A great October after all

Who would have thought that October would turn out to be the best month of the year for Met fans? First Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel get the ax, then the Yankees are sent packing. And now the two-time defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies will be playing golf while Cliff Lee and Pat Burrell are in the World Series.

Last month, I wrote how I was dreading another Yankees-Phillies World Series. The Phillies looked invincible with their H2O rotation. As for the Yankees:

The Yankees have had some ups and downs lately and there are no guarantees in the postseason, but is anyone really prepared at this point to predict Minnesota, Texas or Tampa Bay in the World Series?

And who would have predicted that both the Yankees and Phillies would miss out? It sounds too good to be true.

Now, instead of the same old tired faces in the World Series, there will be some welcome changes:

• Instead of "the Captain" (Jeter), we'll get "the Freak" (Tim Lincecum).
• Instead of Roy Halladay making his Series debut, we'll get Vladimir Guerrero making his Series debut.
• Instead of flawed superstar Alex Rodriguez, we'll get flawed superstar Josh Hamilton.
• Instead of Cliff Lee on the Phillies or Yankees, we'll get Cliff Lee on the Rangers.
• Instead of sour Shane Victorino, we'll get smiling Cody Ross.
• Instead of no Yankee facial hair, we'll get the black beards of the Giants.
• Instead of Haley Swindal singing "God Bless America," maybe we'll get Tammy Nelson and her giant hat.

The Melkman - and A-Rod - deliver as the Yankees walkoff in style

For most of yesterday's game, I didn't have much hope for a Yankee victory. As I expected them to, they did very little against J.A. Happ, while Andy Pettitte gave up five runs. And given that it was the FOX Game of the Week, which the Yanks usually lose, it didn't look good. The biggest excitement of the game up until that point was FOX misidentifying John Mayberry Jr.'s dad in the stands after Mayberry's first career homer.

But I had a good feeling in the ninth inning that the Yanks were going to do something against Brad Lidge. Down by two in the ninth, up against a big name closer? That was the same scenario against Joe Nathan last week, and we all know how that turned out! So I was not surprised that the Yankees won, or that Alex Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera were the heroes.

Before the game, friend of the Squawkers Larry Milian interviewed me on South Florida's WTFL 640. I talked on the radio about how Alex Rodriguez did the opposite of his so-called stat-padding reputation this season, where he's only had a few hits this year, but nearly every one has been critical to the game. And whaddaya know, he goes 1 for 4 today, with that one hit a game-tying homer.

And how about Melky Cabrera? Three walkoff hits in two months? Amazing!

Anyhow, the ninth inning was something else. Off to watch that walkoff celebration again!

What did you think of today's Yankee game? Leave us a comment!

Yankees may have lost, but at least Johan Santana gave Kevin Youkilis the what-for

Yes, Squawker Jon, I know my Yankees didn't hold up their share of the Yankees-Mets alliance this weekend, and your team did. Sorry about that. But give me this - I had more faith in your Mets than you did. I predicted that your team would win last night, and thought they had a 50/50 chance to win the series. You, on the other hand, figured the Sox would sweep the Mets!

Too bad my Yankees prediction - that they would continue their winning streak Friday - didn't come true. And I kind of figured that early in last night - make that very early in last night. After Jimmy ("The Team to Beat") Rollins hit a homer off A.J. Burnett's very first pitch of the night, I didn't expect the evening to end well.

I do like Rollins an awful lot, though. In addition to his skills as a ballplayer, he's got a great personality, he's not afraid to speak his mind, and he loves to make predictions:

Rollins, who hit his 29th leadoff homer, envisioned leading off on Thursday.

"I kind of said it would nice to do, first time at Yankee Stadium, my first swing, you know, be a home run. I prayed on it. Prayers get answered," he said.

Unfortunately, his prediction, unlike mine, actually came true!

Did notice how Burnett hit Chase Utley and the homer, and then Brett Myers hit Derek Jeter. Aside from all the fans wearing Phillies red in the Stadium seats, what struck me was how intense the game was, even with two teams that don't have any sort of rivalry.

And it's a funny thing - it's not so enjoyable to see all those home runs when it's the other team hitting them! Everybody talks about right field being a homer haven, but what disturbs me more is how many balls get hit to center. How many balls got hit into the black in the old ballpark - maybe 25 in 30+ years? And how many got hit in the area in front of that? Not many. Seems like a lot this year.

Hmmm, maybe the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar is the problem. Wouldn't that be a kick in the head, if it turns out that building that monstrosity is the cause of all the homers?

Anyhow, it was a rough night - when Chien-Ming Wang only giving up six hits and two runs in three innings is considered progess, that's not a good thing. And I expect a loss today, because it's a pitcher - J.A. Happ - that the Yanks have never seen.

At least there was one great highlight of the night that literally had me cheering. Too bad it came in the Mets-Red Sox game. When Kevin Youkilis got hit by one of Johan Santana's pitches - it looked like an accident to me - Youk did his usual yippy "Don't you know I am" thing. Then Santana looked like he told Youkilis to go drink a nice steaming cup of "Shut the bleep up"! Good stuff. I've watched the clip three times already!

What did you think of last night's games? Leave us a comment!

Met fan must root for Yankees and against Red Sox

It's been a miserable week. The Mets have lost four in a row with only six runs scored. Carlos Delgado undergoes surgery and is out at least two months. Jose Reyes is hurt and who knows when he will be 100%. Alex Cora fills in ably for Reyes, only to tear ligaments in his thumb. The Mets commit five errors in one game and conjure up memories of 1962. And one of the team's few bright spots, Carlos Beltran, is maligned on national TV by a buffoon.

Now this bad week is about to get even worse. This weekend, I will find myself rooting for the Yankees and against the Red Sox. I generally root for the Red Sox in the American League, though it seems that many Red Sox fans lump the Mets in with things from New York that they do not like. And they probably wouldn't enjoy SNY's celebration of all things 1986.

But Red Sox fans have celebrated two titles since the Mets last won. And when I think of Mets-Red Sox, I think of the massacre of 2006 and the downfall of Pedro Martinez, who returned triumphantly to Fenway with a 7-4 record and a 3.01 ERA, only to give up eight runs (six earned) in three innings. We didn't know it at the time, but after only a year and a half with the Mets, it was the beginning of the end for Pedro.

The Yankee series figures to be a nightmare either way. If the Phillies win, the Mets fall further behind. (I'm conceding the series at Fenway - I just hope the Mets don't get swept as in '06. Go Johan!)

If the Yankees win, we'll probably hear Jimmy Rollins, who, in the June issue of Playboy, predicted a Phillies-Yankees World Series, praise the Yankees as the only good thing to come out of New York, while Cole Hamel calls them the New York team that can make it to the Fall Classic without choking.

If the Yankees celebrate after the game with a pie in the face of the player who gets the game-winning hit, Shane Victorino will probably praise the celebration as tasteful and ask for the recipe for the pie.

Met fans, will you root for the Yankees against the Phillies? Yankee fans, will you root for the Mets against the Red Sox?