Yankees Chick - News, Rumors, and Opinions on the Bronx Bombers From a Brunette Babe

Now that the National League October representatives have finally been hammered out - and what the hell, Padres and Mets! I had you two down as eventual NLCS contenders - I can officially morph into post-season mode. We're just 2 days away from game 1 of the Yanks-Indians series, and the Yankees Chick's emotions seem to have been concocted from some strange mixture of nerves-juice, excitement-tonic, and terror-milk (mmmmm....terror-milk), a feeling unlikely to dissipate until the Yanks have successfully navigated their way through round 1 of post-season-ville.

Through a stroke of good luck and some magic courtesy of Dreamy Grady Sizemore, the Yankees avoided having to face the Krypotonite that is the Angels in the ALDS. This is key for the Yanks not because the Indians are a lesser team, but simply because for some unknown reason the team is reduced to little more than a gaggle of stuttering tee-ball players in the Angels' presence. The Yanks beat the Indians every time they faced them during the regular season, but while that may give the boys an extra spring in their step as they head to Cleveland it really doesn't mean much in the post-season; these games are going to be won (or lost...) on timely hitting (you can do it this year, A-Rod! I believe in you!) and on the big P-word: Pitching.

Things have been looking swell for the Yanks over the past couple months, and there is plenty to feel good about going into the series in Cleveland - A-Rod proved his clutchosity in the final few days, Hughes's last outing was great, Posada never woke up and realized he is a 36-year-old catcher and should not be hitting so well - but there are unfortunately some question marks we need to be concerned about, namely:

Roger Clemens: Peter Abraham assures us that the Rocket has been working out and is in fine shape and Torre sounds positive that he will be able to start on Sunday, but I will not count these chickens until they are hatched in the form of Indians striking out.
Moose: This man makes me wish I was the type of person that bit her nails.
Matsui: He missed the last 2 games of the season because of swelling in his knee and had the fluid drained over the weekend, and Torre indicated that he may only be available to DH throughout the series. Since we have a good bench these days (thank goodness), there is no real shortage of outfielders; what worries me is having him in as DH if he is not at 100%. There is no room for half-injured players on a post-season roster.
Farnsworthless: He is so worthless it seems like sacrilege to even waste valuable blog space discussing him. He will be on that roster though, and we all know that if someone is alive, breathing, and not bleeding profusely from one or more orifices, Torre WILL use him in a game.

These question marks, while nagging, should pale in comparison to all of the exclamation points the Yanks have in their favor (if you're not impressed with that punctuation metaphor, you are no longer welcome at my dinner table), which shall be discussed in glorious detail on Wednesday. I can't promise any more punctuation puns though... I'm tapped out.