it sucks that the yanks lost but im kinda happy for the tigers. they havent won in a long time and they deserve it. but im still going for new york.

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I don't think Torre is really the guy to blame for the Yankees getting kicked after the first round again this year. I don't know why there is even the notion of Torre getting dropped in favor of Lou Pinella.

If you're going to blame somebody...blame Brian Ca$hman for getting those guys in the first place. Sheffield and Giambi didn't do anything and they should be in jeopardy. Rodriguez deserves blame again for not putting up the numbers. I wouldn't be surprised if they do make the playoffs next year and he gets benched.

They're kind of like the great Atlanta Braves teams of the 90s in that they got into the playoffs every year and won the East every year for 14 years. ONE world title. ONE.

At least they can say they've won some, but how long do you want to make the playoffs with one of the best records in the majors only to fail.

Bring it on, St. Louis.

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The Yanks were still the division champs, had the best record in the AL, and tied with the Mets for best record in all of baseball. That's what you can attribute to Torre.

You can't blame Torre because the team folded the last 3 games. You need to look at the team's overall record, not just judge their performance in the post season.

Guys like Rodriguez and Giambi brought nothing to the team the past 4 games. That's their fault. All the coaching in the world from Torre wouldn't make them bust their ass.

But, Steinbrenner has a huge ego and wants the World Series. He pays millions for players, and when they can't perform, he wants to fire the manager because he thinks that will solve something. The players are under contract. What he doesn't realize is that every other AL ballclub has been beefing up their teams just so they can beat the Yanks. Well, beefing up their teams with the players Steinbrenner hasn't already swept up with bajillion dollar contracts no other team can afford.

So, just because you pay highest salaries for what seems to be the best players, does not guarantee you the World Series. It may get you to the top of the division, but there's no guarantee that when push comes to shove, you team can get it together for the 3 or 4 games when it really counts.

Let him fire Torre. And see how far he gets next year. No doubt in my mind Torre will get swept up by another team.

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Scientist from Argentina discovered that people with insufficient brain and sexual activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse

Man, did the NL West suck again this season. They may have gotten two teams, the Dodgers and Padres, to the playoffs this year, but both of those teams looked horrible in the NLDS. I can understand the Dodgers being swept out of the playoffs by the Mets because of that bullpen and that lineup and the fact that the Dodgers are too inconsistent, but, to me, to see the Padres get knocked out by the Cardinals in the first round was unacceptable. I mean, think about the records and how well the two teams were playing going into the playoffs. The Padres had the NL's second-best record at 88-74 and ended the season on an absolute roll, while the Cardinals were 83-78 and were struggling so badly that they nearly lost the NL Central crown to the Astros. Now, the Cards still captured that division title, but only because the Astros were beaten on the last day of the season. To me and to everybody else, the Cards struggles automatically made the Padres the favorites against them in the NLDS because SD had the long winning streak, more confidence and the home-field advantage. Boy, did all of that go by the wayside after the first two games. Now, granted, the pitching staff could not control Albert Pujols in those two games no matter how hard they tried, but the games were still in San Diego, so the Padres should have won at least one of the first two. Then, they go to St. Louis and they eek out a 3-1 win in Game 3 to stay alive behind a dominating pitching performance, but in Game 4, they crumbled after scoring 2 runs in the 1st inning off of Cy Young candidate Chris Carpenter and then make a bad error in the 6th inning that essentially led to their demise. Now they are out of the postseason in 4 games and, when they look back at this series, they can look back at two things: their offense, specifically their timely hitting, and their decision to pitch to Pujols in the first two games. The Padres as a team were 2-for-32 with runners in scoring position in the series (!). If you ask me, a team isn't going to go anywhere when they hit that terribly during the opportunities that they get to score runs. That essentially led to them scoring 6 runs for the entire series, which really overshadowed their great pitching performances in Games 2, 3, and 4. I give all the credit in the world to the Cardinals and I am real pleased to see that Tony La Russa has them back in the NLCs for a third straight year, but I really think they had too easy of a time getting through the Division Series because of the way the Padres played, and that is going to lead to them getting dominated by the Mets. If the Padres were in the second round, I don't believe it would have been as easy for the Mets to put away San Diego as it will be for them to put away St. Louis.

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JOHN & ROCKY: BEST OF LUCK WITH MACHINA. EV FANS WILL NEVER FORGET YOU GUYS.

After all of the time that it's taken, I'm starting to think that that won't happen. I remember last year when they were talking about firing him then.

Then again, I remember Steinbrenner from the 80s and pretty much firing...and hiring...and firing...and hiring again. Nothing really stuck until Showwalter before Torre came in.

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First off, as a loyal Red Sox fan (and admitting that my boys sucked hardcore this year), I have to be spitefully pleased that it's the Tigers and not the Yankees that are going to the ALCS.

Second, I can't believe that Steinbrenner is thinking of firing Joe Torre. Red Sox fan or no, I'm forced to admit that the man is a class act. There are so few men like him in baseball, players, coaches, managers, etc, and to get rid of Torre would be a huge mistake. The Yankees may "suck", but they have some amazing players and personnel on their staff: Torre, Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, etc.

If Steinbrenner wants to cut some corners, he could start by getting rid of former MVP Alex Rodriguez, the most overhyped, overpaid, and under-performing player on the Yankees' team.

*Cheering for the Mets now that the season is continuing*

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But I know the difference between myself and my reflection.
I just can't help but to wonder which of us do you love?

It never happened. Torre is coming back as Yankees manager next season. I guess Steinbrenner looked into the crystal ball and realized how much Torre has meant to the franchise over the last 11 years. Now, I'm not saying that I am going to start supporting the Yanks next year. In fact, I'll always hate them. I'm just saying that I've grown so used to seeing Torre at the helm for such a long period of time and seeing the Yankees have so much success under him that I couldn't possibly imagine the team havng anyone else as manager. It is exactly the same way I feel with seeing Bobby Cox at the helm for the Atlanta Braves for such a long period of time. He may have only won one World Series and has experienced numerous playoff failures in his tenure, but he has had some pretty darn good teams and players that helped him to compile those consecutive division titles. I couldn't ask for anything else out of a manager than that. I also couldn't possibly imagine any other Braves manager in the future having as much success as Cox has had.

Finally, you're right, Lexiapple, when you say that Steinbrenner should start his "rebuilding process" by getting rid of A-Rod. He is being paid way too much money to underacheive as badly as he is and only gets so much publicity and fame not because of his performance on the field but because he plays for the Yankees and in New York City, which is a place where any normal person walking on the street is going to be in the newspaper headlines and on the news because reporters in that city think everything deserves to be news in one way or another.

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JOHN & ROCKY: BEST OF LUCK WITH MACHINA. EV FANS WILL NEVER FORGET YOU GUYS.

amen to that!
I've sorta lost interest in it, but I'm probably rooting for the tigers or the A's.

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What was once your life, is now your legend...

a-rod needs to get out of NY. he's a great ball player but i dont think he can handle the scrutiny and spotlight of NY.
he would fit much better in a place like...i dunno, san francisco. :P

Did anyone hear about the plane crash in New York City early this afternoon that killed New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle? I read the story on the Internet when I came home from school and my jaw just dropped open when I saw it. It was just such an unexpected death and it really makes you put into perspective how short life can be and that you can never predict the day that it will end. Game 1 of the NLCS between the Cardinals and Mets got rained out, but I think it is appropriate that they aren't playing because I believe no one in New York City can focus on baseball tonight because anytime something like this occurs, the sporting event always takes a back seat to life, which means the proper thing to do is just reflect on Lidle's death and send your condolences out to his family and friends. It is going to cloud the entire NLCS because the memory of Lidle's death should be remembered for quite some time, but that is very important because it happened so suddenly and when he still had a long life ahead of him.

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JOHN & ROCKY: BEST OF LUCK WITH MACHINA. EV FANS WILL NEVER FORGET YOU GUYS.