Blog Archives

SI’s Tom Verducci still thinks Mariano Rivera is a top-flight closer:

Let’s get something straight: Mariano Rivera is not a question mark for the New York Yankees. He may not be unhittable, as he was in the past, but he’s still ultra cool in the clutch and still has plenty of the nasty stuff needed to get hitters out, if not dominate them. If you’re looking for a reason why the Yankees are vulnerable — and there are a few of them — don’t look to their closer.

…I wouldn’t worry about Rivera. He may have lost a smidgen of velocity and sometimes lacks confidence in that high fastball hitters chase, but his stuff is still plenty good. The real problem is the rest of the Yankees’ bullpen, which this year has forced manager Joe Torre to bring Rivera into numerous games in which runners are on base. The slender right-hander has such good mechanics and doesn’t throw a lot of pitches, so I do think he has at least two more All-Star quality years left.

If indeed Rivera can put up two more All-Star seasons, will he have a legitimate shot at the Hall of Fame? It’s a tough one to figure simply because great closers like Sutter and Gossage have yet to be recognized. I keep thinking that once Eck is elected, the thinking on closers may change. I would guess that if Rivera continues to be very good in the regular season, and sensational in the postseason, he’d have a decent chance at making it into Cooperstown somewhere down the line.

David Wells was gunning for his 200th career victory last night, but he gave up five runs in the early innings, and the Yanks couldn’t score enough runs to help him out. (They managed eleven hits, to no avail.) Wells stayed in the game and pitched well after that, but the Yankees lost, 5-3. The game took all of two hours and twelve minutes.

The Bombers played the game as if they had a plane to catch. If it were up to them, that’s exactly what they would have done. With a massive storm headed up the east coast, today’s game has been rescheduled as an afternoon affair. The only snag is that the game is about the only thing that will go ahead as planned in Baltimore today, as the schools and local government will be shut down.

“I’m sorry we have to play, period,” said David Wells, who pitched a complete game in the loss. “It’s not good. The city’s closing down, the government’s closing down, and we’re playing. Figure that out.”

…”I don’t really see it,” first baseman Jason Giambi said. “I don’t see the need to get it in, especially when they’re shutting down schools and having the Navy get their ships out. I hope everything works out and everybody’s safe. I don’t understand the thinking of what they’re trying to accomplish.”

Joe Torre, the Yankees’ manager, had a theory. “Everybody’s scratching their head about why we’re cutting it so close, but it’s not our decision,” Torre said, later adding, “When you’re dealing with revenue in today’s game, that’s what it comes down to.”

Mike Mussina will pitch for the Yanks today, and has a chance to earn his 200th career victory.

The Red Sox were shut out by the D-Rays in Boston last night, while the Mariners finally beat the Rangers (thank you, Mr. Moyer). Boston’s lead in the wildcard is down to a game and a half. Johnny Damon missed last night’s game, and the Sox, who have been relatively injury-free throughout the season, are starting to show some bumps and bruises.

The A’s won behind a strong effort from Barry Zito, and their magic number—like the Yankees’—is down to six. The Twinkies beat the White Sox again and now lead Chicago by two and a half games in the central. Finally, Doc Halladay pitched a complete-game shut out against the Tigers and may have earned himself the Cy Young award.

THAR HE BLOWS

Is old man Steinbrenner starting to look out the front door? Maybe yes, but on the other hand, certainly not. According to an article by Richard Sanomir today’s Times:

Steinbrenner manufactured his own intrigue yesterday in two telephone calls.

In the first one, he was discussing the business acumen of his sons, Hank and Hal, and his son-in-law, Steve Swindal, when he said: “You don’t want to let go, but I’m going to let go. After this many years and so many ups and downs, if I can deliver a championship, I can feel like I can step aside.”

But minutes later, Steinbrenner called back to say that he did not mean to say that a 27th Yankees championship would trigger his retirement, only that he might slow down a bit.

“I didn’t say I’d step aside,” he said, “but there will come a time in the not-too-distant future when I’m going to step aside and let the young elephants in the tent. This is not a retirement announcement. What I mean is that the young elephants, the young sons and the son-in-law, will be more and more active.”

Love him or hate him, the Yankees will be forever altered when the old elephant shuffles along. I’ve mostly disliked Boss George since I started rooting for the Yankees in 1979, but I’m also grateful that he’s been dedicated in providing us with a winning team, despite of his unsavory methods. I’ve been thinking a lot about the day when he’s gone this summer. Everything that I know about the Yankees, the way they operate with free agents, with the media, with the rest of the league, is rooted in the Steinbrenner Era. I can’t help but wonder if I’ll actually miss the big bully when he’s gone.

In the late 1980’s and early ’90’s, I remember wishing that George would not only leave the Yankees, but God’s green earth as well. It was the only way the Yankees would have a chance to win again I figured. Of course since then, George has enjoyed a Nixonian twilight. Some teams wish they had a guy like Steinbrenner running their team—just ask Christian Ruzich.

Just goes to show, you got to be careful what you wish for, huh?

Greg Maddux failed in his second attempt to win his 15th game of the season last night. Javy Lopez caught Maddux for the first time since Christ was a Cowboy, and the Maddog left with a three run lead. But Atlanta’s bullpen coughed up both the lead and the game. David Pinto has several good posts regarding Maddux over at Baseball Musings for those of you who are interested.

I struggled to keep my eyes open last night as I watched HBO’s “Curse of the Bambino” documentary. And believe me, it was a struggle. The hour-long show was a bit better than the Yankeeography slop that the YES network churns out regularly, but it was far from memorable. Judging by his performance as the show’s narrator, it appears as if Ben Affleck had a hard time staying awake too. Affleck comes off like a rank amatuer, and is ill-suited for the job at hand.

The show is essentially a slight, self-aggrandizing tribute to Red Sox Nation. Thanks primarily to historian Glenn Stout, there is more balance and attention to accuracy than can be found on any Yankeeography. But overall, the show was unfocused and trite, rehashing familiar moments. Perhaps, if you are a Sox fan, the show was oddly gratifying. I found it a bore, which is a shame, because the Sox are such a rich subject.

If you are a Chicago fan, I’m sure you are thinking, “Cry me a river, fellas.” Of course, the highlight of the piece was getting to see Edward Cossette’s fat head. Edward had several quotes that made the cut, and my only complaint is that there wasn’t even more of him.

Ben Jacobs has another nifty analysis over at Universal Baseball Blog, Inc. This time, he compares the freak Alfonso Soriano with the super freak Vlad Guerrero. Larry Mahnken gives his take on ‘Lil Sori too. Good stuff, men.

Rocket Clemens pitched seven innings and allowed two earned runs, which was good enough to notch the 308th win of his career. Derek Jeter had two hits, Godziller collected 3 RBI, and the Yanks beat the O’s again, this time by the score of 6-3. The Yankees’ number for clincing the division is down to seven games.

In Boston, Pedro Martinez pitched a complete game, and the Sox edged the D Rays, 3-2. The Red Sox are now 2 1/2 games ahead of the Mariners, who lost to Texas. Alex Rodriguez smacked his 44th home run of the year; Rob Neyer thinks it’s time for us to stop worrying and love the bomb—give the man the MVP already. Here, here.

This is not a good time to be a Mariners fan.

Last night was gravy night for the Yanks in Baltimore as they pounded the O’s, 13-1. Andy Pettitte won his 19th game of the year and will likely have two shots at winning 20 for the second time in his career. ‘Lil Sori hit two homers and has now reached the 30-30 club in consecutive seasons. Soriano led off the game with a blast, his 11th lead off dinger of the year, which puts him one behind Brady Anderson for the single season record. Aaron Boone added two homers of his own.

Jason Giambi hit his 39th of the year and collected his 100th RBI; not to be outdone, Hideki Matsui, fresh off his Pimpzilla fashion display, notched his 100th RBI as well. Jorge Posada added bases clearing double for his three RBI and he now has 95 on the year (his career high is 99).

Since beating the Red Sox 3-1 in New York nine days ago, the Yankees are on a roll. Even my pessimistic arse doesn’t have much to crow about these days. Instead, I’m grateful that we’ll get another opportunity to experience playoff baseball in New York. Joe Torre and the Yanks are gearing themselves up for the post season. According to The New York Times:

With a 92-57 record coming into tonight’s game with the Orioles, the Yankees had a two-and-a-half-game lead over Oakland for the best record in the league and, thus, for home-field advantage in a possible A.L.C.S. But Torre is mindful of what happened last season, and he will manage accordingly.

“I think there’s a price tag on that,” Torre said, referring to the pursuit of the best record. “You have to decide on what’s more important: being ready to go to the postseason or being concerned about getting that extra game in the championship series. If one works hand in hand with the other, sure, you want to win. But the most important thing is making sure your team is mentally and physically ready to play.”

The Red Sox crushed the Devil Rays in Boston, 8-2 and gained a game on the Mariners, who lost to the Rangers. (The Sox will go down in history as the first team to have nine guys hitting at least .285 with 28 homers and 95 RBI.) Boston is 1 1/2 games up in the wildcard race with 13 games left to play. They trail the Yanks by 5 1/2. It looks as if the Mariners will be the first to wilt, blink, and fade but don’t say that too loudly around any card-carrying member of Red Sox Nation. There is still too much time for something cruel and unusual to happen.

Speaking of which, Ben Affleck narrates an HBO documentary on Red Sox Nation tonight at 10 pm. (Richard Sandomir reviewed it in The Times yesterday…watch out now.) It would be easy to throw potshots at Affleck, but with our ex-mayor being Yankee celebrity fan #1, I think I’ll just keep my mouth shut on this one. I’m going to watch the show in the hopes that Edward Cossette’s talking head made the final cut. It will be a nice day for the blogging community if Ed is indeed in the documentary. Cossette is one of the original baseball bloggers—I believe this is his third season—and continues to put out one of the best columns out there.

Don’t sleep, take a peek.

As Emily and I continued to unpack this weekend, we had the Yankee games on in the background. On Friday night, she turns to me and says, “You know what? I get really sad when the game gets into the 6th, 7th, 8th innings because it means that the game is almost over.” You can only imagine how excited she was when the Yanks and D-Rays played a day-night double header on Saturday. She was miffed that there wasn’t another double header on Sunday.

Have I picked the right woman or what?

The Yanks won three of four from Tampa Bay and increased their lead over the Red Sox to 5 1/2 games. (The Red Sox lost two of three to Chicago in Boston.) Their magic number for clincing the division stands at nine games with thirteen left to play. It would take a Gene Mauch-like collapse for the Yanks to miss the post season at this point. It’s hard to see Joe Torre going out like that.

It was a wet and humid weekend in New York, and until yesterday’s 5-2 loss, the Bombers had reeled off eight consecutive wins. Jason Giambi is starting to swing the bat well again, and Bernie Williams enjoyed his 35th birthday in style.

Jose Contreras was nasty yesterday and struck out a career-high eight batters. (He then showed off his playa threads as part of an annual rookie hazing after the game.) I don’t have a great feel for him yet. It might not be fair to compare him to El Duque, but I keep thinking about the Yankees’ erstwhile Cubano as I watch Contreras.

Contreras has much better “stuff” than El Duque, but he doesn’t seem to have the same competitive poise. When he gets ahead of batters, and is “on”, Contreras looks impressive. His forkball—a splitter that sinks in a floating motion not unlike a knuckle ball—is especially effective. But when he falls behind, he unravels quickly.

It’s also hard to tell much about Contreras’ personality on the mound. He looks like a sleepy hulk. If El Duque was an international man of mystery–the Yankees version of Yul Brenner, Contreras comes across much more like a gentle giant, our very own Herman Munster (actually, that’s not a great call, but it’s the best I can come up so far…OK, he looks more like a combination of Delroy Lindo and Shrek). Hernandez was a red ass, and he was difficult to deal with when he wasn’t completely healthy, but he also possessed an inimitable style on the mound that Yankee fans won’t soon forget.

It is hard not to be curious about Contreras, especially considering that he’s gonig to be around for a minute. With Antonio Osuna taking a beating again yesterday, it is likely that the big man will serve as a reliever during the playoffs. Whether that is a good thing or not remains to be seen.

Roger Clemens had nasty stuff early on last night, but the evening turned out to be more of a grind than a breeze for the big guy. When the Rocket left, with two outs in the seventh inning, he had thrown 120 pitches. Clemens allowed two runs on seven hits before Gabe White and Mo Rivera closed the door with ease on the Tigers. Nick Johnson hit another dinger, Bernie Williams added his 12th of the year, and Jorge Posada added two RBI (91) to give the Bombers a 5-2 win. The Yankee lead over Boston now stands at four (the Sox had the night off and return home to face the White Sox tonight).

The game moved along at a brisk pace. During the seventh inning stretch, the Yankees played a video tribute in honor of 9.11. The video was characteristically maudlin, but what was truly chilling was the moment the presentation ended, the clock read 9:11.

The Yankees host Tampa Bay for four games at the Stadium starting tonight. Jeff Weaver will get a start in a day-night double header tomorrow.

Is Mike Mussina the best starting pitcher to have never won 20 games in a season? Ben Jacobs thinks so. Check out his fine article over at Universal Baseball Inc.

I want to offer my apologies to Mike C of Baseball Rants. His wife gave birth to a baby boy last week, and not a baby girl as I initially reported. Congrats are in order either way. Thanks for setting me straight Murray.

Count Boswell in. Tom Boswell, one of the great baseball writers of the last 30 years, believes that this will be the Red Sox year. Hey, if the Angels could do it last year, why not dream big like Jayson Stark and imagine a Sox/Cubs World Serious, right?

You would think that veteran writers would know better than to choose Boston, despite the very real evidence that the Sox could in fact pull it off. Even Boswell’s wife knows this:

To this day, my wife will not watch an important Red Sox game. Why? “Because it will make them lose.” She’s not much of a sports fan. But she got a proper New England education. If you put hope in the Sox, they will lose. Yet for eons that hope lingered, until the hope itself became an anchor.

But that’s what makes all of this fun. The bigger the expectations, the bigger the celebration, or in the case that history repeats itself, the harder the fall.

As soon as I finished reading Boswell’s article, I recieved the following news from Lee Sinins:

Redsox RF Trot Nixon’s strained left calf is expected to keep him out of
the lineup until at least the weekend. But, BP’s Will Carroll is reporting
that it might be serious enough to put the rest of the season in jeopardy.

What if the White Sox end up being the “cursed” team to win it all?

Greg Maddux will try and win his 15th game of the season tonight against the Phillies. If he is successful, Maddux will break Cy Young’s 98-year old record of consecutive seasons with 15 or more wins, with 16. I’ve been rooting for him to get the record all year, but haven’t mentioned it, cause I didn’t want to put the whammy on him or nothing.

Maddux isn’t talking too much about it either, but the rest of the Braves are:

Leo Mazzone (pitching coach): “It’s a standard of consistency that will never be matched again…”I’ll say it. I want him to get it real bad. He’s meant too much to all of us, on the field and in the clubhouse. He’s been a great influence on the other pitchers. We won’t see the likes of him come by again.”

Don Sutton (announcer): “He could have slammed his hand in the car door. He could have slipped on a flake of cereal his kid left on the kitchen floor. There could have been a player’s strike, and there was. So many things have to go your way. Not only do you have to be good, but you have to be blessed with good fortune.”

John Smoltz (Braves closer): “Absolutely, he wants it. He’ll make it seem like he’s oblivious. Last year he struggled, too. He wanted it. There are certain things you can downplay and certain things you can’t.”

He’s got four more starts left in the season. Good luck Maddog.

Two years ago today the Twin Towers fell. It is a beautiful morning in New York today, clear blue skies with a distinct autumn chill in the air. This is almost exactly the same weather we had two years ago. I heard several conversations on the subway this morning about 9.11. People sharing where they were, and what they saw. I don’t want to think back on it, and re-open those wounds.

But it is meaningful to remember the lives that were lost on that day. It is 8:00 a.m now. In an hour, there will be a moment of silence around town. I will be at Yankee Stadium tonight. I’m sure I’ll get the chills during the seventh inning stretch.

King Kaufman has an interesting article on the derth of football blogs today at Salon.com. Both Edward Cossette and I were quoted in the piece. To be honest, I don’t read much about football, so I don’t know exactly why it hasn’t caught on in the blogging world.

My guess is that most football writing centers around front office and locker room gossip. But that wouldn’t make it much different from any other sport really. Statistics are not the lifeblood of football like they are in baseball.

“In football, statistics are a lot simpler, and mean less, because the situations are a lot more widely varied,” says Sean Smith, whose Purgatory Online blog is about the Angels. What he means is that while baseball is built on a straightforward batter vs. pitcher competition, everything that happens on a football field is dependent on the performance of teammates and opponents. “Compared to football, it’s easier to figure out which [baseball] statistics are meaningful,” Smith says.

Considering how popular statistical analysis is in baseball, it’s confusing why football hasn’t attracted a similar audience. Kaufman opines:

Football, aside from being massively popular, seems ideal for the blogosphere. It’s highly technical and complicated, yet it can also be followed and understood on a “Did you see that hit?!” level. It seems to me that brainy programmer types can appreciate the intricacies of strategy, blocking schemes, zone coverage and quarterback checkdowns at the same time that the, shall we say, less complicated among us can appreciate the game on a more foam-finger-in-the-air level.

The problem with football is that you only have games once a week. What are you going to write about: practice?

The Yankees and Tigers played a game that felt like it was staged by Mack Sennett last night at the Stadium. There were eight errors, three each by first basemen Nick Johnson and Carlos Pena. But if the state of affairs was ugly, it was also amusing for Yankee fans, as they bombed Detroit 15-5.

Johnson made up for his fielding nightmare by scoring four runs. Godzilla hit a homer, and had three RBI; he now leads the team with 99 (Giambi, who was hit by a full-count pitch with the bases loaded, has 96). Aaron Boone hit his first homer at the Stadium and Jorge Posada had seven RBI (89), including a salt-in-the-wounds grand slam in the eighth inning.

The Tigers followed Jorge’s 28th homer with three more errors. Oy.

The Yankees lead remains at 3 1/2 over Boston, who shut out the Orioles yesterday, 5-0. Prince Pedro Martinez pitched eight commanding innings, allowed three hits, walked two, and whiffed nine. Both Oakland and Seattle won too, so there was no change in the playoff standings.

Jayson Stark is the latest writer who thinks this will in fact be Boston’s year:

“If I had to pick one team, I’d pick them,” says one GM. “And the only reason is, I think Pedro (Martinez), (Derek) Lowe and (Tim) Wakefield give them a chance to get the game to the seventh inning. Which is what they need, because their bullpen scares the hell out of me. But they’ve got the best offense in baseball, which makes them the least likely team to get shut down by good pitching.”

Stark adds:

We’re going to pick the best story: Cubs vs. Red Sox. Why the Cubs? Because Prior and Zambrano are a combined 14-1, 1.40 since the break, and if Kerry Wood is your third-best starter, nobody can top that. Why the Red Sox? Because this is baseball’s best lineup since the ’95 Indians — and they can run Pedro out there twice in a short series.

Now if those two teams really played in a World Series, it would be reasonable to wonder if anybody would win. But our first prediction is: Somebody would. Our second prediction is: That team would be the Red Sox, because they’re better-balanced. And our third prediction is: The party in New England wouldn’t end till Opening Day.

There are several good articles out there which may be of interest to you, so without mincing words, here they are:

1. My good pal, a label-mate Christian Ruzich has a piece on Baseball Prospectus about playoff tiebreakers. Don’t miss this one. Great job as always, Ruz.

2. Peter Gammons has two good articles this week:

Watching the Angels outhit the Yankees, Twins and Giants last season, and watching what magnificent offensive teams like the Braves, Cardinals, Red Sox and Yankees do to opposing pitchers, has raised another criticism — that pitching is simply dreadful. Two American League general managers think that’s not the case. “I actually think there’s a lot of really good young pitching coming along today in both leagues, a new cycle,” Oakland’s Billy Beane said. “The problem is that hitters have improved so much the pitching numbers don’t show it.”

“I would agree that there’s not enough pitching,” Kansas City’s Allard Baird said, “but there isn’t enough good pitching to contain all the improvements in offense throughout the game. Twenty years ago, the theory on hitting was to be aggressive, swing the bat and that it couldn’t be taught. That’s completely changed.

“Hitting is being taught today, better than ever before,” Baird said. “Watch the approaches many hitters take today. They’re taught to go deep in the count, to get the pitch they can handle, and more and more hitters have learned to not be afraid to hit with two out. The game is so much more aware of on-base percentage than years ago, it isn’t funny. Look how well so many hitters can take the ball out over the plate and put it in play hard. Hitters now have video, they are schooled in pitch recognition and visual training, they are bigger and stronger and able to manipulate the bat better than ever. The bats are better, lighter, better-balanced, specifically made for individual hitters.”

3. Steven Goldman is back with another installment of The Pinstriped Bible. Goldman’s column is a must for Yankee fans:

Call me a party-pooper, but it seems obvious that no matter what the outcome to this season the real excitement is going to take place this winter. This kind of thinking doesn’t enter into the all-bottom-line-all-the-time Yankees organization groupthink, but 2003 already qualifies as a success. Any team that has to do without Derek Jeter, Nick Johnson, and Bernie Williams (or the local equivalents thereof) and still has a strong shot at 100 wins and a playoff spot has had a tremendous year. With three .400 on-base percentages out of the lineup, well, the Titanic was more likely to keep floating.

There should be a lesson in here for offense-builders who still aren’t buying into what is now the Yankees/A’s/Blue Jays/Red Sox philosophy of working the pitcher for walks and high pitch counts: Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams, even though they are way off their usual games, are still on-base machines. The same was true of Robin Ventura while he was here. Even when they aren’t stinging the ball, these players still take pitches, pushing the starting pitcher towards an early exit even if they do not reach base.

…The Yankees will make the playoffs, and once that happens there is every chance that they can win another championship. It seems though, that the real suspense will come over the winter. This promises to be the most unsettled cold and flu season in recent Yankees history.

4. I enjoyed Ken Rosenthal’s take on the Manny Ramirez controversy (remember that?):

“Cowboy up” is the team’s new motto, and if Ramirez won’t fulfill that pledge, the Red Sox have enough tough-minded grunts who will. Heck, even manager Grady Little strapped on his boots last week, benching Ramirez for one game after the ailing slugger failed to show for a doctor’s appointment one day and refused to pinch hit the next.

Little’s unspoken message — Manny will play when I say he’s ready to play — was a turning point both for the franchise and the manager’s own credibility. Ramirez’s unprofessional conduct united the Red Sox as never before. If the Sox reach the postseason, his infamous sore throat should be considered the MVP — Most Valuable Pharyngitis.

5. Speaking of the Sox, Aaron Gleeman provides a link to the now infamous Kevin Millar/Bruce Springsteen video tribute. Worth a look for a cheap laugh.

6. Jon Weisman writes a good recap of last night’s impressive Dodger victory over The Big Unit and the D-Backs.

7. And Ed Cossette has another terrific, literary-minded post today over at Bambino’s Curse.

8. The Baseball Crank offers a cool piece on the 1928 clash between the Philly A’s and the Bronx Bombers.

9. Jay Jaffe, who is always on point, comes through as usual, with his report on Monday’s game at the Stadium.

10. And finally, Irina Paley, a native of Washington Heights, has a new Yankee-based blog. Best of luck Irina. Welcome to the club.

The Yankees didn’t exactly break out a can of whup ass on the lowly Tigers last night. Instead, they struggled to earn a 4-2 victory. According to The New York Times:

“This is not like other sports like football or basketball where, salary-wise or talent-wise, you might have a lot better team and can just go out and muscle people,” said the Yankees’ manager, Joe Torre. “You just can’t do that in this game.”

But never mind how frustrating the game was to watch, they got the win and that’s all that counts. Jose Contreras started off brilliantly, but fell apart after he tweaked his ankle fielding a grounder. The bullpen did a fine job, and Mariano Rivera survived a ninth inning error and a long foul ball to earn the save.

Bernie Williams delivered the game-winning single, and Godzilla Matsui made a nifty shoe-string catch in death valley. Jason Giambi was given the night off.

The Red Sox beat the Orioles, 9-2 and continue to trail New York by 3 1/2 games. But they gained a game on the Mariners in the wildcard race, as Seattle fell to the Rangers in extra-innings.

Larry Mahnken has been doing an impressive job covering the Yanks this season. He has a good critical eye and he’s a passionate screwjob too. It’s been fun to read his column and watch how he tries to balance his emotions vs. his intellect.

Think the Yankees series against the Tigers is critical? Mahnken does:

If there ever was a team this season that needed a three game series at home against the Detroit Tigers, it’s the Yankees right now.

And if there ever was a team this season that you felt nervous about going into a three game series against the Detroit Tigers, it’s the Yankees right now.

…The Red Sox got back into the race on merit, by playing .800 ball against great teams for two weeks. But if they finish the comeback and overtake the Yankees for the AL East title, it’ll be because the Yankees gave it to them. There are only three games left on the schedule against a team that offers a serious challenge to the Yankees, and that’s not until the very end of the season, where hopefully it won’t matter. The Red Sox are good, but they’re not so good that they can expect to keep winning 80% of their games against even the weakest competition. If the Yankees win 2/3 of their games like they should expect to, it would take a miracle for Boston to win the division–a miracle that seems even more unlikely after last night’s collapse. But if it were to happen that way, I don’t think you can blame the Yankees for blowing the East (they’d be in the playoffs anyway), you’d have to give the Sox the credit they deserve.

But I don’t want to give the Sox any credit, and I don’t want to give them any chances. The Yanks have to win these games.

Edward Cossette, author of the fine Red Sox blog, Bambino’s Curse has an especially good post today. Ed and I are kindred spirits. Even though he’s a stinkin’ Sox fan and I root for the lousy Yankees, we share similar sensibilities about art, music, and literature, which of course, effects how we write about baseball.

Today Ed writes about the literary tendecies of Red Sox Nation (check out the linked articles by Simmons and Boswell too):

I’d love to teach a survey course called “English 1918: The Red Sox as Tragic Hero.” A sample essay question on the midterm might be: “Which of the following literary characters best exemplifies the Red Sox fan experience. Odysseus from Homer’s The Odyssey; Joe Christmas from Faulkner’s A Light in August; Ned in Cheever’s short story The Swimmer.”

The “Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus would be required reading of course.