So many things went right for the Yankees last night with two outs in the top of the ninth inning but this was the game changer:



What can I say besides: BLESS THE SHIFT! What a perfect storm of using the Phillies' defense against them to win the game.

This is baseball at its best. I don't know if I'm ever going to stop getting emotional when I think about that ninth inning. One for the books, definitely.

This is making me laugh until I cry. I know the "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAH" is coming but I still start giggling like a loon every time.

My belly hurts and I almost peed my pants AFTER going to the bathroom.

Quick, someone post the comic of Caine taking off his sunglasses to reveal another pair of sunglasses.

/in love with these men forever

Except to say: gods above, why?

HAPPY PLAYOFFS, EVERYBODY!

In other fabulous news:

Phil Hughes has shaved. The first thing I said to him was that he had the worse mustache I’d ever seen, to which he laughed. “The worse the better,” he said. Hughes shaved the thing last night. “It was starting to get irritating,” he said.

Via Chad Jennings at LoHud.

WHO HAS TWO BOTTLES OF CHAMPAGNE AND KNOWS HOW TO PARTY?



THIS GUY!

Today is a good day for the church of baseball.

Nervous Breakdown = cancelled.

Hurrah!

Let's just say that for a while I was all:



But then I was like:



How are you all?

I think I have a show again.



Everything that is right with the world is in Glee.

Gif made by fight_the_sky

Joe Girardi on Jeter nearing a milestone:

"He got a standing ovation running sprints in pre-game."

Nick Swisher on speedy outfielder Brett Gardner:

"Fastest white man in America."

I think last night was Alex Rodriguez's best pop-up adventure yet.





When running one down, he ended up getting a handful of an officer of the law instead. Funniest thing I have seen in a while.

During the last 50 years, the Yankees have not won a single World Series while a Republican was preisdent.

The article definitely nails it on Eisenhower--that man was the last great Republican leader of the free world. He doesn't count.

And here's my conspiracy theory: the Yanks realized this and had to build a new stadium to rid themselves of the Bush curse. When Obama goes to NY to throw out the first pitch for the World Series this year, a new era of champions will be borne.

ETA: Happy Roster Expansion Day!

Took one look at this picture and had no thought but this:

Favorite headline of the day:

Bronx Bombers überrollen Red Sox.

Hug it out, bitches. Hug it out.

(Courtesy of xlouder_now)

But this morning I love Twitter.

#codyransom! #codyransom! #codyransom!

Each time I see the preview for Disney's new film "G-Force" I think to myself: incredible, this is the watered-down, family-friendly version of We3.

Wouldn't it be amazing if moviegoers attended the film expecting Disney and instead received Grant Morrison?

Happy birthday to Derek Jeter! He turns 35 today and he's having an amazing season for hits, runs, stolen bases, and defense. Here's to many more!

I'd like to display this top five list with little commentary but nyah nyah nyah.

Top Five Players with Most GIDP

1 Cal Ripken 350
2 Hank Aaron 328
3 Carl Yastrzemski 323
4 Dave Winfield 319
5 Eddie Murray 316

Derek Jeter's GIDP number as of this point in his fourteenth major league season: 203. Even if he goes on a tear during his final seasons and jumps above 315 he's in good company. So when someone tries to make you think a player isn't good due to GIDP numbers they're likely grasping at straws to defuse your impeccable arguments and taste. It might frustrate you in a game, but in the end it doesn't diminish a player's worth.

Since the David Ortiz/Brett Gardner home run race lost its sizzle after Ortiz leapt ahead of Gardner's two home runs* with a big, whopping third and fourth last week, I think it's time for a new Big Papi rivalry.

I declare 2009 the year of THE DROPPED POP-UP RIVALRY BETWEEN ALEX RODRIGUEZ AND DAVID ORTIZ!

As you all should know, last week Friday saw Alex Rodriguez deliver a new intangible: hitting an un-catchable, almost un-trackable pop-up which allowed two baserunners to score and won the game 9-8.

In last night's game against the Florida Marlins, David Ortiz started off the fifth inning by popping up to third and his soul cried out anguish.


"View this cruel sight, world! This is a man buckling under the weight of the heavens and the expectations of a Nation. See how he falls! This is so much more dramatic than breaking your bat and jogging to first base."

But then the Marlins' third baseman Emilio Bonifacio dropped the ball and Ortiz made his way to first. I haven't seen the footage yet so I'm curious about how long he stood at the plate in agony and whether or not someone had to push him to first base to get there safely.

But the danger has arisen anyway as Ortiz has had the audacity to tie A-Rod for dropped pop-ups. Well, little does he know that the Yankees are playing the Marlins this weekend! That's three games for A-Rod to get his chance to pop-up to Bonifacio.

He'll be ready, Ortiz. You've paved the way for him to best you while you squandered your series against the Mets by having a total of 0 pop-ups dropped by Luis Castillo.

Watch yourself!

*To be fair, Gardner's inside-the-park homer is something we will never see this year from Ortiz unless zombies come pouring out of the stands and rip off the arms of all the outfielders and infielders and probably the pitcher and catcher as well as all the benched players of the opposing team.