Notes, quotes and comment

I came into the ALCS not really caring which team advanced to the World Series. In my mind:

• the Red Sox and Astros are the two best teams in baseball;
• the Red Sox fan base has become essentially insufferable;
• the Astros management burned away its good will with its hypocritical trade for accused woman-beater Roberto Osuna. "Zero tolerance," my left nostril.

The pleasure I felt when Osuna gave up a grand slam to Jackie Bradley Jr. on Tuesday settled matters. Go Red Sox.

---

The garish "home run sculpture" in Marlins Park is, somehow, to be moved out of the stadium.

Considering the difficulties in doing so -- it is seven stories high, connected to plumbing and hydraulics and exists to fill a Miami-Dade County requirement for art in public buildings -- I would probably have left it in place.

I can agree with Derek Jeter on the aesthetics of the thing. But it's not the ugliest thing playing in that ballpark since Jeter's consortium bought the team and sold off a brilliant outfield.

---

Manny Machado is a marvelously talented player. He has also in this series repeatedly jogged on ground balls, twice made questionable slides into second (and was called on it once) and, on Tuesday, took a cheap leg-whip shot at Milwaukee's first baseman.

Counsell on if Manny Machado has gone beyond the bounds of playing hard: “I don’t think he’s playing all that hard,” Counsell said.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) October 17, 2018

Notes, quotes and comment

The Modern Era committee made its Hall of Fame selections and rejections Sunday.

It corrected one injustice by selecting Alan Trammell. It repeated another by leaving Marvin Miller out. And it committed a highly predictable error by electing Jack Morris.

That last is not a popular position in Minnesota. Morris was born and raised in St. Paul, he had that marvelous Game Seven to win the 1991 World Series, and he has a role in the Twins telecasts. (He's awful in that role, but that's the norm for FSN, which seems content to have analysts a generation behind the times.)

But the truth is, Jack Morris will be among the very worst pitchers in the Hall. (Rube Marquard and Jesse Haines are probably worse.) He was, as I said here, only once the best starting pitcher on the writers' ballot during the 15 years he was eligible. And he wasn't the best starting pitcher on the Modern Era ballot either. Both Tommy John and Luis Tiant have better credentials.

---

The winter meetings officially begin today in Orlando, Florida, but two of the biggest moves of the offseason have already happened: Shohei Ohtani signed with the Angels, and (pending a physical) Giancarlo Stanton will be traded to the Yankees.

I really don't get the Stanton hysteria. Yes, he hit 59 homers. Yes, he's a top-of-the-charts power hitter. He also has a long history of injuries -- 2017 was only the second time he's played 150 games. And his presence, plus that of Aaron Judge, probably means the Yankees are not going to be contenders in the Bryce Harper derby next winter.

Given a choice between Stanton and Harper, I'll take Harper. And it's not close.

---

Nor do I see Ohtani as a perfect fit with the Angels, although for his price tag imperfect fits are quite acceptable. Where do they get him the at-bats he desires? The outfield is pretty full with Mike Trout, Justin Upton and Kole Calhoun. DH? They're paying Albert Pujols $24 million a year though 2021, and he can't move anymore.

And if Mike Scoscia comes out of spring training saying, "We weren't really serious about giving him at-bats."  that's not a good look. They're going to give Ohtani a legitimate opportunity to play or have a grumpy Ohtani -- and a reputation for deceit.

But all that can be a useful problem, if they handle it right.

---

Back to the Stanton trade. I snorted the other night at the office when I read the Associated Press lead to the trade story:

After helping the New York Yankees to five World Series titles, Derek Jeter might help them win another.

The notion that Jeter is being a sleeper agent for Brian Cashman is silly. The notion that Jeter is over his head in running a major league franchise is not.

And what is obviously true here is that Jeter's ownership group overpaid for the Marlins and are undercapitalized. Their primary goal this winter to unload debt, and the biggest piece of debt they inherited from Jeffery Loria's inept outfit was Stanton's contract.

Jeter tried to send Stanton to the Giants or Cardinals; Stanton, armed with his no-trade clause, refused. Ultimately, it came down to sending him to the Yankees for a pittance or having his contract on the books, and Jeter's group can't afford that contract.

Jeter may well have mishandled the trade talks by exposing his lack of alternatives, although that lack of alternatives was fairly obvious. The biggest mistake, however, was overpaying for a teardown project. They should have let Loria go bankrupt.

Pic of the Week

Derek Jeter exults after his walk-off hit in his final
game in Yankee Stadium on Thursday.

I avoided adding to the Derek Jeter adulation and backlash as much as I could this year, and the past week in particular. I doubt anybody's missed my contribution. You want to read about Jeter, about the Captain, about "RE2PECT," there's plenty of other places to find that.

Still, he was a special player, the linchpin of a special team. For my money, the 1998-2001 Yankees were the greatest team ever --- better than the 1936-39 Yankees, better than the 1975-76 Reds, better than the 1926-28 Yanks, better than all the magnificent multi-year dynasties and mini-dynasties. And Jeter himself, I say, is the second best shortstop in major league history -- not up to Honus Wagner's standard, but better than Cal Ripken or Arky Vaughn or Ozzie Smith or Alex Rodriguez or anybody else one might care to nominate.

Thursday's game wasn't merely the last home game of Jeter's career. It's also the only game he ever played in the Bronx with the Yankees mathematically eliminated. The expanded playoff system certainly had something to do with that, as the the quality of the teams he played for. But that's still an astounding fact.

Pic of the Week

Derek Jeter acknowledges the
Target Field crowd after being
pulled from his final All-Star Game.

Well, yeah. Derek Jeter. Of course he's the pic of the week. The All-Star Game was the event of the week, and he was the focus of the All-Star Game.

He's not the best shortstop in the American League this year, but he's not the worst either. He's not the greatest shortstop in baseball history -- that remains Honus Wagner, as it has been for a century or more -- but I think he's the second best shortstop.

A great player who somehow manages to be at once both overrated and underrated. Tuesday was a good day to appreciate him.

Notes, quotes and comment

The Twins on Wednesday claimed left-handed pitcher Brooks Raley off waivers from the Cubs.

Raley is 25 and has 38.1 major league innings on his resume, garnered over the past two seasons. His fast ball velocity has diminished since he was drafted by the Cubs, and he apparently relies a lot on his breaking ball. He has been almost strictly a starter in the minors, but his major league innings last year all came in relief.

He fills, at least for now, the spot on the 40-man roster that was vacated when the Twins released Andrew Albers to allow him to sign with a Korean team.

Assuming that Raley is out of options, I think it's quite likely that the Twins will try to slip him through waivers themselves with the intent of using him as a starter in Triple A -- the role Albers was ticketed for. If he does have at least one option left, the Twins won't have to take that risk (unless and until they need the roster spot).

Either way, he figures to be organizational depth, not a realistic major league option -- at least not as a starter. As a reliever, a southpaw who can "spin it" -- a Ron Gardenhire way of referring to a slider or curve -- has a chance to be a LOOGY.

Derek Jeter stretches those 39-year-old legs.

---

Derek Jeter announced Wednesday that this will be his final season.

This is hardly a shocker. He had a difficult time trying to return last year from his 2012 ankle injury, and nobody can be sure what he's going to provide the Yankees this year.

For some reason, the idea that Jeter is about to depart the scene makes me feel old, far more than other retirements have. (That I am old is immaterial to this point.) It's not that it seems like Jeter's always been there -- it's more that it feels to me as if he just arrived.

Which is silly. Jeter's been an October fixture for almost two decades, and, as I said in a Monday print column a few years ago, I view him as the second greatest shortstop in major league history. Nothing he does this year will move him up or down that list.

Notes, quotes and comment

First base umpire Bill Miller gives Ron Gardenhire the
heave-ho in the fourth inning Wednesday. The
ejection meant Gardy missed the worst parts of
a really terrible game by the Twins.

Baseball America on Wednesday named Byron Buxton its Minor League Player of the Year.

No great surprise here, especially given the hoopla BA gave Buxton at midseason, but no small honor for the outfielder. He's the second Twins farmhand to win the award, the first being Joe Mauer in 2003.

BA's story on Buxton is here. A chat transcript with BA co-editor John Manuel about the player of the year process and other items is here.

---

Mauer was reported Wednesday to have had a setback with his concussion recovery. The Twins still aren't ruling out his return to action this season, and I suppose it's possible, but I'll believe it when I see it.

In other catcher news with the Twins, Ryan Doumit has reportedly been told he'll not catch again this year. These last three weeks figure to be heavy on Josmil Pinto and Chris Herrmann, with a little Eric Fryer on hand to ease the burden.

Considering how gingerly Pinto was handled much of the season in the minors — he caught 74 games for New Britain and Rochester and DHed in 52 — amid talk of protecting his shoulder, it will be interesting to see how much the Twins use him behind the dish. This can be a very good training opportunity for him, with Terry Steinbach around to really drill into the nuances of pitch calling and receiving.

---

The Yankees announced Wednesday that Derek Jeter is done for the season. Not just the regular season, but the playoffs also, should the Yankees get there (and as of now they wouldn't).

Jeter is 39, and he played just 17 games with a .190 batting average as he never fully recovered from last fall's fractured ankle. So this has all the signs of being the end of one of the great shortstops — except that he's not going away.

He said Wednesday he's not retiring, and Yankee general manager Brian Cashman agreed: "I haven't seen his last game. No one has."

And Jeter has repeatedly rejected reality to substitute his own. I'll believe he's done playing when he says he's done playing.

Father Time winning another one

Derek Jeter talks with trainer Steve Donohue
during spring training.

Derek Jeter isn't 28 anymore. He's 38, a well-used 38, and the list of usable major-league shortstops at his age is very small indeed.

The news Thursday that a new fracture had been found in his left ankle means he's a long way from being a usable major league shortstop right now. He's out until after the All-Star break -- at least that long.

Jeter has been more effective than most in staving off the ravages of time. But Father Time is undefeated, and  Jeter certainly is losing this year's fight.

When he returns -- and I assume he'll eventually take the field again -- he may not be at the level he has been. Sophisticated analysis of his defense has always suggested that he's not a great gloveman; managers and coaches, on the other hand, have long been awed by his reliability in the field. If these repeated fractures further diminish his already limited range,can he remain a shortstop? And if he's not a shortstop, will he still want to play?

Not a Pic of the Week, but it could have been

Did you ever have the feeling you were being watched?

I pulled this one during spring training as a potential Pic of the Week, but I wound up using something else. Then I stashed it figuring that I'd find an opportunity to use it with some Derek Jeter post during the season. That didn't happen either.

But I like the image too much to just forget it either.

And if you can forgive a literary reference, it evokes the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg in "The Great Gatsby."

Pic of the Week

Derek Jeter fractures his ankle. Note the position of the
left foot under the right ankle.

It is a given in this particular corner of the Internet: Baseball is better when the Yankees lose.

They haven't lost often over the past decade and a half. Oh, the Yankees don't win the World Series every year, or even most years. But they win. A lot. Too much.

Even this year, when they got swept — and, really, embarrrassed — in the league championship series — they still had the best record in the American League.

But there is a sense out there that last week's humiliation at the hands of the Detroit Tigers marks a turning point — that the Yankees have finally gotten too old, too frail, too expensive to recover. Joe Posnanski gives voice to that idea, with detail, quite well here.

I hope he's right. But for years I've fooled myself into believing that the Yankees dominance of the American League, if not of the majors, is ending, and I'm tired of clinging to that illusion.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Playoff shortstops

Shortstop was a disaster for the 2011 Twins -- so much so that it remained on my mind as I watched the first weekend of playoff baseball.

The odd thing is how many of the teams in the October tournament struggled at the position. Three of the surviving eight changed their regulars during the season; few have a truly outstanding all-round shortstop.

Break it down:

Sean Rodriguez played 431 innings at short this season
for Tampa Bay, 353 innings at second base and 172
innings at third base.

Tampa Bay Rays: Reid Brignac opened the season as their regular, but he was an utter disaster at the plate (.193/.227/.221). Elliot Johnson didn't hit either. Both men, according to Baseball Info System's advanced metrics (plus-minus and runs saved), fielded well; Brignac was +11 in plus-minus, +8 in runs saved, Johnson +13 and +11 in less than half Brignac's playing time.

But right now it's Sean Rodriguez playing short. He's out of position -- he's a second baseman -- but he's getting the job done well enough in the field, and he supplies something with the bat.

This solution has a ripple effect on the rest of the lineup. Playing Rodriguez at short means Ben Zobrist is locked in at second base, and that in turn deprives manager Joe Maddon of his preferred right fielder against left-handed pitching.

Texas Rangers: Elvis Andrus might be the best defensive shortstop in the American League. The BIS metrics like him (+14, +13).  His offense isn't to the same level, but he just turned 23 in late August. Of all the shortstops in this year's field, he's the one I'd most like to have.

New York Yankees: Derek Jeter had a painfully slow start and caught fire around the time he finally got his much-hyped 3,000th hit. (Second half slash line: .327/.383/.428). His power is pretty much gone, and the defensive metrics continue to say he's a poor defensive shortstop. Plus-minus has him at -22, runs saved at -18.

Detroit Tigers: The Cleveland Indians despaired of Jhonny Peralta's glovework at short, shifted him to third base, then unloaded him. The Tigers returned him to short. The BIS metrics say he's a very slightly below average defender (-5 in plus minus, -4 in runs saved.) From a shortstop who hit .299/.345/.478, that's plenty good enough.

Philadelphia Phillies: Jimmy Rollins is 32, and his game has declined since his 2007 MVP season. The BIS stats say he's an average defender (-4, -2). He is very much still a central figure on the best team in the National League, and it will be interesting to see how he and the Phillies handle his impending free agency.

Ryan Theirot, seen here taking a break-up slide from
Chase Utley, started 87 games at shortstop
for the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals: They opened the season with Ryan Theriot, then traded for Rafael Furcal. Theroit was vocally displeased about being replaced, but his defense was bad (-15, -12) and he isn't enough of a hitter to make up for it. Furcal isn't much of a much either, but he's an improvement over Theriot.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Opened with Stephen Drew, who has lived up to the family tradition of being generally viewed as making the least of his considerable talent. Whether that's fair or not, Drew broke his ankle in late June, and the Snakes have made do with veteran utilityman Willie Bloomquist. He's been an adequate patch.

Milwaukee Brewers: Few major league regulars draw the sabermetric disdain of Yuniesky Betancourt, and he certainly isn't a standout. But the position hasn't been a gaping wound for the Brewers either. Betancourt is, by the BIS metrics, a below-average defender, and there's no question that he's a below-average hitter. But this has been one season in which several teams have done worse at short than Betancourt, and that's not always been the case.

Pic(s) of the Week

A sign of respect for
Derek Jeter.

A pretty big week for Derek Jeter, big enough to justify two Pics of the Week.

Jeter started the week in Double A on a rehab assignment; he ended it having one of the highlight days of his  brilliant career, going 5-for-5 and hitting a homer for his 3,000th hit. And true to his reputation as a clutch player, his homer tied the game; his fifth hit drove in the winning run.

This has not been a great season for Jeter; a snarky commenter on one blog I frequent congratulated him on his second good game of the season. But Saturday was certainly a day that added to his legend.

And getting his 3,000th hit ends what has probably been the most overhyped milestone march since Cal Ripken's consecutive game streak.

Derek Jeter on a rehab assignment last weekend
with the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees' affiliate
in the Double-A Eastern League.

Two things grabbed me about this shot:

1) The ridiculous star-spangled jersey the Thunder made their players wear for the holiday weekend.

2) The Plastic-Man stretch of his glove arm. It just doesn't look like a match for his throwing arm, does it.

Cry me a river, Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter said Tuesday during the press conference to announce his new contract that the sometimes contentious process of negotiating that contract angered him.

Derek Jeter's notion of his playing future is probably
far more optimistic than the reality.

Never mind that the dispute was dragged into the public light by Jeter's agent, who called the Yankees' view of his client's worth "baffling." A couple of days later Yankee general manager Brian Cashman told reporters that if Jeter didn't like the team's offer, he should test the market — and that retort is what displeased Jeter.

Hey, if he wanted private negotiations (a la the Twins and Joe Mauer) he could have/should have told his agent to zip his lips.

In the end, the Yankees relented $6 million worth — considerably less than Jeter had to relent on his supposed initial demand — and they have themselves a three-year, $51 million agreement.

Which is probably some $33 million more than Jeter would have gotten on the open market. Miguel Tejada got a one-year, $6.5 million contract from the Giants. Tejada's slash stats in 2010: .269/.312/.381. Jeter's: .270/.340/.370.

If there's anybody willing to overpay me by that much, they won't hear any complaint whatsoever.

It probably should not be surprising that Jeter doesn't accept the conventional wisdom that he's in decline. Part of what makes him Derek Jeter is that he believes he can create his own reality. In the low minors, he committed more than 50 errors in a season, mostly throwing errors; today his throwing is probably the best element of his defense.

Jeter is said to believe that he can play, presumably at shortstop, well into his 40s.  I'll have to see it to believe it.

Something that ain't gonna happen

But it's worth a chuckle anyway.

(And if it did, I think Denard Span would give up his number for this guy. He wouldn't need Pat Neshek's.

Contemplating Derek Jeter, Part III

Derek Jeter has played 2,274 games at shortstop in his illustrious career, exactly zero at any other position.

Jeter is now fifth on the all-time list of games at short -- more than 400 behind the still-active Omar Vizquel, but closing in on Cal Ripken for fourth.

If he's not a shortstop,
where would he play?

Eighteen men have played more than 2,000 career games at the position. It's a demanding position, and as a historical rule, only the very best glovemen stay there throughout their careers. Ripken moved to third base late in his career, and Rabbit Maranville racked up more than 500 games at second base, most of them in his 40s. Luis Aparicio and Ozzie Smith never played another defensive position, and as a general thing, the great defensive shortstops can stay there even after having lost a step or two.

If Jeter has not been the worst fielder of the 18 (relative to his time), he's mighty close to it. And if he has not been the greatest hitter in the group, he's mighty close to that status too.

One of the underlying issues in the Yankees-Jeter contract standoff is: How long can the Yankees keep him at shortstop? And where else could they play him?

First base is out of the question; Mark Teixiera has six more years to go on his contract. Third base? Alex Rodriguez's money sinkhole doesn't close until 2018. Second base is still the middle infield, and anyway, Robinson Cano is there. That leaves the outfield.

Assuming that Jeter's ego will allow him to change positions. The Yankees management is too sharp to take five Gold Gloves as proof of defensive prowess; Jeter may see the big ugly trophies as proof positive.

If this report -- that Jeter is demanding a six-year deal at $25 million a year -- is accurate, his ego is badly inflamed. The Yankees are in the uncomfortable position now of cutting a reality check on the financial issue, and even after that's over, will have to cut another on the baseball issue.

Contemplating Derek Jeter, Part II

It's been what, two-plus weeks, and I'm still wrapping my little brain around the fact that Derek Jeter got yet another Gold Glove.

Six errors in 2010,
eight in 2009. There's
more to defense than
avoiding errors, but
that counts too.

That's five. Only four shortstops have won more, which is a bit less impressive than it sounds, since the Gold Gloves started in 1957. So shortstops like Marty Marion, Phil Rizzuto, Honus Wagner, Leo Durocher and Dave "Beauty" Bancroft -- all regarded as superb glovemen -- have none.

Still, five is more than guys like Davy Concepcion, Ozzie Guillen, Alan Trammell and Barry Larkin won, and perhaps the weirdest thing about Jeter's Gold Gloves is that he didn't win any when he was in his 20s -- and was at least somewhat agile in the field.

Explanations I've devised and discarded:

The voters aren't paying attention. The voters are the managers and coaches; I daresay they pay more attention to baseball than I do, and I'm fairly obsessive. They may not take the vote with a great deal of seriousness, but this is not a willfully ignorant voting pool.

It's a plot to build Jeter's ego and make it more difficult for the Yankees to move him to a less demanding position. If the voters were all Red Sox employees, this might be plausible. Reality says you can't concoct a 70-person conspiracy and keep it a secret.

What I suspect is happening here:

1) The voters are divided. The specifics of the voting aren't released, but assume that there 70 AL votes (14 teams and five votes on average from each). There might be 25 votes for Jeter, 20 for Elvis Andrus, a dozen for Alexi Ramirez, five or six for Jason Bartlett, one or two apiece for Erick Aybar and Cesar Izturis and Asrubal Cabrera and J.J. Hardy ... you can win a Gold Glove, or the governorship of Minnesota, even if a majority wouldn't vote for you if you were unopposed. All you need is a hard-core base and a divided electorate.

2) Some of the voters are as much attuned to the mental aspects of defense as the physical. They'd agree that Andrus has more range than Jeter, but vote for Jeter on the basis that Jeter's aware of what baserunners might try to score from second on an infield hit, that Jeter knows where the cutoff man's supposed to be, that Jeter knows that this outfielder's throws tend to sail to the right or left ...

The Gold Glove voting isn't well designed, and screwups are a regular occurrence. One career Gold Glove for Jeter is plausible; five represents, in my view, multiple screwups.  

Contemplating Derek Jeter, Part I

Whatcha gonna do,
sign with the Giants
or something?

The New York Yankees are currently confronting their version of what I call the Cal Ripken Dilemma: They have a franchise icon clearly in decline whose pride won't allow him to admit that, while he's still useful, he's not worth his current salary.

In this case, the icon is Derek Jeter, officially a free agent. The Yankees have reportedly offered The Captain a three-year contract at $15 million a year. This would be about a 25 percent pay cut, and Jeter (through his agent) ain't buying:

Derek's significance to the team is much more than just stats. And yet, the Yankees' negotiating strategy remains baffling.

Thus speaks Casey Close.

Jeter is indeed deeply entwined in what a marketer would call the Yankee brand (and baseball's brand in general;  an image of Jeter in triumph is so ubiquitous in MLB promos that I suspect it's mandated by some obscure clause of the labor agreement). And the Yankees are deeply entwined in Jeter's brand. Think he'd be so prominent in ad campaigns if he played for Houston?

The problem in these increasingly testy negotiations is that Jeter is more valuable to the Yankees than he is to anybody else, because he's simply not the player he was even three years ago, and the Yankees know it. The Yankees also know that the second Steinbrenner generation established themselves as soft touches by caving in to Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada in previous talks, and they want to prove otherwise.

In the end, Jeter will have to accept the Yankees offer, because nobody else is going to offer as much. And if his pride is wounded by knowing that A.J. Burnett makes more per year, for a longer term ... well, that's Jeter's problem.

Notes, quotes and comments

It was just something for me to bring a little piece of this place to the new place, sprinkle that on the mound. We've had some good times in this building.
— Joe Nathan after returning to the Metrodome mound after Sunday's game to grab a handful of dirt, which he plans to sprinkle on the mound at Target Field.

* The photo above is of the removal of home plate from the Dome after Sunday's game, the last game the Twins will play in the Dome. Didn't know it was so thick, did you?

* Another bad umpiring call played a key role in Sunday's playoff games. In the ninth inning in Coors Field, Philadelphia's Chase Utley checked his swing and bounced a dribbler off himself — and took for for first base. Home plate umpire Jerry Meals ruled it a fair ball, Utley had a "single" — the call at first base was rather dubious as well — and the Phillies wound up scoring the tie-breaking run.

* It's been a rough first round on closers. Nathan blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning on Friday. The night before, Ryan Franklin, the Cardinals' All-Star closer, coughed up a ninth-inning lead (with a little help from Matt Holliday). On Sunday night, Huston Street, pitching in a tied game, was the victim of the Jerry Meals bob-boo. And earlier Sunday, Jonathan Papelbon coughed up a 6-4 lead for the Red Sox with three runs in the ninth.

It took four years after the start of divisional play in 1969 for somebody — reliever or starter — to blow a ninth-inning lead in the playoffs. This year it's a daily occurrence.

* One reason Nick Punto got caught off third base Sunday: Derek Jeter has more range up the middle than he once did. While everybody else surrounding the Yankees denied what the newfangled fielding stats said about him, Jeter recognized the truth and did something about it. I suspect that two years ago — maybe even last season — Punto would have been correct in his assumption that Span's grounder had gotten through the infield.

ALDS Game 3: The Genius of Jeter

(Revised on fresh information)

I figured at the moment of the tag exactly what Nick Punto was thinking when he made his baserunning error (above) in the eighth inning Sunday.

He was, I thought, trying to make the same play Denard Span made last year against the Yankees.

The problem was, Derek Jeter remembered it too.

The game was on August 11, 2008. Here's the link to Baseball Reference's box score and play by play.

In the eighth inning, Span was on second base (and Joe Mauer on first) with two outs. Justin Morneau hit a chopper up the middle. Jeter gloved it and looked to first, and while he was doing that, Span — running hard on contact with two outs — steamed home.

The play clearly stuck in Jeter's mind. He was looking for it Tuesday with Punto on second. When he fielded Span's chopper behind second, he clearly had no intention of throwing to first — he knew Punto was going to be aggressive. And had he tried to throw out Span, Punto would have scored.

It could have worked. It probably would have worked on any other shortstop. But Jeter had been burned once by this team on that play. It wasn't going to happen again.

As it turns out, Punto thought, from the crowd's roar, that the ball had gone through the infield. It amounts to the same thing, though — Punto had committed to go home, and Jeter was looking for it.

---

So much for the Metrodome. So much for the Twins this postseason. The outcome of this series wasn't surprising; the 2009 Yankees are clearly the best team in the American League. Their major weaknesses during the regular season — the fourth and fifth slots in the starting rotation — are almost meaningless in October.

I'll root for the Angels in the ALCS anyway.