Plum Crazy

I don't think you can really blame Rivera. he did the best he could with what was handed to him. Both blown saves were nearly blown before he even took the mound. Had Gordon been even remotely competant things would not have been so bad. The picthing staff in generall collapsed tonight though. Not that the offense was doing a whole lot better.

ah well. There's always next year.

And you could have had Ortiz for a song.

I have to disagree with you, John. Closers are supposed to close not give up game tying hits. I've been saying for some time that Rivera is no longer the dominant closer that he was several years ago.

That being said, the real problem with the Yankees is that their starting pitching staff consists of one up and down ace; Mike Mussina. Lieber still needs to prove himself over a full season with a healthy arm. Hernandez' arm is a complete question mark. Brown, Vazquez, Loaiza, etc., aren't even worth discussing. Hitting carried this team for most of the season - the fact that it collapsed at the wrong time is frustrating but not unusual in a short series, where pitching normally wins the day.

As I've said before, the ultimate responsibility for this team belongs to Steinbrenner. He ignored getting pitching in favor of slugging. If he doesn't get a couple of legitimate starters in the off-season next year wont be any better than this one.

Don't be dissing my main man E-save-an Loaiza. He bailed the Yankees out in game four against the Twins, would have done the same in game five against the Sox if the Yankees could have scored one lousy run before the 14th, and was effective last night. What he did in the regular season is immaterial compared to what he did in the playoffs.

p.s. Yes, you can blame Rivera. Not for the blown save in game five. That's a near impossible situation to escape from, but in game four, he created the mess all by himself.