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An unexpected Final Four
We have a final foursome now that the Indians have dispatched of the Yankees, and it's fair to say that few expected three of these four teams to reach this point in the season.
You would have gotten pretty long odds that the Rockies and Diamondbacks would be the last two teams standing, and for good reason. Both were sub-.500 clubs in 2006 and were heavily reliant on young talent for key stretches in 2007. Those are two factors that don't lend themselves to strong postseason showings, but both managed to defy conventional wisdom and do what must be done at this point: survive and advance.
The Red Sox were expected to reach this point, but they were supposed to be facing the Yankees, not the Indians. Those Yankees fans hoping to face the Indians instead of the Angels realize now that they should have been more careful what they wished for. The Indians showed they belonged with their Division Series performance, and armed with two of the best pitchers in baseball, they will loom as a very formidable foe for Boston when the ALCS commences on Friday.
You can stop at the Grand Canyon, or maybe Zion on the off-day drive. And while you're out there on the run from Phoenix to Denver, you can think about where the Texas Rangers might be today had Tom Hicks listened to former Rangers GM Doug Melvin instead of talking heads. Or how the Orioles might actually be relevant if Peter Angelos listened to anyone. Or what the Houston Astros might be with rational ownership.
It was Melvin, now the Brewers' GM, who made the point last month that when the Yankees and Red Sox decided to go with young players in the heat of the pennant race that the free agent market might be devalued, and that Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein had built organizations with vast wingspans. But this offseason is about far more than Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. It is about watching the Indians' organization, for instance, rise like the Trump Towers.
And now, it's about watching the Diamondbacks and the Rockies and some of the best young players in the game in this, the Josh Byrnes October, since the current Arizona GM has had a prominent hand in the building of the Indians, Rockies and Red Sox as well as his own team. ...
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"This has been a great 12 years. Whatever the hell happens from here on out, I'll look back on these 12 years with great, great pleasure. The 12 years just felt like they were 10 minutes long, to be honest with you." -- Yankees manager Joe Torre, after his team was eliminated in the AL Division Series, likely spelling the end of his managerial reign in New York.
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Alex Rodriguez had a solo home run and a single in Game 4 of the AL Division Series as the Yankees were eliminated from the postseason. The home run was A-Rod's first in the playoffs since the 2004 ALCS.
Here are his updated postseason numbers:
2005: Burke ends marathon
1999: Pratt the bat
1996: Bern, baby, Bern