think the Indians should throw a wrench at the Yankees if they're up 2-0, start Aaron Laffey in Game 3, have him pitch 4-5 innings (once or twice through the order), get a small lead, then have Westbrook come in for 2 innings. It would completely throw off the Yankees, who - like the Indians - have trouble with pitchers they haven't seen before. Then they could finish them off with Perez, Betancourt... and maybe even Joe Borowski (gulp). But doing so could seriously cause clubhouse rifts, which does play a role in October baseball.

So... elsewhere: Rockies in four, unless Hamels can pitch every other day. Diamondbacks in four, with Micah Owings hitting a HR to win Game Two for himself. Red Sox-Angels will be fascinating - I wonder if the Angels can surprise everyone, beat Beckett in Game One, and take out the Sox in four or even in a sweep. But if it goes back to Boston for Game Five, you have to give it to Boston.

And of course, Indians in five. GO TRIBE!!

Chag Sameach to all!