OK Sox fans. Have you looked at the standings today? The dreaded New York Yankees, a team unanimously given a toe tag just weeks ago, have now won six straight and are in second place, just 9 1/2 games behind our beloved Sox (9 in the loss column). In just 13 days, the Yankees have gone from being 14 1/2 out (and we all know what an ominous number 14 1/2 represents; 1978 anyone?), to 9 1/2 out. Now lets look at this realistically. Is it really out of the realm of possibility that the Yankees could pick up another 4 1/2 games before the All Star break? Not at all.
Before Dennis and Callahan or Dale and Holley start warning me to stop panicking, stop it. Stop it right now. Dale loves to point out how if the Sox go .500 the rest of the year, the Yankees will have to go XX and XX and "this is nearly impossible". Well, I look at it another way. On May 29th, the lead was 14 1/2. There were roughly 17 weeks left in the season. Is it possible that the Yankees gain just one game per week? If so, the Sox wouldn't only not win the division, they'd lose it by 3 games. That team from the Bronx has picked up 5 games in 2 weeks. There are 16 weeks left in the season. Now, they only really need to pick up just over one game every two weeks to catch the Sox. Definitely within the realm of possibility, especially with 6 head-to-head matchups remaining.
Let's revisit some recent history. In 2002, the Sox were 40 and 17 after 57 games. This year, after 57 games, the Sox were 37 and 20, 3 games behind the 2002 pace. What happened in '02? The Sox played one game over .500 (53 and 52) the rest of the way, finished 10 1/2 games out of first and didn't even make the playoffs.
Now, you'll spout "yeah, but the 2002 team didn't have the pitching staff we have this year, they didn't have Beckett, Schilling, Dice-K, Wake and Jon Lester waiting in the wings." Well, the 2002 Sox did have a dominating Pedro who went 20 and 4 with a 2.26 ERA AND wasn't even the Sox leading winner that year. Nope, that went to Derek Lowe, who went an almost equally dominating 21 and 8 with a 2.58 ERA. (Let me ask, are the 2007 Sox guaranteed to have two 20 games winners in the rotation???)
And they did have a younger Wake, who went 11 and 5 with a 2.81 ERA. And while it would be blasphemy to compare him to Jonathan Papelbon, Ugee Urbina DID save 40 games for the Sox that season. Not a bad number for a guy who will never be compared to the all-time greats. They had Tek, Nomar, Manny, Trot, Johnny Damon (most of whom were putting up the numbers of guys in their primes) and a pretty impressive season from Shea Hillenbrand (.293, 18 HR, 83 RBI).
Look, I'm not jumping off the Tobin Bridge. In fact, if you look at my past postings, it was just 12 days ago that I myself had announced them as dead, finished, kaput. But like a nightmarish Clint Eastwood western, you never mark someone as dead until you shoot them in the head. And it seems I (and millions of others) may have just looked at the seemingly lifeless body with six bullets in the back, blood oozing out of each wound, and just assumed. Assumed it was over. Assumed they were dead. But now, Bobby Abreu, who appeared as equally dead as the team he plays on, has raised his batting average 50 points seemingly overnight. And ARod is hitting like it was early April again. And the once dead Yankees have done what Alcor hopes to do one day to the Splendid Splinter and resuscitated their season.
I have to admit I am afraid we'll equal the worst ever collapse in history. And while I'm not having nightmares just yet, I'm definitely not sleeping as well today as I was two weeks ago, when visions of world series championships danced through my head.
Shanon Lersh
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You should be more then afraid!!!
Axehandle
Houston , TX
Total Comments (7)
Wow, I for one am impressed. You are the first RS fan that seems to realize that the Yankees are still in contention, and I applaud you for that.
DJeterfan
Havelock , NC
Total Comments (26)
Geez, man, calm down. Take a deep cleansing breath or twelve, count to a thousand, and realize that the Red Sox have a big division lead, and have accomplished this without so much as even beginning to hit their stride.
I'm sorry, but it's this prevailing attitude that makes Red Sox fans look bad.
adams300
West Palm Beach , FL
Total Comments (643)
Of Course Not!!!! Remember One Thing My Fellow Redsox Nation! Look At The Schedule!!! The Yankees Have Had a Wayyyy Easier Schedule Than The Redsox! They Have Played 2 Series With the Devil Rays...The Redsox None!!! On Top of That, The Yankees Bullpen Suck! They Have To Score 10 Runs a Game To Win! Cause Both they Starting Rotation and Bullpen are The Worst in Baseball (And I Dont Mean Statistically) They Just Suck Period! One Thing I Am Running Out Of Patience and is Driving Me NUTZZZ! 1. What da Hell is Terry Waiting For To Put Julio Lugo As The 9th Hitter, The Guy is Hittin' .217 and Hardly Takes a Walk....I Know What Everybody else is Sayin But he's 17-17 in Steals....Those Times He was on Base To Steal Those Bases Where on Fielder's Choice (He's Hard To Double Up) But He's Killin The Redsox!!! It Puts More Pressure on The Pitcher To Pitch To Youk and Big Papi If There's Runners On Base! This is The Line-up Terry Should Consider!
1. Pedroia (Who Gives a **** If He Aint Fast...Atleast He Gets On Base!)
2. Youk
3. Big Papi
4. Manny
5. Mike Lowell (You Know How Many More RBI's He Would of Had If He Was Batting 5th) Drew Has Been a Rally Killer!!!
6. Drew (Until He Starts Hittin' He Needs To Be Dropped Down!)
7. TEK
8. Crisp
9. Lugo
Put Some Speed At The Bottom of The Order....With Pedroia Leading Off...Let Crisp and Lugo Steal All They Want!!!
Now The second Thing That's Killing Me is The Way Most of The Fans Once Lester Comes Back Wants Him To Replace Tavares! What About Wake? I Don't care How Long The Wake Has Been With the Organization...The Guy Get's Hit Like It's a Softball Game! Tavares Has Had More Better Outings Than Wake, Not Sayin Tavares Has been Great...But The Reason His ERA is That High Has Been Caused By 2 Really Bad Outings! When Lester Comes Back....I Would Like To See Lester Been the 4th Starter and Keep Tavares as The 5th Starter! Move Wake To The Pen as a Long Reliever!
Johanson
Brooklyn , NY
Total Comments (165)
Settle down!
Baseball championships are not (and never have been) won in April and May. Go ask that great Yankee...Dave Winfield....Mr. May (I believe).
YOU WERE WRONG TO PRONOUNCE THE YANKEES DEAD IN MAY. But now don't make a second overstatement.
As far as your statistical evidence is concerned, nice job, but's it's somewhat irrelevant. How about using 2007 FACTS. (AT LEAST THEY RELATE TO 2007).
The Yankees HAVEN'T WON A GAME SCORING LESS THAN 5 RUNS SINCE MAY 3RD .....35 GAMES AGO. Face it, if they don't score at least 5 runs, they lose. Their pitching is old and very inconsistent. To sustain .650 baseball, a team needs pitching & defense....something that allowed the "78 Yankees to come back. These "07 Yankees don't have enough of either. Be patient Vipee....it's a loooooooooooog season. And, we'll settle up with the Yankees in late August. (when Clemens comes off the DL to pitch at Fenway)
RI Sox Fan
Pawtucket , RI
Total Comments (1097)
Actually this team does have the pitching and defense, well...and hitting for that matter. But overall do remain calm. The lead is large, enjoy it while it lasts.
AllStarz
Total Comments (18993)
Terry Francona Most of Read My Comment! LMFAO My Lineup Card is Almost the Same as 2days Game!! Except For TEK (Dayoff Due To Wake Pitching) and Lowell Batted in his Normal 6th spot!
Johanson
Brooklyn , NY
Total Comments (165)
Hate the SOX...loved the blog. Insightful, intelligent, supported with factoids...AWSOME, but I hate your team!!!!
The TRUTH
Someplacein, OH
Total Comments (14438)
Here's the good news.. Yankess are just four games back of the Sox. Here's the bad news, Yankees are just four games back of the Sox. How did this happen? It looks like the Sox in a rush to beat the Yanks to Gagne became the Yanks and over spent on an aging reliever with a history of arm trouble in exchange for a top pitching prospect Gabbard. Looks like the Sox outsmarted themselves as if they left the proven formulaic relief in place, Okajima and Pappelbon close out the two wins Gagne screwed up and the Sox are up by six and not the slim four. Sox fans gotta admit that they're squeezing their pencils a little tighter this morning at the office as the Yanks look to move up on them even more this week. Septemeber's series between the Yanks and Red Soxs looks like it may have meaning afterall.
Bootsy-Tom-Collins
Total Comments (20)
Any Red Sox fan that has commented on this blog needs to calm down and get a life. This whole season is turning into 1978, when the sox blew a 14.5 game lead over the yankees. The Yankees are coming ! THE YANKEES ARE COMING!
X-Games &…
Total Comments (117)
Sox fans should be wondering what happening...and Steve Phillips for ESPN should stop being biased toward baseball's most overated team, the boston red sox. Eric Gagne is officially Eric Gag-me lol.
X-Games &…
Total Comments (117)
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