« Beyond War | Main | Smart People »

September 18, 2006

Small Victories

Yes, it's not much, but at least we didn't have to endure being the guests at yet another Yankees' AL East clinching ceremony. The Red Sox finally found a team they can play well against in the Yankees, taking three of four over the weekend. We even managed to end Derek Jeter's hitting streak, a petty little victory I'll take in my desperate desire to have something pleasant to cling to at this point in a very sad season. (Although I'll point out that a lousy baseball season still beats any other sport I'm aware of.) The Yankees didn't have much to play for, of course, as only divine intervention will prevent them from winning the AL East for the ninth year in a row, but I suspect that Joe Torre's boys don't get to sit back and get comfortable even when sitting in the catbird seat as they are now, and it's not like the Red Sox ran out a great lineup either, with the starting pitchers being this illustrious foursome: Josh Beckett (15-10, 5.02), Tim Wakefield (7-9, 4.19), Kyle Snyder (4-4, 6.28) and Kevin Jarvis (0-2 , 5.17). Nothing against them all; they actually acquited themselves quite well, but that's not exactly the rotation the Red Sox planned to have at this point in 2006, and it highlights the reason the Sox will be watching the playoffs on television in October.

I should note, however, that Big Papi should stick to keeping his mouth shut about the MVP award and accept the fact he's never going to win it. As a DH, he simply has to put up stats that are far beyond anyone else in contention, and he's got to do it with a contending team. The Red Sox are not likely to be in contention next year (although much could change between now and then), and while Papi's a tremendous hitter, the fact is he's not even the best hitter on his own team. That Ramirez guy may not have quite such eye-popping stats, but comparing him to Papi, he comes away looking pretty good.

Papi: .283/.405/.625, 49 HR, 129 RBI.
Manny: .318/.436/.612, 34 HR, 101 RBI.

Papi has a little more power, but the RBI difference comes primarily because Ramirez bats after Papi and therefore loses a lot of opportunities to Papi, and Manny gets on base more often. It's close, but Manny has a slight edge, especially when you consider that a pitcher facing Papi knows that he has to face Manny next, while a pitcher facing Manny knows he has to face Mike Lowell (.283/.341/.465, 17 HR, 70 RBI) next. That takes a bit of the pressure off.

Now the more interesting question is, will Minnesota be able to come all the way back against the Tigers? I would like to see them do so, but they play Boston next, so I certainly want them to lose those games, and they need just about every game if they're to catch Detroit. It's about the last race for the playoffs, so you have to hope it stays close to make the last few weeks of the regular season interesting. Then the question will be, can anyone beat New York in the ALCS? Because if not, the Yankees' drought is coming to an end in 2006, and our long national nightmare will at long last be over.