In august sox starters won 19 games which is a record or very close to one. Many of those games were against below .500 teams, but they also won games while missing Manny, Ortiz, and VTek. The yanks rotation has fallen apart. Arroyo could be there number one pitcher right now. Both teams are getting healthy, with Giambi, Nixon, and Williamson (key) all coming back. According to the moneyball theory the red sox have done well, "1/3 season evaluate, 2/3 make the necessary moves, last third you have the team you want" (? not sure if thats right). The only problem in their way is that when they focus on the Yankees they always play bad. I would say it is 2:1 odds in the Yankees favor of winning the AL East. But Boston does have the best record against the Yankees 8-5. Anyway, this next month should be fun.
As you know I'm a Braves fan and therefor know that 3.5 games isn't very much. Before this season everybody was saying that there was now way they would win the NL EAST for a 13th consecutive time. Now that August has come along the Braves are once again in first place with an 8.5 game lead over the Marlins. As you know the Braves were six games under .500 in late June. They were also about six games behind the first place Phillies. Now check out the NL East standings. If the Braves can do it, so can the Red Sox. 3.5 games is not very much.......
i wouldn't worry to much about the toughness of either teams schedule, 22-0 to the indians prints my point in bold...
so the yanks are done for because they let up 22 runs in a game?
I think his point was just that strength of schedule shouldn't be over-emphasized. There's no 2003 Tigers out there this year, though KC isn't exactly tearing things up ...
"The game has a cleanness. If you do a good job, the numbers say so. You don't have to ask anyone or play politics. You don't have to wait for the reviews." - Sandy Koufax
To be honest, I can't stand either team..but I would really like to see the Yankees go into the playoffs the underdog for once, just simply to change things up a bit.
27.5 games back, wheres the love for the Jays? Oh, they have a chance I tell ya...
That said, I'm scared as hell once we get into the playoffs. Right now, it doesn't appear they have a chance at winning the World Series, or even getting to it. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Yankees gone after the ALDS. Their pitching staff is horrible. Unless Mussina and Brown get their stuff back, and Vazquez gets more consistent, the Yankees aren't going anywhere in the postseason as much as it pains me to say that.
by buffalobillsrul2002 » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:03 pm
It'll be an exteremely close race I believe. I also think this may become a situation where both teams think playoffs over division title. Both these teams know that it does not matter if they win their division, but the goal is victory in the World Series. Therefore, I think both teams might set up their rotations for the playoffs instead of really killing themselves for the division title (not that they won't care, just that the managers will think make + win playoofs, not division)
buffalobillsrul2002 wrote:It'll be an exteremely close race I believe. I also think this may become a situation where both teams think playoffs over division title. Both these teams know that it does not matter if they win their division, but the goal is victory in the World Series. Therefore, I think both teams might set up their rotations for the playoffs instead of really killing themselves for the division title (not that they won't care, just that the managers will think make + win playoofs, not division)
Possibly, except that the AL East runner-up is by no means guaranteed to make the playoffs. The AL West runner-up may well end up taking the wild card. Even if the wild card does come out of the East, there's still home field advantage to consider. Though it may come to it in the last week, as of now it'd be foolish to give up on the division title.
"The game has a cleanness. If you do a good job, the numbers say so. You don't have to ask anyone or play politics. You don't have to wait for the reviews." - Sandy Koufax
Even if the Yankees slide to a Wild Card berth they will hardly be an underdog. By virtue of the size of their payroll and the stars by their names, I don't think anyone will ever consider them an underdog.
I think the Sox have a legitimate shot at winning the division. Especially if Torre is caught with a bullpen he absolutely must rest, but at the same time, absolutely needs to win games. I'm neither a Sox or Yankees fan, but I am already looking forward to those 6 games, especially the last 3 in Fenway.
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by Strasil42 » Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:49 pm 
