Working Hard For The Money

Game 1 of the 2012 World Series will be remembered for many things, like Pablo Sandoval's three Home Runs (two off Justin Verlander), and who it puts him alongside in the history books.

But there was another significant hit off Verlander, when Barry Zito slapped an RBI single to left in the bottom of the 4th. Zito was 4-53 (.075) at the plate in the regular season, but had been maligned since his arrival with the Giants, for other reasons.

It's because Zito signed a 7-year, $126M contract with the Giants on December 29, 2006. And since switching sides of the bay he had been a colossal bust.

But there had been a time when Zito seemed like a can't-miss investment. When Oakland had Zito, Mark Mulder, and Tim Hudson way back at the turn of the century, they were that decade's answer to Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine. They were backbone of the A's success, while Moneyball supplemented them.

In 2002 the A's won 103 games, it was the pinnacle of those teams. Barry Zito won 23 of them and dazzled his way to a Cy Young award. But they lost in the ALDS for a third straight year, this time to the Twins instead of the Yankees. It got Art Howe fired.

The Twins lost to the Angels in the ALCS, who eventually won the World Series by rally-monkeying past... the San Francisco Giants. Life is a circle sometimes.

While Zito will likely never justify the $126 Million that was spent on him, he never quit trying to earn it. Zito went 43-61 in his first 5 years with the Giants and was left off the 2010 playoff roster. But he was a more than respectable 15-8 this season, and has already notched two huge postseason wins. And Giants fans know it.

There was an article in Thursday's USA Today, paralleling the Zito contract with the recent money bombs thrown AJ Burnett and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

The Yankees committed $82.5M to AJ Burnett, who went 34-35 in three seasons in New York before being exiled to Pittsburgh for the final two years of his deal (Burnett was 16-10 this year). But when the Yankees lost Game 1 of the 2009 World Series, Burnett was brilliant in Game 2 to springboard his team to a championship.

Red Sox fans throw their hands up in the air every time Matsuzaka pitches now, but does that nullify him winning Game 7 of the 2007 ALCS or Game 3 of the World Series? Or an 18-3 season the next year?

There are sometimes unexpected dividends on dubious investments. You get the feeling Barry Zito's portfolio isn't quite closed.

Just One To Go

It's a 162-game season, and sometimes they all count. In game #161, the Yankee bats struggled all night. Mark Teixeira went 0-for-6 and left 9 men on base, and the Yankees as a team left 14.

You'd have to think this was the Red Sox last stand of a woeful season, taking a 3-1 lead to the bottom of the 9th.

But in a game that's been indicative of their last 3 weeks (the Yanks have won 15 of last 20), they came through when it counted. And again it was Raul Ibanez launching another clutch last-gasp home run. Ibanez's production this year has been inconsistent but undeniable with 19 HR and 62 RBI as a part-time player. That's more HR & RBI than A-Rod in 79 fewer ABs.

And give Joe Girardi credit. He makes a lot of moves and makes the manager's presence way too visible, but this year he has made it work in probably his best managing job. He pinch-hit Ibanez for a hot-hitting Eduardo Nunez in the 9th, setting up the eventual win, and was clearly pleased enough to lighten up.

Girardi knew how crucial the game was. He went with closer Rafael Soriano for the 9th while trailing. Soriano's rescued the Yankees' season with 42 saves in place of the injured Mariano Rivera, and Girardi stuck with him after giving up a solo shot in the 9th, bringing him back for a scoreless 10th.

Ibanez then won the game in the 12th with an opposite-field single off a lefty, and you can't undersell what the game meant. It means that the Yanks can clinch the AL East on Wednesday night with Hiroki Kuroda on the mound. If they win or the Orioles lose in Tampa Bay, they'll be the outright division champs.

That would mean the Yankees would avoid the slippery slope of the Divisional Tiebreak Thursday, the possible one-game Wild Card Showdown Friday, and if they survive that, to play an ALDS game Sunday. They would just get to take 2 or 3 days off instead.

And due to the events just before 1 AM and the surging Oakland Athletics, the Yankees are set up for the top seed in the AL Playoffs as well.

AL EAST

New York Yankees        94-67
Baltimore Orioles       93-68

AL WEST

Oakland A's             93-68
Texas Rangers           93-68

The A's really came from nowhere, as much as 13 games back in the AL West. And last night Grant Balfour entered the 9th against Texas with the RF bleachers moshing to Metallica's "One." And when he closed Texas one-two-three, the A's were tied atop the division.

The A's and Rangers won't have to play a Tiebreak Game #163 on Thursday because their tiebreak is today, Game #162. And the A's go with 24-year old rookie sensation A.J. Griffin (7-1, 2.71) against Rangers veteran Ryan Dempster. That's at 3:30 ET.

And there are scenarios (baseball's tiebreakers are ridiculous by the way) whereby the A's could get the top seed in the AL as well, but would obviously need a Yankees loss.

In the NL, the St. Louis Cardinals secured the second wild card spot even though they lost to Washington, because the Dodgers lost at home to the Giants last night.

I can hear Vin Scully saying, "And you just know the Giants would walk over hot coals to keep the Dodgers out of the postseason..." And sure enough the Giants eliminated them behind Barry Zito (remember him?) who won his 15th last night!

While the top seed in the NL has yet to be determined (Washington or Cincinnati), the NL Wild Card Showdown is set for Friday with St. Louis at Atlanta - likely Kyle Lohse (16-3, 2.86) vs Kris Medlen (10-1, 1.57). It'll be on TBS with a start time TBD.

And a shout out to the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera who is looking at the first Triple Crown (.331, 44 HR, 139 RBI) in 45 years, unless the Rangers' Josh Hamilton does something heroic on the last day of the season. And if there's anything we've learned from the final day last year, if it's mathematically possible it can happen.