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.
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 each of the playoff teams from a scouting perspective.
There are a lot of reasons that the Angels lead baseball in team batting average. Beyond the general fact that they are just loaded with quality hitters, they are loaded with hitters that are as comfortable hitting off-speed pitchs as they are the fastball. To shut down these hitters, you need to attack with power stuff and aggression. They thrive on jumping on pitches early in the count and forcing pitchers to go to secondary offerings before they want to.
By not allowing the pitcher that first-pitch strike, the Angels are creating a great deal of discomfort and taking him out of his rhythm. If you run out a pitcher with merely average stuff, Los Angeles has the approach to handle changing speeds.
But besides his fine season -- 89 runs scored, 96 RBI, .823 OPS -- Abreu seems to have passed on his patience at the plate to the rest of his Angels teammates.
"He's got the younger players understanding patience isn't a bad thing," Chone Figgins told FanHouse. "It's not about not being aggressive, but being patient, getting a pitch to hit. There's nothing wrong with being 1-1 and hitting, or 1-2, or 2-2.
"It's not something simple to do, but I think we did a good job of it in spring training and have tried to bring it into the season and have so far done a good job."
MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Big ups to Prez for taking the PR reigns over while I was off last week. But we're back in the saddle, fresh out of the All-Star break and ready to incite you with our rankings. Also, I should point out that this is, relatively speaking, the "home stretch." Where even the most minuscule of mini-streaks can change a team's fate. Or something like that. Anyway, let's go to the list, where we'll find out if an attack on Jack Nicholson by the Phanatic and the addition of Petey was enough to vault the Phillies into the top spot of the Week 16 MLB Power Rankings. Cue drumroll.
ST. LOUIS -- Once he didn't win the online vote for the final AL roster spot in the All-Star Game, Chone Figgins figured he had three days off and decided not to answer his phone.
He had no idea that Evan Longoria had an infected finger and might not be able to play.
So when Longoria was scratched and Figgins was picked to replace him on the roster, it became a bit of an issue trying to track down the Angels third baseman.
ST. LOUIS -- Evan Longoria, scratched from the All-Star Game with an infected right ring finger, said he's "95 percent" certain to play Friday when the Rays resume the regular season.
"It would be a disservice to [the AL team] to go out and try to play and win a game when I'm not up to full health," Longoria said.
Longoria said his finger began feeling sore over the weekend, but he didn't speak up until Sunday. He was immediately put on antibiotics.
With the All-Star Game just hours away, there has been some shuffling on the American League squad. Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, who was elected the AL starter at third base, will be forced to miss the game with an infected right ring finger. The result is a downgrade in power but a gain in speed for the AL. The openings created also likely provide a thrill for two players.
Michael Young, who was already a reserve on the team, will slide into Longoria's starting spot and hit seventh for the AL. As for the hole on the roster, Chone Figgins of the Los Angeles Angels will fill the vacancy.
With the introduction of the 2009 All-Star teams, the next step for fans is to complain about their favorite players not making the squad. Thus, we'll get a head start and go through each position in the American League.
The rosters, which will be complete once the fan vote for the final player in each league concludes, were announced during a selection show on TBS Sunday. Remember, this season baseball added yet another pitcher to the roster, in hopes that the game doesn't end in a tie like the 2002 debacle. The concern once again came to the forefront last season as the game went deep into extra innings and the pitching depth began to run out.
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With the introduction of the 2009 All-Star teams, the next step for fans is to complain about their favorite players not making the squad. Thus, we'll get a head start and go through each position in the American League. 
