It's Wang For Game Four

YAY! Wang is starting! Wang RULES at Yankee stadium!

I'm pleasantly surprised. I thought Joe's loyalty to vets might tie him to Mussina. But I guess he wants to keep his job and decided on Wang.

Speaking of jobs, does Joe want to come back?

I was surprised he took Hughes out when he was doing well too. I'll guess he wanted Chamberlain to erase the bugs and wild pitches out of his mind from the game before and rebuild his confidence. Joba seemed to tire in the 7th though... what was up in the bullpen? Why was there so many delays if they were going to leave him in there for the remainder of the 7th? And why was Joe signalling to Cano to check if the pitcher was ready? Was the phone to the pen not working?

One game at a time.... they've done it before.

they need to get bernie to throw t he first pitch, that way the stadium is exploding from first inning to last

JJ,

Joe mis-managed the pen in the 8th. First he got Veras up, and warm. Then he realized that if he had to take Joba out, the game was going to be in jeopardy, so he sat Veras down, and got Mo up. The only problem was, Mo then needed time to get warm.

It was a bad situation, but they won the game, that's the only thing that matters.

Wang is a good choice for tonight, sinkerballers generally have a little more movement on the ball when they are on short rest.

Wang at home, I think we may be looking at a game 5.

Prob. is we will be facing Delcarmen. we beat him once this year already, do we have another win ove rhim in us this year?

ok here is why joes decision to pitch joba 2 innings may have cost us the series... if he goes with hughs one more and farnsworth till there is trouble we have a 5 run cushion. more than likely hughs and farns or viz can get an out or 2 with out giving up 5 runs. now we need 7 innings out of wang on short rest or we may have to use viz or farns in a much tighter game and not have the services of joba. 2 things need to happen for us to win tonight A) i complete bronx bombing or B) a close game wang 7 mo 2 .. if wang cnt go 7 and the yanks dont hve 8 runs on the board not only will i be broke .. but joe will be out of a job. we need u wang lets go kid!! ps if go plays the gimbino tonight he will hve a huge game mark my words

Hindsight, people, hindsight. What if Joba didn't pitch, and Farns eff'd up (which is a very likely event), and gave up a bunch of runs before it was too late for Mo? Hughes threw 60+ pitches by then already. It was a do or die game, and Joe went with safety, and that's what he got. You'd probably be singing a different song right now if Farns or Viz blew that game. What's the point in guessing what could've/should've been after the fact? The end result is we won, and Joe should get part of the credit for bringing in whoever he brought in. We play today, we win today, with all hands on deck. That's what the team gets for putting itself in an 0-2 hole - no margin for error. Give Joe a break, he managed just fine.

Wang went

The plus side is he's young. The Yankees haven't been asking him to pitch on short rest all the time so his arm should bounce back, esp. if his pitch count was

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Farnsworth can probably give Joe two innings. He's been extremely well rested and hasn't pitched in over a week. That said, some guys get rusty when they aren't throwing every other game. Is the Farnsworth we hated in May and June going to show up, or the lights out guy who appeared in late July/August? That is the question. Repeat question for Viz.

Ok, one game at a time. But if you get past this game and force a fifth game, then what? Petitte on short rest, or Mussina? Can they deactivate Roger because of the hammy injury and activate Kennedy? Game five will present a whole new set of challenges to your pitching. And if you use Mo in game four, I'd assume he's out for game five. Do you then put your relieving in the hands of Joba?

I hope the Yanks get to the point where they have that dilema....

GEEZ.. some of that post disappeared!

Wang went less than 5 innings last game, but what was his pitch count? If his pitch count was less than 100 pitches, he should be fine for today. He's been healthy and relatively free of injury, so he should be OK.

Mike,

I'm with ya. I said it was a minor criticism, but only when you look back on the game and realize there's another one to be played tonight. Joe used the guys he trusted to nail down the win. Last night, game 3 was the only game that mattered, and he managed as such. A lesson Lou Pinella learned the hard way in game 1 of the NLDS.

The Yanks might have a 10-run lead after 6 tonight, and not need Joba or Mo. If that's the case, Joe is a genius for using Joba for 2 last night.

As for tonight, I think if it's a 1-run game in 7th or 8th, we'll probably see Joba for 1 inning. If he really isn't available, it'll be Mo for 2.

So you don't think Joe will use Farnsworth, Viz or any of the others until they meet Boston? (I'm thinking positive!)

JJ,

Wang threw 94 pitches in game 1. I don't want to talk about game 5 yet, but if it gets there, Pettitte will be going on full rest (because tomorrow would be an off day).

I think we might see Farnsworth tonight, but it won't be for more than an inning, I don't think. Joe hasn't used him for more than an inning all year. No matter how much rest he has, it's always a crap shoot with him.

Brian, my comment was mostly for that paxton17 fella saying Joe's decision might have cost us the series. It's really tiring hearing that kind of stuff ad nauseum where people think they would make better managers and bash Joe in the process for doing his job. I say Joe's decision last night saved the series for us so far. You manage with that you got.

As for availability of various folks, I'd think if a particular situation called for it, anyone would be available any time, regardless of how they've been used before. It's just that if it's sudden death, you can't be saving your best people for something that may never happen. If we score a million runs, fine, but with a few runs diff, how do you give the ball to somebody like Farns? I dunno. Maybe Joe will, maybe he won't, I just hope his decisions will be the right ones (judging primarily on the outcome of the game, and not who he used too much/too little or why didn't he have so and so bunt etc).

WHY DID THEY ADD VILLONE AND NOT IAN KENNEDY

why? what situation would you use villone in? he sucks! dumb, dumb move...

I thought the game started at 6!

There's a freaking rerun of Friends instead of the game!

It's actually great for us, West-coasters, that they moved the game time. That way, I'll be able to catch most of it.