THE MELKMAN COMETH!

While the easy route to begin writing about last night's ALCS Game 4 would be to sing the praises of CC Sabathia and ARod, who dutifully deserve it, it's the player at the very bottom of the Yankees line-up who I feel deserves the highest honor for the 10-1 New York victory. That, of course, being Center/Rightfielder Melky Cabrera. The Melkman delivered a career highlight of a night, going 3-4 with 4 RBIs including a double and a fantastic bunt single.

Remember, this is a player who lost his Centerfield job last year, was sent down to the minors, and who lost it again in Spring Training despite playing well. However, the great thing about Cabrera was that he was about to learn valuable lessons in humility, determination, and guts. He braved it all and did whatever it took to keep himself relevant enough to stick around.

He did just that, and when Brett Gardner, on a short leash, stumbled, Melky jump in and took back his job. Even though Joe Giradi flip flopped him and Gardner a couple of other times this season, he went on to have an incredibly clutch year.

It hadn't really carried over into the post-season, though, anchoring a bottom of the order (Cano and Swisher making up the other parts of it) that altogether have not done the job they've done previously. Cano has scattered a couple of big hits, but Melky and Swisher haven't done much at all. Now, we can scratch Cabrera off that list. He's contributed big time to a Yankee club that's on a mission, and winning in spite of their manager's match-up driven machinations.

One day after a loss that could've changed the momentum of the series, the architect
of it was quiet. You didn't hear a peep out of Giradi last night. Maybe he heard the chatter, maybe it was just that his team played their best over all game. Whatever it was, it was all welcome. This is how he should go about it. Let his guys do what they do best. This was the best team in baseball this year for a reason.

I will say this, though, here's a man who stands by his convictions. He has no regrets about the pitching change that replaced Dave Roberston and made a goat out of Alfredo Aceves. While I still don't agree with hm, you have respect his dedication to his craft.

That said, last night's win showed that less is more, especially when your team features such a cavalcade of talented superstars. This lineup can get the job done. They knew they had to have this game, they had to stop the Angels in their tracks. With Melky and the Amazing ARod leading an offensive that also featured big hits from Jorge Posada and Johnny Damon they did just that. However it was the big guy on mound who really shut the door.

In his 3rd Post-Season start this year he put on his best performance, going 8 strong innings (with a minor blip in the 5th inning). He kept the Halos off-balance with ace stuff that was a real treat to watch, and he did all on short rest. The Yankees will need their other big ticket pitcher to improve on his last outing tomorrow night to close it out. A.J. Burnett has shown at times this year that he can be disgustingly overpowering, and an ace in his own right. This is the spot to prove it and send the Yankees to the Fall Classic.

Before that happens, the Phillies will have their own opportunity to get a pass to the World Series. They'll send beleaguered Cole Hamels to the mound to give it a shot, while Joe Torre's Dodgers throw out Vincente Padilla in an effort to try to get this series back to LA. It'll be quite a story if that can happen.