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When the Red Sox beat Arizona 2 out of 3...
Arizona is one of the best teams in the National League. The Red Sox have a tough schedule.
When the Yankees beat Arizona 3 out of 3...
Arizona is in third place in the National League West and has a terrible line up. The Yankees have an easy schedule.
I love the Boston media.
I am a platinum level flyer on Delta. I got a call yesterday from Delta saying that because Delta is a big sponsor for the Red Sox, they are having a fan appreciation day for their frequent flyers next Thursday at Fenway. It turns out that I can go down to Fenway Thursday morning. play softball on the field, hang out in the dugout, take pictures, and then go to a recption at the Absolut Club, whatever that is.
Unfortunately I will be out of town so I was able to snag the invite for a buddy who is a big Sox fan.
Say what you want about Loser Nation, Fenway is the best place to see a game in the Majors.
Reality
The Sox lost yesterday to the Rockies with Beckett giving up a grand slam. They were outscored 20-5 in the three game series against Colorado. Their hitting is in a little bit of a lull.
The Yankees won 9 in a row and beat up on Arizona. It started with 2 out of 3 against the Sox, 3 out of 4 against the White Sox, 3 game sweep of the Pirates and 3 game sweep of Arizona.
The Yankees were 14.5 games out two weeks ago and are less than 4 out of the wild card.
Evil Dave
This town is smoking crack. If the media, fans and players are seriously not concerned, they have to sober up because this is not a trend. Did you really think the Yankees would continue to play the way they did when AROD got caught cheating in Toronto? Did you really think they would continue to use their relievers from the 5th inning on ALL YEAR? Did you think the Sox pitchers would be invincible ALL year?
No one in NY is celebrating just yet. Its fun to watch the games again, and I think every serious Yankee fan knew this team could go on a 10 or 12 game winning streak, but we kind of got lucky with the streak being time to a Red Sox flame out.
What I really love is the local WEEI homers who are saying that there is no way the Yanks will win the division. Other than a pride thing, all that matters is that New York makes the playoffs. Being the Wild Card entry has been pretty good for teams since its inception.
Reasonable Dave
If I were a Red Sox fan, after I sobered up and called in sick to work, I would be concerned with a few things. 1, hitting. Drew, Crisp, Lugo are all concerns. I would also feel good that Manny will pick it up in the second half. Kevin and Lowell are in a little funk, but they are the real deal. Pedroia, after he gets done shopping at Gap Kids for clothes, is a real good hitter but kind of curious to see what opposing teams do once their book on him gets more full.
The pitching is great, despite the recent bashing. While the Yankees have used 12 starters and 6 rookies, the Sox have a solid 4 of Schill, Beckett, Dice-K and Wake and a very good 5th with Tavarez or Lester when he is ready. Middle relief is better than most teams and the closer is lights out.
Its going to be a good year for American League East, at least for Sox and Yankee fans in the American League East. Good luck to both teams.
Overall
The mood in this town, if I am reading it right, is definitely not one of panic or the historical Red Sox doom and gloom. They feel it is part of the normal ebb and flow of a long baseball season, and this is one of those down turns. They are giving more credit to the Yankees weak schedule than to the fact that the Yankees have good players, which kind of annoys me because they both played Arizona. But whatever gets Loser Nation through the day, that is fine.
I am not ready to say "Be afraid Boston, be very afraid" but the Yankees COULD go 700 the rest of the year, and the Sox COULD go 500. It's happened before.
Thank G*d for the White Sox and Pirates. When the Yanks were 14.5 out, I still didn't think they hit rock bottom, but then came along two terrible teams.
Immediate goal is .500. Do not look beyond that. Do NOT look to the wild card. DO NOT look at the division. Look away. 500.
Now even Lowell is bitching about the travel. Good job Francono, get the troops to back up your silly excuse for loosing a couple of games. Do you think Jeter would hem and haw about the travel, or Torre would make excuses, or the Patriots coaching staff? Of course not.
Last Thur I watched the last inning on TV and was genuinely disappointed when Stewart got a hit with one out left in the game. I might not like Schilling, but he is a great pitcher and a no-hitter is a big accomplishment. All joking aside, it was too bad. Also too bad is that Stewart didn't hit a round-tripper to tie the game.
I am not saying a word until the Yankees are 7 or 8 games out. Just too much ground to cover right now.
I went to the Yanks Sox game yesterday. In the old days, I would go to 3 or 4 Sox/Yanks games a year in Fenway. Lately its one weekend game, maybe one other near the end of the year. That said, it is far different than it was pre-2004. The traditional "Yankees Suck!!" cheer only surfaced its head late in the game, and died down within seconds. It was a little strange.
Overall, it was a pretty good game. If you like crappy games. And games with errors. And poor starting pitching. The cool thing about being there in person, and this is not just for the game yesterday, is to see the things that go on when the networks cut to commercial. My buddy Tom and I sat there, in our sweet third base line seats that were covered, while it rained and they covered the field. It was interesting, sort of, to see a ton of running red shirts pull out a huge tarp, wait while the sun came out, then put it away 30 minutes later.
And for us Yankee fans, it was a pathetic, sad, frustrating example of why the Yankees are in so much trouble. Lets forget for a second that Wil Nieves is an automatic out. And that Doug Man-Kay-Vitz is an almost automatic out. When Mussina flamed out and gave up back to back home runs, the Yanks paraded out a train wreck of relief pitchers that are more horrific to watch in person than on TV. It was awful. They go deep into every single freakin count, then give up bombs. It was like batting practice.
So then came my buddy Mike Lowell. After he took out Mientkiewicz, I thought he was going to round second and take out Jeter to get a trifecta for the day. Earlier when he was running from first to second and Cano got the ground ball, he tagged Lowell who then lowered his shoulder and plowed Cano over. The Yankee second baseman actually made the throw to complete the double play. And what I really love is Mike Lowell blaming it on the fact that he grew up in the Yankees farm system and that is what they taught him to do. "Hey baby, I hit you cuz you made me." Pathetic. The hit on Mientkiewicz was a total accident and sad.
So now Giambi is out, Hughes is more hurt than we thought. Mientkiewicz is out for a few days, and Clemens is hurt. The only good thing is Clemens is collecting a minor league salary and not his $94 million, which, to a Yankee fan, is kind of like a passenger on the Titanic saying "at least there's no sharks" as the ship goes down.
And things go from bad to worse.
PS. When I am at a Sox game when they are playing the Yankees, I keep my mouth shut and Yankee gear at home. I might be a traitor to some Yankee fans for not standing up and clapping and yelling when, for example, Jeter started things in the first inning with a double. But 1) I find that behavior obnoxious, like a Jew at a Christian wedding yelling out "Jesus is not the Messiah" and 2) I don't want to get my ass kicked. What I do that really bugs my friend is that I go overboard with cheering for the Sox. When Papelbon came in during the 9th, I was screaming "WILD THING!!!" as only an angry drunk Yankee fan could scream it. You would have thought I was auditioning for Major League 4, or whatever number they are on. It was fun.
PSS. I still hold out hope for the Yanks, but I also hold out hope that I'll see a 32 inch waist line again.
Ugh. Why does Alex Rodriquez seem to do things that stir up crap. To remind those who are not as tuned into the Yankees or Red Sox as I am, this past Wed the Yankees were playing the Blue Jays in Toronto. On a routine pop up by another Yankee player, as Alex Rodriquez was going from 2nd to 3rd, he yelled "MINE" as two Toronto players were getting under the ball to make the play. They both backed off when they heard ARod yell and the ball dropped and the Yanks scored another run.
So here is my take. I think its a bush league play. Little league crap. Drunk Sunday afternoon pick up game nonsense. Nothing more. When I played fast pitch softball on an accountant and lawyer league, and when I played slow pitch softball on a lunch pale blue collar league in Melrose, there was an unwritten rule NOT to do two things - one was to fake an incoming throw so a guy didn't slide when he didn't have to. The second was to yell "DROP IT" or anything else on a pop up fly. It's not against the rules, just poor taste. So if a bunch of out of shape, overweight beer drinking softball players know, a high tuned professional athlete should know to. Show a little respect Alex. So yet another embarrassing situation for one of the games best players in the history of the league.
The weird thing about this incident is that it did not benefit Rodriquez personally. In 2004 when he slapped the ball out of Bronson's hand going to first, he did it I think so he could get on base, and increase his stats. But the play last week had zero to do with his own stats, which makes it a little strange.
The other thing is the Toronto players should take a little blame. To fall for it is like believing the word "Gullible" is not in the Webster dictionary. They could not tell it was ARod running by them that yelled it? But hey, what do I know, I wasn't there.
So last night ARod was seen around town with his soon to be ex-wife, sitting in a window seat having dinner. He might think about staying low for a while.
Last thing. I am going to the Sox Yankee game tomorrow (Sat, June 2) at Fenway. It's going to be a zoo and I can't wait. Only drawback is that Clemens will not pitch at Fenway, so kind of sucks there. Mussina against Schilling. The AARP pitcher appreciation day.