End of Week Link Roundup: The Mother of All Roundups

It's been weeks since I emptied out the links folder and as the news hits of the Mets finally cleaning house, I thought it was a good time for links. So...here...we...go:

The Yankees are back in the postseason (The Star-Ledger)

Yankees

• The opportunity to take the division is knocking for Andy Pettitte and the Yankees writes LoHud's Chad Jennings. Andy Pettitte's back is hurting says the New York Daily News' Mark Feinsand. Joe Sheehan of SI says that home-field advantage isn't that big of an advantage in the end. Cliff Corcoran of Pinstriped Bible says to bring on the Rangers. Although I can't agree, FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi says the Yankees would be better off being the Wild Card. The New York Times asks if the Yankees really want the Twins or Rangers? One not smart commenter has no clue who the Yankees will play (H/T @jaydestro)
• Joe at River Ave Blues also wrote that slumping was nothing new for the Yankees and Katie Sharp and Mark Simon of ESPN tell us why the Yankees had a bummer of a week two weeks back. Kerry Wood is back in the playoffs for the second time since Steve Bartman ruined things for his Cubs writes Ben Shpigel of the New York Times. Stephen R. at TYU on Phil Hughes and the ALDS. Mike at River Ave Blues on Phil Hughes and the ALDS.
• Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus reviews the year the Top 11 Yankee prospects from earlier in the year and how they finished 2010. Taking Justin Smoak over Jesus Montero may have been a mistake to crush the Mariners front office and ESPN's Buster Olney has more on the decision.
• Larry of Yankeeist talks about not second-guessing the manager and Moshe at TYU talks about Girardi and bunting. NoMass says Girardi can leave for Chicago.
• Albert Lyu of FanGraphs has an awesome visual of Mariano Rivera's cutters. Jorge Posada wants to be able to catch A.J. Burnett in the playoffs as Vizzini from NoMass writes.
• USA Today reported a few weeks back that the Yankees had $2B debt--though this wasn't unusual for a company that size. 50 years later, a Mickey Mantle slide demands expert analysis says the New York Times' Richard Sandomir. The Yankees and Red Sox 2010 schedule has been released and The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham has the details (the Yankees open Fenway and then won't play again there until August). Jeff Pearlman on the George Steinbrenner monument. Jack Maxwell of YES ranks Jeter's fake HBP among the top nine fakes in sports. Notyourtypicalgirl's Blog on what it's like to sit beyond the moat at Yankee Stadium.

Cy Young, MVP and the rest of the awards:

• LoHud's Chad Jennings runs down the Yankees' candidates as well as the rest of the field with some predictions. Matt at TYU looked at AL MVP John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus shares his opinions on the matter with some surprise results (Evan Longoria?!)
• The Hot Stone League has an argument against King Felix (and he's a Seattle writer). HardballTalk's Craig Calcaterra looks at some people changing their tunes on wins mattering in a Cy Young race. Yahoo!'s Jeff Passan says give the Cy to Felix Hernandez. SI's Jon Heyman says that baseball executives give the nod to Hernandez. Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald shares his own math for determining the Cy. SI's Joe Posnanski on ERA and K's and the Cy Young. ESPN Stats and Info asks if 20 wins for CC means a Cy Young...and a World Series?

Other baseball news:

• Yes, cameras above the field on a line that can be hit by a baseball...nothing to worry about here, USA Today. Yahoo!'s Jeff Passan says that the Mets' dysfunction goes beyond a few selfish players. Although I disagree, the New York Post's Joel Sherman says that the Mets shouldn't rule out trading young players to turn things around. HardballTalk's Craig Calcaterra asks "what's the worst thing in baseball history?"
• SI's Joe Posnanski explains why he likes WAR. Baseball: Past and Present has a (curiously) long interview with JoePo. Carston Cistulli of FanGraphs talks some more about the sabermetric project.
• Jeff Passan goes through the top memories so far of the 2010 baseball season. The broadcast of "Best Game Ever" was found in Bing Crosby's Wine Cellar according to the New York Times' Richard Sandomir. Mac from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia sits down with The Zo Zone to talk Phillies and Ryan Howard and Chase Utley's cameo this season. The Wall Street Journal's Jason Gay tells Tampa to get rid of "DJ Kitty". 
• SportsbyBrooks asks if we should allow Cuba to sell its players to MLB? CNBC's Darren Rovell explains why that whole Rays ticket giveaway was a bad idea. Larry of Wezen-Ball tries to figure out who mixed the "Jose Canseco milkshake"? Shaun Assael of ESPN found some very cool letters from "Wee" Willie Keeler. It ends up neither the Yankee fans or the Red Sox fans liked Phil Cuzzi's strike zone last week according to The Joy of Sox.

Other sports news:

• Thank Goodness: the Wade Redden Error is over in New York and Yahoo! Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski has all the details.
• A really interesting story from the New York Times' Pete Thamel about how basketball got popular in Turkey through a TV show (H/T Alex). Alan Hahn of Newsday says Eddy Curry is only on the roster to take up space. Newsday has this quote from Danilo Gallinari on his autobiography: "it's a book about me."
• The Denver Post's Woody Paige with a deeply personal story about depression after Kenny McKinley's suicide. J.A. Adande of ESPN with an interesting look at LeBron James, race and the NBA. George Blanda recently passed away after leading a very interesting life in football and Gregg Rosenthal of PFT has all the details. Gloria Estefan climbed out of a luxury suite at a Dolphins game and The Huffington Post has video. The New England Patriots have a new white guy to cheer for according to Deadspin.
• Craig Mahoney Studios is preparing a pretty awesome NY/NJ pro sports mural. The MTA is bringing TV to the Subway right in time for MLB postseason according to the New York Times. The OCD Chick on Lombardi on Broadway which I am going with my dad to see tomorrow.

Potpourri:

• Watch these Brooklyn guys freak out over the New York Tornado on The Huffington Post. Speaking of biblical, I think this is very cool form the New York Times: a computer worm that may be trying to slow down Iran's nuclear race with biblical clues. Back to the New York Times with an interesting opinion piece or marijuana legalization in California.
• The Wrap on Stephen Colbert's very funny--but probably inappropriate--trip to Congress. Meanwhile, Politico's Bill Schneider says that the Tea Party is anti-politics as well as being anti-government in this interesting opinion piece. New York Times Magazine on Glenn Beck.
• Take a very cool look inside Trader Joe's from CNNMoney. John Carney of CNBC's NetNet says that Wall Street is finally breaking up with the Blackberry, while Matt Burns of TechCruch unveils the Blackberry Tablet. Mark Zuckerberg made a $100 million donation to Newark's school system and then TechCruch sat down with him. Gold bars in US ATMs from CNBC. Visualizing Economics on why October may be a scary month for US stocks.
• The New York Times says that us New York commuters change what we drink based on the line we ride on (H/T Sarah). Mapping stereotypes with alphadesigner. NY Mag and American Book Review on the 100 best first lines from novels

That's it for the week as I try to figure out how to get on Arianna Huffington's bus to the "Rally to Restore Sanity" and I try to restore my own sanity this weekend.