As Good As It Gets
In an earlier post, BGW correctly asserted that outside of the Massacre, the Yanks hadn't really shown any dominance of late. The past 2 series at the Stadium have changed this reality somewhat. Four and two, two series wins, against 2 of the best teams in baseball may not instance total dominance, but it is as close as this team is capable of, especially when you consider that if Bumbles had just elected to play to win in the 2nd Tigers game, they would have likely gone 5-1. Beating a hot pitching prospect that they'd never faced today was certainly an unexpected and positive sign of continued improvement, as are the back to back performances they got from the rookies, Karstens and Rasner. If these guys are the real thing, the Yankees pitching rotation of the future (Wang, Hughes, Cliffors, Rasner, Karstens) can be descried.
As for AROd, the rampage continues. But you know his season long risp stats, late inning stats, 2 out stats etc. cannot be substantially altered in a few games, and they remain fare more important than whether he reached 30 hr's and 100 rbi's. After all if you get five homers in two games, you still have only helped to win 2 games. If you strike out with men on in the 8th in five games, that's five games you helped to lose. But at the end of the day, after all, it's the post-season that counts. I didn't give a shit about AROD's MVP season last yeear once he kicked away that bouncer against the Angels, and certainly not after he hit into that fatal DP. And if he excels in the playoffs this year, I'm not going to care about that 0-23 streak against righthanders or the time he went 0-10 with 7 ko's. If he excels...and that remains for me a very big if.
On the other side, the Sox continue to mystify me. Consider that having won the first 2 games of the series against Toronto, with the Yanks taking 2 from the Twins and, more improbably KC taking two from Chicago, and with the White Sox coming to Fenway next, Boston had to be considered in the thick of the wild card race this weekend. Certainly they were in much better shape there than the Angels in the West and the angels still fully expect to win. But having traded Wells they continued to sit Varitek and Nixon, both of whom are off the DL, Manny, who never went on the DL, presumably because he's not in any way disabled, and Ortiz, who was openly lobbying to play. They also yanked Beckett after 77 pitches and 3 runs, with the game still very much up fopr grabs, in order to turn things over to their latest no-name reliever, who promptly gave up 2 runs in an inning, sealing their fate. My point is this team, now 6 1/2 back and in trouble could easily have been 5 or even 4 1/2 back, with 6 games to come against their rivals for the last playoff spot. Win 2 of 3 against the Sox, 2 of three against the Twins, let Detroit Cleveland and each of them help you out, and pretty soon your 1 1/2 back against one of them, maybe 1 back against the other with 5 to play. And you're playing Baltimore and Tampa to finish. How can you give up on that? How can you trade David Wells, how can you blow off the chowderheads like that, a fan base as loyal as they are provincial and annoying? If you are a chowderhead, how can you not call for the heads of everyone from Lucchino on down to Francona? What is the official line here, we're not allowed to compete because Papi had a scare and Lester has lymphoma? Can one excuse not just giving up in the middle of a pennant race, but refusing to play at all, as Manny being Manny?
Is this, finally, the return of the Curse, which as we all know, was a series of self-inflicted wounds reinterpreted as inescapable destiny. Has the Babe's curse been replaced not by Damon's, as some have said, but by Boomer's, the Babe's reincarnated alter-ego, whose latest transfer was the move, which, like the funding of No,No, Nanette, made no baseball sense whatsoever? I must admit I did sympathize with Bostonians who longed to witness just one Sox championship before they died. Now I dare hope to die, after a long long life without ever having to witness another.
As for AROd, the rampage continues. But you know his season long risp stats, late inning stats, 2 out stats etc. cannot be substantially altered in a few games, and they remain fare more important than whether he reached 30 hr's and 100 rbi's. After all if you get five homers in two games, you still have only helped to win 2 games. If you strike out with men on in the 8th in five games, that's five games you helped to lose. But at the end of the day, after all, it's the post-season that counts. I didn't give a shit about AROD's MVP season last yeear once he kicked away that bouncer against the Angels, and certainly not after he hit into that fatal DP. And if he excels in the playoffs this year, I'm not going to care about that 0-23 streak against righthanders or the time he went 0-10 with 7 ko's. If he excels...and that remains for me a very big if.
On the other side, the Sox continue to mystify me. Consider that having won the first 2 games of the series against Toronto, with the Yanks taking 2 from the Twins and, more improbably KC taking two from Chicago, and with the White Sox coming to Fenway next, Boston had to be considered in the thick of the wild card race this weekend. Certainly they were in much better shape there than the Angels in the West and the angels still fully expect to win. But having traded Wells they continued to sit Varitek and Nixon, both of whom are off the DL, Manny, who never went on the DL, presumably because he's not in any way disabled, and Ortiz, who was openly lobbying to play. They also yanked Beckett after 77 pitches and 3 runs, with the game still very much up fopr grabs, in order to turn things over to their latest no-name reliever, who promptly gave up 2 runs in an inning, sealing their fate. My point is this team, now 6 1/2 back and in trouble could easily have been 5 or even 4 1/2 back, with 6 games to come against their rivals for the last playoff spot. Win 2 of 3 against the Sox, 2 of three against the Twins, let Detroit Cleveland and each of them help you out, and pretty soon your 1 1/2 back against one of them, maybe 1 back against the other with 5 to play. And you're playing Baltimore and Tampa to finish. How can you give up on that? How can you trade David Wells, how can you blow off the chowderheads like that, a fan base as loyal as they are provincial and annoying? If you are a chowderhead, how can you not call for the heads of everyone from Lucchino on down to Francona? What is the official line here, we're not allowed to compete because Papi had a scare and Lester has lymphoma? Can one excuse not just giving up in the middle of a pennant race, but refusing to play at all, as Manny being Manny?
Is this, finally, the return of the Curse, which as we all know, was a series of self-inflicted wounds reinterpreted as inescapable destiny. Has the Babe's curse been replaced not by Damon's, as some have said, but by Boomer's, the Babe's reincarnated alter-ego, whose latest transfer was the move, which, like the funding of No,No, Nanette, made no baseball sense whatsoever? I must admit I did sympathize with Bostonians who longed to witness just one Sox championship before they died. Now I dare hope to die, after a long long life without ever having to witness another.
posted by joe valente | 7:38 PM
2 Comments:
All true about A-Rod. My only hope is that this time it sticks... at least for about 6 weeks.
I'd get a much bigger kick out of going through the playoffs relying on a Karsten or Rasner at the back-end rahter than Wright. And with Joe now fretting daily over Mo's elbow, can he really afford to use a bullpen-killer like Wright on a regular basis. The more we see of Wright, the more Joe will abuse Procter and Villone and, ultimately, the more we'll see of Dotel.
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