George of the Real Estate Jungle

Red Sox - Yankees May Series Continues

Here we go. Games 5, 6 and 7 of the scheduled eight games between the Red Sox and Yankees resumes tonight in Boston. (One game was rained out at the beginning of the month so it was reduced to a seven game showdown.) The Red Sox have taken 3 out of 4 including a 14-3 drubbing on May 1st, and have the edge in pitching rotation and venue this time around as well.

Tonight it’s Chien Ming Wang against Curt Schilling. Both have pitched well this season with Schilling coming into the game with six wins and 2 losses and an earned run average of 4.17. Wang is 4-1 with a 3.79 ERA. Given the state of disarray the Yankees pitching staff is in, Wang will be the “ace” of the staff in this three game series, and he’ll have to pitch like one for New York to win tonight. Look for Schilling to be at his best.

Tomorrow night it will be Jaret Wright versus Tim Wakefield. Both have losing records but at times have pitched better than their records indicate.

Wednesday night the Yankees will go with “Old Reliable”…TBD. Heading into a series against the Red Sox without knowing who will start the third game tells it all. The Yankees are trying to patch together a pitching staff while simultaneously piecing together a line-up that is missing Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, and Bubba Crosby. The Yankees pitcher, “To Be Determined”, will go against Matt Clement. Maybe Joe Torre should try the line-up of Who's on first, What's on second, and I Don't Know's on third.

A Slim Difference

The Yankees and Red Sox are tied for first place, separated by a mere .006.  At the end of the day today, however, one of the two will stand alone at the top of the AL East. 

On May 11th that's a pretty meaningless distinction with so many games remaining.  Nonetheless, this single game in a season of 162 is important because the goal of all teams is to take every series.  It is the uniqueness of baseball.  Each series represents a challenge and an opportunity towards the attainment of the ultimate goal to win the World Series.

By the time the last out is recorded tonight, you can expect the success (or failure) of six players to play key roles.  They  are Shawn Chacon, Johnny Damon, David Ortiz, Jon Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, and Tim Wakefield.  Overall, Ortiz and his teammates have had the best of Rivera in recent times so it will likely come down to that again.  The Yankees can avoid that situation if they get a great pitching performace from Chacon, and Damon does better than the 1 for 11 he has posted thus far in the series.  Papelbon and Rivera both pitched in the ninth inning because they needed the work.  Tonight they will likely enter the game in meaningful situations with the winner of the three game series on the line.

A Long Season

Wow!  Josh Beckett was terrific and Randy Johnson was awful...and that's the beauty of baseball. 

Over a 162-game season it all balances out.  Teams are rarely as good as they appear when they are hot...and never as bad as they look when things go bad. 

By winning the first game of the three-games series the Boston Red Sox have taken the most important game of a short series.  Tonight they have Curt Schilling attempting to win the second game of the series, and he has been impressive this season.  The Yankees have Mike Mussina on the mound as they attempt to overcome their 14-3 shellacking on Tuesday night.  Both pitchers are 5-1 on the young season and are critical to the success of their teams. 

Baseball, more than any other sport, varies every game because the starting pitcher changes all of the time..  The Red Sox will look to build on the lopsided victory while the Yankees need to forget about it and start fresh against Schilling. 

Professional athletes are paid to perform.  Tonight, we will see which ones are better suited to their respective tasks.  Will the short-term confidence of the Red Sox outperform the determination of the Yankees?  Does the giddiness of soundly beating the Yankees on their home field outweigh the desire of the Yankees to play solid, fundamental baseball? 

Round Two of Yankees - Red Sox in '06

Barring rainouts in New York, the three game series at Yankee Stadium between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will leave one of the two teams atop the American League East come Friday morning.  Aside from bragging rights by the fans and continued momentum by the team that wins two out of three this week, it’s way to early to make a big deal of the outcome.  While the games in mid-May count on the record, they are of limited importance when compared with a game played on September 15^th.

Nonetheless, the three games have great pitching match-ups and are worth watching.  Game 1 features Josh Beckett versus Randy Johnson, Game 2 pits Curt Schilling against Mike Mussina, and the series finale has Tim Wakefield opposing Shawn Chacon.

I believe that the two teams will split the first two games with the edge going to the Yankees tonight.  Josh Beckett is a superb pitcher but his night and road ERA’s are 7.04 and 7.00, respectively.  Johnson’s night ERA is slightly higher than overall but he has pitched better in Yankee Stadium than on the road.  He needs a good game against Boston and I feel he will deliver.

Mussina and Schilling in the second game is a toss-up but a close game favors the Red Sox is expected.  Mussina has been great this season and his 1.50 ERA in the Bronx is hard to argue against.  However, at this stage of the season the Yankees have no answer for David Ortiz late in the game, and Jon Papelbon has emerged as a magnificent closer.  He will take another step towards stardom on Wednesday night.

The series will come down to Thursday night with Chacon and Wakefield.  Wakefield’s ERA hasn’t changed much since the return of Doug Mirabelli but he is 2-0 since the Red Sox re-acquired his favorite catcher.  The difference is that he has allowed no unearned runs after giving up five in his first five games.  Chacon has learned the art of being tough in the clutch and against the middle of the Boston line-up he will face plenty of challenges.  This game will likely come down to the eighth or ninth inning and whether the Yankees can keep Ortiz at bay and figure out how to beat Papelbon.  If they expect to be able to do it in September or October, they had better begin to get a clue about it now in May.  On the other hand, Red Sox Nation wants to see Johnny Damon rue the day he left to become a Yankee. The winner of this series will be decided in the third game and the outcome hinges on the performances of Big Papi and Papelbon, this year's most effective closer thus far.

Baseball Fanatics Renew Rivalry in 2006

The greatest sports rivalry ever is that of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, and Vermonters are passionate about both teams.  The southern part of the state, bordering Massachusetts and in close proximity to the New Hampshire suburban  communities of Boston is predominantly in the camp of Red Sox Nation.  As you go further north in the vicinity of Burlington, the percentage of Yankees fans increases, as does the intensity of partisanship.

The recent success of the Boston Red Sox is producing a new generation of Red Sox fans, less skeptical and more confident.  They are unencumbered by the memory of Bill Buckner and far too young to remember Bucky Dent.

The group that is replacing “Curse of the Bambino” buddies has been nurtured by Curt Schilling’s bloody sock, Pedro Martinez’s knockdown of Don Zimmer, and the prodigious power and clutch hitting of David Ortiz.  They understand the challenges facing the team but, like Jon Papelbon, they are confident of their ability to succeed.

With twenty-six World Series Championships, Yankees fans are accustomed to success.  In spite of ups and downs during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, fans of the Bronx Bombers have always been believers.  They’re concerned about the inability of the team to finish things off in recent years but love the team that has been led by Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera with players like Paul O’Neill, Scott Brosius, and Tino Martinez providing consistent leadership and production.

The 2006 versions of the Yankees and Red Sox retain much of their respective nuclei that produced the historic 2004 American League Championship Series.  Yet both teams are also substantially different. 

Gone from Boston are Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller, Pedro Martinez, Bronson Arroyo, and Johnny Damon.  But the players who replaced them have considerable talent and are capable of winning the American League East.  If Manny Ramirez can be kept happy they will have another great year.

The Yankees are…well…they are the Yankees.  The owner and front office will always find a way to put talented players on the field.  For them to succeed they need to avoid the tendency to veer too far from the formula that produced World Series Championship with homegrown talent like Andy Pettitte and the aforementioned Jeter, Williams, and Rivera.

Tuesday night's rainout of the second game of the early season two-game series in Boston conveniently preserved one more nail-biter for later in the season.