Order your Yankees (and Angels) World Series gear? Not now

We reported this morning that a Web page on the mlb.com shop had Yankees World Series gear available for sale. Times columnist Helene Elliott later found a page with Angels World Series gear, and she was able to place an order for some of that gear.

Those pages are no longer available. The pages were "beta" -- that is, not intended for public view, according to Bob Bowman, chief executive officer of MLB Advanced Media.

If the Angels do not advance to the World Series, Elliott won't be getting her gear. Bowman said no team World Series merchandise would be shipped unless the team in question makes the World Series.

-- Bill Shaikin

Hair today, gone today: Erick Aybar gets a buzz

Angels shortstop Erick Aybar emerged from the team's clubhouse for batting practice before Game 6 of the American League Championship Series tonight with a new buzz cut. Gone, at the urging of designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero, were the medium-length dreadlocks Aybar has sported for most of the season.

It couldn't have been superstition. Aybar has been one of the Angels most productive hitters in the post-season, with a .321 average, two doubles and a triple in eight playoff games. Why would he get a buzz cut now?

"It was itchy," Aybar said through a translator. "My hair wasn't the one hitting."

-- Mike DiGiovanna in New York

Angels-Yankees Game 6 lineups

Even with an additional day to think about it, neither manager changed his lineup for Game 6 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium, with Yankee Manager Joe Girardi sticking with a slumping Nick Swisher and Angel Manager Mike Scioscia leaving a slumping Chone Figgins in the leadoff spot:

ANGELS

3B -- Chone Figgins

RF -- Bobby Abreu

CF -- Torii Hunter

DH -- Vladimir Guerrero

1B -- Kendry Morales

2B -- Howie Kendrick

LF -- Juan Rivera

C -- Jeff Mathis

SS -- Erick Aybar

P -- Joe Saunders

YANKEES

SS -- Derek Jeter

LF -- Johnny Damon

1B -- Mark Teixeira

3B -- Alex Rodriguez

C -- Jorge Posada

DH -- Hideki Matsui

2B -- Robinson Cano

RF -- Nick Swisher

CF -- Melky Cabrera

P -- Andy Pettitte

-- Kevin Baxter

Idle time no help to Yankee hitters

During the six-month regular season, there were just 20 days in which the Yankees didn't play a game, including rainouts and the four-day All-Star break. But since the end of the regular season three weeks ago, the team has had 12 days off, including Saturday, when Game 6 of the American League Championship Series was postponed due to inclement weather.

And since baseball is a game that relies on rhythm and timing to be played well, excess down time could be one reason so many Yankee hitters are slumping. Mark Teixeira, who led the American League in home runs and RBIs during the regular season, is batting .171 with just two extra-base hits and four RBIs in the postseason. Robinson Cano, a .320 hitter during the summer, is batting .212 in the playoffs, and Johnny Damon, who has homered twice in the ALCS, is still hitting just .211 in the postseason, 71 points below his regular-season mark.

And then there's Nick Swisher, who hit .249 with with 29 homers and 82 RBIs during the summer but is batting .103 with 10 strikeouts in 29 playoff at-bats.

"Each guy is different. It could be harmful. It could be helpful," Yankee Manager Joe Girardi said of the extra rest. "You are really not going to know. One thing you know is, certain guys react different to different circumstances. I don't know if it helps our guys, hurts our guys. Only time will tell."

-- Kevin Baxter

Let's try this again, shall we?

Well, anyone who quibbled with Major League Baseball's decision to postpone Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday because of inclement weather likely had their mind changed when they woke this morning.

The weather is beautiful (sic) in New York, where the skies are bright and blue with just wisps of clouds on the horizon. It's chilly, with temperatures in the 50s. And it will be colder at game time tonight, when temperatures will drop into the low 40s. But the forecast only calls for a slight breeze -- and no rain.

That's quite a change from last night. Although the rain that began falling about three hours before the scheduled first pitch wasn't torrential, it was steady and making the field slick. And though the rains let up in many parts of the city later in the evening, the field conditions certainly would not have been good. So baseball made a very early and wise decision to push Game 6 back to tonight; Game 7, if necessary, will be played Monday.

A lot went into the decision not to play Saturday. But, in my mind, two factors weighed heavily. One was the memories of last year's World Series. Game 5 was begun in monsoon conditions that left the field unplayable -- but play they did. The puddles on the infield were large and deep enough to support their own sea life. It was hard enough to see the ball on television, much less in person. So baseball rightly took a lot of heat for starting that game, and they didn't want a repeat.

Secondly -- and this is only a hunch -- I think the network TV schedule also played a role. Last week, when Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS in New York were threatened by weather, Fox, which has the rights to this series, seemed reluctant to move any of the games because it would affect their NFL telecasts. This weekend, however, Fox already had a baseball game scheduled for Sunday night. Whether that game was Game 7 (if necessary), as the schedule showed, or a postponed Game 6 didn't really matter. At that point, it's just a TV show.

Monday's a bit more problematic for the network, which is already into its new fall lineup. But then, as the Yankees continue to remind us, there will be a Game 7 only if it's necessary.

-- Kevin Baxter 

Girardi sticks with Swisher

After sleeping on it overnight, Yankees Manager Joe Girardi decided to stick with the slumping Nick Swisher, leaving him in the lineup for tonight's Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

"Swisher is not a platoon player," Girardi said. "Swisher has been an everyday right fielder that has put up good numbers for us. Yeah he's struggled. But he's had some good at-bats."

After hitting .249 with with 29 homers and 82 RBIs during the regular season, Swisher is batting .103 in the postseason. But he's not alone. Mark Teixeira, who led he American League in home runs and RBIs during the regular season, is hitting .171 in eight playoff games and Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon are hitting .212 and .211, respectively. But Swisher's slump drew more focus when he popped up with the bases loaded to end Game 5, a 7-6 Angels win.

"People were asking me if I was going to give up on Johnny Damon," Girardi said. "Johnny Damon has turned it around. And Tex had a big hit for us."

-- Kevin Baxter

Waiting for Angels-Yankees Game 6: The rain -- it's plain -- is making us insane

The Yankees are supposed to take batting practice in two hours, but a tarp is still covering the infield at Yankee Stadium. Water has puddled in several places on the white tarp although it has yet to rain hard here. There's been an on-and-off drizzle all day -- at 3:15 p.m. Eastern time, it was on again and increasing in intensity -- although there's been some blue sky peaking out from behind the gray.

The forecast continues to call for rain all day, turning to thunderstorms at game time. But the weathercasters -- like the umpires -- have been wrong all postseason.

-- Kevin Baxter

Despite record, Andy Pettitte is 0-0 starting tonight

No pitcher has won more games in the postseason than the Yankees' Andy Pettitte, who will start Game 6 of the American League Championship Series tonight against the Angels. In fact, just one, the Cardinals' John Smoltz, has as many playoff wins as Pettitte's 15.

But Pettitte says he still brings a little extra with him when he goes to the mound in October.

"There's no doubt there's a little bit extra focus this time of the year," he said. "As much as you want to try to take every single start [the same], something about the postseason, you feel a little extra focus. I know it's hard to understand what I'm trying to say, but there's no doubt the postseason is a little different animal than the regular season."

Pettitte pitched well in his first ALCS start, holding the Angels to a run into the seventh before Vladimir Guerrero belted a two-strike, two-run home run to chase Pettitte from a game the Angels would win in extra innings. And although his postseason experience -- he's made 37 playoff starts in his career -- will be a help tonight, he says he knows the Angels won't be conceding anything.

"No matter how many starts I've had in the postseason or how many innings, it's not going to help me when I go out there," he said. "It's a matter of going out there and my cutter cutting and my location being good. And this is a game of inches. It's a matter of me putting the ball three of four inches on the plate or on the corner if I'm hit or not."

-- Ben Bolch and Kevin Baxter

Photo: Yankees starting pitcher Andy Pettitte delivers a pitch in Game 3 of the ALCS at Angel Stadium. Credit: Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times

Rain tonight during Angels-Yankees Game 6? Fugetaboutit!

 

Umpires aren't the only ones making bad calls in these playoffs. The weather people aren't getting much right either.

At midday in New York a slight drizzle was falling, enough to require an umbrella but probably not enough to hold off a baseball playoff game on national television. And certainly nothing like what most forecasters had predicted.

Plus, temperatures are in the high 60s, not nearly as uncomfortable as the conditions for Games 1 and 2 of the American League Championship Series last week when there was slight rain and the wind chill was in the low 40s.

Temperatures are forecast to remain in the 60s tonight. And though more and heavier rains are predicted, the skies appear to be clearing. So although there may be some rain later tonight -- and the weather people say there's a 90% chance of that -- it probably won't be enough to halt the game.

And don't forget last week's dire forecast, which called for weather so bad people began gathering animals by the pair and building arks. In reality, just a slight drizzle fell for a short period in Game 2, barely enough rain to make the grass moist.

-- Kevin Baxter

Photo: Yankees Manager Joe Girardi is flanked by star infielders Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez during the team's workout Friday at Yankee Stadium, site of Game 6 of the ALCS tonight. Credit: Julie Jacobson / Associated Press

Weather forecast for ALCS Game 6 is bleak

The Saturday weather forecast for Game 6 between the Angels and Yankees in Yankee Stadium isn't terribly promising. Of course, the forecast for Games 1 and 2 were pretty bleak too, and those games went on as scheduled, with fans in the stands outfitted more suitably for a February World Cup ski event in the Alps than a baseball game.

AccuWeather.com reports that Game 6 will be threatened by rain, wind and the possibility of thunderstorms, calling for hard rain tonight and Saturday. The forecast allows for a break in the weather Saturday afternoon, with more severe weather moving in Saturday evening, when the game is scheduled.

The most severe scenario could call for heavy rain and gusts of wind up to 50 mph. October Classic, indeed.  

-- Mike James

Photo: The New York City skyline on October 19. Photo credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images.