"Red Sox have a serious handicap, playing with one arm while the other arm/hand is on their neck choking." This isn't 1978 and the Sox aren't playing like it is. The Yankees pitching sucks, they manage to win games with their bats.
It's safe to say good pitching beats good hitting.
Regardless of the outcome between now and rest of the season, the Yankees simply don't have the pitching to win the world series.
The regular season has become a chore for the Yankees. They will turn it up when it matters. In any event, Orlando Hernandez has been the best starter in baseball since he returned, Mike Mussina is hitting his stride, Javier Vasquez gives up homers but not much else, and it appears that Kevin Brown may be back. Taking into account the fact that Mariano Rivera is the best closer in history and that Pedro Martinez can not beat the Yankees, the have more than enough pitching to make sure the Sox do not win a World Series. That's all I care about. Not the Yanks winning, the Sox losing.
Nothing will bring me more pleasure than those remote camera shots of depressed patrons at Who's On First? on Yawke Way as the Sox make their final out.