October 1, 2005

Eight division titles in a row for the Bronx Bombers. : If Boston loses on Sunday and Cleveland wins, they will meet at Fenway Park on Monday to decide the AL's last playoff berth. If Cleveland loses on Sunday, the Red Sox get the wild-card berth no matter what they do.

read story | posted by mr_crash_davis to Baseball at 5:50 PM CDT (77 comments total)

Might I also add a hearty "Ha-ha"?

/Nelson

posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:51 PM CDT on October 1

Congrats to all the Yankee fans! Unlike some people, I don't hate the Bombers. I don't necessarily like them, but you can't deny their place in history in baseball. Now if the Reds can get some pitching this off-season...

posted by Desert Dog at 5:57 PM CDT on October 1

If Cleveland loses on Sunday, the Red Sox get the wild-card berth no matter what they do.

Likewise, if the Sox win on Sunday, they get the wildcard no matter what the Clevelands do.

I wonder how it feels to be Randy Johnson now: to have won a Series vs. the Yankees in '01, and to now have a chance to win another one with them.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 6:17 PM CDT on October 1

M_C_D: You forgot to mention that obviously, if the Sox win on Sunday, they also win the wild card no matter what Cleveland does- and oddly enough end up tied with the Yankees for the AL East lead with a 9-10 season record against them! Can't get much closer than that. For $208 million in payroll, maybe you should be handicapped to win on something more than a technicality? :)

Tomorrow, the Sox/Indians game starts at 1:05p Eastern, the game at Fenway starts at 2:05p Eastern. The Sox could win the wild card before they even finish playing- but obviously I'm hoping they don't leave it up to Cleveland losing, and can win outright tomorrow- but Schilling has me feeling pretty nervous. Wakefield was for crap today, but this game was lost at the plate by Edgar Renteria. He's been ice cold for a while, and is this big black hole of an out between Damon and Ortiz/Ramirez. For example, if he could have just drawn that walk in the third, he would have brought home a run and Ortiz' double would have added another pair of runs- which would have made it an entirely different game.

Given that ARod just pulled ahead of Ortiz in the HR total, and the Yankees clinched the AL East title, I think Ortiz' MVP may have disappeared unless he tacks on a couple tomorrow. Tim McCarver was boosting for A-Rod during the telecast, but that's not surprising since he's a whore of an announcer. Still, if A-Rod has the BA and HR lead over Ortiz, I don't see Ortiz surpassing him in votes without the AL crown as well. I still would vote for him for MVP, though.

In other news, Houston won outright today, and the Phillies appear to be on the brink of winning as well. The NL Wild Card is still up in the air; if the Phillies hang on today, they'll need a Houston loss tomorrow and a win of their own to force a tiebreaker game on Monday, but they aren't out of the playoffs yet!

Jimmy Rollins kept his streak in tact today, stretching it to 35 games. If he can get a hit tomorrow, he'll have an intact 36 game streak going into the playoffs. If that's the case and the Phillies manage to make the playoffs, would his streak technically be on hold until 2006, or would they count playoff games towards the streak?

posted by Hal Incandenza at 6:18 PM CDT on October 1

"For $208 million in payroll, maybe you should be handicapped to win on something more than a technicality?"

If you consider the rules to be a technicality, sure. But Yankee-haters will always find something to sniffle about.

posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:01 PM CDT on October 1

Also, "You forgot to mention that obviously, if the Sox win on Sunday, they also win the wild card no matter what Cleveland does" seems to refer to the quote from the story I linked, which obviously wasn't mine but was pulled directly from the story, so if you're whining about me editorializing, all I did was pull a direct quote from the source.

Is that enough flame bait yet? :)

posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:05 PM CDT on October 1

Eight division titles in a row for the Bronx Bombers

Another six and they'd be equal to the Braves. Hard to believe Atlanta has managed that.

I think we're looking at a one game playoff in the American League. The Yankees are hot and the White Sox will be playing spares against the Indians.

posted by rcade at 7:37 PM CDT on October 1

Someone tell the Mets that increasing their payroll doesn't amount to wins unless you bring in players who can actually produce. And as A-Rod prepares room on his mantel for his MVP award, the Texas Rangers should be thanking the Yankees for taking A-Rod and his mega-contract, thus allowing them (the Rangers) to move ahead and rebuild their team. People hate the Yankees for spending money, but sometimes it helps cash-strapped teams get out of trouble. It's also funny how nobody really ever ripped on the Rangers for giving A-Rod that ridiculous contract in the first place. I'm glad the Yankees pulled things together and took the division. The Red Sox are a hell of a team, though, and I'd feel much more comfortable if they were eliminated. I just have a feeling Sunday won't be the last game these two teams meet this year.

posted by dyams at 7:49 PM CDT on October 1

It's also funny how nobody really ever ripped on the Rangers for giving A-Rod that ridiculous contract in the first place.

really? I think many people thought it was lunacy. I guess Hicks did too, eventually. no?

posted by gspm at 7:57 PM CDT on October 1

Is that enough flame bait yet? :)

Lord knows we need that in a Sox-Yanks thread, especially from a non-partisan. Thanks for raising the level of discourse.

posted by yerfatma at 7:57 PM CDT on October 1

"I think many people thought it was lunacy."

Oh, yeah. I still think it was lunacy, but I tend to live in the past.

"Thanks for raising the level of discourse"

Sorry my reparteé isn't up to the usual all-caps lofty standards of Sox/Yankees threads. I'll endeavor to call someone an asshole in the future.

posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:12 PM CDT on October 1

Wakefield simply didn't have it. I love the guy, but he always makes me nervous. A normal pitcher might be able to pitch through a few bad innings. If his knuckler isn't dancing, it's batting practice.

A good win for the yankees. Hopefully the sox can grab one of the next two and today won't mean a thing. I was surprised with the amount of celebrating among the yankees, considering this is old hat for them, but I guess after last year it was sweet.

Arod clenched the mvp today, as much as I disagree with it. I'd rather face sheffield than arod. But I couldn't give it to ortiz without winning the east.

posted by justgary at 8:22 PM CDT on October 1

Wow--I am almost impressed. Does anybody really think that the Yankees or the Red Sox have enough to win the World Series????

posted by daddisamm at 8:51 PM CDT on October 1

I'm with daddisamm, except that I don't think anyone in the AL has a better shot. As far as I care, I hope the White Sox win the pennant, but really, none of those teams are equal to the Cardinals or (*shudder*) the Astros in the NL.

Enjoy this week, y'all. The playoffs are going to be a letdown, I suspect.

posted by chicobangs at 9:20 PM CDT on October 1

posted by redsoxrgay at 9:36 PM CDT on October 1

And the Sox??? They fell on their face vs. New York today.

Horsefeathers.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 9:55 PM CDT on October 1

"Horsefeathers."

8-4.

Apparently, horses fly.

posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:58 PM CDT on October 1

A few days back, many of you were talking smack about Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox, how they would choke! One of them was Yerfatman (so the guy has been wrong a lot recently-not as smart as many thought-must be that, to use his own words, that he's "wacking-off" to much lately).

Now, with 98 wins under their belt (Yerfatman calls this "a streak")and a place in the playoffs, not only are they worthy of praise, but many Red Sox fans (I included), owe so much to Guillen and the White Sox, if we do make the wildcard. How ironic! Please, keep on defeating Cleveland..... how sweet is that!?

Thank you White Sox (Guillen),

From a true Red Sox fan!

posted by zippinglou at 10:02 PM CDT on October 1

I was surprised with the amount of celebrating among the yankees, considering this is old hat for them, but I guess after last year it was sweet.

i think it was more the fact that they struggled early on and were written off by a lot of people (media, fans, etc.). yeah, i know they're the $200 million team and all. but being as that they've only held the division lead for about 15 days (give or take) throughout the entire season, i'm sure it's a little sweeter for them.

there's also quite a few on that team who had big contributions this year (small, chacón, wang, cano) and have never experienced something like this.

posted by goddam at 10:12 PM CDT on October 1

Did yerfatma shoot somebody's dog or something?

posted by chicobangs at 10:14 PM CDT on October 1

Hey Yerfatma, what about Ortiz???? I thought he was supposed to win the MVP? And the Sox??? They fell on their face vs. New York today. What the hell? Why werent you right this time? You always seem to think your right, but you were wrong. A Rods numbers are better, and his team won the division. Any last words before A Rod wins his second MVP?
posted by redsoxrgay

Jesus, could sportsfilter trade you for a player to be named later?

i think it was more the fact that they struggled early on and were written off by a lot of people (media, fans, etc.). yeah, i know they're the $200 million team and all. but being as that they've only held the division lead for about 15 days (give or take) throughout the entire season, i'm sure it's a little sweeter for them.

I'm sure you're right. Enjoy it goddam. We'll be back...you know, if we win tomorrow...or the next day... ;)

posted by justgary at 11:07 PM CDT on October 1

Hey Yerfatma, what about Ortiz???? I thought he was supposed to win the MVP? And the Sox??? They fell on their face vs. New York today. What the hell?

You know, for someone who claims to have played the game, you appear to know very little.

The game is about pitching. Yesterday, the sox got better pitching. Today, the yankees did. Not sure how that equals "falling on your face".

Any last words before A Rod wins his second MVP?

And what the hell are you talking about with ortiz? What was he suppose to do today? Hit a 4 run homer with no one on base? He had an rbi yesterday. Arod had one today. You're using that to claim he should be mvp?

With the yankees winning the division, arod will win the mvp. I still think it should be ortiz. This isn't about the best player, it's about who's most valuable. Take ortiz out of the lineup, and I think the sox suffer the most. In the end, it's all about opinion, even when they appear to be based on nonsense such as yours.

posted by justgary at 2:17 AM CDT on October 2

Let him go justgary, it's like playing basketball with a retard and calling him for double dribble.

posted by jojomfd1 at 4:02 AM CDT on October 2

crash:

8-4.

Apparently, horses fly.

So you're claiming that losing by a score of 8-4 is prima facia evidence that a team "fell on its face"? Every team that ever lost by such a score, did so because it "fell on its face"? Or was there something else in the game that makes you feel that the Red Sox "fell on their face[sic]"?

The truth is that the two teams were and are closely matched, and that the loss didn't come as a result of some kind of catastrophic Red Sox screwup. Yeah, Wakefield got lit up. It happens, even to good pitchers. Apart from that, the Sox had some very good hitting, there was that catch by Nixon, Stanton picked Cano off, a couple of stolen bases, no errors...is that really, in your book, "falling on their faces"?

posted by lil_brown_bat at 6:43 AM CDT on October 2

I can't believe we're trying to rationalize with this dude.

Don't feed the trolls.

posted by jerseygirl at 7:06 AM CDT on October 2

It really doesn't matter that much whether a AL team is better than the NL teams going to the playoffs. All they have to do is get by ONE NL team, provided they make the World Series. At that point, anything can happen. It always seems pitching is what wins World Series games, but I remember a Yankees series against the Marlins when it appeared their bats were all just slumping. Was it dominant pitching? Possibly. But after a long, tough season, some teams just fall into slumps at the absolute wrong time. The Yankees and Red Sox have the hitters to play with any team and pitching staff, period. I'm still pulling for a miracle to happen and the Tribe makes it in. They're blowing it, big time, though.

posted by dyams at 7:13 AM CDT on October 2

Neither of these teams has anything approaching a quality rotation, but I'd have to give the advantage to NY since they can chuck Mussina and Johnson out there during a series- at least they're a couple of names. Johnson yesterday though showed how good he can be (he was squeezed by tight calls all day) and I think that gives NY an edge. I can't see the White Sox beating either of them.

Here's to seeing this crazy circus role into town for another year - Red Sox vs. Yankees in the ALCS? Very good chance again.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 7:47 AM CDT on October 2

It's rather silly to say the sox fell on their face because of this one loss. They actually fell on their face by blowing that lofty lead they had in mid August. My take is that the superstar on the team overcoming a big deficit diserves the MVP more than the superstar on the team blowing a big lead.

posted by drevl at 7:48 AM CDT on October 2

To daddi-o and chic-o. So the lowly AL teams don't have enough to beat the all powerful Cardinals (or whoever else may win the NL title). Please remind me, who did the NL send to the world series last year, and how did they make out?

posted by drevl at 8:13 AM CDT on October 2

Does anybody really think that the Yankees or the Red Sox have enough to win the World Series?

The Yankees were a .500 team around the All-Star Break and are now 29 games over .500. They've got more than enough to win their 400th World Series, as much as I'd like to believe otherwise.

posted by rcade at 8:39 AM CDT on October 2

David Wells predicted a World Series win about a month ago, so it's guaranteed, right?

posted by crank at 8:45 AM CDT on October 2

posted by yerfatma at 10:54 AM CDT on October 2

zippinglip, please provide links to all these things I said. And while I will be shocked if Chicago wins the Series, I don't think I ever referred to their record this year as a streak, especially since I acutally know what the word means.

And it's tough for me to be "wrong" about Ortiz for MVP when it's a subjective decision and hasn't been awarded yet.
posted by yerfatma at 10:54 AM CST on October 2

Alright: Here are you're quotes:

http://www.sportsfilter.com/comments.cfm/5148

Was Joe Torre a bad manager when his NY Yankees started the year off in a bad foot? - No!

So . . . what? All managers are good managers? All managers that have a streak of x or more wins in a row are automatically good? What's x? Seems like the reverse of your logic applies just as easily: just because Ozzie had a good streak earlier he's a good manager? No!

Ozzie Guillen was never a "very good player". He was a fun player and decent in the field.
posted by yerfatma at 6:36 PM CST on September 23

/watches field hockey while masturbating, contemplates the use of mathematical symbols where they don't belong
posted by yerfatma at 10:43 PM CST on September 23

You do talk about Ozzy's win as if it were just "a streak", totally ridiculous when the guy has won 98 games this season... wait, maybe 99, they are beating Cleveland as I write! ..... and you also wrote "about "masturbating" yourself....

It seems you have a terrible memmory, "Fartman", when it comes to all the screw-ups you write about!

posted by zippinglou at 1:47 PM CDT on October 2

It's really hard to argue with someone who uses "Fartman" as a comeback.

posted by jerseygirl at 1:55 PM CDT on October 2

Please go away. Maybe that all makes sense in your head, but what I said was in response to your comparing Ozzie Guillen (one year, zero titles) to Joe Torre (a few years, a few titles). Even taking my statement out of context like you do, it still doesn't look like I said the White Sox season is a streak. And I'll just state this in plain English this time: a "streak" is a series of consecutive occurences. So, not talking about a full season when I used that word. Basically, what I was saying is you weren't making any sense and didn't have a point. And look, here we are again. I'm going back to masturbating. At least that's productive.

posted by yerfatma at 2:26 PM CDT on October 2

Sportsfilter: I'm going back to masturbating. At least that's productive.

posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:12 PM CDT on October 2

Hey im back-
When I said that the Red Sox fell on their face, I was rubbing in the fact that we won the division- even though we started off badly. And secondly, if your in a big game, you should know that the stakes are high. You should do everything in your power to win. A Rod got like 4 hits, and Ortiz got 1. Im not saying that A Rod was stellar in the series, but he was once again, better than Ortiz. You guys are just mad because you didnt win the division. You were about to take it- you could taste it, but once again the Yanks grabbed it from you. Ortiz could supposably taste the MVP, but A Rod is well on his way on getting his second MVP. Sucks for you- no Division Champs, no MVP, no relief pitching, and an average Schilling. WOW- no wonder why your comeback was so weak.

posted by redsoxrgay at 3:56 PM CDT on October 2

KTHXBYE!

posted by yerfatma at 4:10 PM CDT on October 2

They actually fell on their face by blowing that lofty lead they had in mid August. My take is that the superstar on the team overcoming a big deficit diserves the MVP more than the superstar on the team blowing a big lead.
posted by drevl

That's like picking the mvp with blinders on. Whichever team wins, despite the actual numbers, let's pick him. Not to mention they ended up with the exact same record.

If arod was the reason they came back during the season (and it wasn't a big deficit...please) and ortiz was the reason the sox fell back, you might have a case. But as is, you don't.

I find the take on the two teams a little strange. Their seasons were very similar, ending with the same record. But because of the tiebreaking clause, the yankees are considered a success and the red sox fell on their faces.

The yankees had a great offense all year, with bad pitching. The sox, the same. If you told me the sox would lose their star reliever for the year and schilling would be useless for almost the entire year, and still they would tie new york at the end of the year, I would have thought you crazy.

Yet, torre is considered to have done a great job, while we hear very little about francona. And though they have the exact same record, I'm being told that arod wins the mvp because of a technicality. It's like bizarro world.

posted by justgary at 5:28 PM CDT on October 2

The Angels are gonna win it all.

posted by Desert Dog at 6:03 PM CDT on October 2

Mde some good points- but ARods #s WERE better! His BA was like 20 pts higher! If you are a DH, you have to reasonably better than a position player to win MVP. If their #s are the same, or close to it, you give the position the advantage if he plays a solid D. Dont you?

posted by redsoxrgay at 6:33 PM CDT on October 2

When I said that the Red Sox fell on their face, I was rubbing in the fact that we won the division

You were being a weener, in other words. Are you trying to give Yankee fans a worse rep than we have already? Just keep it up, I know the season is far from over and you seem to be building up quite a head of steam...

posted by lil_brown_bat at 7:02 PM CDT on October 2

hey justgary. Do you even follow baseball? The yankees had to go 35 - 12 just to tie the sox. You don't consider that much of a deficit. If they had only gone 34 - 13 the sox would be the division champs. Going 35 - 12 at the end of a season is pretty amazing. I would imagine that anyone who actually follows baseball would know that it was no minor accomplishment.

That star reliever that they lost had given up 30 earned runs in 46 innings. That's an ERA of 5.91. Best thing to happen to the sox was losing Foulke. And yes, they did effectively lose Schilling for the year. All teams have injuries, but aparently you think only the sox lost pitchers. Most ball fans know that. Since you don't seem to know it, even the yanks lost pitching. They had to replace starters Kevin Brown and Carl Pavano. Guys I'd never heard of -Small, Wang etc- had to fill in. (OK, come on with the small wang jokes). If you had told me the yanks would lose 2 starting pitchers and still tie the sox at the end of the year, I would have thought you crazy. See, I can piss as far as you.

posted by drevl at 7:08 PM CDT on October 2

sorry I made some typos in that sentence- It reads : "If their #s are teh same, or close to it, you give the position player the advantage. Especially if he plays a solid D. Dont you?

posted by redsoxrgay at 7:15 PM CDT on October 2

The yankees had to go 35 - 12 just to tie the sox.

But only had to make up 5.5 games. But tell me more about how most ball fans know losing Foulke was the best thing to happen to the Sox.

posted by yerfatma at 7:15 PM CDT on October 2

Drevl- YOU ARE A GENIUS!!!! :-)

posted by redsoxrgay at 7:24 PM CDT on October 2

Drevl- YOU ARE A GENIUS!!!! :-)

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

posted by lil_brown_bat at 7:29 PM CDT on October 2

Be glad to yerfatma. His ERA was 1.62 runs per game higher than the league average of ALL relievers. One would expect that it is even worse when compared to other closers. However, I can't find a stat for just closers. Had Foulke kept that up for the full season, the Indians would be in the post season. Unless you consider missing the playoffs a small thing, losing Foulke turned out to be beneficial for the sox. The way he was pitching, Francona would have had no choice but to replace him in the closer role.

posted by drevl at 7:39 PM CDT on October 2

Well, by that logic, the Sox are lucky to be rid of Cy Young and Babe Ruth as well. A healthy Foulke might have been the best thing the Sox could have gotten.

posted by yerfatma at 7:52 PM CDT on October 2

There may be 10,000 reasons why Foulke pitched as badly as he did. It doesn't matter. He was hurting the team. A healthy Foulke might have been the best thing the sox could have gotten. BUT HE WASN'T HEALTHY. The un-healthy Foulke had to be replaced. Pretty simple stuff.

posted by drevl at 8:21 PM CDT on October 2

hey justgary. Do you even follow baseball?

Followed and played. I really don't think you even understand the game.

The yankees had to go 35 - 12 just to tie the sox. You don't consider that much of a deficit.

The yankees played well down the stretch. The red sox not so much. Amazing? No.

All teams have injuries, but aparently you think only the sox lost pitchers. Most ball fans know that. Since you don't seem to know it, even the yanks lost pitching. They had to replace starters Kevin Brown and Carl Pavano. Guys I'd never heard of -Small, Wang etc- had to fill in. (OK, come on with the small wang jokes). If you had told me the yanks would lose 2 starting pitchers and still tie the sox at the end of the year, I would have thought you crazy. See, I can piss as far as you.

Seriously, did you read what I wrote? I said their seasons were very similar, with both having bad pitching along the way. Both overcame bad pitching. Both ended up with the same exact record. At least the yankees had rivera.

Best thing to happen to the sox was losing Foulke.

That really doesn't even deserve a response. Here's hoping rivera loses it next year. Best thing ever to happen to the yankees, right?

Look, here's the bottom line. Tell me arod deserves the mvp because he plays the field, fine. I can respect that.

But telling me arod deserves the mvp because boston was caught by the yankees, when ortiz carried the sox, is idiotic, not to mention that they have the same exact record.

posted by justgary at 9:18 PM CDT on October 2

ooo, i want to play yankee-fan troll to:

a-rod won't win mvp because of the anti-yankee bias amongst sportswriters.

this is fun

posted by goddam at 9:28 PM CDT on October 2

His ERA was 1.62 runs per game higher than the league average of ALL relievers. One would expect that it is even worse when compared to other closers. However, I can't find a stat for just closers.

Its probably not a good thing to spout off stats around here if you can't even find them to even back yourself up. Just a suggestion.

posted by jojomfd1 at 9:41 PM CDT on October 2

You guys are just mad because you didnt win the division.

As I recall, the Sox didn't win the division last year either. I can live with that result again this year.

For someone who claims to have been a part of the grand ol' game, you sure don't know very much about it.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 10:21 PM CDT on October 2

You guys are just mad because you didnt win the division.

As I recall, the Sox didn't win the division last year either. I can live with that result again this year.

Yeah, but last year was the first year in a while that the Sox fans got a t-shirt worthy of the name. Before that, it was, "Boston Red Sox -- winner of the AL Wildcard!" ;-) You win the division, and no matter what else happens, at least you got a shirt.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 10:25 PM CDT on October 2

Boston Red Sox -- winner of the AL Wildcard!

Do they make that shirt? Cause, you know, I'd like one.

posted by justgary at 10:49 PM CDT on October 2

I guess they do.

posted by justgary at 10:56 PM CDT on October 2

hell, they got like 5 or 6 of 'em. even got gold coins.

i'm waiting for the "we finished above .500" shirts. got a few mets fans on my christmas list.

posted by goddam at 11:01 PM CDT on October 2

goddam, you may well be right.

jojo, where does this spouting off stats come from. I listed one stat (Foulke's ERA as compared to all relievers). Then I gave my opinion that I would "expect" it to look even worse if compared to other closers. It seems reasonable that it would be the case, since closers are most often a teams best reliever. However, I specifically stated that I didn't know the stat just for closers. How does stating that I don't know a stat equate to "spouting off stats"?

justgary, I never said the best thing that happened to the sox was Foulke losing his stuff. For whatever reason, he was pitching poorly. The best thing for the sox was to replace him. You may think the sox would be better off if Foulke kept pitching at his 5.91 ERA. If so, I won't argue with you. As for your crap about Rivera losing it next year, if he has a 5.91 ERA next year, you can bet your ass that Torre will replace him.

posted by drevl at 11:18 PM CDT on October 2

Oh my god. How many of those coins could they possibly sell?
It's like saturday night live skit.

posted by justgary at 11:18 PM CDT on October 2

I'd get a "We finished above .500" shirt if it had a San Diego Padres logo on it.

Maybe.

posted by chicobangs at 11:35 PM CDT on October 2

As one of the first Yankee fans out here to be a total dick I'll step up and actually be nice. Ortiz was playing out of his skull the last month and if I had a vote for MVP he'd get it.

Both the Sox and Yanks have had injuries that would criplle other teams but both of them have made the playoffs and all is right in the baseball world.

As for who wins the world series...

Yankees over the Braves in 6 games.

posted by jbou at 12:48 AM CDT on October 3

You may think the sox would be better off if Foulke kept pitching at his 5.91 ERA.

No, they would be better if he were the allstar closer he was last year. The way you're looking at the situation is so twisted it hurts my head.

If Rivera loses it next season and they take his closer position away the yankees will be in trouble. By your way of thinking that would be a blessing since he was pitching poorly.

That's ass backwards.

posted by justgary at 1:25 AM CDT on October 3

jbou, as a Red Sox fan, let me say you rock. The Yankees had a hell of a season. I hereby offer my unqualified respect to them this season. Still will root against them, though. :P

posted by Joey Michaels at 3:40 AM CDT on October 3

I hate the Sox and Yankees with religious fervor, but this year these two teams faced some pretty big odds and played their respective asses off. Both teams earned their place.

Fittingly the Yankees did it with the contributions of four players (Cano, Small, Wang (heh), Chacon) whoes combined salary is less than 1% of the teams.

The Sox did it the old fashioned way - on the backs of the most terrifying 3-4 hitters in the game in some time.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 8:19 AM CDT on October 3

No, they would be better if he were the allstar closer he was last year. The way you're looking at the situation is so twisted it hurts my head.

If Rivera loses it next season and they take his closer position away the yankees will be in trouble. By your way of thinking that would be a blessing since he was pitching poorly.

That's ass backwards
No, they would be better if he were the allstar closer he was last year. The way you're looking at the situation is so twisted it hurts my head.

If Rivera loses it next season and they take his closer position away the yankees will be in trouble. By your way of thinking that would be a blessing since he was pitching poorly.

That's ass backwards

Reality: he was pitching poorly with a 5.91 ERA. Dreaming: he's pitching like last year's allstar closer. Why is stating that he was pitching poorly and needed to be replaced the ASS BACKWARDS part of this line.

If Rivers loses it next season, that will not be a blessing. However, if he does lose it and has a year like Foulke did this year, then it will be a blessing to replace him.

posted by drevl at 9:09 AM CDT on October 3

replacing a troubled Foulke this year wasn't a blessing, it was a necessity. if they found a closer of Foulke's caliber (when healthy), that would have been a blessing. they probably would have run away with the division had that happened.

the Yankees getting Small, Chacón and Wang to replace Brown, Wright and Pavano, that was a blessing. all 3 were above replacement level value.

posted by goddam at 9:28 AM CDT on October 3

That's just pathetic. Any Sox fan who sports one of those should get the full Bartman.

posted by rcade at 9:56 AM CDT on October 3

Agreed.

posted by jerseygirl at 10:39 AM CDT on October 3

Yeah, although the wildcard is a)necessary with three divisions unless you're gonna do something like a round-robin, and b)a valid determination of the team best qualified for an entry into the fourth slot of the playoffs (and possibly better qualified, by the numbers, than some of the division winners), there's something about that shirt that screams, "Consolation Prize". The pennant shirt, that's a real shirt.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 10:46 AM CDT on October 3

The pennant shirt, that's a real shirt.

Do people actually buy those?

This is a real shirt. ;)

posted by justgary at 11:12 AM CDT on October 3

there's something about that shirt that screams, "Consolation Prize".

Agreed. Thankfully we got the ALCS and World Series trophies to go with it. That sort of salvaged things.

posted by yerfatma at 11:42 AM CDT on October 3

We finished over .500 shirts funniest idea of all time. Since I'm in detroit though wouldn't mind having one of those shirts.

posted by fade2244 at 3:09 PM CDT on October 3

You said "Small Wang." Heh heh heh.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 4:09 PM CDT on October 3

I'd like to immodestly link elsewhere on SpoFi, since I posted something about this in the other playoff thread started, here (warning: typically verbose hincandenza post, a long read).

posted by Hal Incandenza at 4:46 PM CDT on October 3

Does anybody really think that the Yankees or the Red Sox have enough to win the World Series????

For the sox and yankees it all goes back to pitching (duh)...they've both got the offense.

Right now the yankee pitching seems more consistent, and they've got rivera. But if schilling pitches like he's capable of pitching, if clement pitches like he did in the first half, if wells knee holds up, if wakefield's knuckler dances, who knows.

Of course, that's a lot of "ifs".

posted by justgary at 12:11 AM CDT on October 4

First round starts today...and I gotta work every evening through Friday...

posted by lil_brown_bat at 9:17 AM CDT on October 4

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