FanHouse Jorge Posada

The Boss, the one who rules Major League Baseball, wasn't in New York Wednesday night as the Yankees celebrated their 27th World Series title with a 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. But George Steinbrenner, 79 -- still the architect of champions and the titan of New York sports -- was watching from his home in Tampa.

Every out. Every pitch. Every player celebration. Steinbrenner could see and hear his players express their gratitude, and his family said he was overcome with joy.

"Thank you. Thank you for everything," Yankees catcher Jorge Posada told the owner through a camera lens. "Thank you for this. Thank you for having the team every year, to try to have a team to be here [the World Series]."

The Boss is not in robust health these days. He wasn't in the clubhouse to feel the champagne shower. But he was "teary eyed" said his son, Hank. "It meant everything."

NEW YORK -- Their backs are up against the wall.

They have to win Sunday.

This is it. Must-win. Do or die.

Not just the Angels. But the Yankees, too.

Asked Friday before the Yankees worked out which team faces the most pressure in Game 6, catcher Jorge Posada said, "Both teams."

He's right.

NEW YORK -- Huge breaking news from Yankee camp: Jorge Posada is furious he won't be catching A.J. Burnett in Game 2 of the playoffs. No, wait, scratch that, now Posada is acting like an unruffled veteran, calmly saying "it's all about the team," and so it's over to Joe Girardi, to ascertain why the manager picked such a fine time to cause so much hyperventilating around what had been the most stable team in baseball.

By choosing to start Jose Molina and not Posada behind the plate Friday when Burnett makes his first ALDS start for the Yankees against the remarkable Minnesota Twins, Girardi proved he's neither sentimental nor averse to taking an unpopular risk. Of course, the Posada-Burnett battery has sometimes looked as uncomfortable as Jon and Kate sitting on the couch together, and to pair the fiery catcher again with the streaky pitcher at this juncture would be a mighty large gamble. Still, no matter how sensible, stat-driven Girardi's decision might be, it landed with a considerable thump.

When September opened, one of the biggest question marks surrounding the Yankees was how much they could trust A.J. Burnett in a big playoff start. He'd just flopped at Fenway Park for the second time, calling into question his fitness under the spotlight and making some Yankee fans worry about their investment in the right-hander.

Those fears subsided thanks to Burnett's strong final month, however. He went 3-1 with a 3.83 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings pitched. What was the difference? Jose Molina was wearing the tools of ignorance for all but one of the seven September outings while Jorge Posada sat on the bench, which is why he'll get the start with Burnett on the mound in Game 2 of the ALDS.

NEW YORK -- Can a team win the World Series with an ace sporting a 7.92 ERA and a cleanup hitter with one RBI in his past 59 at-bats in the playoffs?

The Yankees hope so.

For every Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte with a history of success in the October, the Yankees seem to have a player who has to prove himself in this coming one.

You'll hear all about from now until those players redeem themselves -- or the Yankees are eliminated.

"It's going to be a huge deal," said CC Sabathia, who will take a 7.92 ERA from his five playoff starts into Game 1 of this year's Division Series.

Jorge Posada will pay the price for his role in the brawl between the Yankees and Blue Jays Tuesday night. The New York catcher has been suspended for three games and fined for his actions by Major League Baseball.

Posada elected to begin serving his suspension immediately.

Jesse Carlson, the Toronto reliever who was the other party at the center of the bench-clearing scuffle, will begin serving a three-game suspension for his role in the incident Wednesday night.

Carlson's suspension was first reported by MLB.com.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Yankees are still fired up despite their large lead in the AL East.

After two Yankees pitchers hit Blue Jays batters in Tuesday's game, Toronto's Jesse Carlson threw behind Jorge Posada in the bottom of the eighth.

Posada glared, benches briefly emptied, but there were no punches. Yet.

Instead of letting it end there, or charging the mound, Posada waited until he walked and then scored a run to give Carlson a shove after he crossed home plate.

And then it was on.

---

---

NEW YORK (AP) -- As soon as Jorge Posada bumped Toronto reliever Jesse Carlson after crossing home plate, almost everyone at Yankee Stadium knew a fight was coming.

Posada and Carlson got into a scrap near the New York dugout, leading to a frenzied, bench-clearing brawl during the Blue Jays' 10-4 victory over the Yankees on Tuesday night.

"It got pretty heavy and pretty thick pretty quickly," New York slugger Alex Rodriguez said. "I think we're all fortunate and glad no one got hurt."

Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

On Thursday in Philadelphia, one of the game's best pitchers from years past squared off against arguably the game's best pitcher of today. Who would win the battle of old versus new? It turns out fantasy owners were the big winners.

Tim Lincecum struck out 11 batters, which isn't even close to a season high for the kid, and walked one over seven innings while allowing two runs, but all that got him was a loss.

Pedro Martinez, making his fifth start with the Phillies, moved to 3-0 on the strength of a nine-strikeout, no-walk performance. He threw 62 of his 87 pitches for strikes and looked completely dominant after a first-inning homer by Eugenio Velez.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

While it was just one game, Cole Hamels sure looked like he was back in vintage form.

The Phillies ace, who is rocking a 4.52 ERA and 1.34 WHIP this season, threw eight shutout innings in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, striking out seven batters in all. Hamels actually has been better than his ERA and WHIP indicate, as he now has 126 Ks versus just 33 BBs this season. I'll take that K/BB ratio from my pitcher any day, as nine times out of ten, the ERA and WHIP will be sparkling.

Unfortunately for Hamels, the ninth inning ended up being the most dramatic frame of the game.