AL Wild Card Game Thread: Baltimore Orioles @ Toronto Blue Jays 10/4

Here we go ladies and gentleman, baseball is back and the postseason has begun. The New York Yankees did not qualify for the postseason unfortunately in 2016 but three teams from their AL East Division did including both of tonight’s participants in the American League Wild Card Game, the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays. In the start tonight the Orioles will send Chris Tillman to the mound to face off with Marcus Stroman for the Blue Jays. Not that you need a reminder by now but this is a one-game playoff game that decides it all, win or go home. The game will take place at 8:05 pm ET inside the Rogers Centre and can be seen nationally on TBS.

I don’t have a horse in this race so for the first time in 162 games I’m simply going to just sit back and enjoy baseball. You know, the way it should be done. Good luck to both team’s tonight and may the better team, manager, pitching and offense win. Enjoy.

Predicting Tonight’s AL Wild Card Winner

Okay ladies and gentleman. We’ve previewed the game and we know what each offense has done against the other’s starting pitcher for the night so now all that’s left is to pick a winner. Truth be told I think home field advantage is a pretty minimal advantage in Major League Baseball in most cases but I think the Toronto faithful proved last postseason that they can be the key factor in a game. In short, they can get loud and that has to get inside the head of the pitching and for that reason I have the Toronto Blue Jays winning this game tonight.

I can see this turning into an offensive explosion for both team’s due to the big stage and the pressure with the Blue Jays winning the game 6-2. Buck Showalter won’t be happy but I have a feeling millions of Yankees fans will be when they see him drop his head and walk into the dugout after the loss. Just a hunch. I guess you’ll have to tune in here in a couple of hours to see if I’m right.

Full Disclaimer: I’m hardly ever right so don’t bet the bank on it. 

The Blue Jays Pitching vs. the Orioles Hitting

Earlier today we looked at what the mighty Toronto Blue Jays offense has done in their careers against tonight’s Baltimore starter Chris Tillman so it’s only fair that we look at what the likes of Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Matt Wieters have done in their careers against tonight’s Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman. There’s a lot on the line tonight including the right to fight another day in another series in another city as the winner tonight moves on to face the AL West Champion Texas Rangers in the ALDS. No pressure Stroman but here is what you have done against the Orioles offense in your career. After seeing each other over 20 times a season there will be no secrets tonight inside the Rogers Centre so good luck to all involved. Enjoy.

All photos and stats courtesy of ESPN.com 

AL Wild Card Game Preview: Baltimore Orioles @ Toronto Blue Jays 10/4

The Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays are preparing for their AL Wild Card showdown tonight inside Toronto’s Rogers Centre in what should be another exciting matchup between the two clubs. These two teams are both in the American League East Division meaning that they have seen each other plenty over the course of the 2016 season. There will be little in the way of surprises tonight in Toronto which could make for a strategical game called by both managers like we haven’t seen before. The game will live and die by the pitching though like it always has in the history of Major League Baseball and tonight’s pitching matchup should not disappoint as the Baltimore Orioles send Chris Tillman to the mound to square off with the Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman. 

Here we go.

Tillman will start the AL Wild Card Game for the Orioles with Baltimore's season on the line. Tillman has faced the Blue Jays four times this season already and has posted a 1-0 record with a 3.63 ERA. 

Stroman is easily the Blue Jays ace and with the season on the line he is the only option for Toronto to start this game tonight despite his struggles against Baltimore this season. Stroman has also made four starts against the Orioles this season and has posted a 1-2 record with a 7.04 ERA in that span, ouch. 

The game will be played at 8:05 pm ET inside the Rogers Centre and can be seen nationally on TBS. While it’s a shame that the New York Yankees can’t be in it this season the playoffs should still be fun and entertaining for all and that all begins tonight. Enjoy the game everyone. 

The Orioles Pitching vs. the Blue Jays Hitting

The American League Wild Card Game begins tonight inside the Rogers Centre between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays. Try as they might but the New York Yankees could not player spoiler against Buck Showalter’s fighting Orioles and tonight they play in a do-or-die game with Toronto with the winning team punching their ticket to the ALDS and a trip to Arlington Texas. This game, like all playoff games, is going to come down to the pitching so I wanted to take a bit this morning to look at what Chris Tillman, tonight’s starter for the Orioles, has done against the mighty Blue Jays offense during his career.

All photos and stats courtesy of ESPN.com. 

2016 MLB Playoffs Schedule for 10/4/16

Here we go ladies and gentleman, the beginning of the 2016 MLB playoffs. I know this is a Yankees-centric blog but we will be watching these playoffs very closely and trying to expand our outreach a bit over the next month or so. If you see a little more non-Yankees related content than normal don’t fret, it will return. There just isn’t much going on right now with the Yankees not in it and generally most Yankees fans still watch the postseason anyway. Don’t worry though, once the postseason is over we will go back to all Yankees all the time.

With that said there is just one game on the docket for tonight, the AL Wild Card Game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays. The game will begin at 8:05 pm ET inside Rogers Centre and can be seen on TBA. Check it out and enjoy.

Baltimore Orioles @ Toronto Blue Jays – 8:05 pm ET on TBS inside the Rogers Centre.

This Day In New York Yankees History 10/4:#TooManyDamnHRs

The 2009 New York Yankees squad could beat you just about any way they wanted. They had great defense, timely hitting, pitching, and the power to simply outslug you. The power was on full display on this day in 2009 on the last day of the season when Alex Rodriguez hit a three run home run to cap off a ten run sixth inning. Alex’s home run was the teams 243rd of the season, a new Yankees franchise record. A Rod went deep later in the inning as well with the bases loaded to finish the season with exactly 30 home runs and 100 RBI.


Also less notable marks for this day include Dave Righetti extending his major league record saves total for one season to 46 in a doubleheader sweep of the Red Sox in 1986, Hank Bauer extended his World Series hitting streak to 17 games on this day in 1958, and Mickey Mantle became only the fourth Yankee to ever hit a World Series grand slam on this day in 1953.

The AL & NL Wild Card Playoff Games Are Set!

Good evening ladies and gentleman and welcome to the final off day before the postseason begins for another year. The AL and NL Wild Card games are set and thankfully no 163^rd games were played this season. The field is set and it will be the Toronto Blue Jays playing host to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Wild Card Game while the National League game will showcase the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets.

Just as a reminder this is a one-game do-or-die game for all four teams so this should be fun. We will do game previews and game threads here on the blog for both Wild Card games but I can’t promise that for the rest of the postseason aside from the World Series.

So here we go, the second season begins here in about 24 hours. 

Most Popular Article of the Week: David Ortiz’s Letter to Yankees Fans

So I write a letter to David Ortiz this morning and by the afternoon we already have a response. Talk about service right? And only service you can get here at The Greedy Pinstripes mind you. I wish we had that much pull around the team and around baseball but instead I am referring to the article that Ortiz posted on the Derek Jeter owned Players Tribune where he wrote a letter to New York and the fans of the New York Yankees. To read the entire article head over to the Players Tribune and give it a read while I sample it for you here before tonight’s finale in the Bronx.

“The other day, one of my teammates comes over to me in the clubhouse and says, “Hey, you see what they’re gonna do to you in New York?”

I don’t know what he’s talking about.

I’m like, “What’s up? They gonna give me a pizza or something?”

He says, “Nah. Your last game, the fans are gonna pull their pants down.”

I’m like, “Nah, bro. Come on. Be serious.”

Then he shows me an article on his phone about some guy who’s trying to get everybody in Yankee Stadium to moon me.

This dude even made a whole website: moonbigpapi.com.

Bro.

Bro.

Come on.

Let me tell you something. If 50,000 people moon me, I promise you two things.

First, I’m gonna laugh so hard I might start crying.O

When the tears dry, I’m gonna step up to the plate and try to hit the ball all the way to the choo choo train. You gotta be careful. You guys don’t have Mariano no more, you know what I’m saying?

Listen, Yankee fans. I gotta admit something to you. And I’m serious about this. I got love for you.

It’s just a little bit of love, but I do.”

Okay. The fact that he’s seen MoonBigPapi.com and then plugged it on this post is absolutely amazing. I love it. So awesome. Carrying on.

“My mom did everything at home, and she still had side-jobs to get us extra money. In those days, you could buy clothes real cheap in Curaçao, so she used to take shopping trips to the island. She would load up two suitcases full of dress clothes and bring them back to Santo Domingo to sell them to the workers at the hotel resorts.

It was a way to make a little bit of extra money. She would do whatever it took to make sure we were fine.

When I was playing Double A ball in ’97, I got her a visa to come to the States for the first time. It was just the two of us chilling in Connecticut for a few days. She got to visit New York City before she flew back home, and she was just so happy. Her dream, her whole life, was to give her kids an opportunity. New York City, to us, was like the capital of the world.

My mom died in a car accident in 2002, before I got to the Red Sox and really started having success in the big leagues. My life has turned out amazing, but the only thing I wish is that she could be here for all this. When I take the field at Yankee Stadium for the last time, she’s not gonna be there to see it. That’s kind of tough, to be honest with you. But I know she would be so proud that we made it to the top of the world.”

Many forget that Major League Baseball players are also human. This is not “just a kids game” to them. This is life and they have a life outside of it just like you or I. Moving on.

“When I was a kid, I used to tear the heads off my sister’s dolls and use them as baseballs. I’d steal a broomstick from my mom’s closet and hit the heads over this fence. Whoom, Barbie went flying into the sky.

I used to dream that I was hitting home runs at Yankee Stadium.

Nowadays, I hope the kids doing that same shit are dreaming they’re at Fenway.

Yankee fans, I got one final thing to tell you.

Thank you. For real. You pulled the best out of me.

When you boo me, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.

I’m not gonna lie to you. Sometimes I get outta bed in the morning, and it’s like, Damn. What happened? I got old. It takes me a long time to get my body ready for these games now. But I guarantee you this. When our bus pulls up to Yankee Stadium today, I’m gonna be ready to go. And when I hear you boo me, I’m gonna try to hit the ball over that white fence, all the way to the mother******* choo choo train.

Respect.”

Let’s hope not. 

ICYMI: Yankees Youth Movement Only Needs One More Thing….

Get your pitchforks out Yankees family, we’re about to have a bonfire and a pig roast because the New York Yankees and their newfound youth movement need just one more thing. A new manager. I know, I know, I’ve been one of the bigger Joe Girardi supporters during his tenure here in New York and while the binder, now turned iPad, has frustrated the hell out of me his bullpen management has been and remains to be one of the better bullpen management in Major League Baseball. The Yankees have the kids up now and nothing to play for yet players like Ronald Torreyes, Tyler Austin and others remain on the bench in big games. Why? Because Girardi needs to go, that’s why.


Before you bring up his Manager of the Year Award with like 17 players who couldn’t even legally buy beer yet in Miami let me stop you. First of all that was a long time ago and secondly that’s all he had at his disposal. Girardi does great with managing and managing young kids but he only does so when his hand is forced and the New York Yankees will never force his hand in my opinion. They will always have that veteran option either down in Triple-A or on the MLB roster “just in case.” The problem here is Girardi uses his “just in case” options far more than he should and it’s really, really annoying and frustrating to watch as a fan who is devoted to this rebuild.


I mean look at it this way. Brian Cashman traded away Carlos Beltran and that is the ONLY reason we saw Aaron Judge. Aaron Hicks got injured and that is the ONLY reason we saw Mason Williams. Ben Gamel was great for us yet the sample size is too small to really jump up and down about because he was hardly ever used leading to him being traded to the Seattle Mariners. He wasn’t even good enough in the Yankees eyes to use as a stolen base guy off the bench despite having comparable numbers to the guy they traded for, Eric Young Jr. of the Milwaukee Brewers, and gave his roster spot to in less at bats and opportunities. But Young is a veteran.


You know what the biggest problem is? Talent bails out Girardi more times than not and Wednesday night was the perfect example of that. On Tuesday night Tyler Austin has a three-hit game including a game winning home run so what does Girardi do in his infinite wisdom? Sits him the next day in lieu of Mark Teixeira. Sure, Teixeira hit the game winning walk-off grand slam in the game which stopped all the questions from the media after the game but what if he didn’t? What if that’s never an issue if Austin starts the game and the Yankees offense actually scores before the 9th inning?


Joe Girardi is just frustrating me right now and I just don’t think he is the right fit for this team anymore. Does that mean he’s a bad manager? No, hell no in fact, but I also don’t think he is going to be able to get out of his own way with the veterans still on this club. He may not be the manager for the youth movement, at least in my opinion.


Oh, and FREE REFSNYDER! You almost made it a prospects post without hearing about him.