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CC does something for everyone in Game 4 gem

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Mark Kriegel

Mark Kriegel is the national columnist for FOXSports.com. He is the author of two New York Times best sellers, Namath: A Biography and Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich, which Sports Illustrated called "the best sports biography of the year."

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Updated Oct 21, 2009 12:18 PM ET
     
 

ANAHEIM, Calif.

At evening's end, crew chief Tim McClelland appeared at the interview podium: Humbled, chagrined, embarrassed and every bit a standup guy.
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Arrogance is an occupational hazard for umpires. And McClelland was now being forced to confront his in the most brutally public of ways. Suddenly, he was like a ballplayer, alone before a squadron of inquisitors who wanted him to explain what might just be the most blatantly blown call in the history of postseason baseball. In the top of the fifth, Nick Swisher bounced to the pitcher with the Yankees' Jorge Posada at third. Posada was caught in a run-down that ended, somewhat fantastically, with catcher Mike Napoli tagging both Posada and Robinson Cano near third. Neither man was on the bag. Little League stuff. Yet McClelland — the third base ump who witnessed this all at a distance of a few feet — inexplicably called Posada out, but Cano safe. "I thought Cano was on the base," said McClelland. The replays showed that, for one blinding moment, the veteran umpire — working American league games since 1983 — did not believe what his own eyes saw. "It showed that Cano was off the bag when he was tagged," said McClelland. "I did not see that for whatever reason ... I'm just out there trying to do my job and do it the best I can. And unfortunately, there was, by instant replay, two missed calls." Oh, yeah. Earlier, he had called out Swisher for leaving for home too soon on a fly ball. Wrong again, but at least that one was within the realm of normal human error. Actually, it seemed all too human — a make-up for the previous play, when Swisher should've been called out on a pick-off. Still, making that short but painful statement was the best thing that McClelland could've done — for himself and the game. And guess what? The Yankees returned the favor, with CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez conspiring to save McClelland and his crew from eternal mortification. The margin and the manner of this victory — 10-1, a complete crushing — made the umpiring moot. It should be noted that CC Sabathia, in whom the Yankees invested $161 million last winter, pitched on three days rest. And while that might not constitute an act of heroism (his opposite number on the Angels, Scott Kazmir, hadn't pitched in nine days), it was an extraordinary performance: Eight innings, five hits, five strikeouts, allowing one run, a homer by Kendry Morales in the fifth. Later in that same inning, Sabathia had first and second, one out. In the sixth, he had first and second, no outs. In neither instance, did Joe Girardi — criticized for micro-managing his pitching staff in Monday's 11-inning Yankee loss — summon a reliever to begin warming up. "You look at his command, and you look at his velocity," said Girardi. "... When there is fatigue, one of the ways it manifests itself is how sharp a guy is. How many strikes he's thrown. If a guy's sharp with his velocity, you know he's physically fine." In the eighth inning, the next-to-last hitter Sabathia faced was Bobby Abreu. He got Abreu flailing at a 96 mph fastball. "I don't want to jinx anything or say anything I shouldn't," said Sabathia. "But I feel pretty good right now." Pretty good? Really? The guy's 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA this October, a marked contrast with his previous playoff history — 2-3 with a 7.92 ERA. "I never had any doubt about me being able to perform on this stage and to pitch well late in October," he said. "But it seems like people did." Among Sabathia's playoff disappointments was the 2007 postseason. He was with Cleveland, which found itself up 3-1 in the ALCS against Boston and still managed to lose. Don't count on that happening here. Certainly not if the month's greatest goat, Alex Rodriguez, keeps hitting like Mr. October. Actually, at this point, Rodriguez is going better, if less dramatically, than Reggie Jackson ever did. Jackson hit five homers (three in one game against the Dodgers) and knocked in nine runs in 11 games during the 1977 postseason. Rodriguez — who had a walk, a single, a double and a two-run homer Tuesday night — now has five homers and 11 RBI. He's hitting .444 in seven playoff games. OK, it's not the World Series. But it's enough to rescue his reputation. "I'm not sure about that," he said. "I will say that in other postseasons I failed, and sometimes failed miserably." Tim McClelland couldn't have said it better.

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