Breaking down the ALDS

Monday, October 1, 2007 | Feedback | Print Entry

Ten sets of relevant numbers for the American League Division Series:

.486: The collective on-base percentage of the Yankees' hitters against Cleveland closer Joe Borowski.
Individually, the Yankees don't have large samples of plate appearances against Borowski, but the small samples add up to a lot of success. Derek Jeter is 2-for-2 with a homer and five RBIs, Alex Rodriguez is 2-for-4 with a homer, Jorge Posada is 3-for-4 with a homer, Jason Giambi is 2-for-3 with a homer, Johnny Damon has walked in two of four plate appearances.

The Indians have the best lefty-righty combination of middle relievers with Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez. But the big question in the Indians-Yankees series is going to be how the gritty Borowski will do with a two-run or one-run lead while throwing his less-than-overwhelming stuff against New York's lineup.  
 

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

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