If you ever saw Zoolander (Will Ferrel’s 3rd greatest movie), you know how important a walk-off can be. The Yanks can walk the walk, doing time and time and (13 more times again).  15 walkoffs? You can only walk-off at home (duh), and the Yanks play their 81st (and final) home game of the regular season today. So, assuming we don’t have a walk-off win tonight (which is probably a wrong assumption), that’s a walk-off every 5.4 home games. In case you can’t figure, that’s a lot. I’m not quite sure what’s led to this walk-off phenomenon, but it sure has made the season exciting. Here’s a couple of stabs I took at the cause:

1. Whip-Cream Addiction. Every Yankee knows that if you get the game winning walk-off hit, you get a whipped cream pie in your face, courtesy of AJ Burnett (anyone see the irony between BURN-ett, and COOL whip?). When you’re a professional athlete, you have to keep your diet in check (unless you’re Babe Ruth), so most ballplayers don’t get to eat a whole lot of Cool Whip as the season goes on. Could it be there’s a little extra incentive to get that walk-off hit since it means dessert after the game?

2. Dramatic Effect. Back in April, all that anyone wanted to write about was how empty New Yankee Stadium was. Perhaps, in an effort to bring in more fans, management told the players that they had to walk-off with a win at least once every 6 home games? A ballgame’s all the more fun if the game is close, and if your team wins, especially on the last at-bat, you just want to keep heading back to the stadium.

3. Personality. This team is the most fun to watch of any Yankee team since ’01. Name one person (not named Ozzie Guillen) that doesn’t love Nick Swisher. He’s classy as can be, rocks out to crazy tunes, always has a smile, trademarked the Swisher Salute, brings a little life to the team, is goofy, but talented, slugs, takes pitches, and when he came in we got rid of Wilson Betemit. Our Lord the Savior Joba Chamberlain is on this team, and all revere his glory and glorified talent as he enters game in the first inning and no later (See Commandment of Joba). Mark Teixeira is like Don Mattingly, but richer and ‘stache-less. Tex is about as “pro” as it gets. He’s smart, well behaved, uncontroversial, intelligent, turned down the Red Sox, and he’s pretty good at hitting and fielding and hustling out pop-ups (yeah K-Rod, that won hurt didn’t it!). Robby Cano and Melky “Leche” Cabrera…uh como se dice Shake and Bake? Sure, Robby can’t hit with runners in scoring position, but he’s still a pretty damn good ballplayer. This was his best year defensively in a while, and a .322/.352/.525 line is, well, stellar. Derek Jeter: ’nuff said. Even A-Rod’s been uncontroversial this year (well, you know, since the steroids stuff). I could go on and on about the charitable AJ and CC, how they lead the team, and how Andy Pettitte is a classy veteran, and how Mo is just a stud, and how Jorge Posada runs a charity organization, etc, but I wanted to touch on a few of the lil’ guys. Frankie Cervelli? Talk about a surprise. Pitchers love him, fans love him, and he had a walk-off. Juan Miranda, walked off in what…his 16th big league at bat? A-Rod, can you say clutch pop-up to Luis Castillo? Oh, he had that walk-off homer during that weekend with the Twinkies back in May. Damon homered on Conor’s birthday in that series (May 17th) to walk-off, and my boy Leche had that huge walk-off single then too. Morale of the story: Bunch of great guys, the team felt compelled to win late because they felt like they owed it to their teammates.

I’ve got one question though. How is it that Alex Rodriguez (3), Melky Cabrera (3), Jorge Posada (2), Robinson Cano (2), Nick Swisher, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Frankie Cervelli, and Juan Miranda have all had walk-off at bats, yet Mr. Clutch, the new Mr. October, The Captain, MVP Candidate, Superman’s alter ego, the guy who dated Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, and now Minka Kelly (fiance? Anyone know if that’s for real?), America’s hero, the Yankees all-time hits leader, Derek Sanderson Jeter didn’t have a game ending knock yet.

Sure, a lot of it is luck of the draw, but here’s my prediction: Jeter’s going to have his first Yankee Stadium walk-off sometime in the postseason. John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman love saying that Jeet is the one guy that the Yanks would never give a whipped cream facial to. That’s bologna. Jeet’s a Yank, just like all the others. I think he’s just waiting for something a little more special. I’m telling you. Postseason: Jeter’s time of year. Just wait, he’ll be standing in the dugout, about to go to the plate in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, and the camera will catch him talking to AJ Burnett. You’ll be able to read his lips “Get the Cool Whip ready. ” And he’ll walk to the on-deck circle. Camera: Zoom in on empty dugout. As Jeet steps to the plate every coach and player will have a whipped cream pie in hand. The Cap’n will get his hit, and then get mauled by the entire team with whipped cream. Alright I know, that’s real cliche Kevin. Sorry, I love cliche (Anyone writing a sports movie script, hit me up! I’ve got loads of good ending ideas). But I am serious about Jeet getting a walk-off hit in the postseason. I don’t know if it’ll be like Joe Carter’s for the Jays, or like Aaron Boone’s back in ’03. Maybe it’ll just be in an indecisive ALDS game. I do know that Jeter will have a walk-off hit in October. You can’t have cereal without Captain Crunch, and you can’t have October without Captain Clutch.

Congrats to the Yankees, who locked up the AL East today against the Red Sox. The Yankees won in come from behind fashion, beating the Red Sox 4-2 and completing the sweep. Andy Pettitte went 6 innings while giving up 2 ER, 7 hits, and 3 walks. Matsui’s 2 RBI single in the sixth gave the Yankees the lead, and they never let it go. After Matsui’s single, the game was basically left up to the bullpen, and they really pitched well. Brian Bruney went 1.2 innings without any hits or walks. Coke came in to face Ortiz in the 8th and promptly struck him out. Mo shut the Sox down in the ninth to secure the win.

After being down 0-8 in the season series against the Sox, the Yankees won 9 of the last 10 games to tie the series for the year. Isn’t that amazing?

It’s been a great season so far for the Yankees. Let’s hope the success translates in the post season!

Joba needed to come out throwing aspirins, fooling hitters, pumping his fists, and overall being fly.  He wasn’t exactly Cy Young, but he was a helluva lot better than in his recent starts.  His perfect first three innings were huge, a good indicator of how dominant our Lord the Savior Joba Chamberlain can be.  The V-Mart homer sucked, but Martinez has been hotter than Hansel (Zoolander reference) recently, and it was totally acceptable. Youk single, no big deal. He got out of it. He did a good job getting out of a jam in the 5th, but the 6th wasn’t as great. David Ortiz two run homer. I know he’s Mr. Clutch and a great home run hitter, but this is the ghost of David Ortiz, so seeing him homer was no fun. But hey, 6 innings, 3 earned runs, and 5 K’s with only 1 walk: that was great. Joba calmed some doubts that even his most loyal followers had, and hopefully we’ll see him like that in October. Joba runs on emotion, that is the whole reason why people want him in the bullpen. In the playoffs, emotion is at its peak, so hopefully Joba can channel some to help the Yanks reach that elusive 27th ring.

Clutch-Rod, Alexander the Great, Speedy Rodriguez, call him what you will, Alex, as of late, has been the man. 3 steals, a homer, a double, a single, 4 RBI’s, 4 runs scored, and two walks constitutes a wicked game, as they’d say in Boston. Alex hasn’t been about headline news this year, he’s been about winning. I love it. .288/.407/.532 with 28 homers and 14 steals while playing on a surgically repaired hip that isn’t even all the way repaired? That’s dirty. (And he’s dating Kate Hudson…that lucky son of a ….). I honestly, 110%, completely and entirely think Alex is going to be great in the playoffs. He’ll have big hits and play good defense. He seems like a new guy, and the pressure isn’t all on him. I’m finally on the Alex bandwagon, and hopefully I can stay on it. (That’s up to you Alex).

I love small ball, hence why I think Mike Scioscia is a baseball genius and the best manager in baseball. Seeing the Yanks steal 7 bases today was great. If we meet up with the Angels in the playoffs we need to beat them at their own game, which means running wildly on the bases. If we meet Boston, well running on Varitek is about as easy as it gets.

Speaking of Varitek, how is this guy on the team for his defense? Sorry, but a catcher needs to be able to throw a runner out every once in a while. I’ve heard the “Oh, but he handles the staff just oh so well!” remarks, but really? John Smoltz, Dice-K, Brad Penny and others didn’t exactly see “success” with Varitek this year. I’d rather have Jorge, or Jose Molina, or Franky Cervelli, or Austin Romine. Overrated should be Varitek’s middle name (right now its Andrew, but he could definitely change it in a court of law [just ask Chad Ochocinco]).

Best wishes to Jon Lester. As much as you want to hate the Red Sox, Lester is a classy non-controversial guy who is A. a phenomenal pitcher B. A class act C. A cancer survivor and D. The reason the Red Sox are anywhere close to the playoffs. You can’t ever be excited about someone getting hurt (unless its John Rocker or Manny Ramirez), and you definitely can’t be glad about a guy like Lester getting hurt. Sure, it weakens the Red Sox, but Lester is about as impressive a guy as you can get. I hope his leg heals and he can play in the playoffs again.

My feet are twisted around the legs; my fingers clutch the the arms with stress. On a Coloradan October night, I’m surrounded by bleacher creatures, scalpers, shouts of “get your beer here” (which inspired my 4th grade Halloween costume…), hot dogs dripping mustard on raggedy Williams and Jeter jerseys, and the all enrapturing feeling of suspense. To be quite honest, I can barely remember how the Subway Series went back in 2000. I remember winning, hatin’ on Mike Piazza, cheering for Rocket, Bernabe, and Mo, getting a bunch of plaques that are still in my room with Topps 2000 baseball cards and a team picture titled “2000 World Series Champions.” Oh, and I’m sure Jeter did something heroic. Also, El duque, so much fun to watch. But, I couldn’t tell you how the series went, or tell you a moment I remember specifically. I was 8 years old, and my memory recalls more “Red Sox and Mets are stupid,” “I wish that bat had hit Piazza,” “MOM, I want some Pizza!,” and “Thaaaaaaaaa Yankees win.” But I remember watching the Series.

As I am for all crucial playoff games, I was seated in a seat from pre-renovation Yankee Stadium. The blue paint was chipping (still is), and my bite-shortened fingernails were peeling back more paint in anxiety.

Sidenote: The chair was bought back in the 70′s, as a gift from my father to his grandfather, a die-hard Yankees fan. When his grandfather passed, my dad got the chair, and it seems to make an appearance in front of a TV every October (Except  ’08. ..).

Anyways, I my feet felt like there were balled up in fists, as I sat there using every inch of my mind, every toe and finger, every heart beat, and every god from every religion I’d ever heard of to bring a victory to the Yanks. My family is a little bit crazy. Okay, that’s an understatement. But, regardless, we all have our own areas of expertise or interest, baseball always having been mine. That Subway Series though, I remember how “the chair” united us. Four months removed from our New York to Colorado transplant, it was easy for my sister (then 11), my brother (10), me (8), and my younger sister (6) to cling to such a distinguishable piece of New York. Outfitted in all Yankees attire, and up way past our usual bedtime, there was this unfamiliar sense of unity in the room. Anyone that has kids, or is a kid, or knows kids, or was a kid, knows that elementary-school-aged siblings love to bicker. We had our fights of “Why does she get to sit in the front seat,” and “Why does he have more ice cream?” and “I knew you loved him more!” But strangely, we all seemed to have put our differences aside as that old chair made its annual appearance.

I got to sit in the chair since the Yankees were pretty much up there with eat, sleep, and breathe on my list of priorities. My older sister and brother were holding onto the legs of the chair with such ferocity I swear I couldn’t have held on tighter if I was holding on for dear life. Every pitch was pressure. Every swing. Every hit. The whole world seemed to depend on the game. The thing is, my siblings don’t watch baseball anymore, no more than going to a game with us every year for cotton candy and Dippin’ Dots. However, the chair still seems to unite. In ’07, I was across the country at the Peddie School, a New Jersey college-prep boarding school where it was hard finding much bright light in my life. My number one team (the Yanks) and my number two team (the Rox) both made the playoffs that year in rather dramatic fashion. The day of the ALDS I called my younger sister about an hour before game time, to inform her of a responsibility she had. I told her she was in charge of the chair. My other siblings were busy, or at college, I was in Jersey, and she had the responsibility of manning the chair. Okay, the Yanks lost that division series, but the tradition of the chair once again pulled the Seefried crew together. My dad told me stories about how he and my sister, full of nail-biting worry as the season dwindled away would switch who sat in the chair, the way they sat, legs crossed, legs not, fingers crossed, right hand only, left hand only, both, none, etc. The chair united us. It’s part of Yankee culture, and quite frankly part of Seefried culture. Its come down through generations, and has seen a fair share of playoff games, and its our little piece of history.

What I’m trying to get at, is that Yankee stadium memorabilia is on sale, or will be and you should get something. Maybe it won’t be a chair. A sign, a locker, some dirt, part of the wall, whatever you can and want to get, you should. (No, the Yanks didn’t tell me to write this). A little piece of superstition makes the playoffs that much more exciting. “We won ’cause I was sitting in the chair,” “They won ’cause I rubbed the sign twice, then turned my head once, then said HOLY COW, then rubbed it three times, sang the Yankee mambo, snapped my fingers, and wrote Bleacher Creature on my chest!” (Exaggeration. Don’t go that far out. If you get your piece of the Cathedral please please please don’t be one of those obnoxious fo0ls who puts it in a glass box to show off. Psh, be real. Have it be part of your superstition. Do you want to rub Yankee Stadium dirt under your eyes like Tino Martinez’s eye black? Do you want to set the chair up to your tv at the exact same angle it was in real life towards home plate? Do you want to pad your living room with the outfield wall? Take part of Yankee culture, and make it part of your culture. It’ll unite your family towards one noble cause. Victory.

Anthony Claggett was claimed off waivers today by the Pirates, where he’ll join former Yankees Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Jose Tabata. I never thought Claggett was anything special, so this really isn’t that big of a deal. But, its news none-the-less. Good luck to Claggett.

The Yankees won by a score of 6-5 last night. I posted early on about how Gaudin was pitching very well. If you’re curious on how he ended up, he had trouble getting out of the 5th innings, and went 4.2 IP. He gave up 2 ER, 6 hits, and 2 walks. He still kept it close though. Gaudin has been a good pickup for the Yankees. They needed a back end guy and he perfectly fills that role.

As for the Joba vs. Gaudin 4th starter debate, I like Gaudin right now. Joba has just been too inconsistent. Or maybe he’s been to consistently bad… He has a big game against the Red Sox next week, so we’ll see how he fares then.

In other news, the Yankees clinched a postseason berth with their win. Congrats to them.

The Yankees are underway in Anaheim today. It’ll be Burnett vs. Kazmir.  I would love to see a good outing from Burnett. Two good starts in a row though? I don’t know if thats possible! I’m kidding of course… I hope?

Look out Joba. Gaudin is pitching very well so far tonight. He is through 3.2 innings, he’s given up 3 hits, walked 1, and has struck out 3. There is obviously a lot of baseball left tonight, but if Gaudin continues to pitch like this, he could get that 4th starter slot with ease…

Great ESPN commercial with super-agent Scott Boras. (Hat tip to PeteAbe).

Let’s be honest, Yankee fans. We don’t have TOO much to complain about. The Yankees are 5 games up with 13 to play. They are 1 win away (or 1 Texas loss) from clinching a post season berth. The magic number for the division title is 8. They are 4.5 games up in the race for home-field advantage. The Yankees have a 44-19 record since the break. But despite all of these good things, all is not entirely good in Yankeeland.

The Yankees have dropped 6 of their last 10 games. The pitching, behind CC Sabathia, has been questionable at best. Let’s look at the pitching in the last 10 games.

Sept 11- Orioles- Andy Pettitte started this one. He went 5 innings while giving up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 3 ER. The game was lost by the combination of horrible that came out of Damaso Marte and Edwar Ramirez. They combined for 1 inning of 7 run ball. Ugly stuff, but the Andy wasn’t bad.

Sept 12- AJ Burnett had another clunker this game. He went 7 innings while giving up 6 ER on 7 hits. Chalk up one for the “bad starting pitching over the last 10 days” category.

Sept 13- The Yankees won this one behind CC Sabathia. He turned in 7 innings of 3 run ball. He gave up 5 hits and 4 walks. Not great, but a win is a win.

Sept 14- Joba, who has pitched badly of late, pitched very well in this win against the Angels. He went 4 innings while giving up 4 hits, 1 ER, and 0 walks.

Sept 15- Sergio Mitre was terrible again. He went 5 innings and gave up 7 runs, 8 hits, and a walk. #2…

Sept 16- Chad Gaudin- 5.2 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 1 BB. The Yankees won this one on a Frank Cervelli walk off. Not a great outing, but he kept the Yankees in it.

Sept 18- AJ was spectacular. 7 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, and 3 walks. Mo blew the save though… Shame.

Sept 19- Again with CC. He went 7 innings and gave up 4 hits and 2 walks.

Sept 20- Joba was awful in this game. He pitched 3 IP, gave up 6 hits, 7 ER, and 3 walks. He went right back to the “bad Joba” in this one. #3.

Sept 21- Pettitte went 6 innings, gave up 3 ER, 5 hits, and 2 walks. Not a particularly bad outing, but not a great one.

So, what do we see here? We see 3 horrendous outings from pitchers that have been unreliable (Joba, Mitre, Burnett). We see some great starts that prove inconsistency (Burnett, Joba). We see a bunch of mediocre starts (Gaudin, Pettitte). We see one pitcher that has been reliable (CC). What does this all mean? It means that the Yankees have got to figure out their pitching before the post season. Pitching goes far in the post season, and if the Yankees can’t fix up their 2 and 3 slots (Pettitte and Burnett), they won’t go advance to far into the playoffs. For the record, Pettitte doesn’t need too much fixing, but Burnett is another story. He’s either amazing or horrendous. Consistency would be nice Mr. Burnett… As for the back end, one of Mitre, Gaudin, and Joba needs to figure themselves out. A 4th starter will probably be necessary at some point in the post season (assuming the Yankees advance), and I think that it will end up being clear who it should be. Honestly, I think it will be Gaudin. He has been much more consistent that Joba and Mitre, and he has turned in some pretty good starts. I’d love to see it go to Joba, but he hasn’t pitched well enough. It’s that simple.

I’m not too concerned though. The Yankees have the next two weeks to get themselves right before the playoffs, and hopefully they will work some things out. The fact of the matter is that the Yankees will be appearing in the post season. They have one of the more potent offenses in the game, and that will be a huge asset. They just need to get their pitching in order. After CC Sabathia that is…

In other news, the Yankees will take on the Angels again tonight. After dropping last nights game 5-2, the Yankees will send Chad Gaudin to the hill. It is another chance for him to prove himself! The game is at 10, since they are at Angels Stadium. Get ready for a long night Yankee fans.

AJ Burnett will out-duel King Felix Hernandez tonight. I’m positive.

As recently as August 17th, AJ ‘s ERA was 3.69. Now…it’s 4.33. So what happened?

Well August 22nd, 5 innings, 9 earned runs, at Fenway.

Next start against Texas at home, a little bit of a rebound, 3 earned runs over 6 innings. Only 2 hits, and 3 walks. Oh, and he struck out 10. Dirty.

Then, September 1st at Camden Yards, AJ blew up again. 6 earned runs in 5 and a third. 11 hits, 2 walks, and only 2 K’s.

So the Yanks head home, and face Tampa on the 7th. AJ pitches 6 innings of 1 run ball. 4 hits, 3 walks, 8 K’s.

Then the O’s come to the Bronx and AJ lets up 6 earned runs over 7 innings. 7 hits, 2 walks, and only 4 K’s.

AJ has had GOOD outings. The idea that he was a completely terrible investment, well that’s a little bit ridiculous.

In his past 10 starts, I’d say he’s had 4 truly bad outings. In his other 6 starts he’s thrown 40.2 innings (average of over 6.2 innings per start). He’s allowed 10 earned runs (2.21 ERA) while striking out 43 (9.52 K’s/9 innings). Those aren’t just solid numbers. They are outstanding numbers. In the 4 bad starts though, he’s only pitched 22 innings (5 and a half innings per start), allowed 28 earned runs (11.45 ERA), and only struck  out 16 (6.5 K’s/9 innings).

AJ is either dominant or he is utterly terrible. The Yanks are counting on his dominant side to show up in the playoffs. When he’s on his game, AJ can be one of the top 5 right-handed pitchers in the game, but when he’s off it’s more like a mix of batting practice and a little league game. Tonight, AJ will face the Mariners and he must go head to head with Cy Young candidate Felix Hernandez. What is he supposed to be scared of in the Seattle lineup? Outside of Ichiro no one on that team is a particularly intimidating hitter, which means AJ might be able to recapture his stuff. If we could see 7 innings of shutout, one-run, or two-run ball and more than 7 K’s, I’d be happy. This is a big opportunity for AJ to get his confidence back to full, and hopefully will lead to some momentum as he prepares for the playoffs.

AJ is a good guy. He does charity work, he’s auctioning off the “player of the game” WWE belt that is signed by everyone on the team to raise money for Camp Sundown (a camp for children who have a rare genetic disease causing their skin to be unable to heal from UV rays from the sun). He started the whipped cream pie tradition (one of his infamous pies definitely found its way to Frankie Cervelli the other day). He is a leader, close with lots and lots of guys on the team. He’s not as jolly as CC Sabathia, but AJ is a class act and a talented class act at that. He’ll have his stuff tonight. Just wait.