The Red Sox capped off the first leg of their reunion tour versus the Yankees by beating New York 3-2 on Saturday and 2-0 on Sunday, for a clean-sweep of the three-game series in the Bronx. Where’s ya Moses now? indeed. According to the YES network, Boston has taken six of their first seven games against the Bronx Bombers since 1913. They did it in convincing fashion, with superior pitching (their bullpen allowed one hit in nine innings of work), brisk defense and timely hitting (see: Manny Ramirez).

I went to the game Saturday afternoon. Although I live in the Bronx, there isn’t a clear-cut, direct route to get to the stadium from my house, so I end up taking three subway trains to get there (in all, the trip is no longer than 40 minutes). When I got to the 145th street station to catch the D train, there were smatterings of Yankee fans grouped on the platform. All of them looked like they were from out-of-town, mostly from the suburbs. Plenty of them were drinking already. The ugliness starts early.

When the D train pulled up, it was packed with more baseball fans, Yankee and Red Sox rooters alike, who all looked like they were from out of town too. Stepping onto the train was a treat. The car was alive with conversation. You could practically feel the anticipation. Instead of engaging in the banter like I usually do, I just sat back and let it wash over me. I wished that every fanbase could experience something similiar.

Of course, exiting the train and subsequently trying to navigate exiting the train station, let alone the streets, is an endeavor for suburbanities. You can feel the rush of adreneline, of xenophobic tension, as they made their way to the Bronx street above.

It was a fine day in New York. The sun was out, yet the air was still crisp and cool. As I made my way to meet my companion, I saw a Spanish teenager walking along with what I guessed was his brother, a skinny kid on cruches. The little guy couldn’t have been more than eleven years old. He had a big cast on his right foot, and he was moving along as quickly as he could.

As I passed them, I said, “Now, here is a real baseball fan. Coming out the game on crutches and everything. You are the real deal, kid. That’s beautiful.” The older kid nodded at me. I continued, “That’s a beautiful thing, and worth the trip because the Yankees are going to win.” With that, I moved passed them, when I heard the young kid say, “Are you sure? Are you sure?”

I turned around and looked at him in the face for the first time. He had a great head of black hair, and big brown eyes. You should have seen this boy’s face; it was all lit up. “Are you sure? Are you sure?” Of course, I wasn’t sure, but looked at him and said, “Of course, I’m sure. 7-2, final. You wait and see. The Yanks’ll win.”

My friend Johnny Red Sox and I sat in the lower part of the upper deck in the right field. We got to our seats by a quarter past noon, so we had plenty of time to watch the Yankee players warm up. I’m not sure what happened to Eddie Layton, the long-time organist at Yankee Stadium, but he has been replaced by a guy named Ed Alstrom. We watched Kevin Brown run sprints, and then start his soft toss catch in the outfield as Alstrom played “Pretty Baby,” then vamped into “You Shook Me All Night Long,” before finishing with “Hot, Hot, Hot.”

Like always, there were plenty of Sox fans at the game, especially in the upper deck. We saw a sweet young girl on crutches who must have been 13 or 14 wearing a Red Sox jersey, and bravely hopping down the steps to her seat with her friend and her father. Hadn’t I promised that the Yankees would win to the first kid on crutches I saw? Well, what about this girl?

As luck would have it, we were in the sun all afternoon. The game was far more entertaining than Friday night’s drubbing, but ultimately, it was a long, frustrating day for the Yankees and their fans. The Red Sox scored two early runs off of Kevin Brown, who despite not having his best stuff, pitched reasonably well. B. Arroyo was even better for the Sox, allowing just one hit

Call it what you want: throttled, bashed, mashed, scorched, whipped, spanked, humiliated, smacked down, whatever. I prefer to look at it like Popeye the sailor: “It was embarraskin.” (Errors by Bubba Crosby and Gary Sheffield were the icing on the gravy.) The bottom line is that the Red Sox beat the Yankees about the mouth and face at the Stadium last night. After a much-improved “looking” first inning, Jose Contreras quickly returned to his tentative ways against Boston. They stole bases at will

Drat

The Yankees lost a game they should have, could have won last night. However, they still return home to the Bronx having won their first series of the year. Mike Mussina was touched for three first-inning runs (again), but he pitched well after than. I was thinking, “Here we go again,” during the first, but Mussina improved as the game moved along. He did hang a breaking ball to Joe Crede, who popped a solo homer in the sixth, but overall, Mussina looked good enough by the end of the night for Yankee fans to let out a sigh of relief. As YES analyst Jim Kaat noted, by the eighth inning Mussina was “throwing his pitches with more conviction.” His breaking balls were sharp, though his fastball was still only clocked in the high-eighties.

The Yankee offense sputtered again. After scoring a couple in the third, Alex Rodriguez was robbed of a game-tying RBI single by Timo Perez in center field. Gary Sheffield ended the eighth by grounding into a double play, and Travis Lee ended the game by doing the same. The most frustrating part of Lee’s double play was that he hit the ball slowly enough to allow the tying run to score from third. He simply couldn’t truckulate his wide-load down to first in time and was thrown out by a step.

The top half of the Yankee line up didn’t do anything; the bottom-half kept them in the game. Tony Clark started at first base and drew three walks, as Jason Giambi was given the night off. Jorge Posada collected a couple of hits, and Miguel Cairo looked decent as well. (When Cairo used to play for the Devil Rays, I called him the Bizzaro Jeter, because he looked like an fugly, compressed version of the Yanke shortstop. Now, I think he looks like a combination of Jeter and Oliver Stone.) Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter continue to struggle. Williams looks especially lost at the plate.

The Yanks face the Red Sox in the Boogie Down tonight. Jose Contreras goes against Derek Lowe. Yankee pitching coach Mel Stotlemyre feels good about the work Contreras has put in since he was bombed in Beantown last weekend. According to the New York Times:

“He’s changed a couple of things,” Stottlemyre said. “I’m not going to tell you what they are, but you’ll probably see them. We’re trying to eliminate some things. We’re trying to eliminate their getting pitches, which we think they’ve done before. He feels really good right now about himself.”

…”I finally got something back from him,” Stottlemyre said. “Rather than just hearing me talk, I got some conversation back. He and I both are on the same page now, and that’s very important.

“I told him it’s very important I get some feedback on and off, during the start and between the starts. So I’ve got high hopes.”

I expect that Contreras will be better tonight (how could he be worse?), but I also think that Lowe will be much improved as well. The Blue Jays finally won a game at home, beating the Sox last night. I’m going to tomorrow afternoon’s game at the stadium (my first game of the season). Hopefully, the Yanks can win two of three. I’m as curious as the next guy to see how Rodriguez and Sheffield will perform.

Luckiest Man in the Bronx

Two nights ago my girlfriend Emily started clapping when she got home and I told her the Yankee game was about to begin. I think she even surprised herself with how much she was looking forward to watching the game. Em never followed baseball until we started going out a little over two years ago. Now that we live together, it’s become a welcome part of her life. We watch a lot of games together. Em dubbed herself “the Big O,” the big optimist, last week. She helps balance my most base, defeatist tendencies.

I never intended to subject Emily to watching baseball on a regular basis. I’ve always kept sports and relationships with women apart like the seperation of Church and State. But believe me, it has been a real treat that she not only tolerates my fanaticism, but actually appreciates the game on her own. I remember telling Will Carroll about this last year and he sent me an e-mail that read: “Marry her.”

Last night, after Emily’s favorite player Jorge Posada whiffed to end the fourth inning, Em says to me in a soft voice, “I love baseball.” I turned down the volume on the commercials and asked her why. She said, “I like it because I enjoy seeing how much you get into it. I like that it brings you so much joy. I also like it because it’s food for conversation and learning for me.”

Emily often asks questions, and naturally, I love to give her answers if I can.
She calls me Rainman because I know that Joe Dimaggio struck out 13 times in 1941 as well as I remember my mother’s birthday. However, Emily takes special pleasure in stumping me with trivia (which, truth be told, I’m not so great with). Regardless, baseball initiates conversation, which often leads to things that have nothing to do with the game at all.

She continued, “I also like it because I can get up and dick around and when I come back the game is still on. It’s not like a movie where I have to pee and get everything together before the commercial is over. If something good happens I hear you yell and then I come running and watch the replay. I think they made the replay for people like me. It’s like they knew I wasn’t there the first time, so they can show it again.”

Em and I watched the Yankees beat the White Sox 3-1 last night. It was a lean, efficient affair, a welcome change from Tuesday’s rain-soaked barner-burner. Jon Garland and Javier Vasquez both pitched very well. Vasquez, whose uniform is tight and form-fitting–unlike the rumpled, baggy look that Derek Lowe or Mike Mussina sport–didn’t have his best stuff early, but he worked out of trouble. He’s quickly becoming my favorite Yankee pitcher. He is all business on the mound, and pitches with confidence and purpose. The only mistake he made all night was a curveball he hung to Carlos Lee. Lee popped it over the left field wall for a homer and gave Chicago a 1-0 lead.

Garland was almost as good. But Alex Rodriguez lined a homer to right field in the sixth to tie the game, and Jorge Posada murdalized a pretty-good breaking ball for a two-run bomb in the seventh. Vasquez pitched eight innings and retired the last ten men he faced. Mariano Rivera got the save.

Rodriguez’s homer was memorable because he didn’t know where the ball went. On an 0-2 pitch, he put a good swing on an outside fastball. The ball scooted over the right-field wall, on a low-line, in a hurry. But Rodriguez didn’t pick the ball up. He looked up, then around, clearly having lost the ball. Surprise, big fella, you just tied the game. Rodriguez’s second homer of the season came on a similiar pitch that he hit his first homer on.

In his next at bat, against reliever Cliff Politte, Rodriguez had a beautiful swing on a 2-0 fastball that was out, over the plate. It was one of those swings that make you say, “oooohhh, man, he just missed it.” Looking for an inside pitch, Politte came back with the same exact pitch for a called strike. Then Rodriguez swung over an inside fastball to end the inning. Rodriguez was visibly upset, an encouraging sign. It didn’t look like he was frustrated, just pissed that he missed a couple of good pitches. He appears close to regaining his form.

Gary Sheffield had two singles, but along with a Javier Vasquez, Jorge Posada was the story of the night. Bubba Crosby started for Bernie Williams in center, lead off the game with a bunt-single, and was robbed of another hit by Magglio Ordonez in the ninth. Travis Lee played first, while Jason Giambi DH’d.

The Red Sox beat the slumping Blue Jays for the second-straight night.

A Rod Bunts! Garbo Smiles! News at Eleven

Ah, just what the doctor ordered. It wasn’t easy, or especially pretty, but it was a win. The Yankee offense broke out for seven runs in the top of the first, and they survived the big league debut’s of Alex Graman and Scott Proctor to beat the White Sox, 11-8 on a rainy night in Chicago. The big first inning featured just the kind of breaks the Yankees have been looking for: Derek Jeter hustled out an infield hit, Alex Rodriguez bunted for a base hit, Jorge Posada snuck a two-run single through the right side, Ruben Sierra scored when Sandy Alomar couldn’t handle a throw home. It was the shortest stint of Mark Buehrle’s career. In fairness, he didn’t pitch terribly, he simply didn’t have any luck.

Alex Graman, a broad-shouldered southpaw had plenty to work with. He even struck out the first batter he faced. But that was about as good as it got (though he escaped the first inning via the double play after allowing a run). Graman looks like a young Fred Gwynne (circa “On the Waterfront”). His eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of his head, and I don’t know if he closed his mouth once.

The score was 8-3 at the end of the second inning, when the game was delayed for almost an hour due to the rain. Graman returned when the game resumed but didn’t last long. I turned the game off with the score 8-5, on the count of I didn’t have the umph in me to watch the rest of this kind of high-scoring game on a school night.

Alex Rodriguez ended the night with three hits, as did Jorge Posada, who hit his team-leading 6th homer of the season. Jason Giambi had two hits. Hideki Matsui smacked his chin pretty good chasing a fly ball, but seems as if he’s OK.

In his latest column, Peter Gammons has this to say about Boston fans:

The inferiority obsession of a small group of Red Sox “fans” when it comes to the Yankees hit a new low this weekend when several saw Jeter and A-Rod eating at The Capital Grille on Newbury Street and hurled vocal and demonstrative obscenities at the pair…The current ownership’s attention to security kept problems in the park at a minimum, and the chants of “you used steroids” with every Jason Giambi at-bat were amusing.

Why were the chants amusing to Gammons if he was offended by what Jeter and Rodriguez experienced? Because they happened at the ballpark? Unless of course, Gammons is saying that Giambi did use performance-enhancing drugs and therefore deserved to be knocked. His very next bullet point reads:

However, while one can debate the rights and wrongs of using supplements that were legal — from andro to human growth hormones — there are too many rumors that at least one of the players on the BALCO list did not tell the truth to the grand jury to think this is just going to fade away.

It sounds to me like Gammons is insinuating that Giambi was indeed a steroid-user–if not a liar–without flat-out saying it. What gives?

Sox it to me?

Finally, there was a good game to be had in Boston between the Sox and Yanks. But New York could not hold a 4-1 lead, and defensive mistakes by Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui helped give the Sox the victory.

Rodriguez continues to struggle, though he did line a solid single to left—his first hit of the series–in his final at bat. John Harper has a sympathetic look at the slugger’s early-season slump in the News today. In all, it was a weekend to forget for the Yankees and their fans. But the resident Yankee-crank at the New York Times, George Vecsey reminds us why yesterday was a great day if you root for the Red Sox. Gee, thanks professor.

The Yanks move to Chicago tonight for a three-game series versus the White Sox before returning home to face Boston this weekend. Lefty-handed rookie pitcher, Alex Graman makes his big league debut tonight for the Yanks. This would be a good time for the Yankee offense to lend a helping hand, huh?

The Yanks and Sox cap their first meeting of the year later this morning at the Fens. Kevin Brown goes against Bronson Arroyo. If anyone out there is lucky to enough to be home watching the game, feel free to leave observations and updates in the “comments” section below. Thanks.

The Yankees finally got the big inning they’ve been looking for and it was enough to help them earn a win in Boston. New York scored six runs in the top of the third. It was encouraging to see that four of their six hits in the inning went to the opposite field (Giambi, Matsui, Posada, Williams). In the bottom of the third, the Yankees found themselves on the lucky side of two close calls, and they wriggled out of a jam. Manny Ramirez was called out on a bang-bang play at the plate, and then Jason Varitek was robbed of an extra-base hit by Travis Lee–who was making his first start as a Yankee. Lee flipped the ball to Paul Quantrill, and it looked as if the pitcher caught the ball off the bag.

But the Yanks got the call, and their bullpen shut Boston down for the rest of the afternoon. Derek Jeter had two hits and Gary Sheffield added two doubles. Alex Rodriguez went 0-4 and left seven men on base. Rodriguez is 0-12 in the series, although he did walk twice yesterday (in his third at-bat, Rodriguez hit the ball well, but right at Johnny Damon).

Neither starting pitcher looked good. And they didn’t pitch well either. Derek Lowe was roughed up, but Jose Contreras couldn’t make it out of the third inning either. Jack Curry, Joel Sherman and Mike Lupica all weigh in on the Yankee pitcher this morning.

You be Illin’

Kenny Lofton is headed to the 15-day DL with a sore quad, and Jorge DePaula could be lost for the season with an elbow injury. I’ll be eager to see what Will Carroll has to say about the latest Yankee injuries.

I was at my mom’s house in Weschester county yesterday afternoon to celebrate her big birthday. I made it a point not to check the score until after 3:30. (I actually wanted to enjoy the party, and no matter who was winning, if I looked at the game, I would be distracted.) When I did peep in, the Sox were leading 4-1 in the seventh. A bit later I caught the end of the ninth. Curt Schilling pitched well, and the Yanks put forth another uninspired performance.

The Sox must be licking their chops today, with Jose Contreras taking the mound for New York. Contreras has electric stuff, but he is an erratic pitcher, and it’s hard to know what to expect from him on any given outing. The Sox handled him just fine last year. Derek Lowe goes for Boston.

The Yankee offense is going to have to wake up sometime soon. Maybe it’ll be today.

Friday Night at the Fights

The Fenway Faithful had been waiting all winter to let out some much-needed steam in the general direction of the New York Yankees, and last night, in the first meeting of the year between Boston and New York, they had their chance. The Yankees continued to play sloppy baseball, trailed from the first inning on, and never really made it a game, falling to the Sox by the score of 6-2. Tim Wakefield’s knuckler was operating in fine form, as he shut down the Yankee offense, while Javier Vasquez wasn’t particularly sharp at all.

Things started off poorly for the Yanks and stayed that way for the duration of the game. In the first, Jason Giambi muffed an easy ground ball off of the bat of Johnny Damon to start the game. Next, Bill Mueller lined a high fastball into the right field seats to give Boston a 2-0 lead. Vasquez came back to strike out the Cookie Monster, David Ortiz, and for Yankee fans used to the struggles of Jeff Weaver, it was a relief to see that Vasquez hadn’t lost his composure. He pitched Ortiz aggresively, and blew the fastball by him for the third strike. He blazed a fastball past Manny Ramirez for a first-pitch strike too. But on the 0-2 pitch, Ramirez sliced a ball into the short right field corner. The ball bounced off of the top of the wall, but the umpire called it a home run.

And that’s just the way things have been going for New York. What should have been a triple became a homer. Manny smiles! and the Sox lead, 3-0. Kevin Millar followed and blasted a single off of the Green Monster. It was the hardest hit ball of the inning; a true Fenway Park single. Vasquez couldn’t get his pitches down, and the Sox were making him pay. He threw two good splitters past the next hitter, Ellis Burks, and then Burks slapped one to the left side.

Derek Jeter moved to his right, dove and stabbed the ball. He rolled over onto his right knee (his left leg extended) and fired the ball side-arm to second base. Ha! Take that Jeter-haters of the world. A nifty play from the World’s Worst Shortstop. But Vasquez walked Mark Bellhorn, and then Doug Mirabelli tapped an easy grounder to short, but Ho! it bounced off of Jeter’s glove, and through his legs. Burks scored Boston’s fourth run and the Jeter-haters were rolling, “Right back at you!”

Once again, the Yankee offense had their opportunities. With runners on first (Alex Rodriguez) and second (Jason Giambi) and one out in the sixth, Gary Sheffield was ahead in the count, 3-1. Joe Torre put the hit-and-run on and after Sheffield took strike two, Rodriguez was thrown out at third. The announcers assumed that Rodriguez was stealing on his own–a big no-no in that situation–but after the game, Joe Torre said that he had put a play on. Down 5-2, Tim Wakefield threw a magic knuckler on the next pitch to strike Sheffield out looking.

In the next inning, the Yankees had two runners on again, and just one out. But pinch-hitter Tony Clark struck out and Kenny Lofton grounded out to first. And in the eighth, with two out, Manny Ramirez muffed an easy pop-up. Jason Giambi, who hit what looked like a routine out, was so discouraged that he didn’t run hard at all. He sulked with his head down. Instead of winding up on second, he was on first. It was truly a horrible play on Ramirez’s part, and an awful one on Giambi’s part as well. The next two batters walked, and the Yankees, down 6-2, brought the tying run to the plate.

Alan Embree came in to face Hideki Matsui and struck him out on three pitches. And so it goes. I don’t think there is anything to be alarmed about. If the Yankees keep putting men on base, eventually, they will start knocking them in.

Alex Rodriguez played poorly and the Fenway Faithful were all over him. The crowd chanted “Bal-Co” and “Ster-iods” at Giambi and Sheffield each time they came to bat. Every time the Sox squashed a Yankee rally, the crowd erupted. It wasn’t so much joy that was coming from them, but the “In-Your-Face: USA, USA,” Homer Simpson brand of adreneline.

As I mentioned, they are entitled. After another long, uncomfortable winter, this was just the kind of game to help Red Sox fans feel a little bit better about themselves. Not all of the crowd was acting like this was a playoff game. There are plenty–nay, a majority?–of Sox fans who are way too cautious to go in for that kind of celebrating. After Ramirez’s error, when the Yankees loaded the bases, you could feel the crowd bracing themselves for the worst.

I didn’t find the game upsetting. (What was upsetting was the pathetic “kids-friendly” computer graphic that Fox showed off.) Frankly, it’s always easy for me to rationalize early-season losses to Boston. I almost invite them. Let Red Sox fans be happy now. Let them kick the Yankees around and feel good about themselves in April, May, June, and July. Come August, things will start to change. Happens every year, like the seasons.

Now, I’m not saying it’s going to happen like this every year forever, but so far, that’s what happens. The happier Sox fans are now, the more miserable they will be later. I’m just going on what I know. Last night a good time was had by (almost) all at the Fens, but remember the saying about those who laugh first.

I don’t mean to be downer here, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of the same from the Yankees today. I expect Schilling to be terrific this afternoon. Hopefully, Mussina can build on his last start, and continue to regain his form.

There are plenty of articles in the New York and Boston papers today about the white-hot rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox. Quite frankly, none of it is either new nor terribly interesting. I have to admit that I haven’t been eagerly anticipating watching these two teams play again either; it brings out the worst in me. My stomach starts to turn, my fists clench, I begin to yell, and soon, I want to start throwing things. Everything goes out of whack, and the feelings of pleasure and dispair are heightened all out of proportion. I feel like David Banner, a mild-mannered baseball fan going about my own business; then I see the Yanks vs. Sox I want to say, “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

Hell, I don’t like me when I’m angry. Not this early in the season at any rate. I’m still hung-over from last year’s ALCS, and all the mishigoss that went on this winter. This feels like waking up with a hangover and cracking a beer to start the day. But I’m just moaning here. I’m exaggerating of course; no matter what happens, it still is early. However, shortly after eight tonight, I’ll be as excited as anyone and ready to see what unfolds. Of course, I can’t wait to see how Rodriguez does, but if Boston fans are looking for a Yankee that personifies the image of the Evil Empire, I think Gary Sheffield is their man. We are having a 60th birthday party for my mom tomorrow, so I will miss the majority of the game, but I assume Schilling will be great.

The funny thing is, as ennervating as it may be for sensitive fans like me to watch, I suspect that this series will bring out the best in both teams. Sox fans will be in a sour mood after Pedro Martinez was roughed up yesterday in a 12-7, extra-inning loss to the Orioles. Fortunately, as a collective, they are not shy about expressing their hostility. Hey Rodriguez: Welcome to the Terrordome. (Y’all come back now, ya hear?)

For a comprehensive take on the series, check out the Red Sox and Yankee blogs listed under the “Local Color” links to the right.

Too Good to be True?

Newsday is reporting that the Yankees are considering moving Kenny Lofton as a way to resolve their roster once Travis Lee returns to the team. Man, it would be great if they could get rid of him and have Bubba Crosby back up Bernie instead. But I don’t want to get too excited; it sounds too good to be true.

The last hot dog I ate was at Shea Stadium during a heat wave last summer. It was the night Dontrelle Willis made his New York debut, and I won’t forget watching Willis pitch any time soon. Unfortunately, I’ll best remember that night for what happened to me after I ate the hot dog. I won’t go into sordid details, but needless to say, it wasn’t pretty. I won’t be able to stay off dogs forever, cause every so often I really get a craving for one. However, I’ll probably enjoy the next one I eat in the comforts of my own home.

Even though baseball season has started, I hadn’t thought about hot dogs until I read R.W. Apple Jr’s long piece about Chicago cuisine yesterday in the Food section of the New York Times. Man, I just love the way they pile on the fixings out in Chi-town. The article covers a lot more than just dogs, but it seems as if food in the windy city is just plain bad for your health, and completely delicious at the same time. Can anyone give me a first-hand report of what eating a hot dog in Chicago is like? How are the dogs at Wrigley? Are they served Chicago-style as well?

I asked my good pal Rich Lederer who he thinks was a better team: The 1986 Mets or the 1998 Yankees. Since Rich is a California native, so I thought he’d have a measured take on the whole issue. Here is an e-mail I received from him this morning:

1. The Yankees won 114 games in 1998, the Mets won 108 games in 1986.

Edge: Yankees.

2. The Yankees won their division by 22 games, the Mets by 21 1/2 games.

Edge: Yankees.

3. The Yankees swept the the Rangers in the ALDS 3-0, beat the Indians in the ALCS 4-2, and swept the Padres in the World Series 4-0. The Mets beat the Astros 4-2 in the NLCS and the Red Sox 4-3 in the NLCS.

Edge: Yankees.

4. The Yankees outscored their opponents during the season by 310 runs, whereas the Mets outscored their opponents by 205 runs. Another way of looking at it is to say that the Yankees scored 1.47 runs for every run allowed. By comparison, the Mets scored 1.35 runs for every run allowed.

Edge: Yankees.

5. The Yankees scored runs at a rate of 1.19x the league average and allowed runs at .81x the league average. The Mets scored runs at a rate of 1.16x the league averages and allowed runs at .86x the league average.

Edge: Yankees.

6. The argument against the Yankees based on such league comparisons is that they benefited from the expansion in the A.L. that year. 1998 was the inaugural year for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a team that finished in last place with the worse record in the league (63-99). The Yankees beat the Devil Rays, 11 games to one in their season series. Backing out the Yankees’ record against Tampa Bay produces a won-loss record of 103-47 and a winning percentage of .687. By comparison, the Mets had a winning percentage of .667 in 1986.

Edge: Yankees.
As such, no matter how you slice or dice it, the Yankees’ superiority in 1998 exceeded the Mets’ superiority in 1986.

A clean sweep for the Yankees, according to Lederer. Can anyone punch any holes into his findings?

You think the D Rays are getting tired of seeing Kevin Brown? Although he wasn’t especially sharp, walking four batters, Brown was helped out by three double plays, and allowed just one run over seven innings (again). It was the 200th victory of Brown’s career and the third time he’s faced and defeated Tampa so far this season. The Yankees became the first team to have pitchers win their 200th career game in back-to-back contests. Jason Giambi jacked a three-run blast in the first. Later, Gary Sheffield added an RBI double and Jorge Posada hit a solo homer.

Today gives a day off; the Yanks begin a four-game series against the Red Sox in Boston tomorrow night. Gentlemen, start your keyboards…let the hyping begin. Alex Rodriguez will be the center of attention. There are already several pieces on him in the papers today. Here’s what erstwhile Yankee bench coach, Popeye Zimmer thinks:

“A-Rod has probably been booed very few times in his life,” said Zimmer, a veteran of each side in the bitter rivalry. “But I am sure he will be booed in Boston for two reasons. One, he is a Yankee, and the other is he was going to be a Red Sox and didn’t.”

I think Rodriguez knows what it is like to be booed. The 2001 season wasn’t exactly picnic for him, and I’m sure they still don’t love him in Seattle.

Former Sports Illustrated writer Jeff Pearlman has new book about the 1986 Mets titled “The Bad Guys Won” due out this spring. I was 15 years old in 1986 and remember absolutely hating that Mets team. After all, they were arrogant, volatile and exciting, and I was a loyal Yankee fan. The Bombers had good players, but they weren’t necessarily a compelling team. The Mets were the story in New York during the mid-eighties and were far more popular than the Yanks; remember, all of the current fair-weather Yankee fans were fair-weather Mets fans back then. Truth is, I lost many a school yard chop session defending the Bombers.

I recall rooting for the Cardinals a lot (Willie McGee was one of my favorite players), and I even committed the ultimate Yankee sin and pulled for the Red Sox in the World Serious. (Lot of good that did me, but hey, I didn’t have to go to school with any Red Sox fans.)
Jeremy Heit ran a fine interview with Pearlman earlier this week (and here is another good one–conducted by Joe McDonald).

Here is one bit that struck me:

Pearlman: I’ve been saying for several years now that the ’86 Mets were a much more complete team that the current Yankee dynasty. Their starting pitching was so deep, and they were very well balanced all the way around. I think they’d really give a lot of teams trouble at the top of the lineup. With the exception of the Marlins, who today has three guys like Dykstra, Backman and Mookie-guys who can get on and really mess with a pitcher’s head.

What hurts the Mets, dynasty-wise, is that they only really lasted one year. So it’s a poor comparison to, say, the Big Red Machine or the A’s of the 70s. But for one season, one game, you’ve gotta like that ’86 team.

Pearlman doesn’t specify any one year of the current Yankee dynasty, but it got me to thinking: Were the 1986 Mets better than the 1998 Yankees? I asked Rob Neyer, who wrote “Baseball Dynasties,” an extremely entertaining book, with Eddie Epstein. Neyer responded:

We (mostly) ranked teams based on what they did over three-year periods, which hurts the Mets because they didnít even win their division in í87 (though they did play well). But if we just look at one year, the Mets do have a case. Not a great case, maybe, but a case. If you look on page 377 of “Baseball Dynasties,” youíll see the Mets are No. 7 on the one-year SD Score list. And they should actually be No. 6, because we got the Giants wrong. Only two post-1927 teams are ahead of the Mets: the í84 Tigers and the í98 Yankees.

The Tigers are just *barely* ahead of the Mets, and in retrospect (look at what they did in í83 and í85) itís pretty clear the Tigers were playing well over their heads in í84.

The Yankees are No. 1, but do we have to discount them just a bit because it was an expansion? Iím not saying Pearlmanís right. But his claim is not absurd.

I’ve got to spend some time mulling this one over. On the one hand, the ’86 Mets were a powerhouse. They sure weren’t dull. But they almost didn’t make the World Serious and then of course, they came one out–no, one strike–from losing it all, before Boston let it slip away. Aside from trailing the Indians in the ALCS 2-1, the ’98 Bombers were never really in a tight spot.

Hmmmm. What do you think? I’m curious to get some reactions to this debate. Food for thought on a rainy spring day in New York.

The Mets won their home opener yesterday, beating the Braves 10-6. The affable Mike Cameron made a terrific impression on fans and newspaper men alike. Harvey Araton pines for the days of the “You Gotta Believe” Mets during these dark days when the Yankees rule the town.

The Mets can’t compete with baseball’s money machine, but beyond six summer days, they don’t really have to. What they do have is an opportunity to create a very different kind of baseball summer in New York. If they can be competitive, make a run at a wild card or more, then they can pump some fresh air into an atmosphere that has become the stormy, stodgy domain of the blowhard in the Bronx.

Along with George Vecsey and Mike Lupica, Araton often takes shots at the big, bad Bombers. Come August, I wonder what Araton’s going to write about the Shea-Hey Mets? We know what he’ll be saying about the Yanks.

Just some quick thoughts here:

–Just how aesthetically appealing is the idea of watching G. Anderson and my man, Vlad Guerrero hit back-to-back? Anderson’s swing is smooth like butter, while Vlad looks like he’s trying to chop down a redwood with each hack. I love the contrast. Angel fans will love the results.

–I caught the highlight of Albert Pujols’ home run off of Randy Johnson yesterday. How many guys can catch up to a fastball that high over the plate? It reminded me of a couple of the shots George Brett hit off Goose Gossage back in the day.

–I saw Cliff Floyd strain his right quad running to first base yesterday. What a shame. The guy can’t seem to stay healthy. My girlfriend Emily likes his name but says it has too many “f’s” in it. She pronounces it, “Cli’ Fffloyd.” And how about Piazza getting run over at first base? That was fugly.

–My man Richie Allen chimes in from the other side of the Atlantic with an interesting look at the troubled, but talented slugger, Dick Allen. Stop by and give it a look.

–Former Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte was placed on the 15-day DL on Saturday. Accoring to Lee Sinins:

Pettitte suffered a strained left elbow while checking his swing in his Astros debut. There had been rumors that the Yankees were concerned about his elbow. Pettitte seems to deny that the Yankees were concerned, stating that “They offered me $40 million over three years. If they thought I had that bad of an elbow, why would they offer me that?” On the other hand, Pettitte claimed he received multiple offers and the Yankees were by far the lowest. So, if he is to be believed, what would appear to be a big offer would in fact be a lowball one.

—William Rhoden had a nice piece on Barry Bonds and his godfather, the King of Cool, Willie Mays on Saturday. Worth a peek.

—Rich Lederer takes a close look at Scott Rolen’s Hall of Fame chances this week at Rich’s Weekend Baseball BEAT. Rolen may not be Mike Schmidt, but he’s no slouch either.

–Not for nothing, but it’s painful to see Hideki Matsui batting in front of Jorge Posada. It’s tough seeing him hit any higher than seventh in the order for that matter.

Day off for the Yanks today, then two games at the stadium vs. the Rays in the middle of the week. Tampa will face Kevin Brown for the third time this season. Then it is on to Boston. I wonder if Rodriguez will break out of his early season slump then?

It was a chilly, overcast Easter Sunday in New York. I was at my mom’s for the holiday, and when I turned the game on, the White Sox had just scored their third run of the first inning. It’s going to be another long day, I shrugged. But Mike Mussina settled down, allowing just one more run after the first, and he pitched well enough to finally earn his 200th career victory. He wasn’t brilliant, but yesterday’s performance was an improvement over his first two starts.

The Yankee offense showed some signs of life as Derek Jeter and Gary Sheffield each collected two hits, but the story of the day was rookie Bubba Crosby who made a pair of nice “Pete Reiser” catches at the wall in center (thank goodness for the padding, huh?), and hit a big three-run homer. The home run knocked off the facade of the upper deck in right field, and Crosby knew it was gone once it left the bat. He even held his right arm out, frozen for just a moment, after he swung, to style the homer properly.

A folk hero is born in the Bronx. Kenny Lofton has to deal with this? Good luck, Kenny. Crosby may find himself on the Columbus Express this summer, but he’s already got a following at the Stadium and in the press.

It was good to see Sheffield get a couple of hits. He doubled home the winning run. He also smacked a single to center that was hit so hard that the center fielder had to make a diving stop as if he were an infielder. Yikes.

The Red Sox won in extra innings yesterday on David Ortiz’s solo blast over the Green Monster. Curt Schilling made his Fenway Park debut as a Red Sox. Boston played several exciting games last week, picking up where the 2003 team left off.

The drama continues this coming weekend when the Yankees play four in Boston. I talk about the rivalry again this week over at The Hardball Times with Ben Jacobs, filling in for Larry Mahnken, who will return next week just in time for all the juicy stuff.

Welp, it looks like it’s getting worse before it’s getting better for the Bronx Bombers. The Yanks took another one on the chin yesterday on a beautiful afternoon at the Stadium. How do you know when your team is really out-of-whack? Let’s look at Hideki Matsui again. In the 7th, Matsui took a weak hack a pitch that rolled foul up the first base line. The ball was on the right-hand side of the base line, so Matsui didn’t think to run. But the ball kept spinning, and then it inexplicably hopped back into the field of play. It was a freak play and it all happened quickly, yet in slow-motion. By the time the pitcher fielded the ball, Matsui was making a mad dash for first. It was too late though, and Godziller looked foolish for the second game in a row. Dem’s da breaks when things ain’t going your way.

The weatherman says it’s going to rain this afternoon, so I don’t know if they’ll get the game in. If they do, it would be nice to see the Yankee offense do a little something for us on Easter Sunday. Equally as important though, I hope Mike Mussina can put together a good outing. I’ve been thinking back on his 2002 season, when he was in a funk for a prolonged period of time. We shall see if his first two starts are a omen of things to come, or just a couple of early-season he-coughs.

Oh, and I guess Pedro bounced back just fine, huh?