Last night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart and one of his correspondents absolutely destroyed the New York media for the way in which they cover, well, everything. For instance, the Paris Hilton DUI ridiculousness. Or, alternately, the fact that Alex Rodriguez has a painting of himself as a centaur on his wall in his bedroom.
Because someone thought that was important enough to ask A-Rod ladyfriend Kate Hudson about it recently. And lest you laugh (I mean, you should laugh at the whole idea of the painting), SERIOUS journalism outlet US Weekly got neither confirmation nor denial from Hudson on this very important matter.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday. It has returned from a playoffs-induced hiatus.
Though I'll admit I was rooting for the Yankees to win the World Series last week, a part of me was sad that Alex Rodriguez would get a World Series ring. No, I don't hate A-Rod, nor do I wish anything bad on him. I'm not one of those "haters."
This was selfish. My friends and I had now lost a main component of a storied -- and heated, at times -- bar debate. If you were starting a major league team and had the choice between the two, would you rather have A-Rod or Derek Jeter?
PHILADELPHIA -- If the Phillies were trying to get into Alex Rodriguez's head by hitting him with pitches, they're going to need to find another tactic, and fast. Something very strange has happened here in late 2009, and the inside of that particular head is no longer the mushy, insecure, vulnerable place it once was. Matter of fact, when Cole Hamels hit Rodriguez with a pitch in the second inning on Halloween night, the Yankees' All-Star third baseman and would-be centaur says, it had the opposite effect.
"Kind of woke me up a little bit," Rodriguez said early Monday morning, after his ninth-inning double had broken a Game 4 tie and moved the Yankees within one game of a championship. "Just reminded me, 'Hey, this is the World Series. Let's get it going a little bit.' "
A lot of stories are coming out of the American League Championship Series this year. Alex Rodriguez has shunned his one major downside -- an inability to deliver in the clutch -- to destroy everything in his path. Joba Chamberlain is pitching out of the bullpen for fear that his presence will summon a collection of animals that will be the Yankees' downfall. And, most importantly, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are turning into Mr. Bean every time the game is on the line.
Tonight we switch gears and spotlight the OTHER championship series going on between the Angels and Yankees. Tonight's Dugout is after the jump.
NEW YORK -- Of course it would end this way, in such classic, expected fashion. What, you didn't have Jerry Hairston Jr. scoring the winning run for the Yankees in the bottom of the 13th inning, after the Angel infield completely lost its heads? Join the club with millions of other baseball fans who watched Saturday's American League Championship Series melt into Sunday morning, and still aren't sure how and why this astonishing Game 2 concluded as it did.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
Was it the pitching or the offense's inability to produce? It's the question we always want the answer to when pitching shuts down a lineup over an extended period. In Game 2 of the ALCS, we watched two teams scratch and claw through extra innings to push runs across. Of course, there can never be a completely definitive answer, but Saturday night there were some instances where there were some answers.
In Joe Saunders, the Yankees faced a pitcher that generally thrives on throwing first-pitch strikes and changing speeds. And in A.J. Burnett, the Angels faced a pitcher that must be forced out of the strike zone to get him out of his groove. One could argue that both lineups could have done a better job with their approach against these pitchers.
NEW YORK -- They could have tossed aside their mittens and shunned their wool coats, that's how blistering hot the cozy confines of the new Yankee Stadium felt now that CC Sabathia had everything under control. It's been quite awhile since this corner of the Bronx has rocked with so much confidence and rolled with such delightful expectations, but that's what happens when the ace doesn't sweat.
Up on their feet, banging whatever or whoever stood near, tens of thousands of Yankee fans rose as one and emptied their lungs in rapturous unison: CC! CC! CC! It wasn't just that Sabathia was blowing through Angel hitters with shocking ease; no, it was so much more. It was the eighth inning and he was still throwing ridiculous heat, his fastball kissing the inside corner of the plate, his slider hypnotizing the batters from Southern California until it looked as if they were swinging at the big lefty's stuff with greased-up surfboards.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
Rest easy Yankee fans. It appears that you finally have the real Alex Rodriguez at just the right time. Sure, it's easy to say it's early, A-Rod still has much to prove and has many demons to overcome, but this is not just about results. Looking at him simply from a mechanical and approach standpoint, Rodriguez looks absolutely locked in.
Many sluggers like Rodriguez can overcome a poor approach at times and get by on pure ability, and to an extent the same goes for him. But, when you are looking for the super-human results that Yankee fans expect, look no further than his comfort level with his mechanics at the plate.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
Pitch selection, execution of those pitches, and the situation those pitches are thrown in is never more scrutinized than it is in the playoffs. Time and time again, one pitch in a given situation drastically swung the momentum of Game 2 between the Yankees and Twins Friday night in the Bronx. The game may have ended with home run heroics, but the tone was set by the pitchers throughout, whether it was in a positive or negative fashion.
First, there were the two starters who in their own ways came up big. Nick Blackburn took a strategy to the mound that has proved again and again to be the most successful against the New York lineup.
NEW YORK -- To truly become a star, Alex Rodriguez had to allow himself to be part of a constellation.
There used to be 8 million stories in the naked city, and now there is one. Everyone wants to know: How did A-Rod finally learn to come through in the postseason?
"He's not doing it for himself," Yankees hitting coach and A-Rod confidante Kevin Long told FanHouse on Friday after Rodriguez's two-run, game-tying homer in the ninth inning set up Mark Teixeira's walk-off homer in the 11th that beat the Twins 4-3.
"When you're up there doing it for yourself, you're going to have a lot more on your mind."
Last night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart and one of his correspondents absolutely destroyed the New York media for the way in which they cover, well, everything. For instance, the Paris Hilton DUI ridiculousness. Or, alternately, the fact that Alex Rodriguez has a painting of himself as a centaur on his wall in his bedroom.
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NEW YORK -- They could have tossed aside their mittens and shunned their wool coats, that's how blistering hot the cozy confines of the new Yankee Stadium felt now that 
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NEW YORK -- To truly become a star, 
