Don’t forget about Contreras, 7-2 record, and has pitched well of late. A bit erratic, but nothing like Weaver. I’d much rather see him out there than old Jeff.
If it’s prediction time, logic and history suggest the Red Sox will drop the first two games, win two of the next three and wind up losing the series in six. The starting pitching is not as good as what the Yanks have, the bullpen is very shaky (admit it, Sox fans, how many of you will be covering your eyes when Kim pitches to Giambi or Jeter in a tough spot?), and the hot hitting has predictably done a postseason fade when confronted with top pitchers.
But since my postseason predictions have been almost completely wrong this year, this could be very good news for the Red Sox.
The “Yankees Suck” business, together with T-shirts, caps etc. bearing that sentiment is stupid, since the whole point as far as the Red Sox are concerned is that when the two teams play in big games, the Yankees habitually win. That is the opposite of “suck”.
On the Yankees side, fans have generally ignored the Red Sox as just another piece of road kill on the way to victory. That any one rooting for the Yankees would bother to trash the Sox in this thread is very uncharacteristic.
A portent? (I see on preview that E-Sabbath is invoking portents as well). The giants (Giants?) are falling, the downtrodden arise, strange things are afoot.
I shall go home and sacrifice a goat straightaway.
Personally, I’d like to see how the Yankees do with a salary cap.
I just can’t stand overdogs. Boston and New York have equally annoying accents to their credit.
I’m guessing he’s talking about the “interference” in Game 3 where Tejada was clearly interfered with while trying to score and no interference was called. While I agree that Tejada should have continued towards home plate, (he just stopped on the base path b/c it was so obviously interference), the call was blatantly wrong.
I’ve had a chance to calm down now, after shipping my brother his money C.O.D. in pennies. The Red Sox are extremely lucky to have won. Look no further than that interference call, or the “dropped” ball in center field that Dye obviously caught, or the absurd strike zone the Sox were getting, to realize that there is no curse.
But the A’s beat themselves - Tejada and Chavez didn’t hit worth a shit, Byrnes lost his mind and forgot to touch home plate, Melhusde and Long decided it would be a good idea not to protect a 2 strike count with the season on the line, etc etc.
I watched every inning of every ALDS game, and there ain’t no way that pathetic squad the eked out 3 wins against a bumbling A’s team is going to touch the Yankees team that I watched. And I hate the Yankees.
Oh yeh?..well, youahh!
Riiiiiiiiiiight, that Tejada thing was the sole reason the Sox won. How should Byrnes actions in his play at the plate be measured- if his shoving Varitek as Varitek is heading for the ball isn’t interference enough for an out and calling the play dead then the little dance at third sure as heck ain’t.
As to the OP, the pain of Red Sox fans has nothing to do with 1918 (the media just loves the Babe/1918 World Series thang). The pain has to do with the magical mystery choke. Getting so close so often, and yet knowing that the Sox’ doom is as obvious, painful, and predictable as the average chick flick. (The previous sentence only applies, of course, when the damn Yankees don’t do just enough better to obviate the Sox’ efforts entirely.)
Beware, Yankees fans. The fix is IN. While the Yankees in the World Series is usually good becuase everyone seems to either really love or really hate the Bronx Bombers, a Cubs-Red Sox World Series will easily be the most-watched sporting event ever, a thought which I’m sure has Major League Baseball salivating.
I would rather see this series ends immediately with the meteor hitting the diamond in the 1st inning of game 1…this series brings out the worst in both sets of fans…
You forgot to quote the part of my post where I said that was the sole reason the Sox won. Oh waaaaaaaaaait - that’s because I didn’t say that. In fact, if you re-read you’ll see that I blame the A’s for their loss, and I go on to say that there’s obviously no Sox curse b/c of all the calls that went their way in this series.
Although, I can see how a Sox fan would have been unable to comprehend someone actually owning up to their team’s mistakes w/o blaming some external factor.
You mean obstruction, not interference. And while you can argue that the rule is silly (as I would since the rule allows the defense to obstruct without suffering any more penalty than they were likely to get without obstructing), the call was correct. Obstruction was called at third. The runner had to advance at his own risk. At the end of the play, the umpires had to decide whether, in their opinion, he would have scored had the obstruction not occurred. Because he basically stopped running, they had little way of judging how close the play would have been. They decided that he would not have scored.
Didn’t anyone watch the playoffs last year? The same play happened with Benito Santiago, with the same result. Don’t bitch at the umpires for enforcing the rules.
Julie
Bit of a hijack: What I think is absolutely bizarre is the number of times we seem to see players not hustling. Not running out popups, not making sure to touch home, or stopping like Tejada. Did they do all these things during the regular season?
Ok, maybe you don’t run out that grounder to second with hamstring popping speed, but I’d expect at least the appearance of effort there.
I watch a lot of baseball and I don’t think I’ve ever seen obstruction during the regular season. Twice in two years in the playoffs is just weird.
As for the lack of hustle, absolutely. It happens more often during the regular season, it’s just not as memorable!
Julie
I don’t know, Cheesesteak, I’ve felt that the Red Sox have been all about hustle in the last few games. You have to admit, they were johnny-on-the-spot with fielding in game 4.
As for the Yankees, well, I guess that hating the Yankees is half the fun of being a Red Sox fan. What would it mean if we couldn’t taste the bile in our throats? As much as I would love the Sox to win it all, I am pondering how winning the World Series would change the institution that is Red Sox fandom.
Apologies Dooku for misinterpreting/exaggerating your statement. Possible that I am slightly oversensitive as a Sox fan n Yankee’s land. I agree that the Red Sox have been getting pretty much all the calls so far this year (normally their opponents would get the egregious miscalls). They have been unable to lose the last three games despite their best efforts (although props to Varitek for very heads-up play, especially in game 3). This, of course, merely hints to me that they will fail in an especially agonizing manner much later on.
I was at a wedding in Boston last weekend. All of the sub 30 fans were enthusiastic - this IS the year. All of their parents were vaguely hopeful, but refusing to invest too much enthusiasm lest their hopes be crushed yet again.
I am in the middle, cautiously optimistic at first, (then depressed after the first two games) but now with the way storybook way fate is treating them I am daring to dream.
And apologize for my overly harsh dig at Sox fans MMI.
I attribute it to this wine I’m drinking, which smells and tastes kinda funny.
…in the United States.
Just have to remind some of these Americans every now and again that some sporting events are actually more popular than baseball.
Hey – I resemble that remahk!
Dan Le Batard, from the Miami Herald, had the best line about rivalries. The article is about football, but the line fits well in relation to the Yankee-Red Sox “rivalry”.
He said, “A hammer and a nail, a pigeon and a statue, a dog and a fire hydrant – these things do not have rivalries.”
But, there is also a saying that my friends and I use, and that is “Even a blind squirrel* finds a nut.”
Sox in six.
- Sorry for the reference, welby.
Remember when Manny Ramiriz jacked that three-run homer and walked to first base?
I hope he does that in Yankee stadium about 50 times. I hate the Yankees.
(And that has nothing to do with the fact that Yankees beat the Twins…ok it does)
Oh, yeah, you mean the one where some guy who hadn’t hit an RBI in the entire series acted as though he’d only been saving his bad self for the appropriate moment? Yeah, that was pretty cool. Er, not.
Hey, but I hope the Sox smoke the Yank-mes too.