Marte has become the 2009 version of Graeme Lloyd

The Yankees needed another lefty for their bullpen to complement...well, to complement no one because the Yankees had no effective lefty bullpen arm the entire 1996 season. Lloyd was not particularly impressive after the trade, giving the Yankees 5.2 innings while allowing 12 hits, five walks and 11 earned runs. His ERA was 17.47 and his Yankee WHIP was 3.000.Still, Yankee manager Joe Torre kept Lloyd as his lefty specialist for the 1996 post season. He responded by throwing 6.1 innings, allowing a single hit, no walks while striking out five hitters. Lloyd continuously faced tough lefty hitters in big situations and proceeded to come through each time.The big moment of his post season that year was in Game Four of the World Series against the Atlanta BravesTied at six entering the bottom of the 9th inning (in the same game Jim Leyritz hit the big three-run homer off of Mark Wohlers), with one out, Yankee reliever Mariano Rivera allowed a single to Mark Lemke and walked Chipper Jones.Torre replaced Rivera with Lloyd to face Braves lefty slugger Fred McGriff, who had homered earlier in the game.

With the game and series on the line (if the Braves won they would have taken a commanding 3-1 series lead), Lloyd induced McGriff into an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.The Yankees would then score two runs in the 10th inning and go on to win Game Four (Lloyd was credited with that win) and eventually win the World Series.Marte has become the 2009 version of Graeme Lloyd. His season ERA was a Lloyd-like 9.45 and Marte only appeared in mop up duty in September.Many people, including me, thought Marte was not going to be on the post season roster, but like Torre did 13 seasons earlier, Girardi showed faith in the veteran Marte and kept him around for his left-leaning ways.Marte has also been Lloyd-like in this post season, retiring all nine of the batters he has faced in the ALCS and World Series, and has become a thorn in the side of Philadelphia's left handed hitters Chase Utley, Howard and Ibanez. With the struggles of Phil Hughes, it has been interesting to see both Marte and Joba Chamberlain being used more in later inning situations.While I have not been a fan of Marte's since his arrival in New York, I have written that if he does come through in the 2009 post season, that trade will have a modicum of redemption .His continued post season success is critical for the Yankees in their drive towards another World Series title.Who would have thought Graeme Lloyd could be reincarnatedInterestingly, Lloyd also appeared in Game Three, also coming in for Rivera, who eventually became the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history. Imagine replacing the great Rivera in back-to-back World Series games.. USC's loss is Arizona's gain.The two remaining marquee games for the Pac-10 will involve the Arizona Wildcats.Assuming Arizona wins its next two games, November 21 versus Oregon is the Pac-10 championship game. Oregon (assuming they beat the teams they should) will be undefeated in Pac-10 games and Arizona, with one loss, will be in second place.With two more wins Arizona would easily move up into the Top 15 in the BCS rankings, making this a huge Top 10 versus Top 15 game in Tucson.Everyone knows Arizona's history with upsets and this would arguably be the biggest one in the history of Wildcat football. A win would tie them for first place in the Pac-10 as they hold the tiebreaker against Oregon.Even if Arizona upsets Oregon, they still have one more hill to climb.December 5 against USC is where Arizona will decide its fate.USC is not a team that will let their loss to Oregon hang over their heads.

They will come out with anew-found fire in the coming weeks.Luckily for Arizona, the game is over a month away. The Cats will have time to figure out the adjustments that USC has made and use that information to their advantage.Mike Stoops has never beaten the Trojans. Pete Carroll has yet to lose to Arizona during his tenure at USC.If there was ever a year for change, this would be the year for the Wildcats.This year's team has changed the culture of the program. The loss to Washington would have crushed the spirits of past teams. Past teams that were losing by 15 points would have thrown in the towel.This team has confidence in its ability to play teams and know they are going to win.