World Series Game 5 Thoughts

Random thoughts from my Kitchen Command Center while Chase Utley gives me the Fear:

◊  Not exactly a great start for Cliff Lee, but an even worse start for AJ Burnett. Of course, Burnett gave up four runs to start game five of the ALCS and settled down before the Yankees stormed back, only to lose the game.

Not this game.  Burnett never got it together, eventually getting bumped in the third and absorbing all six runs.

This game is ripe for second guessing.  Did AJ stink up the first because of the short rest?  Should Gaudin have pitched so AJ could pitch at Yankee Stadium where he has fared better this season?  Should Old Andy Pettitte even be throwing on short rest?  Should Chase Utley EVER get a pitch to hit for the rest of his life?

◊  Cliff Lee was good but certainly not his dominating self from game one. Three walks, three strike outs and seven hits are not the signs of complete control, but it was enough to win.  Watching the Yankee hitters constantly popping up made it feel as if the Yankees weren't going to hit Lee even if he was bad.

◊  Chase Utley continues to mash Yankees pitching, hitting a three run home run in the first inning and a solo shot off Phil Coke in the seventh.  If the Yankees win this series, I probably wouldn't argue much if Utley won the MVP award.  He's been that good.

Hey, if Andre Dawson could win the seasonal MVP award...

◊  Girardi elected to go with Phil Coke over Damaso Marte, who pitched an inning in game four.  Coke gave up two home runs that eventually made the difference in the ballgame.  Marte probably wasn't available so there were few options for Girardi.  Coke also hadn't pitched since game one of the World Series, which was five days ago.  Coke went that long between appearances only four times during the season.

◊  Jeter has been good during the World Series but his double play with runners on first and third in the top of the ninth was a rally killer.  Madson was struggling with his command and looked like he could be had, but Jeter topped a 2-1 pitch and effectively ended the Yankees hopes of mounting an improbable comeback.

◊  Ramiro Pena took Melky Cabrera's spot on the World Series roster after Cabrera strained his hamstring in game four.  It's a surprising choice as Pena doesn't serve much purpose other than as a defensive replacement in the infield.  What it probably signals is that Jerry Hairston, Jr. will be the other outfielder rather than the backup infielder.

◊  FOX is terrible. McCarver and Buck are hard enough to watch, but the favoritism is really aggravating.  Buck has hated the Yankees for awhile and is getting worse and worse at hiding it.  McCarver will never admit when he's wrong and is the King of spouting the incorrect strategy.

But the FOX Trax gimmick is probably the worst because of FOX's selective usage of it.  It has made plenty of appearances, charting the Phillie's pitchers that are getting squeezed by the home plate umpire.

But when AJ Burnett was getting squeezed in the second inning, FOX Trax was nowhere to be found.  Good old FOX.  Fair and balanced, indeed.

◊  As much talk as there has been about umpires making bad calls, the strike zone has been dreadful. Just about every game, the home plate umpire has varied the strike zone from pitch to pitch, sometimes calling a wide strike zone, sometimes calling high strikes.  More frustrating has been seeing Phillies pitchers get some pretty nice calls while the Yankees pitchers get squeezed.

I hate to keep harping on the "umpires stink" argument because it really does get tiring after awhile.  At some point, though, something has to be done.  Instant replay isn't the answer for balls and strikes and, apparently, merging the old National League and American League umpire associations didn't solve the problem, either.  Ditto QuesTec.

There simply needs to be accountability and maybe a little better training.  Balls and strikes can have their guidelines but the judgement of them is always going to be subjective.  Why, then, do some umps always stand behind home plate while others stay behind the catcher?  Shouldn't things like positioning be uniform?

◊  Apparently, the Yankees visitied the mound too much in game four:

All those meetings on the mound called by catcher Jorge Posada and the New York Yankees are giving Major League Baseball pause, too.Posada and pals visited pitcher CC Sabathia eight times -- in a single inning -- on Sunday night, grinding Game 4 of the World Series to a standstill. Agitated Phillies fans booed each trip. MLB vice president of umpiring Mike Port said frequent mound meetings by all teams likely would be discussed by baseball officials this offseason.

A Philly fan would boo his own mother.  That's an indication of nothing.

If MLB really wants to take a long, hard look at why these games are taking so long, they can start with the extra 30 seconds of ad time FOX gets between innings.

Oh, wait.  I'm sorry.  There's money involved.  Nevermind.

◊  Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens is back in the majors... as a hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants.  Good for him.

It's funny.  The guys that wind up becoming coaches aren't always the most successful practitioners of their crafts.  Dave Eiland also comes to mind.

◊  Phil Hughes pitched well for the first time in awhile, alowing 1 hit over 1.1 innings.

◊  Insert daily chat plug here.