Mike Celizic

Far be it from me to accuse Major League Baseball of stacking the postseason deck in favor of the Yankees. I’ll let somebody else make that accusation and pretend I’m above such scandalous speculation.

Besides, in this case, the facts favor baseball. There is no conspiracy to favor the Yankees or anyone else. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig isn’t trying to favor any particular team, just as the umpires aren’t trying to screw one team or another. That’s just the way things work out when you have a system ruled by people who view common sense and logic the way PETA views lamb chops: with complete revulsion.

The difference between baseball and PETA is that Selig would be open to discussion if somebody paid him more to do things the way they should be done than his TV partners have paid him to do them the way they shouldn’t be done. This is an important point.

When we’re watching postseason games being played at midnight in the snow or freezing rain by players wearing ski masks and thermal underwear, we immediately start blaming television. We do the same thing when needless off days are inserted in the middle of a series. But it’s not TV’s fault that Selig is more interested in rights fees than he is in the integrity of the game.

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If Selig cared as much for the game as he does for TV lucre, the Yankees wouldn’t have been handed a schedule that gives them a huge leg up on the Angels — as if they need it.

The off days were inserted in the schedule long ago, and they apply to the NLCS as well as the ALCS. It's just that the Yankees get the biggest benefit because they're the team with the three stud starters followed by two guys you never heard of.

The Yankees should have played Wednesday night, and A.J. Burnett should be pitching on short rest with Andy Pettitte scheduled to follow him in Game 6 — if necessary — also on short rest. But because television wanted to alternate NLCS and ALCS games every other night as much as possible, Selig blithely tossed a day off into the middle of the three-game set in Los Angeles/Anaheim. He might as well have tossed a hand grenade into the Angels’ dugout.

Not only do Burnett and Pettitte get to pitch on full rest, the Yankees also get one more day to rest closer Mariano Rivera and the bullpen. Although the Angels’ pen also benefits from the rest, they’re using four starters, so the net result is that they’re harmed and the Yankees are given an even bigger advantage than their $200 million-plus payroll already has handed them.

Baseball is a game of rhythms. It is meant to be played every day, with off dates scheduled only for travel or necessitated by the weather. A series is not supposed to be broken up for the convenience of television.

But this is what Selig has allowed to be inflicted on his showcase events. The commissioner is good at whining about players who attempted to boost their earnings by taking performance-enhancing drugs before baseball either tested for them or had outlawed them. But when he’s the one with his fingers in the pie, you won’t hear a word about integrity or anything else.

The Yankees hold a 3-1 lead over the Angels thanks to a number of factors, not the least of which is the lousy play in the first two games by Los Angeles/Anaheim. They went to 3-1 thanks to the heroics of CC Sabathia, who pitched like Sandy Koufax on three days rest in Game 4. With Alex Rodriguez’s channeling Reggie Jackson instead of Dave Winfield for a change, the Yankees romped to a 10-1 win.

If Selig hadn’t given the Yanks a bonus off day Wednesday, the Yankees and their manager, Joe Girardi, would be facing the prospect of sending the erratic Burnett to the mound on short rest and following him with the ancient Andy, also on short rest (or going with a fourth starter). It would be a crapshoot that could either crown Girardi a genius or inspire Yankees fans to start heating up the tar and collecting feathers for his unscheduled ride out of town.

Adhering to the game’s time-honored schedule also would give the Angels, their fans and the rally monkey some hope. But, thanks to Selig, that hope has been taken away.

Now, you could argue that the Angels could have adapted and used a 3-man rotation, too. Mike Scioscia knew the schedule, right? But Girardi's gamble paid off.

If the Yanks lose now, it won’t be because of Girardi’s mishandling of the pitching staff, and the media and fans will have to find something else to blame. We can stoop to that occasion if necessary, but it’s going to require the needless activation of brain cells that would prefer to be occupied looking at naughty pictures on the Internet.

I really hope that makes Selig happy.

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