One team takes it personally.

"With two on and one out in the second, the fast-working lefty struck out Robinson Cano on a slow curveball and Melky Cabrera on a fastball. Washburn slapped his glove and shouted to punctuate that escape.

...

And after Phelps reached second base after a fielder's choice in the fourth, Washburn got Cabrera to ground out. Washburn yelled and pumped his fist at that, too."

The similarities to last year's ALDS are disconcerting. When the opponent shows up to play, the Yankees simply don't know how to counter. If the Yankees play with emotion, they're instantly rebuked for their lack of professionalism and class.


If anybody else said what Joe Torre said, I'd dismiss it as a colloquialism:

"Torre said that the team's lack of deep at-bats in the contest was a concern. As Torre noted, every time he looked up from the bench, it seemed that Washburn had worked his way ahead in the count."

"I'm not sleeping, I'm strategizing."