MLB Musings

Random thought while toggling back and forth between the Yanks-Royals game and the all-important Twins-Tigers clash:

FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE YANKEES RIGHT NOW: Phil Hughes' peach fuzz. I haven't been so happy about a Yankee mustache since Sal Fasano (sorry, Giambi).

GOOD SIGN: Nick Swisher's newfound aggressiveness. YES's John Flaherty reported the normally patient Swisher's been going after the first pitch more often, throwing off hurlers who expect him to take, take, take. In the fifth, Swisher waited one pitch before belting the 0-1 offering from Royals' starter Robinson Tejeda over the wall in right field. It was his 29th homer of the year, a remarkable season for Swisher, who began the year as a platoon player at best. Never thought losing Xavier Nady would hurt so little. (Swisher's fielding misadventures last night aside)

GOAT OF THE NIGHT: Atlanta's Matt Diaz. The Braves' right fielder was picked off third base by the catcher after a pitch in the dirt, which is bad enough. That it came with two outs in the ninth inning, bases loaded, down 5-4, in a must-win game for the Braves? That's positively Merkle-esque.

WORST PLAY OF WEDNESDAY'S GAME FOR THE YANKEES: Freddy Guzman NOT getting picked off first base. The outfielder and September callup is basically a Dave Roberts type player -- he's here so he can steal bases. Guzman has more stolen bases (two) than at bats (one) this season. But like most Herb Washington types, Guzman gets picked off far too often.

In the seventh inning, Guzman pinch ran for Robbie Cano after Cano drew a leadoff walk. Reliever Jamey Wright threw over once, and Guzman eased back. But when Wright tried a second time, Guzman was fooled and barely made it back to the bag.

Young speedsters often need to learn their limits the hard way, and getting picked off is often the quickest lesson. But Guzman got back safely, and he probably took little away from the pickoff attempt. Better he'd been nabbed now and figured it out before the postseason.

VERY GOOD SIGN: Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera went one scoreless inning each. Good to see the pistons are firing on all cylinders.

BAD SIGN: Johnny Damon's current 2-25 stretch. Now 35, Damon has seen his average drop back to .280 after a strong second half. Can't help but wonder if he's running out of gas.

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU SHUDDER: "Mariano Rivera made an appearance this week on the new cover of Sports Illustrated"

RANDOM INTERJECTION INTO OVERBLOWN DEBATE: Joe Mauer should win the MVP award. He leads the AL in batting overage, on-base percentage, and slugging average as a catcher, and he has 28 home runs. Jeter, meanwhile, is second in hits and third in runs, average, and OBP. As good as Jeter has been, Mauer has been better.

VERY BAD SIGN: Joba Chamberlain. 3 2/3 innings, 91 pitches, seven hits, four walks, three runs. This was his last start before the postseason. The goal was seven strong. Instead, it was another start that must cause Girardi to pull out what little hair he has. At this point, even Chad Gaudin is looking like a viable alternative for a possible ALCS Game 4.

WTF: Umpires squeezing Mariano.

SCARY PLAYER ON DETROIT: Placido Polanco. The Tigers' second baseman made two under-the-radar plays that changed the course of Detroit's 7-2 win. In the third, he speared a Delmon Young line drive out of the air with a man on first and two outs to end the inning and preserve Detroit's 4-2 lead. Later, he singled to center on a hit-and-run to move Ramon Santiago to third and kick-start a three-run fifth inning that put the game away. Polanco hit .412 with three runs scored against the Yanks in the 2006 ALDS, and he continues to be a dangerous bat in the lineup.

I'D RATHER PLAY: Twins. One of the ESPN announcers wondered aloud "How on earth have they managed to win all these games?" He went on to add the Twins have no real ace, don't have a lot of power and aren't scoring a lot of runs. People aren't saying these things about Detroit. 'Nuff said.

Link'd Up, 9/30/09: Follow up on the big fella

In my article about C.C. Sabathia earlier today, I linked to a Sports Illustrated story from six months ago. Here's something a little more current from ESPN's Peter Gammons. Yankee fans, you better hope the wizened czar of Baseball Tonight knows what he's talking about.

Link'd Up, 9/30/09: Clairvoyant on C.C.

The Sports Illustrated cover jinx is well-documented, to the point where superstitious minds think it's as real as the Madden curse (et tu, Polamalu?)

Players and coaches have actually refused to pose for the cover of SI, fearing they'll lose their mojo once the magazine hits newsstands. Every once in a while, though, the jinx reverses itself, and the player featured goes on the fulfill the lofty expectations that usually sit upon those who make the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Enter C.C. Sabathia, the Yankees' brawny ace who graced SI's cover in early April for its baseball preview issue. The big man has exceeded all expectations, posting a 19-7 record and 3.21 ERA while anchoring a Yankee rotation that at times was among the best in baseball. Sabathia will start Game 1 of the ALDS, most likely on Wednesday, and he gives the Yankees an immediate advantage (even if his counterpart is Tigers' flamethrower Justin Verlander).

Kudos to C.C. for breaking the cover jinx. Oh, and the corresponding article from S.L. Price ain't bad either. If you want to really understand the rock of the Bombers' starting pitching, this is a must read.

Former Friend, Fallen Foe

The rash of shoulder injuries to pro and college quarterbacks this season is nothing sort of maddening. The biggest luminaries to go down have been the Pats' Tom Brady and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, who both hurt their right (throwing) shoulder on post-pass hits by the defense. Both hits were legal, yet both were executed in a manner seemingly designed to injure the quarterback. Let me rephrase: When you pile drive a QB into the ground with all your weight behind you two seconds after he throws the ball, you're trying to hurt the guy.

The latest victim of this disturbing trend is the quarterback who was in turn snubbed, cast aside, and forgotten by the Jets: Chad Pennington.

The Dolphins' signal-caller suffered a torn capsule in his right shoulder when he was pulled down from behind by Chargers' linebacker Kevin Burnett after a throw in Sunday's 23-13 loss. Barring a second opinion by sports guru sage James Andrews, Pennington's season is over, and some experts say his career is done as well.

If that's the case, it marks an ignominious end for a quarterback who was actually one of the Jets' all-time best. Sure, you could argue that points more to the sad state of Jets' quarterbacks through the years, but the bottom line is Pennington ranks fifth all-time in team history with 13,738 passing yards.

Since 1963, the Jets have drafted just five quarterbacks in the first round: Joe Namath, Richard Todd, Ken O'Brien, Pennington, and current rookie phenom Mark Sanchez. Each of the first four were drafted to turn middling franchises around, and each is in the pantheon of Jets' quarterbacks. Pennington is a worthy member of that fraternity, however rocky the ride seemed at times.

Then the Jets saw a better opportunity in Brett Favre 3.0 (I think -- I can't keep track of all his retirements) and basically kicked Pennington to the curb. All Chad did was sign with the Dolphins, turn 0-16 into 11-5 and finish second in the MVP voting. Pretty good.

And now his career is probably over.

After the Jets failed with Favre, they were once again left without a No. 1 quarterback. Enter Sanchez, the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to lead his team to a 3-0 start and the new savior signal-caller for Gang Green. Perhaps Sanchez will be the great quarterback the Jets have sought since Joe Willie hung up his cleats. But people should take a moment to think on the career of Chad Pennington, a man who deserved better on and off the field.

The Rundown: Yankees say "just a step", celebration says different

As the saying goes, it was a banner weekend in New York sports. The Yankees clinched the AL East by sweeping the Red Sox. The Giants and Jets are both 3-0 for the first time since 2000. And the Knicks made themselves borderline watchable next season by re-signing their two key free agents. But banners aren't always a good thing. Just ask George W. Bush.

NEW YORK YANKEES: Sunday's 4-2 win over the Red Sox was about as significant as you can get for a regular-season game. The victory gave the Bombers their first division title since 2006 and secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. It gave them 100 wins in a season for the first time since 2004. And it completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox and evened the season series at 9-9 after Boston won the first eight games.

A big deal, obviously. But it led to a curious postgame dichotomy.

Joe Girardi's squad said all the right things, led by the manager himself. Girardi called the win "just a step," and added: "That's the way it is here. We don't play just to make the playoffs."

Yet the Yankee skipper was sporting a '2009 AL East Champions' hat as he said it. And the scene around him belied his tempered speech.

The Yanks did everything but hang a "Mission Accomplished" banner in the locker room, dousing each other with champagne and cavorting around like they'd won the whole thing. C.C. Sabathia only added to the confusion with this head-scratching quote: "Winning a championship is what I came here for. It definitely feels good -- first one in pinstripes, first one in the new stadium, first celebration."

Now it could be that the folks at the AP decided to cut corners and combine quotes from two different questions, or Sabathia could have perfectly articulated the study in contrasts that was the Yankees after Sunday's game. If that's not enough, look at the picture and caption in this CBS Sports article and tell me the team isn't sending mixed messages.

Celebration is good. Being satisfied in your accomplishments is good. But you don't go crazy and fill the clubhouse with champagne for a regular-season title. Last I heard, they don't give out championships for winning your division. Girardi better hope the new Yankees don't get flush with regular-season success and fall flat next week.

NEW YORK GIANTS: The G-Men pounded the hapless Bucs 24-0, outgaining them 397-86 in total yards in a game that was never in doubt. They held former teammate Derrick Ward to two yards rushing on five carries and battered washed-up quarterback Byron Leftwich.

The win looked impressive, but it's hard to take much from a victory against such inferior opposition. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay's first-year coach, summed it up nicely after the game. "We were beat by a grown-man team," he said, and indeed the G-Men earned their moniker on Sunday.

As pedestrian as the victory was, it's still a W. Victories against similarly bad teams in the next two weeks (at Kansas City, vs. Oakland) and the Giants will be off to a sizzling 5-0 start.

NEW YORK JETS: Gang Green has started 3-0 just four times in its history: 1966, 2000, 2004, and now 2009. The Jets avoided an obvious trap game after their upset of the Patriots in Week 2, holding on in the second half to beat the Titans 24-17.

For the third week in a row, the onus was on the defense to put the game away. Once again, Rex Ryan's D delivered, stopping Tennessee twice in the last five minutes to put the game on ice.

Linebacker David Harris was this week's defensive hero, collecting an interception and a sack on the final defensive stands. One of Ryan's many talents so far has been his ability to coax great individual performances from his defensive players. The Jets will need someone else to step up next week against Drew Brees and the juggernaut that is the Saints' offense if they want to remain unbeaten.

NEW YORK METS: On Sunday, it will be 40 years since the formerly Amazins won the first ever NLCS game on their way to a "Miracle" World Series title. The Mets will celebrate the milestone by quietly playing their last game of this hopefully forgettable season and grabbing their Calloways out of the closet.

NEW YORK KNICKS: At the beginning of this offseason, Knicks' GM Donnie Walsh made a conscious, farsighted decision: He was not going to spend one cent more than he had to this summer. That way, he could keep enough cap space free to go after the Dream Team of 2010 free agents (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh) and still have enough green left over for a decent supporting cast.

The move was a gamble, dependent on a bad economy forcing down the salary cap and scaring teams across the NBA away from making lucrative multi-year offers to the Knicks' prize free agents, guard Nate Robinson and forward David Lee.

Well, fans, it's time to light a stogie in honor of Mr. Walsh, because that's exactly what happened. Lee and Robinson tested the free agent waters and found nothing. Wednesday, they agreed to one-year deals with the Knicks that fit Walsh's plan perfectly.

Those contracts will come off the cap after this season, leaving the Knicks with the desired cap space for next offseason. And Lee and Robinson, both proven talents, will be more likely to re-sign again if they have LeBron or D-Wade as a new teammate. Isaiah Thomas was never this savvy.

Plays That Matter: Ball four, bad news for Boston

Most of SportsCenter's top 10 plays are the same: defensive gems and walkoff home runs in baseball, sacks and touchdowns in football, thunderous dunks in basketball, and fights in hockey. In reality, the plays that decide a game are mundane occurrences, overlooked by commentators and forgotten in the annals of history.

Well I'm gonna stick up for the little guy. Here's the first installment of Plays That Matter, where I dissect the plays that decide the game but are absent from the next day's news. Case in point: Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester, umpire Tim Welke, and as bad a call as you'll ever see.

SITUATION: Yankees-Red Sox on Friday night. Bottom third, runners on second and third, one out, 3-0 Yanks. Lester had already surrendered two runs in the inning on a long home run from Alex Rodriguez, and now there were two runners in scoring position with one out. Up came the uber-patient Nick Swisher, who worked the count to 3-0 before Lester battled back to 3-2.

THE PLAY: Boston catcher Victor Martinez set up low and inside, and so did Welke, the home plate umpire, who crouched directly behind Martinez. Lester fired a perfect fastball that froze Swisher and smacked into Martinez's glove well inside the strike zone.

Only Welke didn't move. The 25-year veteran ump kept his hands at his sides, and Swisher trotted to first with a walk.

It's hard to underscore just how bad a call this was, but several slow-motion replays on YES -- from every angle -- gave me a pretty good idea. The pitch was at the top of the knees and literally right down the middle, a strike by at least two inches on every side. A visibly stunned Lester stared incredulously toward home plate, and you didn't need to be a lip-reader to see him say "Where the f--- was that?"

The only possible explanation I can think of is that Welke was fooled by the late movement on Lester's fastball. Martinez had set up over the inside corner but had to slide his glove toward the middle of the plate to catch the pitch. When he caught the ball, his glove kept moving toward the outside corner, making it hard to judge from behind where exactly he caught the ball. Maybe Welke was confused and decided to play it safe with no strike call. Otherwise, he had a temporary seizure or other mental lapse. Either way, it was one of the worst ball-strike calls I've ever seen.

WHY IT MATTERED: Lester's next pitch was a first-pitch fastball to Melky Cabrera, who lined a shot off Lester's right knee. Boston's ace crumpled to the ground in agony and was eventually helped off the field as Red Sox Nation held its collective breath. X-rays on the knee were negative, and Lester should be fine for the playoffs. But it may affect the way he pitches, and it almost was much, much worse.

If Welke punches out Swisher, there's two outs and a base open, and Lester doesn't feel obligated to groove a first-pitch fastball down the middle. No groove, no liner off the knee.

I'm going to cut off the naysayers right away. Yes, the above situation is hypothetical, and yes, you can't directly attribute one pitch to another. But it's a fact that Welke's blown call affected Lester's choice of pitch and location to Cabrera. It may not be a straight line, but it's too much to ignore.

C is for Clinched

In most cases, C is not exactly what people shoot for. But for the Yankees, C has been magic letter this season, no more so than during Saturday's 3-0 win over the Red Sox.

C.C. Sabathia, a man so big he gets two C's, was at his best, baffling the Boston hitters throughout seven innings of one-hit shutout ball. The Yanks' ace has been virtually unhittable of late, going 9-0 with a 2.04 ERA in his last 11 starts. Overall, the big guy has compiled a 19-7 record and has an outside shot at his second Cy Young award. After the game, manager Joe Girardi confirmed the obvious -- C.C. will start Game 1 of the divisional series for the Bombers.

It's arguable that not since the halcyon days of Andy Pettitte, before the elbow injury and the HGH and the shipping off to Houston, have the Yanks had such a bona fide ace. And no, I'm not forgetting Roger Clemens. I'm just discounting all of his postseason performances after 2001 because they were so inconsistent. We've long since past the point of argument that C.C. is worth every penny of his seven-year, $161 million contract, so I'll go one step further: There is no pitcher on an AL contending team as good as C.C. Sabathia.

As if that weren't enough Cs, the Yankees got their offensive jump start on Saturday from Robinson Cano, who broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with an opposite-field home run off Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka. The longball gave Cano 100 runs and 199 hits on the season, and with a single on Sunday the second baseman reached 200 hits in a season for the first time in his career.

The Yankees didn't pick up Johan Santana or Roy Halladay in recent years because they weren't willing to part with Cano, despite his lackadaisical attitude on the field and his inability to draw a walk. Kudos to GM Brian Cashman, because the Yanks ended up getting an ace anyway in Sabathia, and Cano has become one of the best second basemen in the game.

Some good C's indeed. Oh, and with their 4-2 win over Boston on Sunday to complete the three-game sweep, the Yanks added two more pretty nice C's: Clinched the AL East for the first time since 2006 and clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

That's 100 wins, nine straight victories against the Red Sox, the first AL East crown in three years, and the first playoff appearance in two years. For the Yankees, a lot of C's have added up to an A+ of a regular season.

Educating Flozell Adams

On a day when the shooting star that was Plaxico Burress began his two-year prison sentence, the biggest issue for the current Giants team was the status of Justin Tuck's left shoulder. The Pro Bowl defensive end injured the shoulder when he fell on it in the second quarter of the G-Men's 33-31 win over the Cowboys.

How did he fall? That depends on whom you ask.

To the naked eye, the referees, and millions of NBC viewers, Tuck was tripped by Cowboys' left tackle and resident dirty player Flozell Adams. Tuck had beaten Adams on an inside move, and Adams stuck out his right leg and tripped him like a bully on a playground. The Giants confirmed the story en masse, as Tuck said the play was "bush league" and defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka called out Adams on Monday.

In the face of overwhelming criticism, Adams didn't back down. Instead, he took a jab at Tuck's unique choice of words. "I never heard of [bush league] before," he told reporters. "I'm curious. What is it?"

I'm glad you asked, Flo.

The term "bush league" was coined early in the 20th century when smaller pro baseball leagues began to spring up as farm systems for the majors. With a fraction of the MLB's resources, teams in these leagues often played without stadiums, on ballfields that were literally fields. There were often bushes surrounding these open fields, and the term "bush league" was born.

To put it in terms you can understand, Flo, bush league means low-level, minor league, inferior. And considering your NFL-worst 29 penalties since 2007, maybe the bush leagues are where you belong.

The Rundown: Time for a mea culpa

Let me join sportscasters, pundits, and nonbelievers from across the country in saying those two little words to the New York Jets.

My bad.

In my last post (scroll down), I called Kerry Rhodes' trash talking of the Patriots "monumentally moronic" and said Gang Green would get "swatted" by the Pats. But I overestimated Tom Brady's ability to bounce back from a mediocre Week 1 performance, and I vastly underestimated the Jets' defense. Instead of a vintage Bill Belichick beatdown, we saw a 16-9 upset by the Jets that may shift the balance of power in the AFC East.

New head coach Rex Ryan was a defensive genius with the Ravens, and he's turned the Jets' D into a fearsome force. The AFC East leaders -- yes, you read that right -- have surrendered a total of nine points on defense in two games. Sunday, they kept the Pats out of the end zone for the first time in 37 games. Gang Green got a major assist from a raucous home crowd at the Meadowlands, but the credit belongs to Ryan and his defense of believers.

And that's the other thing worth mentioning: I also underestimated the Jets' heart. Since Bill Parcells retired after the 1998 season, the Jets have been without a really good head coach, and they've often played like a team without a purpose. Ryan has given this team a purpose, an attitude, and a swagger in just two regular-season games. It's just September, but the Jets have proven they can play with anybody.

NEW YORK GIANTS: Talk about an uneven game for Big Blue. Yes, they pulled out a gut-check 33-31 win over the Cowboys to spoil Jerry Jones' christening of the new Cowboys Stadium, but there were some ugly statistics to swallow after the game. The G-Men allowed 251 yards rushing and failed to score a touchdown in the red zone on four trips.

Still, an excellent game from Eli Manning (330 yards, two TDs, no picks) and a +4 turnover margin must give Tom Coughlin reason to smile. And a pair of second-year players had breakout games on Sunday. Wide receiver Mario Manningham had 10 receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown, while safety Kenny Phillips had two picks and seven tackles.

NEW YORK YANKEES: Five losses in their last nine games is probably just mildly frustrating for the Yankees, considering they're just one win away from clinching a playoff spot. More concerning was the egg laid by Joba Chamberlain in Sunday's 7-1 loss. What to do with Joba has become the Fermat's Enigma of the Yankees, a problem with multiple theories but no real solution. Bullpen or starter? Pitch count or not? Normal or extended rest? No one can figure it out.

If Joba continues to struggle, those questions may become moot. Joe Girardi can't stick with him as a No. 4 starter forever, and the issue needs to be resolved before a possible seven-game ALCS.

On the bright side, A.J. Burnett threw seven innings of one-run ball on Friday, showing his best stuff and give nervous Yankee fans everywhere hope for the playoffs.

NEW YORK METS: I watch SportsCenter this morning, and they were counting down the Top 10 plays of the week. One one of the plays was made by Nationals' closer Mike MacDougal, who speared a comebacker that knocked his glove off and still got the final out at first. The batter? Mets outfielder Jeff Francoeur, who made the unlucky last out in the 6-5 loss.

The SportsCenter anchor said dryly. "These are the Mets. The Nationals are in last place... but these are the Mets." Enough said.

RANGERS/ISLANDERS/DEVILS: In the preseason, hockey gets less coverage. But in the first New York area clash of the preseason, the Devils beat the Rangers 3-2 in a shootout after the Blueshirts rallied from a two-goal deficit. Positives for both teams.

COLUMBIA FOOTBALL: Why include this? Because Columbia went to Fordham and knocked off the Rams 40-28, a rare non-Ivy League win for the Lions. And because Colubmia has a quarterback named Millicent Olawale, a neuroscience and behavior major and future doctor who threw for two scores and ran for two more against Fordham. More on this guy to come.

Link'd Up, 9/18/09: Jets-Pats preview, Nets' new arena?

Double dose of linking fun today, as we look at two New York franchises with names that rhyme.

For those of who salivating for more Jets-Pats after my latest post (scroll down and see), here's a preview of the matchup, courtesy of former New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi.

Shifting to the NBA, the Nets have been planning to move to Brooklyn for, oh, about 10 years now. But owner Bruce Ratner's plans for a new stadium have been stuck in neutral, and the team now faces a key December deadline for breaking ground. But a Russian billionaire may have come to the rescue, the AP reports.

J is for Just Keep Your Mouth Shut

So did you know the Jets got a new coach in the offseason, a fiery, no-nonsense guy by the name of Rex Ryan? Corpulent fellow who used to be the defensive coordinator for the Ravens? Defensive mastermind who convinced Pro Bowl linebacker Bart Scott to follow him from Baltimore to New York?

Yeah, you know him. You probably also know about his brash persona and his attempts to insert a little swagger into a franchise that's 40 years removed from its only Super Bowl.

Commendable. But sometimes, swagger can lead to stupidity. Case in point: Kerry Rhodes.

The Jets' safety told reporters on Wednesday he wanted to 'embarrass' the New England Patriots, who come to Giants Stadium on Sunday. Rhodes went further, singling out star quarterback Tom Brady and saying the Jets will knock him down "more than six times."

Rhodes is probably right about getting to Brady more than the punchless Bills did in Week 1. And I'm sure Ryan loves the swagger-ific move by one of his players heading into a rivalry game. But that doesn't change the fact that it was monumentally moronic.

Take away the bravado, and this is what you get: A free safety with no Pro Bowl appearances, who plays on a team with no Super Bowls in 40 years, calls out a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl MVP, the quarterback of a Pats' team that's won three titles this decade. Brady's 18-0 in his last 18 regular-season games, for God's sake.

It'd be one thing if Rhodes' comments were merely harmless, a fly buzzing around your ear. But Brady and New England coach Bill Belichick have a history of using trash talk to fire the Pats up. This is the kind of game where Brady will finish 31-44 for 410 yards and three touchdowns and pick on Rhodes all day.

The Pats are a lot like Tiger Woods when they get pissed off. Woods famously demolished Stephen Ames 9&8 at the World Match Play Championship after Ames suggested Tiger was playing poorly enough for him to win. Tiger birdied seven of the first eight holes, and that was that. And you can tell he loved every minute of it.

The Jets looked very good in a 24-7 thrashing of the Texans in Week 1. They could have kept their mouths shut and let their play do the talking, and maybe even pulled off the upset. But now, there's no way Brady and Co. will lose. To borrow from my earlier metaphor, Rhodes' buzzing pissed the Pats off. Now he and the Jets are going to get swatted.

US Open Wrapup

A lot going on in New York early this week, including the beginning of NHL preseason action and a bench-clearing brawl between the Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays that caused both Newsday's Ken Davidoff and The Daily News' Jon Harper to call the Yankees idiots.

But I'm going to go back to tennis one more time and give you six things to take away from the US Open, in honor of 6-foot-6 Juan Martin Del Potro and the sixth straight title Roger Federer didn't get.

1. Enough about Serena Williams already. Yes, the defending champion went all John McEnroe on a line judge and lost match point on a code violation. And yes, her behavior was reprehensible. But the incident has spawned a tidal wave of commentary, from broadcasters calling for her to forfeit the women's doubles final to a New York Times' column on gender bias.

Bottom line: The line judge should never have made such a close call on the biggest point of the match. And Serena should have let it go and focused on the two match points against her. When she didn't, the chair umpire correctly docked her match point -- which is punishment enough, in my opinion, unless you want to fine her $50K and give the proceeds to charity. There's no need to belabor the issue at this point -- it will obviously get enough airplay at the 2010 US Open.

2. Kim Clijsters' channeled her 1994 Andre Agassi on her way to the women's title. At least that's the last time I can think of such a remarkable run.

Like Clijsters, Agassi was a former Grand Slam champion who came into the Open unseeded. Helped out by Jaime Yzaga's (remember him?) upset of No. 1 Pete Sampras, Agassi blew threw the draw, knocking off five seeded players on his way to the championship.

Clijsters was even more impressive, coming out of retirement after four years and beating both Williams sisters to claim her second US Open title. Perhaps she'll get a taste of Agassi's career Renaissance in the majors to come, assuming she decides to keep playing.

3. Unheralded American men were the most overrated -- and underrated -- storyline. Overrated because none of the U.S. upstarts who pulled off upsets will ever crack the top five or win a major, unless you think John Isner can play the match of his life two or three times in a week. Underrated because with all the media present at the Open, no one knew the story of Jesse Witten firsthand, like I did.

4. The Andys went gently into that good night. It was bad enough when No. 5 Roddick lost a fifth-set tiebreak to Isner just two months after taking Federer to the brink in the Wimbledon final. But no upset was more shocking than No. 2 Murray, who basically gave up after losing the first set to No. 16 Marin Cilic in the fourth round. Combine that with the Brit's gut-wrenching loss to Roddick in the Wimbledon semis, and you get a world-class player who disappears when the going gets tough.

5. Melanie Oudin is the real deal. Give her a couple years to turn 18 and all. But the Georgia girl with the iron will and booming groundstrokes knocked off Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, and Nadia Petrova in consecutive rounds to reach the quarterfinals. That's not a fluke; that's a prodigy.

6. Del Potro has the biggest forehand I've ever seen. I saw Sampras play out of mind for a day and destroy Agassi with his forehand in the 1999 Wimbledon final. And last year's Federer-Rafa Nadal Wimbledon epic featured incredible groundstrokes from both sides. But Del Potro's forehand was even bigger.

The 20-year old Argentine literally blew five-time defending champion Federer off the court with his forehand in the last two sets. When he wound up, you knew one of two things was happening: He was hitting it out or he was hitting a winner. After a while, Federer knew it too, and he began to press in the fifth set.

Federer will win more Grand Slams, and he remains the best player of his era. But with one incredible weapon, Del Potro knocked off the juggernaut and announced himself as tennis' Next Big Thing.

The Rundown, 9/14: Sanchez shines brightest in Week 1

Welcome to the first installment of The Rundown, a look at each of the heavy hitters in New York sports. For right now, that includes the pro teams from the four major sports that are in season (including the Giants and Jets, Devils and Nets, despite their locations). If St. John's basketball or the Red Bulls suddenly catch fire, I'll be happy to throw them in too. I'll open with a longer look at one of fine franchises, then briefly touch on the rest. Enjoy.

THE LEDE: NEW YORK JETS -- Not since Joe Willie Namath have the Jets drafted a quarterback who generated as much hype as Mark Sanchez. The Jets traded up to grab the USC star at No. 5, and Sanchez was immediately lauded as the savior of the franchise.

He certainly looked the part on Sunday.

Granted, it was the Texans in Week 1. But the newly minted Jets' starter was superb, leading Rex Ryan' squad to a 24-7 win. Sanchez threw for 272 yards and a touchdown, and just as importantly, he had just one interception in his first career start (considering the team's 23 total picks last season, worst in NFL).

Sanchez is not going to mirror Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan's rookie year of a season ago. But he can air it out and keep opposing safeties honest. If he can limit the turnovers and keep freeing up running back Thomas Jones (107 yards and two touchdowns), the Jets can at least keep their nose over .500.

NEW YORK GIANTS -- Osi Umenyiora took two quick steps and was around Redskins left guard Chris Samuels. And with that, Giants fans everywhere could exhale.

Umenyiora had torn the meniscus in his left leg in the 2008 preseason, a knee injury that threatened his trademark speed. While Jason Sehorn's ACL tear was more damaging, Giants fans everywhere remember his decreased cover ability and quick descent into retirement.

The highlight reel on SportsCenter focused on the end of Umenyiora's play -- his strip of Washington quarterback Jason Campbell and 37-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. I'll remember the beginning, when Osi proved he still has his speed.

NEW YORK YANKEES -- The Bombers are up seven games on Boston in the AL East and boast the best record in the MLB. But they are by no means in cruise control.

Case in point: Sunday's 13-3 shellacking of Baltimore at Yankee Stadium. The Orioles took the first two games of the series at Yankee Stadium and were poised for the sweep. They even had a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth.

Then C.C. Sabathia took over, and the Yankee brought out the big bats. Sabathia and the bullpen shut down the Orioles the rest of the way, and the Yanks erupted for eight runs in the eighth to blow it open.

Hideki Matsui was the star, with a home run and five RBIs, and he made it very clear how important Sunday's win was. "Winning today's game was pretty important," he said, according to the New York Times.

Don't expect the Yanks to ease up on the gas until they've got the AL's best record in hand.

NEW YORK METS: The Mets were officially eliminated from playoff contention after dropping both games of a doubleheader to the Phillies on Sunday. An ignominious end to an ignominious season.

Link'd Up, 9/12/09: The Knicks' Two-Year Plan

Many people are wondering why the New York Knicks didn't land any free agents this summer or deal with free agents David Lee and Nate Robinson. Sure, general manager Donnie Walsh is looking ahead to the bumper crop of free agents after next season (Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh). But the Knicks can barely field a team with what they have signed at this point. Not so good.

New York Times' basketball writer Howard Beck explains the Knicks' strategy in a comprehensive and enlightening article. Relying on the listless free agent market and a bad economy, Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni are banking on Lee and Robinson coming back to the fold.

One...two...THREE HITS!!! Jeter and 2721

You never know when you may, as George once said of Kramer, "stumble ass backwards" into history. You might go to a game on a whim and see a team's first cycle in 14 years (August 2, Melky Cabrera). And you might buy tickets for a random September game six months in advance and witness something not seen in 70 years.

Translation: It's been a good last couple Yankee games for me.

I imagine, though, that last night was a little better for the captain, Derek Jeter, who came into the game three hits shy of Lou Gehrig's team record of 2,721. Jeter was mired in an 0-for-12 slump, his worst of the season, and it looked like the record would have to wait until at least the weekend.

But from the first pitch he saw, Jeter was a man on a mission. Noticing that Rays' third baseman Evan Longoria was playing well back, he laid down a perfect drag bunt and sped down the line, breaking his hitless streak and energizing a crowd that badly wanted to witness history.

Each time Jeter came up, the fans got louder and the atmosphere grew more electric. When the Yankee shortstop laced a double to center field in the fifth inning, the place went wild, and for the next 45 minutes everyone paid a cursory attention to the game and waited for Jeter's next at-bat.

As he's done his entire career, Jeter didn't disappoint. Swinging at the first pitch again, he lined a shot past Tampa Bay first baseman Chris Richard for a clean single.

You know when it's your birthday, and you really really really (really really) want that one present, and then you open your gifts and there it is? That's the way we reacted. The pandemonium in the crowd and the lightshow from thousands of flashbulbs overcame everything, and we screamed ourselves hoarse for Derek Jeter, who finally allowed himself to bask in the moment. It was, in a word, incredible. My goosebumps had goosebumps.

When Jeter came up in the eighth with a chance to break the tie with Gehrig, the tension was palpable in the new Stadium, which braced for its first record. But reliever Grant Balfour walked Jeter on seven pitches, leading to a cascade of boos. The Yankee shortstop won't stand alone until at least Friday, but none of the 45,848 fans were really complaining. We'd seen our share of history.

I'm not going to extol the virtues of Derek Jeter or compare him to Yankees of eras gone by. I'll let the New York Post's Mike Vaccaro and the Daily News' Tim Smith do that. And I encourage all of you to comment on this post and give your take on Jeter and the record.

I will simply say that last night was one of my proudest moments as a New Yorker and a Yankee fan. Jeter epitomizes what it means to be a baseball player, on and off the field, and he deserves every word of praise -- and more. To see him atop the hits list of the most prolific franchise in baseball history was a moment I will never forget.

One more thing: Espn.com's Bill Simmons called Jeter "a washed up shortstop with no range" before the season started. How do you feel now, Bill?

Killer Koufax

Last night, I decided to do some casual reading before bed. So like any normal person, I browsed "Greatest Moments in Baseball History" circa 1987. Flipping through the pages, I came across Sandy Koufax's four no-hitters.

The Brooklyn native had no-hitters in four straight seasons, capping it all with a perfect game. Koufax retired all 27 Chicago Cubs in a 1-0 victory that proved to be even rarer than an average perfect game. The Cubs and Dodgers combined for just one hit, the only time in baseball history that's occurred. The Brooklyn southpaw also broke Bob Feller's record of three no-hitters that day (though he was eventually passed by Nolan Ryan).

Why do I bring this up? Because it occurred on September 9, 1965, 44 years ago to the day.

I figure that's too much of a coincidence for me. I had to mention it, and honor the greatest left-handed pitcher in baseball history. Here's to you, Sandy. That was quite a game you pitched.

Link'd Up, 9/9/09: Oudin and Stats in Tennis

You know how today is the opening of that movie "The Nine" and the reissuing of all the Beatles songs? That's nothing compared to THIS debut.

OK, maybe not. But welcome to the first edition of Link'd Up (sound familiar, like Mik'd Up? Clever, I know). It's simple: I give you a link to a very good or unique article about New York sports. It could be obscure, could be from a couple days ago -- whatever, as long as it's good.

We're kicking it off with a look at US Open sensation Melanie Oudin and her groundbreaking training method.

This article, which comes from the underrated and growing sports desk of the Wall Street Journal, examines the 17-year old prodigy's thorough analysis of film and statistics as part of her training, a method lost on many of her peers. Most sports see film and basic stats as the starting point for training and scouting opponents. In tennis, however, Oudin is one of the few who even looks at tape of her opponents, and it's served her well so far.

Fratboys in Flushing

Went to the US Open on Thursday to catch the early rounds, breaking with an 11-year tradition. Usually, my father and I catch the quarterfinal action on Tuesday or Wednesday of the second week, when the only matches worth watching are on Ashe and Armstrong (the two main courts). But this year, we decided to go a week early.

Great decision.

For those of you who live in the New York area and have never been to the US Open, you have to go. It's like being a Yankee fan and never rubbing shoulders with the Bleacher Creatures. There's nothing like walking around a complex the size of the Smithsonian with thousands of other fans and seeing the best tennis players in the world compete ($13 cocktails notwithstanding).

And if you've never been to the early rounds, you have to go. The sheer glut of tennis means that major matches will be played on the outer courts, allowing you to see some of the best players from 10 feet away. And there are always compelling storylines. Like the apotheosis of J-Dub.

Dad and I got to the grounds around 11 AM, and we figured we'd catch a side court match before heading to Ashe. So we randomly picked Court 11, and we randomly sat near the middle of the small bleachers there. We quickly realized that we'd stumbled into a frat party.

A dozen or so guys in their 20s were sitting there, some with Heinikens in hand, screaming wildly for the 276th-ranked player in the world, Jesse Witten. The qualifier from the University of Kentucky was playing Maximo Gonzalez from Argentina in the second round, but it felt more like an NCAA dual meet in Lexington. Every Witten winner led to bellows from the group, usually in the form of "J-DUUUUUBBB!!!" They got so loud that an Open official actually walked over and talked with them. That kept them quiet -- for about five minutes.

It was clear that J-Dub -- though somewhat overmatched in skill -- was feeding off his cheering section. But when he lost the first set in the tiebreak, Dad and I headed off, figuring he was bound for a straight-sets loss.

Instead, we returned almost two hours later to find Witten up two sets to one and the crowd in borderline delirium. The J-Dubs had been joined by hundreds of fellow fans rooting for the underdog American and were leading the packed bleachers in chants and cheers. When Witten broke to take a 4-2 lead, they howled with delight, and when he finally won they went bonkers.

I'd seen tennis players (read: James Blake) buoyed by the crowd at the Open before. But this was the first I've watched a player overcome an obvious skill disadvantage and simply ride his adrenaline and the encouragement of his friends. And Witten knew it -- he tossed his racket to his cheering section as he walked off the court.

It could only happen in the early rounds, on a court where every cheer could be heard and every small group of friends recognized. And it was a special thing to see.

Many of you may know the end of Witten's story, his gutsy four-set loss to No. 4 Novak Djokovic in the third round. That match was played on Armstrong, and despite the overwhelming support for Witten from the crowd, he probably couldn't single out the "J-Dubs" that came from his biggest supporters. After this tournament, he'll probably go back to playing Challenger events -- the tennis equivalent of Triple A. But he earned Djokovic's respect, and he earned the undying support of the crowd.

I saw a lot of great things during my early-round day at the Open, including 17-year old Melanie Oudin's upset of No. 4 Elena Dementieva and the subsequent blasting of The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" (I hope you all get the connection). But nothing stands out like the action on Court 11, and nothing rings in my ears like "J-DUUUBBBBBB!!!!"