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« Three Years and Counting | Main | Sleep Is For the Weak » October 11, 2004It's On: ALCS 2004So the Red Sox will face the Yankees for a second straight year in the ALCS, the showdown it seems much of the baseball world has been waiting for since Aaron Boone took Tim Wakefield downtown three innings after Grady Little's brain shut down for the winter, taking the hearts of Boston fans everywhere with it. (And, naturally, I probably won't get to see a game of it.) So let's ask the hard question: who's going to the World Series? I'll probably pay for this, but I've got to say Boston. Despite New York's three game superiority in the regular season, Boston is the better team. New York is tough, and as long as Joe Torre is in the dugout, you have to like their chances, but the Sox will send Schilling and Martinez to the hill twice each, and their #3 starter is no slouch, either, having pitched better than his record all year. Yes, the Yankees have allegedly knocked Pedro around, but much of that has occurred because his manager left him out too long, not because the Yankees own Pedro. Note that in both games Pedro 'blew,' he was knocked out in the eighth inning while the opposing starter was long gone (Clemens went four, if I recall correctly, while Mussina went six). As long as Francona is willing to lift Pedro when the time comes, he's fine. In the playoffs, starting pitching is critical, and the Red Sox have the Yankees outclassed this year. Will it be easy? Almost certainly not. The Yankees have the infamous mystique that gives them the confidence to struggle on when other teams might fold, and the two teams' histories clearly favor the Yankees. But when push comes to shove, you bet on the better team, and that's the one from Boston. Red Sox in six.Posted at October 11, 2004 04:22 PM
Comment policyI apologize for only allowing authenticated commenters, but comment spam overwhelms the site if I don't use those measures to prevent it. I reserve the right to delete any comment, although generally comments will only be deleted due to use of profanity or personal attacks on people. I have no objection to vigorous argument, but when name-calling begins, I'm putting a stop to it. In the immortal words of Eugene Levy, "People, people, let's stop this before somebody says something untrue!" If you want to call people names, I recommend you get your own blog. Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsI am torn on this one. I had my beer and my Harey Carey glasses ready for the World Series that the Cubs didn't seem to want to play in. I don't like the Yankees, but I love to watch them play. Rodriguez and Jeter play every single at bat on offense and defense like they are trying to make a team and not superstars. They don't just believe they can win, they expect it. They Yankees just seem to play al out, all the time. Which all players should do for the kind of money they make, but many don't. Sammy Sosa is a good example of that. Watch him run out a grounder, and then watch ARod. There is a big difference. I am no a Pedro fan and haven't been since he switched from the National League. There it was fine that he threw at batters because himself, or another pitcher had to bat. In the AL, you can only hit one of his teammates. I like Schilling though. I also like Ortiz, especially since Minnesota let him go. I love to point out how he is doing to the Twins fans here. I also like Damon and am glad the beard is gone. Besides Ortiz, I think their best pick up was Bill Mueller. I do agree that the Red Sox have the better team. Posted by: Scott at October 12, 2004 02:38 PM Post a commentThanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out) (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |
