NOW, THE 2012 AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES (ALDS) CHAMPIONS!!!

Well, the Yankees pulled it off and beat the Baltimore Orioles for the aforementioned ALDS title!  It certainly didn’t come easy, as it took all five games to achieve.

As with any series, there are always many stories to tell.  For the ALDS, besides the Yankees’ accomplished outcome, the other key story revolves around A-Rod.  Joe Girardi did something out of the ordinary for managers these days – he managed a major decision with his brain instead of depending on doing things by the book.  In my last blog, I was adamant in pointing out that Joe needed to manage as such in my “Stop managing like a robot and manage by what you're seeing in front of you!!” point.  Joe saw the failures of several hitters including Granderson, Swisher, and A-Rod happening right in front of his own eyes and decided to replace A-Rod in the 9^th inning of Game 3 with Raul Ibañez as the pinch-hitter.  The Yankees were losing at that point by one run and, lo-and-behold, Ibañez smashed the ball for a homerun, tying the game.  A few innings later, Ibañez connected again to win the game!!  Joe looked like a genius!

I am not an A-Rod supporter, but I am also not one who focuses on ripping him, as many members of the press and baseball fans often do.  As a Yankees fan, I am lucky that my favorite team has such great owners as the Steinbrenner family, whereby I don’t need to focus on “their” A-Rod expense.  He does indeed have a ridiculous contract that pays him way too much money, but why should I hold that against him?  My main focus is towards the Yankees winning, so I am thankful that Joe did exactly what was needed for a win – replacing one of the failing hitters, who happened to be A-Rod in this case.

In Game 4, he was again replaced with a pinch-hitter – this time by Eric Chavez who didn’t come through and, in Game 5, Joe chose to omit A-Rod from the whole game – also uneventful.  One thing that was eventful in Game 5, Granderson began showing good offensive signs as he finally hit the ball with authority for a homerun.

Now, we get ready for Game 1 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) tonight.  As I write this, A-Rod is officially scheduled to bat 6^th in the starting lineup tonight.  One thing for sure - this will be an intense series against the Tigers, who have the best hitter in baseball (Miguel Cabrera) and the best starting pitcher (Justin Verlander).

There are many questions including:

1)  Will A-Rod finally begin to hit the ball solidly during this series?

2)  Will Joe pinch-hit for Swisher if his woes continue?

3)  Can the Yankees limit Cabrera from too many extra-base hits?

Those are obvious questions, but I have five key points that I think can help the Yankees win, if they’re applied:

1)  Joe should continue managing away from the provided stats on many of his decisions.

2)  The Yankees should take advantage of the weak infield defense of the Tigers.

3)  Hughes needs to duplicate his last games’ effort for his scheduled Game 3 start.

4)  Teixeira has to continue driving the ball and return to being a key run-producer.

5)  The Yankees should take extra pitches to accelerate the ousting of the Tigers’ starters so that they can take advantage of their questionable bullpen.

Okay, Yankees, let’s win this thing and move onto the World Series again!!!