Daily Archives: June 30, 2004

In Summing Up…

I love Larry Mahnken’s take on last night’s game:

…The victory cinches nothing, nor would a sweep–devastating to Boston though it would be. Not with the immense talent on the Boston roster, and the potential for debilitating injuries on the Yankees’. A Red Sox fan friend of mine at work claimed the other day that Boston’s just been toying with the Yankees for the past 85 years–just to make their ultimate victory that much more bitter for the Bombers. I pass that on for its humor, but there is a caution that comes with it: Boston will eventually beat the Yankees out, they will eventually win the World Series, some day. The Yankees rebounded in ’78 later in the season from a larger deficit than Boston could possibly face entering July, and the circumstances that brought that Red Sox team down could happen to the Yankees. Celebrate the victories, rub it in–but don’t ever allow yourself to believe it’s over until the champagne bottles are uncorked.

The series now turns in Boston’s favor, with Tim Wakefield and Pedro Martinez facing off against Jon Lieber and Brad Halsey. Wakefield’s had tremendous success against the Yankees recently, and Pedro Martinez shut them down in their last meeting in April, so a series victory by Boston is still very much a possibility, almost even a probability. But if the Yankees can keep the offense going like it has in the past three games, and get reasonable outings from their starters… well, just watch. It’s New York/Boston–it feels like October baseball already, and it’s barely summer.

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Simply Blunderful

Sorry for the delayed post today, y’all. I’m home sick and I’m not the only one under the weather; my computer has been crashing all morning, so I’ve had a heck of a time getting these links done. Regardless, it was a good night for the Yanks on Tuesday, and a horrible one for Boston. The Red Sox sabatoged themselves last night with three errors and two more misplays which led to Yankee runs, as the Bombers creamed Boston 11-3. The most costly error came with two men out in the fourth. The Yankees already held a 4-2 lead, thanks in part to aggresive base-running, and despite the fact that Johnny Damon crushed two solo home runs off of Javier Vazquez. With Miguel Cairo on second, Derek Jeter hit a ground ball to Nomar Garciaparra. Cairo held up momentarily, and just as the ball passed him, he clapped his hands together, as he headed for third. Garciaparra, who made a throwing error in the first, bobbled the ball and Jeter reached first. Gary Sheffield, “The Punisher,” followed and launched a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence.

The Yankees had a comfortable 7-2 lead and didn’t look back. Tony Clark added a monster shot into the black seats in center field, and David “Cookie Monster” Ortiz hit a solo blast that was similar to Ruben Sierra’s home run on Sunday night. Three solo home runs were all the Sox could muster off of Yankee pitching. Javier Vazquez has allowed 15 dingers this season; fortunately for the Yankees, 12 have been of the solo variety.

Vazquez wasn’t dominant, but he was solid, striking out eight and walking none. It was a forgettable evening for Derek Lowe and the rest of the Red Sox who hope to rebound tonight behind Tim Wakefield. Red Sox fans could not have been pleased at the sight of Pedro Martinez standing on the top step of the Red Sox dugout, smiling and laughing with the fans, even posing for pictures. According to Jim Kaat on YES, Martinez stopped in on the Yankees’ batting practice earlier in the day. He appeared in the empty stands and walked toward the field clapping like a Yankee fan as Derek Jeter took BP, chanting, “De-rek Je-ter.” He came down to the field and shook hands with Jeter, Mattingly and Tony Clark among others. Somewhere, Bob Gibson is rolling his eyes.

The Red Sox defense is killing them right now. Yesterday, Peter Gammons spoke with Fatso and Fruit Loops on the FAN (excerpt via Steve Silva):

The starting pitching’s been pretty good. But it’s the baseball they play. This is incredible to me. They’ve gone eight consecutive games without turning a double play. That’s incomprehensible. They are so dysfunctional defensively. They lead the major leagues in unearned runs allowed. It’s really disturbing. And I know it really disturbs management that they’re just playing blas