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No Yanks in the Playoffs

With the Yankees finished like a Thanksgiving turkey, the major networks have to be shaking in their boots. One can’t imagine that a series that pits the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim against the Tampa Bay Rays is going to draw great ratings (even if it is great baseball).The problem with the Yankees is that they only really have one player among all of their current or former All Stars who is in his prime right now and that’s Alex Rodriguez. After that, their entire team is aging and it doesn’t seem that they are going to be able to do anything about it any time soon. A couple of years ago, the thinking that a team with a $220 million payroll could miss the playoffs was crazy, but watching the progression of the Yanks over the past couple of seasons, shows why spending lots on aged talent will eventually come back to hurt you in the end.

Replay Instated

If Alex Rodriguez comes one home run shy of breaking the all time record, he will have to blame the fact that replay came two months too late.With the infamous decision now in place, people are claiming the games are going to take too long. With the proposed replay setup, it would look that way.As it is currently set up, the play would happen, then the umpires would get together and decide if it was a play that should be reviewed. The crew chief would then go inside to a television where he would view the play until he feels the right call can be made.He shall then come out and make his call with none of the other umpires having a say in the play (Managers will have no say in what plays are to be reviewed, but if the league is looking for more entertainment value they could hand the managers a red hanky to throw).All in all, this is a good thing for the league. If they keep it to just reviewing home runs and fair or foul balls, it will not make games too much longer. It will not solve unhappy faces though, because one team still comes out on the losing end.

Cliff Lee on a Tear

With the Indians no where close to the playoffs, Cliff Lee’s dominating performance this season has been pushed to the back pages of the sports section.Lee has quietly started the season 19-1 and even though he was chosen to start the All Star Game, he really hasn’t been given the press he deserves.

Last year, Lee wasn’t even chosen for the playoff roster when the Tribe made it to the ALCS and he had to fight throughout Spring Training just to make the team. Some would point to the fact that his team is not in contention as a reason that Lee shouldn’t win the Cy Young Award, but that fact just makes his accomplishments even more impressive.Even though the Indians have turned it on of late, perhaps due to the fact that the games no longer really count, Lee was pitching for a team that had trouble scoring runs all year long, meaning he had to allow fewer runs to cross the plate in order to earn the win.If Lee earns the Cy Young Award, as he should, he would become the second Indian in two years, with the now period-less CC Sabathia winning it last season.Tribe fans just hope that they see Lee at the Prog in their uniform a lot longer than they were able to witness Sabathia.