I'm calm....I'm relaxed....I'm calm....
Posted on 09/30/2005 7:32:46 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
Compared to last October, this weekend's scenario probably doesn't seem all that bad to the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
Down one game with three to play, the Red Sox will try to stage another dramatic comeback against the archrival New York Yankees when the teams open their big series at Fenway Park.
``It's going to be three Super Bowl games,'' Boston's Kevin Millar said. ``Whoever set the schedule this year is a genius.''
Last season, Boston became the first team in major league history to overcome an 0-3 deficit in the playoffs, rallying to take four straight from New York in the ALCS to capture the pennant.
The Red Sox would go on to win their first World Series title since 1918 by sweeping St. Louis, putting the Yankees in the unfamiliar position of waiting until the next year for revenge.
The Red Sox held the Yankees off for most of this summer, hoping to win their first AL East title since 1995. However, Boston, which has finished second to New York in each of the previous seven years, squandered its advantage, and enters the weekend one game out.
Things could have been considerably worse.
The Red Sox trailed Toronto 4-1 in the sixth inning Thursday night while the Yankees were cruising to an 8-4 victory in Baltimore.
However, Manny Ramirez belted a two-run homer before David Ortiz fortified his MVP candidacy by belting the tying homer in the eighth and driving home the winning run with a single in the ninth, giving Boston a 5-4 win and plenty of momentum heading into the weekend.
``The best thing that ever happened to this team was winning this game tonight,'' Ortiz said. ``Everybody was on their toes.''
While the Red Sox split four games with the Blue Jays, the Yankees took three of four from the Orioles, giving themselves a small cushion heading into this do-or-die series.
``It'll be unbelievable. It's always a playoff atmosphere when you play the Red Sox,'' said Yankees slugger Jason Giambi, who belted a first-inning, three-run homer Thursday.
``It will be a lot of fun.''
A less consequential race will also be taking place during the series as Ortiz and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will go head-to-head for the MVP award. Both players boast eye-popping numbers, but the winner may ultimately be decided by who takes the division this weekend.
``That's how you win an MVP -- getting into the playoffs and winning the World Series,'' Ortiz said this week. ``All I want to do is get into the playoffs one way or another.''
Rodriguez agreed.
``I think the focus is on the team. I think a nice side note behind that is, obviously, the MVP race,'' he said. ``No question, front and center right now is the Yankees vs. Boston.''
If the teams finish in a dead heat after Sunday, a one-game playoff to determine the division champion will be played at Yankee Stadium on Monday.
Both teams are also still very much alive for the wild card. The Yankees also lead Cleveland by one game. The Indians will conclude the regular season with three against the AL Central champion Chicago White Sox.
If the Red Sox, Yankees and Indians finish tied, New York will play Boston on Monday, with the loser heading to Cleveland for a one-game playoff to determine the wild card.
After Yankees rookie Chien-Ming Wang squares off against veteran left-hander David Wells in the series opener, Randy Johnson and Tim Wakefield will meet Saturday followed by Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling in Sunday's regular season finale.
This is the first time the Red Sox and Yankees have battled for the division down to the wire since 1978, when light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent homered to win a one-game playoff and send New York to the postseason.
The pennant came down to the final two games of the season in 1949, when Boston brought a one-game lead into Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won both to reach the playoffs and begin a dynasty that claimed 14 AL pennants and eight World Series titles in 16 years.
Before that, you have to go back to the 1904 season, when Boston met the New York Highlanders in a doubleheader on the final day of the season. Boston won the opener to take the pennant.
``You sit there and you say at the start of the season that the best team wins after 162 games. And now you're down to the final three,'' Yankees manager Joe Torre said. ``We all know what the situation is. ... To think that it's come down to a handful of games to decide what 157 couldn't decide, that's great for baseball -- but not too good for my stomach.''
Updated on Friday
The defending Champ Red Sox should not be in the position of being on the bubble in 2005.
I'm calm....I'm relaxed....I'm calm....
Sorry, Karl. Here is how it is going to go.
The Yankees will take two, and win the AL East.
The Indians will take two, and win the Wild Card.
Boston will go home.
The Yankees will crush the Indians in the first round play-off. The Chisox beat up on that California team.
The Yankees beat the Chisox in the ALCS. At that point the AL is decided and I stop watching baseball.
GO YANKS!
That's all I am saying for now. I'm keeping mouth shut for now.
Pitching for both teams is shaky.
UGH, I thought Hillary was a Chicago fan.
When they first signed Jason Giambi, I predicted that the Yankees would never win a World Series as long as he was on the team.
LOL
What kind of beer is that?
Man oh man, if that happens, and it will, Boston fans will really be depressed.
(Martinez was traded and never played a game. - Schilling was injured and only saw minimal action,starting only 10 games all year.)
Schilling has been a disaster for a while, and Wakefield has been erratic lately against the Yankees (he normally pitched well against them, but I think they smacked him around badly the last time they faced him).
Looking for a repeat...
Let's not bring lack of experience into this.
Tribe payroll is ~$40m.
Yankee payroll is ~$200m.
That's 1/5 the payroll of NY. The Yankees should be RUNNING AWAY with it.
psssst.....Ward Churchill wants you to change your Mascot.
It ain't over yet. The Sox are not the team they were last year but the Yankees aren't all that impressive either.Let's face it, neither team's pitching is all that great. Oh you can make an argument the Yankee starers are better but look at their middle relief, it sucks! get to the bullpen aside from Rivera and maybe Gorden. Rivera isn't bullet proof like the old days and lets face it, who gives him more fits then Boston. The season will come down to the final 3 games against the evil empire. Will the Yanks fold like a deck of cards as they did in their final four games last year? Probably not. Will The Red Sox manager wait too long before pulling a struggling pitcher? Yup. Will he pull one too soon only to have us watch a meltdown and no one warming in the pen? you betcha! My point is it's a coin toss, I'll be watching, screaming and throwing things as Terry shows us time and time again why as a manager, he sucks. Yet despite all of this I still think we have a chance despite all of our short commings.
Oh Bucky! LOL
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