Final week of 2007 regular season
This is it. Final week. Yanks have one game against Toronto tonight, then 3 against Tampa and 3 against Baltimore. The Sox have tonight off then two against Oakland and four against the Twins. Anything could happen to be honest. I am terrible at predictions so I won't make one. Maybe.
I wonder if there is a little controversy with the Yanks closing situation. Joba closed out the ninth in a close game yesterday, and Rivera didn't speak to the media after. Also, the Joba rules have once again been changed. Who cares at this point. Pitching him an extra inning is not going to ruin his career, but it might save the season for the Yanks.
Sox are in trouble. They still might win the division, but do Sox fans feel good about where they are? I was at a party Saturday night and among die-hard Red Sox fans. Even those guys will admit the Sox are in a little bit of trouble. Starting pitching is a suspect. Relievers are tired and blowing leads. Players are hurt, big names too, like Manny, Ortiz and Youkilis.
The big thing with the Yanks is that all aspects of their game are starting to click. I know, starting pitching is still not as good as it should be, but Wang and Pettitte are as good as they have been all year, and if Clemens can stay healthy, he is a great number 3. Relievers look good. And with Joba and Rivera, most games are done by the 8th inning. The offense is doing what a 200M payroll should do, score 12 runs a game.
I don't think Manny will play in the first round of the playoffs. And as much as I like Pedrioa and the fact that he gets carded at PG-13 movies, I think his recent slump will hurt his chances at rookie of the year.
Winning the division is a toss up in terms of value. Both the Yanks and Sox want to play Cleveland in the first round and winning the Wild Card could be a blessing altough it hurts the ego. Who knows. It's kind of cool that after 150-something games, it comes down to the last 7.