Well, I promised earlier this week that I'd post something tonight regarding the Sox-Yankees series, and considering the fact that Teddy out-blogged the world this week, I'm definitely due to post.
I'd hoped that I'd have nothing more than a succinct summary-in-preview of this weekend's Yankees-Red Sox series, but right now there are a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of things going on in the old Duder's head.
So I'll just plunge right in.
Bush League
I'll admit to being a little disappointed that Teddy broke the latest A-Fraud bush league tactic story before I did. I only caught up with it this morning. The salient facts seem to be that Howie Clark heard "Mine!" and A-Rod claims to have yelled "Something like - 'Hah!' Whatever, I have to go see my therapist and reapply my purple lipstick."
What strikes me now is the same thing that struck me after the Bronson Arroyo karate chop in the 2004 ALCS - the complete and utter lack of support that A-Rod received from his teammates.
The most resounding endorsment, as recounted in an AP story, was this:
"I wasn't sure that was allowed," outfielder Johnny Damon said. "If it is, maybe we'll keep on doing it."
I wonder if Johnny Damon would give the same answer about marrying a woman, having three kids with her, and then dumping her for a stripper...
This was a Bush League move - and Teddy was wandering dangerously close to Karl Rove territory trying to defend it.
A-Rod, in the same AP story:
"Honestly, I couldn't care less," he said. "They have their opinions. We're looking not to be swept."
OK, the baseball world lives under a cloud of steroid suspicion, and everyone bemoans that a jerk like Barry Bonds is going to break class act Henry Aaron's home run record.
Alex Rodriguez is the single most talented baseball player in the major leagues today. It's almost a crime against nature that he's playing third while Derek "Defensive Liability" Jeter is trotted out at shortstop every day. Ever since he signed that contract with the Rangers, A-Rod has had a target on his back.
So why doesn't he try to rise above it? Why doesn't he try to be a class act like Aaron, or his idol and close friend, Cal Ripken, Jr.? I grew up going to Orioles' games every other Sunday, and Cal Ripken pulling a move like that would have been the equivalent to a crab cake shortage in the Chesapeake State.
Maybe it isn't fair that A-Rod is held to a higher standard than other players. If a classically under-talented, over-achieving player like David Eckstein had pulled the same maneuver (actually, he's too classy - A.J. Pierzynski would be a better example), I might have smirked and privately applauded the move.
If you're the best player in a sport, you don't pull this. I don't see Tom Brady taking a snap, huddling with the other 10 players on the field, stuffing the ball up his shirt to hide it, and then sprinting for a touchdown. Of course, Brady (despite the whole children-out-of-wedlock-thing) has class.
A-Fraud is just... well, earning his nickname.
The Boss
Buster Onley, formerly of The New York Times, currently of espn.com, wrote an excellent book a few years ago - "The Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty" - which essentially chronicled the team's ascent in the late '90s with homegrown players and carefully chosen free agents to its current state of demise as a rotisserie All-Star team.
Reading this book complicated my view of George Steinbrenner - a man I will soon denegrate again in an installment of "Scenes from the Yankees' Front Office".
Steinbrenner's single-minded pursuit of total success at any cost is both true and well-documented, but there are nuances to the man.
As a boy, he went to military school. When he came into his inheritance and bought the Yankees, his father called it "the first smart thing" he had ever done.
He has feuded with players and managers alike, and has done a lot of this through the press, which does not exactly lend a sheen of class to the proceedings.
But then...
In the '98-'99 offseason, Albert Belle was a free agent - as were Bernie Williams (NYY) and Mo Vaughn (BOS).
The Boss had apparently grown disenchanted with Berniewhocky, and wanted Belle at all costs. The Duke (Red Sox GM Dan Duquette) was ready to let the Hit Dawg walk and sign Bernie.
Everything was going according to plan.
And then, as has become frustatingly typical in Free Agent dealings, Scott Boras stepped in.
In a last ditch effort to keep Bernie in the Bronx, Boras arranged a meeting with the Steinbrenner and the rest of the Yankees' brain trust.
In this meeting, Bernie explained that although the Red Sox had put more money on the table, he wanted to be a Yankee.
Tears in his eyes, the Boss reportedly responded, "Son, you always will be."
And the deal was done.
Then the Red Sox signed Jose Offerman.
...
Excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth.
That is a response to the Awfulman signing, not Steinbrenner's sentiments toward Bernie Williams. In fact, that anecdote (from the aforementioned Olney book) makes me appreciate the Boss even more.
Also, he just donated $1 million to Virginia Tech after the recent massacre.
But that isn't the moment I appreciate about the Boss the most. That moment came at the conclusion of the '04 ALCS, after the Red Sox completed their improbable comeback and were celebrating on the field at Yankee Stadium.
Apparently, his Tampa flunkies came to the Owner's box - each of them eager to be the first to express their disgust and their desire to an end to the celebration on the field.
"Leave the lights on, boys," Steinbrenner said. He wanted to give the Red Sox have their moment.
I could rehash all of the horrible things that the Boss has said and done over the years, but I thought it was worthwhile to recognize his finer points before I went back to making fun of him.
Rivalry Reduxing
I was complaining about this earlier tonight - over the past few years there has been an oversaturation in the media regarding the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, and then an oversaturation of media members devoting entire pieces to said oversaturation.
And here I thought it was a good idea to participate a blog on just that subject.
Due to unbalanced division schedules, the Yankees and Red Sox are destined to play each other 18-19 times a season, spread over 6 series, for the foreseeable future.
I understand that there are travel schedules to consider, but in a 6-month season, couldn't we just have a series a month from April to September? How is that these two teams will have already played each other 12 times before the Ides of June?
The point of my Red Sox/Yankees Bench Player Smackdown post was the fact that we're already running out of things to write here.
The middle of the season will be more fun, when we can observe these Reduxed Rivals as independent entitites on parallel tracks, but for now I will address the matter soon at hand.
The Series
This time, neither team is screwing around.
This is a Cold-War-Soviet-Era arms race. Wakefield vs. Wang, Schilling vs. Mussina, Beckett vs. Pettite. Back-to-back-to-back marquee pitching matchups.
I said a lot of the same things before the last series (in which the Sox went 1-2), but if this comes down to the bullpen, the Sox are in a lot better shape than the Skanks.
What I'll focus on here is the Right Field position for both teams.
Bobby Abreu and J.D. Drew are both underperforming at horrific levels, particularly given what they're paid. Both of them hid their low power numbers by drawing a ton of walks at the beginning of the season, but lately neither of them is doing even that.
It would be exciting to see one, the other, or both, break out this week. In fact, I think it's going to happen for at least one of them. J.D. Drew has been hitting the ball hard (even if he's hitting into outs) lately, and is still desperate to shed the "Nancy Drew" label. As for Abreu... well, he seems to care about succeeding with the Yankees' about as much as he cared about succeeding in Philly, which is to say not all that much.
Therefore, I expect Abreu to post a 5.000 OPS this weekend.
There's not much I can say that isn't repeating myself - the Red Sox have the best record in baseball, despite the fact that key players (I'm looking at you, Julio Lugo, Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, and Coco Crisp) aren't performing up to expectations. These guys have nowhere to go but up.
The Yankees still have a juggernaut of an offense, and need to be bailed out by guys like Tyler Clippard.
I say this with great trepidation, but I'll say it...
Advantage, Red Sox.
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