Five Cuts (cont.)

Tom Verducci's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Tom. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

3. In ALCS Game 5 Alex Rodriguez became the only player ever to be intentionally walked for the second time in the ninth inning of a postseason game with no one on base. It was the right move by Angels manager Mike Scioscia because Rodriguez, who had slammed seven home runs in his previous 29 at-bats entering Game 5 -- and then whacked one ball in the game off the wall in right center -- is that scalding hot.

But here's the question I wanted to know from Scioscia: if either Johnny Damon or Mark Teixeira would have reached base ahead of Rodriguez, would Scioscia still have intentionally walked Rodriguez, which would have put the go-ahead run on base? The answer was yes and no.

"If the runner was at first base, no, we would have pitched to him," Scioscia said. "But if the runner was at second base, then yes, probably we do walk him. Because if the tying run is already at second and first base is open, we can put him on first. But if the runner is at first, I am not intentionally moving the tying run into scoring position."

It's a very interesting answer, because walking Rodriguez with first base or second base occupied winds up creating the same scenario: first and second. But the difference to Scioscia is that he would not create that situation by his own choice.

4. One of the startling sights for the Angels has been to see Vladimir Guerrero taking pitches. The hackmaster saw 13 pitches in Game 5 and actually let six of them go by without swinging, including the first pitch of his huge seventh-inning at-bat against Phil Hughes. More importantly, Guerrero admitted after Game 5 that he has cut down his swing with runners in scoring position.

"That's the one thing I changed early in the playoffs," he said through an interpreter. "Cutting my swing down and not trying for the home run. In certain situations for a guy like myself, hard contact is good enough."

For the record, Guerrero is seeing 3.63 pitches per plate appearance in the ALCS, up from his regular-season rate of 3.24.

5. Is there such a thing as too much rest for a pennant winner heading into the World Series? As the the National League champion Phillies face six days off entering the Fall Classic, no doubt you'll hear a lot in these days about how the 2007 Rockies were cooled off by too many off-days heading into the World Series. Actually, the results of how teams fare with this much rest leads to no conclusion at all.

This is the fourth straight year in which a team will enter the World Series with six days off -- underscoring the obvious problem with the postseason schedule -- and the sixth time since the three-round format first was used in 1995. The results tell you that the extra rest means nothing in particular. Teams with at least six days off are 2-3 in World Series Game 1 and 3-2 in the Series.

Team Days Off Game 1 Series 1995 Braves 6 Won Won 1996 Yankees 6 Lost Won 2006 Tigers 6 Lost Lost 2007 Rockies 8 Lost Lost 2008 Phillies 6 Won Won 2009 Phillies 6 ? ?