Afternoon Baseball

A two-tiered post. One, Bronx Banter and Replacement Level Yankees Weblog both appreciate the struggles that the Yanks had to make to reach the postseason, and how many key components were not anywhere near the roster at the beginning of the year. Sure, not making the postseason would have been a huge failure, but that doesn't mean there aren't real congratulations in order for doing so under these circumstances.

The second part is for the absurd notion that Buck Showalter did something wrong (damaging the "integrity of the game" and not following his "duty" -- real quotes from Yankee radio broadcaster John Sterling) or tried to stick it to the Yankees, his former employer, in not playing his regulars for the whole game yesterday against the Angels. If you listened to Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN at all today, then you know this was hashed out very well, including an appearance by Buck himself.
Let's look at it this way: The Yanks did not care fully (they cared a little, yes, but not entirely) about their game and trying to both give a chance to the wild-card playoff scenario (which could only help them) as well as winning to get home field over the Angels should they play them. So why should Texas care fully about beating the Angels? They pitched their regular pitchers and allowed their three best hitters to get two at-bats each. That's caring, somewhat. But more importantly, it's caring to the same degree.

Furthermore, no playoff spot was on the line. For instance, if Chicago had played its Triple-A team against Cleveland, Boston could have cried foul, as a playoff spot was up for grabs. However, Texas' great crime against baseball was helping one team get one more home game against another. And they didn't even solely commit that "crime." The Yanks helped as well with a terrible performance.

The most important thing was accomplished this weekend: making the postseason. Home field should have been important, too, but it's too late for that. Get out there and play well, and maybe game five in Anaheim won't have to be an issue.