Preview/Prediction

Among the 134 pitchers Derek Jeter has faced at least 20 times in his Hall of Fame career, he has the lowest batting average against Scott Kazmir (.111) and Jered Weaver (.118).

That's not a good sign.

What is a good sign is the way the Yankees beat the Angels the last two times they played them on Sept. 22 and 23 in Anaheim—previously a graveyard for New York victories.

The Halos ousted the Bombers from the playoffs in 2002 and 2005, but this year, the two teams split the 10 games they played and were first and second in the Majors in runs scored.

The New York Mets have had plenty of great catchers in their short history.  Jerry Grote, Gary Carter, and Mike Piazza have all crouched behind the plate for the New York Mets.

All of them were very good players, and the Mets were more than glad to have them.  Since Mike Piazza left, the Mets, well, they haven't really had a great catcher.  Some solid guys, but nothing special.

The Arizona Fall League began today, with the first pitch at 12:35 in a matchup between the Surprise Rafters and Peoria Javelinas. The Yankees have seven players on the Rafters, most of whom are worth keeping an eye on. Here's a very quick rundown on which Yankee prospects to watch for in the AzFL:

The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers have a lot in common.

Each has a fan base of little or no merit: witness LA's failure to sell out its Game Two NLDS win over St. Louis, even though the Redbirds' fan base travels exceptionally well. Nor are Yankees fans, who have come out in numbers 12.7 percent smaller than last year despite the Yanks' 103 wins, especially worthy of the fruits they now enjoy.

Previewing the Yankees-Angels series position by position

Catcher

Jorge Posada and Jose Molina vs. Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis

Jorge Posada and Jose Molina make a more formidable tandem. Jorge has great offense, and Molina has a great rapport with A.J. Burnett. Jorge, mostly known for his offense, has hit .308 against the Angels, but Jose Molina has hit only .038 against the Angels. The Yankees will only need Molina to catch Burnett.

So, at the beginning of this season I wrote that the Yanks had a shot. All the Bawston guys were yelling through their keyboards at me. Hmmm.

Turns out I was right. Turns out that having Texieria, Posada, Swisher, and Cabrera—all switch hitters—in one lineup is pretty annoying for opposing teams. The main hitters in this fall roundup are:

A-Rod: .455

Jeter: .400

Posada: .364

I was reminded during last nights game that when the temperature dropped into the 20’s why I left South Jersey 15 years ago to come and live in Las Vegas. That’s just too darn cold for my blood.

Of course that didn’t stop the Phillies bats as they won a thrilling game four 6-5 to take a 2-1 lead in this years NLDS.

After the Yankees and Angels both completed their respective sweeps of the Twins and Red Sox yesterday, it was time to start looking forward to the American League Championship Series.  The series will start Friday night at approximately 8 p.m. EDT, and two of the American League's top teams will be pitted against each other.

During the 2009 regular season, Alex Rodriguez posted up good numbers overall. Unlike previous seasons, he did not head the team in home-runs and runs batted in. The 2009 campaign was Alex Rodriguez's way to say that he was now a team player.

After admitting to using steroids in the past, while with the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez began to preach the fact that he was now focused on winning more as a team than just for himself.

Carl Pavano robbed the Yankees of $38 million from 2005-2008 and on Sunday night, New York will look to make him pay for it.

The 33-year-old right-hander is the only thing standing between the Bombers and their first trip to the American League Championship Series since 2004, and there's more on the line in Game 3 than just the satisfaction of sweeping the Twins and exacting revenge on Pavano.