Don't Call It A Comeback.

I've been here for years
Rockin' my peers
Puttin' suckas in fear.

I remember this was one of the first topics I ever discussed on this blog. Must have been about two years ago and the Yankees were getting credit for all sorts of so-called comeback wins.

At the time, I established some Felz rules for a comeback.

1) The number of runs you're down exceeds the number of innings left in a game.
2) The opposing team's closer is in the game.
3) You don't reasonably expect to win.

Something like that. The Felz rules don't change too much.

Another Felz rule is that Lupica is stupid:

"The Mets came from behind again yesterday. They came from behind the way they did on the Yankees last weekend, the way they did against the Phillies on Tuesday and Wednesday night, the way they have an awful lot this season."

First of all, if you lose the game, then you didn't really come back. You only momentarily came back. The final come back is actually the only come back that counts.

The Phillies jumped out to a 3-run lead in the first inning and came back from the emotional devastation of Reyes's 3-run homerun. The Mets were only losing for one whole inning and only losing by 3 whole runs.

Those little buggers from Philadelphia sure played hard the whole nine innings. Oh, and they also came back from the emotional devastation of a 16-inning loss the other night. The Phillies could have packed in the whole season right then and there.

The Yankees had a legit comeback against the Mets just the other day. Down 4-0 in the ninth with the Mets' closer pitching.

The Yankees were down 9-0 to Texas and down by one run with one out to go. I know Texas doesn't have the World's greatest bullpen, but 9-0 is certainly enough to make Lupica lose interest and change the channel.

The Yankees fight all the way to the parking lot, don't they? Even in game one vs. Boston, the Yankees scored 4 runs with two outs in the ninth before eventually succumbing.

Naturally, the News and others mocked ARod's ninth-inning homerun as "meaningless" rather than praising the Yankees for their moxie and gumption.

To explain how stupid this is, I turn over the rest of the post to Steven Goldman:

"We’ve heard a lot of fanboy complaints about how Alex Rodriguez’s ninth inning home run on Monday was meaningless, how it was typical of his lack of clutch hitting and true Yankeeness, or patriotism, or what have you. This is, well, stupid. First, it contains the assumption that a player can choose when he hits his home runs. Second, whenever a player hits a home run, he cannot know the outcome of the game. Sure, there’s a likelihood of an outcome, but as Yogi says, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. As long as the game is alive there’s a chance for a team to rally, no matter how far down they are. Conversely, adding another run to your lead can never hurt because no lead is ever completely safe, just more safe or less safe.

Last week’s almost-unheard of comeback against the Rangers should have underscored this point.

Each time Rodriguez goes to the plate, no matter the game state, his job is to not make an out. Whether he does that by hitting a single or a home run, walking or getting hit by a pitch, or running to first on a dropped third strike, it really doesn’t matter. To criticize him for succeeding in this is merely ignorant."