What Does 2-10 Mean?
Another Yankees-Red Sox series, another chance to hear that the Yankees can't beat Boston. So far in 2011 that has been true, but it isn't something I will worry about if they meet in the ALCS. And it doesn't matter what happens in the final six games of their season series either as far as playoff predictions go. Let's say the Yankees win all six, does that mean they are now the "hot" team and would clobber Boston in the postseason? As anyone who watches sports knows, of course not.
The 2007 Yankees dominated Cleveland in the regular season, sweeping them twice and outscoring them 49-17 in six games and then promptly got bounced out of the playoffs by that same team. The 2007 Giants lost to the Patriots in the final game of the regular season and then beat the perfect Pats in the Super Bowl. LeBron James is still waiting to get the ring Dirk Nowitzki now has. And did anyone have the Mavericks making the finals when the NBA Playoffs started this year? We just saw Aaron Rogers lead the lowest seeded team in the NFC, Green Bay, to a Super Bowl title. Nope, the playoffs are unpredictable and it is foolish to try and extrapolate a future result from past performance.
So, the Yankees 2-10 record versus Boston means two things to me. First, head-to-head the Red Sox have been significantly better than the Yankees so far. Second, as a result of their superiority so far, they are in first place and the Yankees are not. Think about it, if the Yankees had split their series with Boston so far they would be 84-48 and Boston would be 78-55. That's translates into a 6-1/2 game lead in the AL East. That is what is significant to me about 2-10, because I believe that winning the AL East is vitally important to the Yankees chances to win a World Series title this year.
I don't know if Joe Girardi or Brian Cashman would agree with that. Last year, the Yankees seemed confused about what to do during the final month of the season and they alternated between taking their "foot off the gas" and "putting the pedal to the metal". (Remember when Dustin Moseley got scratched from a start and Hughes took his place after the Red Sox crept close in late September?) This year, I would love to see a definitive push for the AL East title. The good news is, despite their ineptitude against Boston, the Yankees are right in that race. The question is, will they take advantage of their good fortune?
Comments
wish I could have seen last night's game, tonight is on espn so I'll see it
Posted by: blmeanie | August 31, 2011 07:35 AM |
If last night's game was any indication Peter, Girardi wants to win the division.
Mental notes from the game: Fenway is still a pit; from the sound of the contact Granderson was not HBP; this is not Torre's team any more: hit my guy, I hit your guy, simple; every Sox fan around me knew that Salty took a swing at that pitch; Mo seems to be working away from lefties now instead of consistently working inside. The highlight of the game for me was Cervelli's dinger that skipped out of the park. And yep, Cervelli's plunking was about as deliberate as it gets.
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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August 31, 2011 09:11 AM
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Mitchell - why is Fenway a pit? Would you love it if you were a Sox fan? I have been to many stadiums and recognize Fenway is old and the seats are miserable but the magic of the park and experience far outweighs the others for me personally.
Posted by: blmeanie | August 31, 2011 10:25 AM |
BL?
Hi.
Fenway is a pit because it's old and the seats are miserable, actually beyond miserable - and if I wanted magic, I would try a David Copperfield show or, better yet, Lance Burton. The last two MiLB ballparks I've been in have been significantly nicer and more friendly to the human occupants than Fenway. At some point, the cheap owners of the ballclub will let some money out of their stuffed-to-bursting wallets and treat the great residents of Boston to something better. Right now, they're just putting more lipstick on the pig every time they put money into that place.
See Robert Kraft ...
;-)
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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August 31, 2011 02:22 PM
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I would be ok with a total tear down and rebuild with the wall/dimensions identical but the rest of it modernized.
Won't happen anytime soon with all the cash they have put into it in the last 10 years though.
Posted by: blmeanie | August 31, 2011 03:08 PM |
- commence rant
BL - DUDE !!!
Identical dimensions? Steve, it's a friggin Jai Alai fronton with that dumb wall in left. By the way, it was pure genius to get a speedster like Crawford to cover all 10 square yards out there. :-)
Modernized? Almost none of the seats actually face the ball field directly and the seats and aisles are hobbit sized. Frodo loves it there! I HAVE to have some of whatever substances you're ingesting if you think that place is, in any way, modernized.
- end rant
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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August 31, 2011 05:35 PM
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Sorry, I was misunderstood or misremembered...
my previous message, without bastardization of the English language, was meant to read:
I would be ok with a total tear down and rebuild with the wall/dimensions identical but rebuild and modernize the entire park.
After 100 years of the wall, the triangle, it has to stay. If you grew up a fan, you'd say the same. Cookie cutter stadiums suck. I live in Atlanta. Turner field sucks, beautiful and comfortable and modern, but sucks.
For anybody that wishes to chime in about dumb home fields I give you in no particular order:
- short porch in Yankee stadium
- whatever you call the Reds stadium dimensions
- ivy in wrigley, really? Ivy?
- a hill for a fielder to climb that is in play?
- any dome?
- any outdoor stadium in Minnesota?
- Coors field dimensions, nothing more needed to be said there
- Tampa stadium?
- Miami , hard to digest with all those empty seats
The uniqueness of Fenway is terrific. Both teams have the same wall to deal with and the same advantages and disadvantages, yes disadvantages. I'd bet Jim Rice had more homeruns stopped by the wall than he got on "bucky dentish" type homers. :)
your turn - seriously, back to your original point, I wasn't suggesting in the least that the seats or amenities are remotely good at Fenway, they are horrible.
Posted by: blmeanie![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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August 31, 2011 05:46 PM
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oh forgot, I do miss going to a game and having the trough to pee into though.
Posted by: blmeanie![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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August 31, 2011 05:47 PM
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yeah, the troughs really are a nice "communal" touch to the whole Boston beer elimination ritual. Yep, yep, yep. (LOL)
I also love some of the strategically placed support poles sprinkled throughout the stadium.
I didn't grow up a fan of anything Boston except the coeds when we visited Boston from school so I can't get the love of the green monster or the triangle. They are just too weird for me to think of them in a positive way. Unique? Sure is ... I'll leave it at that.
By the way, the hill climb thingie is about the stupidest thing in the majors. Maybe we can agree on that and move on. But if I could design anything truly weird in a ballpark, I would like to see a moat in some stadium that has a really little bridge that an OFer has to run across to get a fly ball. We need water hazards, yep. ;-)
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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August 31, 2011 08:20 PM
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