Game Recap

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were cold.

No, it's not a cheesy weather pun (see: headline). The Angels have simply been sidelined for too long, slogging through a five-day break between the first and second rounds of the playoffs.

They were just a little sluggish, that's all. Or at least, that's all I'd like to believe.

Because the only other alternative is that their in-game shivers had some deeper and more sinister origin than just the frigid New York temperatures.

It was a cold and damp Friday night.

There was rain in the forecast and it felt like a December football game in the winter rather than an October baseball game in the fall.

But that wasn't going to stop the Yankees and the Angels from playing in front of almost 50,000 fans at Yankee Stadium for Game One of the American League Championship Series.

The Yankees were sending up their ace in CC Sabathia, who was 0-2 in the regular season against Los Angeles while the Angels were sending up their ace in John Lackey, who has had past success against the Yankees.

That's right, I said it. The Los Angeles Dodgers saved their 2009 season by beating the Philadelphia Phillies today 2-1. No, it's not hyperbole. It's reality.

If the Dodgers had dropped game two today, they would have headed into Philadelphia down two games and facing Cliff Lee, who has looked spectacular this postseason, looking very much like the Cy Young winner that he was last season. Dodgers have not done well against left-handed starters on the road this season, so today was a must win.

If Jimmy Rollins doesn’t beat you, then Shane Victorino will beat you. If Victorino doesn’t beat you, then Jayson Werth will beat you. If Werth doesn’t beat you, then Chase Utley will beat you.

And if none of those guys beat you, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, and Carlos Ruiz will beat you.

That is how deep and powerful the Philadelphia Phillies lineup is. The Los Angeles Dodgers found out firsthand how deep the Phillies lineup is in their 8-6 loss in Game One of the NLCS last night.

A little girl's unconditional love for her father is a heartwarming story that I can hear over and over again without tiring of it. More so, I feel absolutely within the boundaries of creative license to share the story on more than one occasion.

If you are a New York Yankees fan, you have to start feeling like there is a lot of late '90s magic going on with this team.

When I say magic, I am not talking the clutch hitting from Alex Rodriguez or the brilliant pitching by Andy Pettitte.

I am talking the egregious umpiring that always benefits the Yankees (Joe Mauer call in Game Two), teams and players making bonehead plays they would normally not make (Nick Punto last night), and even when the Yankees make a bad play, it somehow working out in their favor (Robinson Cano misplay leads to an out last night).

As a Mets fan, this has been a long, terrible season, and yet, for me personally, it all came together with one blast off the bat of Alex Rodriguez.

I went to see the Mets on opening day, the first time all of the rivals came to Citi Field, and I was fortunate enough to see the team finish the season with a 10-7 record at my games.