I have heard a lot of people saying things to the effect of "the O's are taking charge" recently.  Baltimore and Tampa Bay are playing the best baseball in the majors right now and a decent number of respected analysts are giving them props for it.

The reason for the double standard is that the reality is that right now Yankee money has bought the best team in the AL East.  If anyone else wins there will be some element of the Yankees blowing it because if they had played up to their talent level they would have won.  That team could easily have won 100 games based on talent.  Which is going to make it even more sweet if they lose.  God I hope they lose.  Even if it's to Tampa Bay.  Of course, the best case scenario is that both the O's and the Rays pass them and they bow out of the playoffs completely.  That would be so awesome...

I'm just making the point that Mike says the Os have gained ground because of the recent Yankee skid, which is true, but somehow the Os skid in June that helped the Yanks build that lead is irrelevant. It can't only go one way, regardless of how things look on paper.

And with their talent, the Yanks also bought age and injury potential. That's part of the package. Sure, if ARod played like he did at 32, the Yanks would be a lot better. But hes not 32 anymore. This is the current Yankee team, not the 2009 version.

First, the Yanks haven't given up more runs than they scored.   That DOES make a difference when evaluating how a team has played.  Like it or not.   Second, the forum has been dead all season.   The O's hit first and you start posting every hour about something other than umpires.  Poking at you is fun.  So I do.   Finally, the "starting point", so to speak, WAS the 10 game lead.  I suppose that's because it was expected.   The tie with Balt in Sept was not.   That's the difference between the Yanks swoon and the O's swoon.

I've been posting here all season - I know you can't read, but if you go back and look at all the posts with "Jtpsops" beside them, you'll see it.

And sorry boss, but if the O's (and Rays) don't swoon, the Yanks have no 10 game lead. I love the sense of entitlement though - gonna make it even sweeter listening to you Skankee fans ***** when they miss the playoffs.

As for tonight - great win. 6 bombs - Reynolds has turned into Babe Ruth lately. 8 HRs in the last week, including 3 multi-HR games (2 against the Yankees - I guess he got lucky). Hammel looked great in his return; he'll be a huge boost down the stretch.

If I have one complaint, it's that Showalter still shows too much faith in certain players in certain situations. Strop has been great, but every now and then he has an appearance where he has no control and nothing on his pitches - it's fairly obvious as soon as he gets in the game. He blew a 4-1 lead in Seattle earlier this year after loading the bases on a single and a couple walks. Buck left him in long enough to give up the game tying 3-run double. Tonight, after a single and two walks to bring in two runs, he should have been yanked, but was left in long enough to give up the 2-run single to Ichiro to tie it.

Anyway, I'm gonna sit back and enjoy this and wait for Mikey to tell us how the Orioles got lucky tonight.

Yankees got extremely lucky just to be in it late.

If you must know, I quit watching pretty early when it was 6-1.  Phelps had nothing and I didn't expect the middle relief to do much better.  And the Yanks couldn't hit.  I was surprised to see a final of 10-6.  O's must have choked it up late.   Enjoy your day in first.  I know you're unaccustomed to being there.   

There's nothing quite like the class(lessness) of a Yankee fan. So spoiled that they develop an overwhelming sense of entitlement and then get all bitter when another team actually performs better.

You're a moron. How many Yankee wins came from a pitcher not pitching well? We already know in your mind that the Yanks only win because they're totally awesome and they only lose when they underperform. The Yanks never get beat, they only beat themselves, blah, blah, blah.

The O's made Phelps their *****, that's why he didn't do well.

Answer the question.  Was Phelps pitching well?  Were the Yanks hitting?

Posted by MikeT23 on 9/7/2012 2:41:00 PM (view original):
Answer the question.  Was Phelps pitching well?  Were the Yanks hitting?

It's a chicken and egg argument. If a pitcher gets lit, was he bad or was the offense just good? Phelps pitched like crap last week when he walked six. Yesterday, the Os just got to him.

By your logic, when King Felix dominated the Yanks in that CG shutout, it's only because the Yanks weren't hitting. All your doing is fishing for every excuse in the book for your team. Bottom line is that the decline due to age and injury that had been predicted for the last couple years is finally coming to pass for the Yanks.

Where was that prediction 6 weeks ago?   

Phelps had no control of the strike zone.  The Orioles are professional ballplayers.   Even worse, Phelps got rattled.  If you watched the game, you'd have seen him TAKE A BALK rather than throw a pitch.    He melted in front of the only sellout the O's have had in years.