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May 28, 2003



by Larry Mahnken

Me watching the game tonight:

"All right! YEAH! Nuts. Ehh. Hmm. Blah. YES! Damn. WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?! Hey! Woo-hoo!"

So there you go.

The reports of the Yankees demise have been greatly exaggerated, although there is legitimate cause for concern. But now they're only ½ game out of first, and they've won four of six against Boston--with Johnson out for all the games, and Bernie basically useless in the games he wasn't out. THAT is perhaps the most important thing from the past two weeks. They don't need to beat Oakland in May, or Anaheim or Seattle or Texas. They don't even need to finish ahead of them in the standings--but Boston--they are the team to pay attention to. The Yankees are going bad, but they have been able to more or less handle the team that they most need to beat.

Of course, there was the ninth inning tonight. Hey, shit happens. I don't think Rivera's really going to be a problem the rest of the year (but who knows?), so I wouldn't worry about it too much. In fact, the way Contreras and Hitchcock have pitched lately (and Osuna, bob mong), it gives some hope that the Yankees might be getting some decent relief pitching. Weaver and Contreras have flip-flopped roles, but I think Weaver will do fine in the pen, too. So there we have it, for now. Still gotta add an arm, though.

The Red Sox have a slightly easier schedule than the Yankees until they meet again in July at The Stadium (.4435 to .4452 winning %). I think the Red Sox are a little better than the Yankees right now, so they will probably tack a couple of games on their lead by then, but hopefully Bernie and Nick will be back for that four-game series. As I said, this season is FAR from over. And as I said last week, the Red Sox have blown a huge opportunity to beat up on the Yankees. Do you think it's going to be any easier for them to win in the second half?

Now step back, look past that panic about maybe not making the postseason for the first time in nine seasons, and think...isn't it nice to have a pennant race again? Hmm?