The Whole Delivery

Image from MLB.com The awesome headline form MLB.com says it all. And this Game 4 lost to me is just as deflating for the Angels than the heartbreak the Dodgers suffered last night, considering how much of an uphill battle it will be to beat this power Yankee team this year. Especially when Kate Hudson's boyfriend is handling business like this .

Now, full credit to be given to Mike Scioscia club in a game they needed real bad. They came back from a 3-0 deficit where their pitcher, Jered Weaver, didn't deliver on the ace performance he gave them in Game 2 of the ALDS. Their bullpen was amazing outside of one pitch from Kevin Jepsen pitch to Jorge Posada that lead to the tie game. And if it wasn't for that pitch and the one Brian Fuentes offered up to Alex Rodriguez in Game 2 , the Angels relievers would have a big zero in the earned run column. (Making Fuentes walking A-Rod in the 9th funny because he knew the consequences of facing him.) And what can you say about Howie Kendrick, Jeff Mathis, and Vladmir Guerrero of all people stepping up in the big moments today, as the latter two played part in the winning run off of Aceves in the 11th . But that moment, and the whole game, falls at the hands of Joe Giradi's ridiculous move to put Aceves in the game to replaced a confident and effective Dave Robertson. Though Ace...

A pie needs to be given to Maicer Izturis . And though Mike Scioscia remained calm at the podium, this is without question a crushing lost for them. All pressure will certainly be on Jared Weaver, no question, on Monday.

Just a quick, simple review, because the title says it. Sabathia just gets better and better, and uncharacteristically, I am still stunned to see all the errors tonight from one of the more fundamentally sound teams in all of baseball. But give credit once again to Derek Jeter. The man is just an amazing player, especially in the postseason.

Yankees celebrity their return to the ALCS for the first time in 5 years First, one the Angels-Red Sox's series, which I will have more on tomorrow. Well, Torii Hunter is no question the team leader of this team now. And really, all signs point to his three run shot off of Jon Lester in Game 1 as the symbol of this series. Until today. The fact that the Halos got Jonathan Papelborn to give up his first runs in the postseason ever, and come back to score 3 in the 9th on two outs is a testament to how focus, determined, and calm they were to overcome their Sox bugaboo this time. More on the Red Sox side of things tomorrow, but their big names just did not come through at all. And will that lead to Daniel Bard replacing Papelborn as the club's closer now, with Papelborn possibly headed out the door in terms of some rumors? I doubt it in my mind, but that is something to watch for indeed, and more tomorrow. To the Yankees-Twins series, just the little costly mistakes became magneti...

Photo from Tony Dejak of the Associated Press So what if the pressure will be on Joe Giradi like no other next season. He won't mind, especially with the news now that Mark Teixeira has become the latest Christmas gift given to him. It seems that this wouldn't happen. The Yankees over the last few days seemed to be focused on Manny Ramirez more, while Teixeira was still leaning towards the Angels, the Red Sox, and even the Nationals of all teams. But the money, as always, is with the Yankees. Once again, another Scott Boras client comes to the Bronx. He sure does love getting sweat deals from George & sons. And they love giving it to him. I wonder if this takes them out of the Ramirez sweepstakes now. Then again, with the Steinbenners, as only a fool would dismiss their chances, you can never count them out even to sign Ramirez now. They seem to never run out of money, even in the Bush recession. And with the Angels, despite still having a great rotation, team defense, and...

(Mike Scioscia's photo from Charles Krupa/AP; Amramis Ramirez Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo of Chicago Tribune) Tomorrow on The Whole Delivery, a few perspective into the painful offseason that will be endured by both Cubs and Angles fans, as once again, the team with home field advantage going into postseason play in their leagues fails to capitalize on their tremendous regular season efforts, instead receiving humiliating first round exits. Plus, heading into tomorrow's second presidential debate, Tom Brokaw has been roundly criticized amongst the "left" community, and rightly so, for his disturbing bias towards the Republican Party in this election season, and in particular, John McCain. So with that, we will analyze whether Brokaw is setting himself to tarnish any legacy in the journalism world with an erratic performance as moderator in tomorrow's debate. In addition, we shall have, for the Boston Black Student Network folks, the recap of Holladay 2008 and highligh...