Yeah, but you're talking about a 162 game sample size versus a five game sample size. If the Yankees and Tigers played 162 games and you believe in extrapolation, do you think the Yankees would outscore the Tigers by 350 runs?

Moreover, I think the Yanks actually had a better cumulative ERA from their starters (and definitely did from their bullpen). The LOB numbers are pretty comparable - Tigers 32 over five games, Yankees 40 with 11 of those coming last night - so I'm not positive either team did a particularly sound job of bringing runners home in the series.

Look at Fister's record and stats since the trade. His stats were really good before the trade too, but he was the best starting pitcher in baseball once he got to Detroit. Make of it what you will, it's a sample size of 10 starts, and for those 10 starts he was the best in the league. You pair that with Verlander, I stand by it. I saw it happen. They were malingering with cleveland all summer long, Fister came, game, set, match.

The Tigers won. Just like I will say Sunday Silence was a better horse than Easy Goer despite Easy Goer having run faster if you combine all 4 races, but Sunday Silence was 3-1 in those 4 races, it's pretty easy logic. I don't put much stock into the Yankees murdering the Tigers lesser relief pitchers in game 4, not much at all. Verlander's better than Sabathia, Fister's better than Nova...both of them all year long, that's pretty much why I state they're better.

Whiphan, is that Garth or Dane coaching first?

Stop it. Scherzer was better than him in this series by a wide margin. Fister's a nice pitcher and had a good year, but he got rocked his second and third times through the order by the Yankees. That'll happen to him against any good lineup.

In a league with a DH I think the numbers certainly indicate Justin Verlander and Doug Fister were better pitchers all year than Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. All 4 were really, really good this year. If you have to pick one PAIR and not individuals in order, I'd take the Tiger pair is all. I think they're better. I just do. I'm a big Cleveland fan, and I saw what the Tigers became after that trade with Seattle. They were nothing special before Fister. Post Fister, I feel they played better than any team in baseball. Yeah, perhaps I'm overreacting to the fact that the last two months of the season Doug Fister was the best starting pitcher in baseball, but it is right now and the facts are, he was really, really good with Seattle too.

AJ Burnett was better than CC Sabathia by a wide margin in that series too, that can happen in a one game sample size. I don't think anyone's confused as to who is the better Yankee pitcher as noone is confused as to whether Fister or Scherzer was a better pitcher this year. I think Fister pitched fine in game 5. Cano went deep his 3rd time up, I'm not sure who else was rocking him 2nd and 3rd time through last night.

That makes sense. A starting pitcher who plays every six days was solely responsible for the team having a torrid August and September. You're right, start molding his bust for Cooperstown.

Halladay and Lee dominated the AL when they pitched there.
I'm sorry, I need to see more from Fister before I could put him in the same paragraph, let alone sentence with the other pitchers mentioned. I'm taking nothing away from the guy, he pitched well. But Joey is right, I just get the feeling that after a couple of times through the order, he will get pounded. The Yanks just did a bad job on getting the timely hit yesterday. He seemed to be up in the zone and that's usually a recipe for disaster.

Great season, great series, couldnt pull it off. Go Dbacks.

Brewers are tough.

Strike out bi.tch.

Go Cards!! Get off the field, Howard. Learn how to hit again in the offseason.

$79 million spent on your starting 5 needs to get you more than a 1st round exit.

A Fisterian performance by Carpenter.

:tro:

People can have the NFL playoffs, etc...

Nothing beats post-season baseball, imo.

The intensity, significance and tension surrounding each and every pitch is really hard to beat.

Didn't Fister give up 6 runs in 4 innings in the 2nd part of game 1? He pitched well last night but lets not forget it took 92 pitches to get through 5 innings.

You keep going back to the line up thing but who exactly is he going to bat ahead of Caberera? They don't exactly have a lot of good options.

Getting a week off in baseball is not an advantage like football.

The Yankees most certainly have a better lineup than Detroit but the pitching staff they ran out there was weak. Had they won last night they were heading into a series with Texas where Colon/Hughes/Garcia were going to have to start games. They were a flawed team which is why they lost last night.

He had a great season and probably should have won 17-18 games had he gotten even league average run support. 3.17 runs a game is laughably low. Though his great run down the stretch came against all weak lineups including cleveland 4 times, the Royals 2 times, Minnesota, Orioles, the Rays and A's.

Doug Fister had a nice run this year but he is not better than Cliff Lee and I'm sure he would agree. He actually is a similar pitcher to Lee in many respects most notably the extremely low walk rate but he has a long way to go to get to Lee's level on a consistent basis. According to WAR ratings he was the 9th best pitcher in baseball this year but Lee was ranked 5th.

Fister dominated Cleveland 4 times down the stretch so forgive him for thinking he is the new Bob Gibson.

They need to kill Ibanez, Utley and Rollins and collect the insurance money.

Good point then how about making all series best of 7.

Great idea, if they shorten the regular season.

They would be fast approaching that timeless tradition of the Thanksgiving Day World Series if they extend the first series to 7 games or add another Wild Card team like some suggest.

I'm personally tired of seeing snowflakes in the World Series. Baseball is an outdoor game, but I like to see baseball at it's best, not battling the elements as well as your opponent.

A guy who pitches 216 innings with a 2.83 ERA and a WHIP of 1.06 was a great starting pitcher (this year). I don't think anything I've stated is outrageous at all. No, he's nowhere near Cliff Lee career wise at this point or even close I will admit that...but for this year the number of starting pitchers in MLB better than him is a single digit number. Until they got Doug Fister the Tigers were playing about even with Cleveland a few games above .500. They got Doug Fister and they ended up with 95 wins. It is what it is. You can throw who it came against around but over 30 starts 216 innings, 2.83 ERA, 1.06 WHIP is one full season of great pitching. He is a great pitcher this year. And he did the job in game 5 against the Yankees too.

The TV executives have to be cringing after the results of the last few days. Only one decent sized market remaining(Dallas/FWorth) and no teams with national followings. All time low playoff and World Series ratings?

Baseball has to be cringing too. They need ratings for bigger TV contracts.

I'm having a hard time working up much sympathy

I have no sympathy for them. Just pointing out that MLB themselves cannot be thrilled with no NY, Boston, Philly or LA in the playoffs/WS.

Wow. I guess umps got the message that Verlander apparently gets a lot of calls. CJ Wilson gets a strike on any pitch within six inches of the plate and Verlander can't get a called strike to save his life. That called third strike on Cabrera hadn't been called a strike once in the first three innings. Cabrera had every right to argue.

!!!!OOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Serious squeeze on Verlander tonight. No way he throws that 2-0 pitch to Cruz if he gets a single call earlier in the at-bat. Brooks baseball.net says he had nine strikes called balls and zero balls called strikes. That was a concerted effort by Tim Welke considering he started calling virtually every pitch a strike after the second rain delay. Hopefully ther is mor consistency from behind the plate for the rest of the series.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Let's go Crew!
Hopefully Markum can figure it out tonight and the boys can keep it rolling. Life doesn't get much better in WI. Perfect weather, October baseball with the roof open. Braun is showing the world just how good he is. Let's go Brewers!!

Someone please stick a fork in the Tigers. At the going rate, they'll have Bubba Trammell and Bobby Higginson playing in the corners by the end of the week.

What are those goiters on Alexi Ogando's face? That man makes big Gheorghe Muresan look pretty.

I've never seen a team collectively come up so small over the course of a series as the Tigers. Seriously, Don Kelly has been their best hitter. Don Kelly. That's embarrassing, injuries or not.

Fister. Not small 6'8".