The headline says it all. This series is all but over. It's so disappointing that MLB still thinks that fans will continue to come out to see games when 80% of the teams playing have no chance of competing. It's already starting with the 6.9% drop in attendance this year, after a 0.8% drop last year. www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2009/10/02/2009-10-02_major_league_baseball_attendance_drops.html

"It's so disappointing that MLB still thinks that fans will continue to come out to see games when 80% of the teams playing have no chance of competing."

I would say that the attendance drop is due to the terrible economic state of the country. I don't think it has anything to do with baseball directly. most people just can't afford the luxury of going out to a game right now.

You nailed it. The economic situation was the main culprit..

Screw the Bankees and all their monopoly money ! They should sell of their farm system they barely use it anyway! A young player would be smart not to play in the Yankee minor league system cause he has a slimmer chance to make the parent club since the Bankees lately are always buying what they need and rarely promote position players up unless its an outstanding pitcher who would probably end up in the in the bullpen .

With all their money, this is the first year in a decade where they have a legit chance. As for their big 3 purchases this year, only Sabathia has really performed in the playoffs. Bottom line, money goes a long way, but it ain't everything.

"A young player would be smart not to play in the Yankee minor league system cause he has a slimmer chance to make the parent club since the Bankees lately are always buying what they need and rarely promote position players up"

Really? Well then please explain to me how Cano got to the bigs, how Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner got there too. How about Francisco Cervelli and Ramiro Pena? Meanwhile there are other players on the way, Austin Jackson is a promising centerfielder and Jesus Montero is likely a better hitting catcher than Wieters. And yes, they promote lots of young pitchers too, but Joba is in the bullpen to limit innings/don't need him in the rotation and Hughes is still viewed as a SP...

The number that really says it all though, is percentage of homegrown players, I believe it is 56%, behind only the Rockies...

But honestly, the yankees this year are just the yankees from last year with their really big dumb contracts shuffled around. The last round of contracts, which had seen some good days, but were getting stale, were replaced with a new batch of outrageous numbers. Do you see the yankees in the world series without sabathia, burnett, or tex? Neither do I.

I bet if your team can regularly spend $200M on payroll OPCY will be SRO.

It seems like whenever anyone plays against the Yankees in important games teams start making stupid mistakes and all the calls seem to go the Yankees way.

We have had posts on here before about them. Of the few names the NY fan mentioned Cervelli Gardner jackson come on they hardly play those guys and really have little to no impact in the yanks run. 56% homegrown? I'll give ya Jeter and Cano but the rest are just hired mercs that the yankees continue to buy every year and blow up the market. People say "well they have not been in the WS every year" but tell me whens the last time they had a losing season? Most of the time they are well over 500 and making the playoffs. With them buying every and anyone they want its no wonder they are winning every year. How are the Orioles or other smaller market teams supposed to really compete?

Well said . No the other teams aren't supposed to compete. They are just around so the Bankees can look good and steal away their homegrown talent. Why not just give the Yankees an automatic free spot in the playoffs every year? Why bother to grant small markets Major League Franchise's? Just have the two biggest Markets N.Y & LA go to the the World Series every year? If Its just all about money anyway right ? Hire Boras as Baseball commisioner so ticket prices can sky-rocket and Bums hitting .250 can get multi-million dollar contracts. It doesn't matter as long as the 2 top TV revenue markets compete. Contract all small Market teams and have all LA & NY teams. The 2009 Yankees are the poster children of everything that is wrong with baseball today. Overpriced overpaid players,steriods"Pettite" and Large market teams bullying smaller markets . In essence 210 million dollar payroll is nearly twice or higher than what the rest of the league spends with a couple of exceptions. The Yankee Mystic has faded with the Ghosts of Ruth & Gerhig-(They no longer play on the original hallowed ground anyway ) The mystic has been replaced by the Yankee farce . Its ironic that the team that is so interwoven in the historical fabric of the rise of the game is helping slowly bring its demise.Yes attendence is down cause of the economy but it is also down cause people are fed up with the Barry Bonds & the Roger Clemens & the Yankee money monopoly making a travesty of the game.

For the record, the last time the Yankees had a losing record was 1992. That's a while ago, but it's more recently than I would have guessed.

They didn't have enough weapons last night to overcome a dreadful pitching performance by A. J. Burnett, who showed pretty conclusively that he wants no part of a rotation that requires him to start on three days' rest.

And with all the money they've spent on free agents, they don't seem to have a fourth starter with whom Joe Girardi feels confident. Barring a rainout, it looks like their Game 6 and Game 7 starters will be Andy Pettite, pitching on three days' rest, and C. C. Sabathia, pitching on three days' rest for the second time in a row.

I think the Phils have a decent shot in Game 6 with Pedro Martinez going against Pettite. Of course, even if Sabathia has a subpar night, the Phils will need a better performance out of Cole Hamels than they got out of him in Game 3.

I'll take Gardner any day of the week. Kid can play ball.

Yes, it looks like the Yankees finally BOUGHT the players to win a championship. They have a roster full of players that could beat any All-Star team assembled by MLB. It's not fair that a team can have the right to buy their championships. This league needs a salary cap like I need tissue paper.

"This league needs a salary cap like I need tissue paper."

I'm pondering the analogy here. You poop in your pants, so you don't really need tissue paper. So would that mean you don't think there is a need for a salary cap then?

This playoffs has been kind of depressing for me, with watching the Yankees cruse through. Maybe Philly can give me some magic tomorrow.

I wouldn't exactly call what the Yankees are doing as cruising. Their starters going on 3 days rest could be a real factor in the outcome, especially Pettite.

Dave id take Gardner too i by no means am not saying those guys are bad players. All im saying is Gardner is not the reason they win every single game all the time it seems. NY fans all bust everyones stones by sayin all people are doing is crying, trust me if the shoe were on the other foot they would feel the same way

That's true, I keep hoping for a Sabathia melt down, but so far to no avail. Hopefully game 7 will be the day it happens.

Yes. No. Whatever you wanna hear man.