Yankees lost because of PITCHING, not AROD
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by user Joebook
I've heard the moniker of "best offensive lineup ever" thrown at the Yankees all too much in the last few months. While that might be true, baseball experts shouldn't be surprised that they will watch the ALCS, instead of altering the offensive record book.
A quick look at the pitching numbers of the Yankees reveals a lot. Their team ERA for the season was 4.43 and teams hit .262 against them. I don't care if your team averages 11 runs per game, you will have games of small scoring, and with a pitching staff that can't get guys out, you will lose. That's what happened against Detroit. They scored three runs in Game 4, which has been enough to win other playoff games. The fact is, their staff was no good.
Of the six main guys that started games for them, only two had an ERA under 4.49. Randy Johnson turned in a 5.00 and Shawn Chacon gave them 11 starts with an ERA of 7.00.
They had several good pitchers out of the bullpen, including All-Everything Mariano Rivera, but even that wasn't enough to save the staff. Without Rivera and the numbers of Scott Proctor, who pitched 102 innings in relief, the stats would be much worse. Take away Rivera's 1.80 and Proctor's 3.52 from the season totals and the Yankee ERA balloons to 4.66... that's just two pitchers.
Everyone talks about the money thrown at AROD, Jeter, etc. Why did the Yankees ignore their pitching needs until the trade deadline, then acquire Cory Lidle, who didn't even start in the playoff series? Maybe trading AROD wouldn't hurt them, if they can get two good pitchers out of the deal.
I'm just saying that the talk has been entirely about the offensive lineup, when everyone should be pointing the fingers at the arms.
