alds games 1 and 2

was working at springsteen shows. game 1, didn't have many chances to check the score and was feeling good w lester going. not shocked that they lost it and figured we could get out of anaheim at 1-1.

game 2, i did frequently check the score. this was a double heartbreaker since the twins were up 3-1, then the yankees came back to tie. then, they had runners in scoring position twice and were unable to capitalize when a-rod won the game. the twins are officially cooked.

sox were up 1-0 but then beckett unraveled and sox couldn't score again. by the time i was waiting in the car, i was watching 2 runners on base in the bottom of the 9th but the sox still couldn't tie it.

we play much better at home, but kazmir's a sox killer. at this point, i think they keep it alive but these are not your 2007 or 2008 angels, by any means. they are much tougher. i mean, kazmir is your #3? abreu/hunter/vlad? yikes.

ESPN Sim Gives Sox 60% Chance of Beating Angels

Rob Neyer blogs that Vegas oddsmakers pick the Yankees to go all the way, but at least ESPN's simulator gives the Sox a 58% chance of beating the Angels:

And what of the last Division Series? It's not nearly as close as I would have guessed, with the Red Sox winning 583 of 1,000 series. Of course, it's tempting to pick the Angels because surely we'll have one upset, right? Except of course that's not the way the world works. What happens between the Red Sox and the Angels is completely independent of what happens between the Phillies and the Rockies. The Red Sox played better than the Angels this season, and they played better than the Angels last season.

The simulation doesn't know (or doesn't care) that the Red Sox are 9-1 against the Angels in their three Division Series matchups. The sim just knows that the Red Sox are the better, more talented team.

Cardinals Brendan Ryan rocks the stache

Cardinals 3B Brendan Ryan may have to be my new favorite NL player for his '20s/'80s throwback mustache and sox pulled up. in fact, he's in the running for the American Mustache Institute's Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year, according to AP

he could be mistaken for a hipster w/ that stache!:

wait, didn't i see that guy serving a sidecar at bar tano or an old fashioned at hotel delmano? was he at the governor's island jazz age picnic? no?!

the cardinals blog rick ankiel's mustache says, in the wake of last night's loss to the dodgers, "If only Brendan Ryan’s ‘stache could bring in some damn runs."

my predictions

sox over angels in 5
yankees over sox in 6
yankees over phils in 6

espn.com mostly picks the yankees but the cardinals and sox are the next tier.

Youk is too intense?

So say some of his teammates in this article.

Also, this gem is on page 2:

"Look, he hit me with a helmet once. I don’t want to get hit with a helmet." –Tito, re: Youk's intensity