Posted on 09/20/2006 7:52:19 PM PDT by frogjerk
TORONTO (AP) -- The New York Yankees clinched their ninth consecutive AL East title on Wednesday night when the second-place Boston Red Sox lost to the Minnesota Twins.
The Yankees began the day needing one win or a Red Sox loss to wrap up the division championship -- and their 12th straight playoff berth. New York lost 3-2 in Toronto, but Boston's game went final about 30 minutes later -- setting off a champagne celebration in the New York clubhouse.
"The sooner we can get it over with, the better," manager Joe Torre said after the Yankees lost but before Boston was defeated.
The race between the Red Sox and Yankees was close much of the season until New York swept a five-game series at Fenway Park from Aug. 18-21, increasing its lead to 6 1/2 games over Boston.
The Yankees' lineup got a major boost when the team acquired right fielder Bobby Abreu in a trade with Philadelphia on July 30, while Boston was hurt by a rash of injuries and illnesses this summer. David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Jonathan Papelbon and Jon Lester were among the key players who missed extensive time.
Last season, New York clinched the AL East title with a win in Boston on the penultimate day of the regular season.
Bengie Molina homered for Toronto, and the Yankees couldn't take advantage after Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay left in the fourth with a strained right forearm.
After Bernie Williams fouled off a pitch from Halladay, Toronto manager John Gibbons, pitching coach Brad Arnsberg and trainer George Poulis went to the mound.
Halladay didn't even attempt a warmup pitch before leaving the field. The Yankees led 1-0 at the time.
But New York's Sean Henn, making his first start of the season, allowed three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Molina tied the score with his 17th homer. Reed Johnson hit an RBI single off Brian Bruney, and Alex Rios added a run-scoring double to make it 3-1.
Henn (0-1) gave up three runs and four hits in 3 2-3 innings.
Williams cut it to 3-2 with a homer off David Romero in the sixth. Romero (1-0) pitched 2 1-3 innings for his first major league win.
B.J. Ryan worked a perfect ninth for his 34th save in 38 chances.
Robinson Cano's RBI double in the third gave New York a 1-0 lead.
Notes
Torre said closer Mariano Rivera feels fine and will probably pitch this weekend. Rivera has been sidelined since Aug. 31 by a muscle strain near his right elbow. ... Gibbons said his team still has the goal of finishing in second place. "We've been stuck in that third-place rut for years now," he said. Toronto has finished third in the AL East seven of the past eight seasons.
WEEI pre-empted JT The Brick tonight to do a TAPE-DELAYED
New England Revolution soccer game. I guess it's in their
contract--if they can't air it live due to Sox, they either
move it to 'RKO, or run it delayed at midnight so fans
can hear someone score a goooooooooooooooooooooal.
As a result, we were unable to hear JT gloat about a Yankee
title. Aw...
And I won't paste that picture of you know who again.
I'll just say...Curse...of...um, the wife of the
ex-President who's coming here to campaign for
Deval Patrick...You know the rest.
I love New York, it's the flaming Yankees I cant stand....
LOL!!
Yes, suddenly, I am a METS fan!!
But you would hope that teamwork would trump pettiness in the clubhouse.
As for Giambi whining to Torre that he's been too nice to A-rod!!!!!!!!!!!!
There really are no words.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That the team is protecting him is disgusting.
The Mets yes I am very proud of Willie. He is a great man!
They love his bat in the line-up though
Nothing on the field compares to The Colossal Collapse.
Twenty-six World Series victories? They might as well be Parkchester Tavern League titles.
Aaron Boone? Who's he?
It's been four years since the Yankees beat the Mets for their last World Series crown. Last night it felt like 40.
George King, New York Post
ya know...I forgot you live up near me in northern CT where it's Red Sox central...I almost started liking you! ;-) 'Tis a shame - we need more Yankee fans up here!
Only losers think like that.
We had Bernie (who's getting up there in years), Melky (like you said, the real deal), Aaron Guiel (Aaron who?), Kevin Thompson, Nick Green, Sal Fasano, etc., all contributing to get to where they are.
A lot of these guys are either past their prime or rookies. We didn't pick up Abreu until late in the season, so he was only a factor in the latest run. Up until the 5-gamer, we never got very far behind Boston because everyone worked to stay competitive.
And you complain about losing a starting pitcher? We've been without Carl Pavano for the entire season! Mussina was out on the 15-day DL with a pulled groin - and you can't say he was a non-factor in the Yankees success, because he is a huge part of the starting rotation. Johnson sucked the first half of the year. The only pitcher really worth noting is Chien-Ming Wang. So we've had our share of either injuries and/or sub-par performance and we still clinched.
What I'm tired of is the whining Boston fans that complain that the Yankees buy everyone because it isn't so - yes, we've gotten players from other teams, that's part of the game. But we also have quite a potent line-up coming right out of our farm system. Robbie Cano, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Chien-Ming Wang, Jorge Posada, Melky Cabrera, Kevin Thompson - all a decent core to build around. And as far as the Damon deal goes, I think he'll do alright in two years. I've always thought he was a good ballplayer - especially in the leadoff spot.
Grabbing one's throat with one's hand or hands is the American sign for the deaf phrase for RED SOX. Choking in August is a New England tradition.
He's a Yankee.
LOL!!
Thanks for that info. I think we both assume Nutmeg is a SOX fan, but I made that post not knowing if that was a fact.
Yankees Line Up and $$$ in millions
Damon---$13 (FA)
Jeter---$20.6 (Home)
Abreu---$15 (Purchase)
A-Rod---$25.6 (Traded)
Cheater--$20.4 (FA)
Sheff---$10.7 (FA)
Matsui---$13 (FA)
Posada---$12 (Home)
Cano--$.350 (Home)
Mussina--$19 (FA)
Farnsworth--$5.4 (FA)
Rivera--$10.5 (Home)
That's $165 million in salaries for a day that Mussina starts. Without the pitching it's still $130 million and that's without using the bench or defensive replacements. Outside of a few home grown guys this is a team of purchased players.
The Sox lost 4 position players in a month plus a pitcher to go along with the fact that they were without David Wells and Matt Clement for most of the year, no starting center fielder for close to two months who has not been able to hit due to a broken knuckle, a closer in Foulke that has been injured on and off all year and a starting pitcher that developed cancer.
You can say that Johnson sucked but for the first 6 weeks so didn't Manny.
The real difference between these two teams is that when the Sox lost guys they were not able to go out and buy more players which is really what the Yankees did with Abreu who made a big contribution to the Yanks in August. (Abreu costs the Yankees not only the salary but the luxury tax premium which marks up the salary 40%). Injuries are part of the game and I also think that the Yankees had position players available to step in who contributed. (Bernie might not be the guy he was but he can still hit)
Yankee fans need to understand that their revenue stream allows the team to do things that no one else can. They can carry a stiff like Pavano and some injuries to key players while overpaying for guys at the end of their careers and being extremely aggressive in the international free agent market.
It is what it is. The Yankees have shown that money can get you into the playoffs but it doesn't win a WS.
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