NYaT Roundtable: Division Series Picks

The Yanks' bobblehead and I

As I walked through midtown today, I saw a giant Yankees and Phillies bobblehead right outside the Major League Baseball offices (the picture on the right). TBS was sponsoring it and it reminded me that they're back doing broadcasts (sans Chip Caray) and playoff baseball is back. We're also back here at NYaT to give our picks (and quick thoughts) about the division series starting this afternoon:

New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins

Jay: "Yankee pitching (even sans AJ Burnett) keeps Minnesota in each game, but Yankees scratch out enough runs to escape in five games. Small ball and an effective bullpen help the Yankees win games on the road." Yanks in 5

Sarah: Yanks in 4

Ben P: "The Yankees offense has enough to carry them over the Twins in this series. The Twins do everything well, but nothing great. CC wins his two starts and the Yanks find a way to get one more win." Yanks in 4

Ari: "Minny is missing some big pieces. And they don't have many to miss. Yanks gut this one out." Yanks in 4

CC Sabathia will target the Twinkies tonight at Target Field (CBC)

Elissa: "Just like with the Rays, it all comes down to pitching. The Yankees have a shaky starting rotation at best. Andy Pettitte has only pitched in 3 games since coming off the DL (3 underwhelming outings), Phil Hughes has been relatively ineffective in August and September, A.J. Burnett needs no explanation on why he's a liability in the rotation, and although CC pitched outstanding in the 2009 playoffs, his previous experiences in Milwaukee and Cleveland were less than stellar. I really don't see how the Yankee's pitching staff can pull it together this week." Twins in 5

Ben W: "Yanks need to turn on the switch and there's no better opponent to do it against than the Twins. Liriano matches up well against Sabathia but he's still CC. After that it's Carl Pavano and the illustrious Brian Duensing. The Yanks will put their faith in Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes. The Yankees know better than any other team that you start over again in the postseason and that their poor September is but a piece of history. Look for the Yanks to play like they did for the first five months of the season." Yanks in 4

My opinion: "The Yankees and Twins have met quite a bit recently in the postseason and despite optimism things would change, they've stayed the same. Although the Yankees have holes after their #1 starter, the Twins holes look just as bad--and worse considering the Yankees have an edge in the top tier of their bullpen. If the Twins had Justin Mourneau and Joe Nathan, I would feel differently about this series, but without them, I'm not sure the Twins have enough firepower or pitching to go toe-to-toe with the defending champs." Yanks in 4

Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays

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TBS: Video Issues, Solar Interruption, Chip Caray and George Lopez

I was watching the postgame celebration after the Yankees-Twins game last night. And as Alex Rodriguez walked through the procession, he seemed to knock over the cameraman. This led to a brief crotch shot of A-Rod and it seems like a chuckle from Chip Caray. I wanted to find the video of this and I Am Tim Baker came through:




I don't know about you, but I have had a lot of trouble getting TBS HD to work on my television. Then again, as a Time Warner New York cable subscriber, I have a ton of problems with all my HD. Well, it may have gotten worse from some of you today. From MLB.com:

Fall solar activity could cause brief disruptions during TBS's coverage of the National League Division Series featuring the Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies on Thursday, the network announced.

The position of the sun can interfere with any TV satellite operations during a span of a few days during each spring and fall. On Thursday, there will be a period of potential disruption lasting from approximately 4:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. ET, during the period in which TBS will be airing the Phillies-Rockies game.

Wow...solar interruption? You have got to be kidding me.

Lastly, which is worse for Yankees fans: knowing that the Chip Caray-Ron Darling team will be doing our entire playoff series, or that during breaks from them speaking we are going to be subject to all those ridiculously annoying George Lopez commercials? It's a tough call.

Never did I think I'd see the day when "silver-tongued" John Sterling would be preferable to three different national broadcasts: TBS, ESPN (especially Joe Morgan), and FOX (especially Tim McCarver).

Line Drive Base Hit: Chip Caray Must Have Been Out Late Drinking With Miguel Cabrera

I think that's the only way you can explain his awful performance in the Twins-Tigers game tonight. Let's be honest, he's never been the best. But this was pretty bad. Awful Announcing found the best line:



After that call, John Sterling went "what was so bad about that?" Ouch. Maybe FOX can team him up with Buck and McCarver or ESPN can team him up with Miller, Morgan and Phillips. He would fit right in with those crews. Though they may even be more disturbed with how many times he used the term "fisted".

SportsByBrooks piles on some more and gives us this amazing graphic with tomorrow's headline from suss2hyphens:

The Big Lead caught Chip Caray saying he "doesn't mind staying up late" when it was, oh, about 8:15 PM in Minnesota. Maybe that's when Chip goes to bed. Maybe we were way past his bedtime and that explains the poor job done. Let's hope that means he's doing the early games during the playoffs so he doesn't have too many more broadcasts to botch.

And TBS has the rest of the first round, and Caray and Darling get the Yankees broadcasts, so they'll be plenty more Chip Caray broadcasts to keep us company. Of course, he's not even half as bad as all the George Lopez commercials in between innings...