"The phrase 'off with the crack of the bat', while romantic, is really meaningless, since the outfielder should be in motion long before he hears the sound of the ball meeting the bat." -Joe DiMaggio

"There are three things in my life which I really love:  God, my family, and baseball.  The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit."  ~Al Gallagher

"The fastball is the best pitch in baseball. It's like having five pitches, if you move it around." -Luis Tiant

by David J. Phillip - AP

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All the debating and arguing about whether Burnett should pitch on short rest will end if the Yanks win tonight.

On three days of rest, A.J. is 4-0 with a 2.33 ERA (in 27 innings) in his career. The last time he pitched on short rest was September of 2008 (6 ip, 0 er). Very good numbers, but beware of small sample sizes...

Lee hopefully comes back to Earth tonight. His postseason ERA is .54.

He's done incredibly well vs. the Yanks recently: 1.29 ERA in his last four starts, and hasn't allowed more than three runs since 2006.

Surprisingly, Jose Molina hits Lee better than Posada. Tex, Jeter and A-Rod have had a lot of success against Lee, but on the other end of the spectrum are Damon and Cano, who might as well try to bunt for hits.

Here is John Flaherty's take (and I fully agree with him):

On pitching alone, I'd give a slight edge to Lee but less than if you'd asked me at the start of the series. That's how much I think of what A.J. did in Game 2. I'd say this, too: I think the first three innings are huge tonight. If Lee stumbles at all, and gives up a few runs, I think the Phillies might say ‘we can't win three in a row against this team' and make life easier for A.J. In a game like this one, I see one inning - or even one hit - being the difference.

One more guys! Stay focused.

"The two most important things in life are good friends and a strong bullpen." -Bob Lemon

Bob Gibson struck out 35 Tigers in 27 innings in the 1968 World Series, the most ever for one Fall Classic.

Christy Mathewson threw 10 complete games in the World Series, the most all-time.

by Rob Carr - AP

Let's go Yankees!

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If there's anybody on the Yankees who is (as Teddy Roosevelt called himself) "strong as a bull moose," it's CC Sabathia.

He pitched brilliantly against the Angels on 3 days rest, and the Yankees turn to him again.  He has a chance to put the Yankees firmly in the driver's seat for the Series.

His opponent is former Oakland A Joe Blanton, who was sent to the Phils last season midseason in a classic salary dump to a big market team.

Jeter has hit him (.333/.385/.583- fearful symmetry), Tex has pounded him (.333/.357/.704), Jorge has crushed him (.400/.500/.600) and Arod has destroyed him (.571/.727/1.571).

With last night's offensive outburst, the Yankees finally started to look like the Yankees.  Here's to staying hot.

I feel like this is the most 'must win' game for the Yanks so far.  They're bringing back their ace against a guy no one is giving a chance.  But Joe Blanton is not a bad pitcher, and with a sure fight coming between Burnett and Lee, I don't want to let Philly back into the Series.  Step on their neck.

Let's go Yankees!