SU has tuned into the Knicks the last two nights and lo and behold, there is team basketball being played at MSG.  This has been a long time coming to long suffering Knick fans.  It’s actually liberating watching them play – that is the best word to describe this.  As you know, SU was no fan of Carmelo.  Look, he was brought into to score and that’s what he did at the expense of his teammates and the team’s record.  But all of a sudden, Porzingis is now the center of attention and he is worth the time to check him out.  He is the complete player and has scored over 30 points in 5 of their first 6 games.

The problem, of course, will be that teams will figure out that the Knicks have limited scoring options other than KP.  SU Michigan alum, Tim Hardaway Jr., is a lot of fun to watch and went off on the Cleveland the other night.  However, beyond them, the scoring will need to be a night to night challenge.  But until teams adjust, you need to watch – inspiring play as a new era begins.

Note to management: the Knicks stunted Porzingis’s growth by pairing him with Melo for the past 2 years.  Sure, he needed to get bigger and stronger and Melo certainly attracts the attention of the defense but if he was still here, KP would not be putting up these numbers.  And if you watch, the refs give him zero respect.  Zero.  He is hacked and whacked as Clyde would say all the time and gets no calls.  Anyway, at least for now, definitely worth a look as they are fun to watch.

MLB needs to start World Series games on the weekend at 4 or 5 pm.  There have been some terrific games but they are long and end well past midnight.  It’s really too bad.

SU hopes you appreciate how well Joe Girardi managed the Yankee bullpen and its relievers over the years.  When you watch the Astro and Dodger managers do their thing, it brings back memories of Tanyon Sturtz and Scott Proctor who were abused by Joe Torre and had their careers cut short.  If they were managing in NY, there would be calls to fire them as they have really bungled the late innings with the relievers.

There are no obvious managerial candidates for the Yankees which leads SU to believe it will be someone internal from the minor league system.  Apparently Cashman has given permission for any team to contact their coaches.  Even Girardi has nowhere to go now as the Phillies and Nationals filled their slots but hey, you never know who gets the ax once the World Series ends.

Greetings from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.  SU actually took in an NHL game last night here – very exciting.  Hockey is always better in person.

Well, the Girardi haters are no doubt happy today.  Too robotic, too serious, too uninspiring, too much following his binder, etc.  SU says he had a very good 10-year run and had to manage his way through the retirements of Posada, Rivera and Jeter along with the A-Rod chaos which as we all know, was more challenging than any of these others.  He has a World Series ring and over the last several years, made the most of an inferior roster provided by Brian Cashman.

It sounds like Cashman recommended to ownership that Girardi should not be brought back.  According to Andrew Marchand, part of that decision stemmed from some disagreements this season about player usage – specifically Chris Carter.  Say what?!  Cashman and the analytics people thought he should be playing Carter more.  SU says this: if that was the reason you were fired, more power to you!  If Chris Carter was so great, don’t you think some major league team would have signed him after the Yankees released him?  That was a bone-headed signing and credit to Girardi for not playing him more than they did.

SU asks this question: if the Yankees had made it to the World Series, does he get brought back?  If the Yankees won the World Series, does he come back?  Or was this decision made months ago?  SU says that is the case – this was a done deal.  Look, Joe Torre was fired after about 12 seasons and having made the playoffs in 2007 – again.  No shame in this for Girardi.  SU says he was a very good manager who should have been brought back to take this team to the next level.  No one manages a bullpen better than him.  The immediate media stories talk about being too stressed, burnt out and ready for a change.  Maybe, maybe not.

http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/97587/the-simple-truth-in-the-bronx-it-was-time-for-joe-to-go

Rob Thompson, the bench coach, seems to have the inside track for the moment.  But SU says: are you ready for the A-Rod era to begin?  Hal Steinbrenner is a big fan.  We could have J-Lo as the bench coach, a whole new strength and conditioning program that would work wonders – many upsides here.  Seriously, A-Rod will be a great manager.  He is a student of the game and connects well with the younger players – especially the Latino players.  Great with the media.  No one is mentioning it yet.  SU says keep an eye on this.

So, sports fans, let’s hear from you?  Good that Girardi was let go?  Time for a change?  Unfair?  Not so easy to replace him now?  Do not give me Dusty Baker or any of the other non-sabremetric types.  We want an analytics approach here.

SU is back from Happy Valley having suffered through Michigan’s beatdown by Penn State in a whiteout game.  A lot of fun being in that setting despite the mildly abusive treatment from the Penn State fans.  As SU has said before, there is an energy to college football that is different from the NFL in a positive way.  The fans are equally passionate but not as abusive/crazy/intoxicated as we see at the professional level.  Impressed with State College and their 110,000 fans.  Michigan is in a transition year with a lot of young players but they need to be competitive against their major rivals.  Last night was not from the start.

Unfortunately, you can’t access the internet when there are 110,000 fans in the stadium so it was challenging to follow game 7.  SU did get to see much of game 6.  Here is what you need to know:

• The Yankees scored a total of 3 runs in 4 games in Houston.  Seriously, this is all you need to know.   You are not going to win many games that way.
• As SU has said, a playoff series does not really start until you win on the other team’s home field/ice/court.  Well, no one did that in this series.
• There were several articles out there about how Houston was intimidated playing in Yankee Stadium and how the Yankees had all this momentum going into game 6.  As we know from John Sterling, momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher.
• So many strikeouts.  Inability to move runners along  So many strikeouts.  Did I mention all the strikeouts?
• I think the Astros caught up to the Yankee relievers in the end.  If you see the same pitchers over and over again, you start to figure things out.

It was a great season for the Yankees and they over-achieved by making it to the ALCS.  I seriously believe that.  I also believe that you need to fail before you can win it all – usually.  The Yankees failed in 1995 the same, painful way.  The rest if history.  Their roster will only get stronger next year.  And the year after as their next wave of prospects is promoted and the current crop get better.  It’s disappointing for sure but a lot to look forward to.

Will Girardi come back?  SU hopes so – he deserves to.  It may be his call.  But think of it this way: if he takes a year off, his next job will not be in NY and he will have to uproot his family.  SU says that is not happening.  He will return.

So, Yankee fans.  What do you say?

If you think about other professional sports, SU can see how home field/court/ice makes a difference in football, basketball and hockey come playoff time.  You play all year to have that final game of the series at home.  But in baseball, at least in the post-season, I don’t recall seeing the trend we are seeing this year in the past.  The Astros looked as overwhelmed playing in NY as the Yankees did in Houston and in Cleveland for that matter.  Actually, the Yankees September schedule was so back-loaded at home that they played 17 of their final games in the Bronx and had a great record.  This has clearly carried over into the playoff rounds and they look like a different team.  Part of that may also be youth and not being the gritty Paul O’Neil type warriors just yet who embrace playing on the road.  Judge hits the large majority of his home runs at home, and the Yankees season road record was 40-41.

Anyway, this series feels a lot like the 2001 World Series with Arizona.  Back then, the Yankees were listless in games 1 and 2, and then won 3 tense, low scoring games at home including two walk-off wins.  You would have thought they had all the momentum going back to Arizona but Andy Pettitte got rocked in game 6 and then of course, we had the heart-breaking game 7 ending.  As John Sterling likes to say, in baseball, “momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher.”  Beating Verlander will be a challenge for sure and then anything can happen in game 7.

SU says the one factor is this: Houston has been in 1st place with a huge lead all year.  Really the full season.  They have played with no stress.  For the first time now, they are playing in an elimination game.  The pressure is on them.  Verlander thrives in these situations but how about their young hitters?  That will be the key.  Can they regain their mojo now at home which almost makes it more pressurized before the nervous home town fans.

The Yankee bats have come alive.  Even Chase Headley had 3 hits.  There is production up and down the line-up now.  SU worries about Severino. Not sure what was going on with him in game 2.  He does appear to get too amped up and he is not a lock in game 6 to be good.

As SU has said before, the Yankees are playing with house money.  This is all gravy.  They have arrived ahead of schedule.

For Yankee fans, you remember certain post-season games in greater detail.  The Joe Girardi triple in game 6 against the Braves in the World Series where the stadium was shaking.  Aaron Boone’s home run in game 7 of the ALCS vs. Boston, Ken Griffey’s triple  in game 5 vs. Seattle and of course, game 7 against Arizona plus all of the walk off wins that series.  SU says last night’s game goes in that category for drama.

The Yankees were dead in the water for 6 innings.  They would have been no hit if not for Todd Frazier’s bloop single.  The highlight for SU was Chase Headley’s double but as he had not had an extra base hit since September 10th, he, of course, falls down between 1st and 2nd.  Making it to 2nd base was the key play of the inning to keeps things moving.  Sanchez’s double to right field combined with his sac fly to right is a positive sign of things to come now for him.  He needs to go the other way and stop pulling.  Judge appears to be starting another hot stretch.  Didi shows how to go to left field.  As dramatic a win as I can remember.  This team plays with a lot of heart and whether you like Girardi or not, he sets the tone.  The complaints that he makes his players tense and stressed is BS.  The one thing about post-season baseball is that you can go from goat to hero in the blink of an eye.

Sooooo, about tonight’s game.  SU has a few suggestions:

• You have to get Torreyes in the line up.  History says they do not hit Keuchel with the normal line up.  You can put him in at DH or what would be better, play him at 2nd base.  Castro made 2 errors yesterday and if you noticed on his last at bat, Girardi called to him from the dugout to see if he was ok.  SU believes there is something physical going on with him as he is normally very sure-handed in the field.  Let’s give him the day off and you can always use him to pinch hit as necessary.
• I would DH Sanchez again and put Romine back there.  Look, he wasn’t that good in game 4 – especially with the catcher’s interference which cost them a run – but Tanaka is another pitcher who is in the dirt all the time.  Headley has shown signs of life but only from the left side.  Holliday had his shot – too painful to watch.
• Note to all right handed hitters: do not swing at the inside pitches.  Take the outside pitches to the opposite field.  That has to be the plan.

SU is feeling very proud of the team today.  It’s a great group of guys.  Even Todd Frazier is growing on me although you need to leave 3rd base open for next season for Gleybar Torres.  If you watch Judge in the post-game interview, he is very thoughtful with his responses.  Takes a moment to consider every question.  Teams with high character players like Judge and Didi are rare these days.  Most of the time you put up with the likes of OBJ and try to hold your nose.  Not so with the Yankees this year.

As expected, the Yankees rebounded with a comfortable win last night.  But let’s acknowledge that aside from Judge’s home run, some of those hits were not exactly sharp line drives.  In fact, most of them were not.  True, the Astros made some nice plays in the field as did Judge, but the Yankee offense has still not showed itself in this series.  Nor have the Astros hit – really at all – and they should feel fortunate to be up 2-1 in the series.

If you watched last night, Sanchez continues to have a hard time catching the ball and SU says it may be impacting his hitting.  Or vice versa.  In any event, CC knows where his pitches are going and Sanchez still dropped or missed several.  Sonny Gray is going tonight and as we know, no-one knows where those pitches are heading.  Four wild pitches in game 1 of the ALDS.  SU says start Romine behind the plate and put Sanchez in at DH.  Allow him to just concentrate on his hitting.  Romine is a much better defensive catcher and can help to control the running game better.  You know there will be more traffic on the bases tonight with Gray who will throw 97 pitches to get through 4 innings with several walks.  The good news is that you lose nothing offensively as putting Headley or Ellsbury on the bench just loses 1 single for all of the post-season.

No-one is mentioning it but SU says watch for this bold Girardi move this afternoon.  Every run will matter today and perhaps it gets Sanchez untracked.

Thoughts?

The fans are demanding that SU weigh in on tonight’s game.  Note the weather: should be in the 50s with a breeze and colder as the game goes on.  Advantage Yankees and disadvantage Astros who are a warm weather team.  Watch for the hoodies and the blowing on the hands.  SU is predicting a Yankee win tonight as they have been good in the elimination games and this will feel like one.  Look for Chase Headley to have a big game (no, that is not a typo).  He showed signs of life in game 2.  It’s coming.  Greg Bird is my other player of the game.  And Aaron Judge’s ground outs were actually big – he will channel that into something more.  Sanchez is still lost at the plate.

How about those Giants?!  All it takes is having someone else call the plays.  Hey, you never know and let’s face it, the NFL is pretty mediocre this year.  Lots of parity and no one team stands out in the NFC.  The Eagles will no doubt come down to earth soon enough.  I must say it was fun not having to watch OBJ dancing around out there.  They really dominated last night against a good Denver defense on the road.  Beat Seattle at home this week and then let’s see what you have.

The Jets got robbed on that TD call in the 4th quarter.  That was just wrong.  SU does not like the whole NFL rule about catches where you “have to complete the catch.”  That was a catch, a bobble and then a catch.  20 years ago, that was a touchdown.  Heck, 5 years ago that was a touchdown.  SU says unnecessary to give the Patriots any further advantage.

Keep an eye on the Dodgers.  That’s 5 in a row and as long-time subscriber A. Grossman likes to say, “they have the karma.”  It just may be their year.

Finally, SU will be on site this weekend in Happy Valley to see Michigan take on Penn State on a white out night with fellow SU subscribers B. Levine and J. Silver.  This could be ugly but hey, you never know.  On paper, not the best match up for Michigan.  Go Blue.

SU says it’s clearly not ideal and you would prefer to be heading home to New York with the series tied at 1-1 vs. being down 0-2.  But let’s step back and see what’s gone on here so far:

• The Yankee hitters strike out at a historic rate.  Some are tough at bats and then there are the Gary Sanchez ones where he is missing by 2-3 feet in 3 pitches.  As said here many times, they don’t manufacture runs and rely on the home run.  Clearly not working in games 1 and 2.
• They have been out-scored 4-2.  Certainly not blowout losses but the 2-0 deficit in game 1 felt enormous and let’s be honest: did you really think they were going to win game 2 with the scored tied 1-1?  SU did not.  They never threatened in any inning.  That’s why I was not overly distraught by the play in the bottom of the 9th inning – it felt more like putting them out of their misery than a crushing defeat.
• But about that play.  How does Sanchez not take off his mask there?  It makes it that much harder to see and field a low throw from Didi.  He should have stepped forward and caught the ball and then lunged back to nail the runner.  Sure, it was an aggressive National League type of play to send the runner but he should have been out by a mile and then it was a dumb send by the 3rd base coach.  Sanchez is a great offensive catcher with a gun for an arm but we have all seen his defensive liabilities throughout the season.  No one is surprised that he failed to scoop the throw cleanly – certainly not any Yankee pitcher.
• The reality is that when you score 1 run a game, tough to win.  Chase Headley showed signs of life at the DH spot yesterday and deserves another start in game 3.  SU does not think the Astros will start Keuchel until game 5 but I could be wrong.  They may want him lined up for a game 7 if necessary.  Btw, if he starts in game 4 or 5, can we please put Torreyes in the DH slot?  Someone with a short swing who hit .290 for the year and can produce against a tough pitcher.

As Pat Riley likes to say, a series does not officially start until one team loses on its home court.  SU believes in that and if they can find a way to win in game 3, things will look differently.  If they don’t, well there it is.  But the priority needs to be on offense to at least put the ball in play and make the adjustments.  Judge has been making contact more the last two games and he might just be ready to get untracked – yet again.  Sanchez and Castro must hit to right field.  How do they not see that or recognize that’s necessary?

Finally, an appeal to FOX.  Get rid of the box at home plate.  Unless you tell us that you are meticulously fitting this for every batter, it’s just an annoyance and it makes the umpire look bad on almost every pitch.  The real fans watch games all season long without it.  And finally, finally, as SU has said many times, the umpires get the close calls correctly about 30% of the time.  It’s amazing how many calls they miss but to be honest, very hard to see.  I know baseball has the human element and all that but other sports are working to get calls correct and baseball needs to incorporate technology more.

So,  Yankee fans and Yankee haters, is the series over?  Or is there life in the Bronx come Monday night?

Stop the presses!  The Yankees are dusting off Matt Holliday at DH tonight to face Dallas Keuchel.  SU says it’s a no-brainer.  Combined, Headley and Ellsbury do not have a hit in the post-season covering 6 games including the wild card.  This is his big chance.  One hit could guarantee him a start for the remainder of the series.

You should check out the Yankees’ career numbers against Keuchel.  Yikes.  If you ran a predictive analysis, maybe they get 2 hits and are shut out.  But hey, this is the post-season and anything can and will happen.

SU is not into predictions unless pressed to do so but I will make one for tonight.  Look for an Aaron Judge home run to right field.  Enough of the strikeouts.  Time to make a statement.

What a difference five days make.  Last Friday night, every baseball sportswriter was calling for Joe Girardi’s head for not challenging the foul tip call and taking CC Sabathia out too soon.  Outrageous!  He’s too serious, too programmed, not instinctual, makes the players stressed and nervous, etc.  Hey, let’s fire him – time for new blood in the Bronx.

Fast forward to this morning.  It seems Girardi gathered his team together before game 3 and asked them to win one game – one game – Sunday night.  And SU fave, Todd Frazier (more on that in a minute) spoke up and made it clear the players had his back and let’s go.

Those same sportswriters are now saying that Girardi’s career is intact once again and that the world forgives him for his brain freeze moment.  As written here for several days, SU had Girardi’s throughout,  did not believe any challenge would overturn that call, and dismissed the screeds of people like Joel Sherman in the New York Post.  If you stayed up late like SU last night to watch Girardi’s post-game comments, you saw an emotional Girardi that you never see.  He truly felt terrible about not challenging the call and wanted so badly for the team to somehow win this series.  Say what you want about Terry Francona and his loose way of managing, his instinctual use of pitchers didn’t work in this series.  In the end, his players were the ones who looked tight.  Score one for Joe Girardi and his team last night.

Let’s see how SU’s keys to the game played out last night:

• Don’t start Headley.  Check although he did get in for 2 at bats and continued to look over-matched.
• Keep Didi in the 3rd hole.  Yup, he hits well there.
• Pray that Judge hits an off speed pitch.  Not so much.  Struck out 4 times but did ground out that last time which for him right now is like hitting a home run.  SU predicts carryover in game 1 Friday night in Houston.  And I am serious.  The good news is that he did not swing and miss in the clubhouse celebration.
• Greg Bird.  Eh, not so much there either.
• Cody Allen.  Ah!! He did give it up in the 9th inning.  Got one right.

Final comment: Todd Frazier is growing on me.  I still hate that he is a .200 hitter who swings for the downs all the time.  But he showed me something last night with a couple of grind it out at bats and he is a good clubhouse guy.  You can hit him 9th as Chase Headley is so lost right now he needs to sit and watch.  Actually, with Keuchel starting for Houston, might as well give Matt Holliday a shot at DH in game 1.  He literally cannot do any worse than either Headley or Ellsbury.