here we go again...

As inexcusable as my absence from this space has been, there's no way I could get away with not sounding in on the upcoming War to End All Wars, otherwise known as the next Sox-Yankees series.

The Red Sox are coming off a series where they scored horse amounts of runs against the White Sox. The pitching was solid, and the bullpen was given a rest. If this was any other team playing any other team than you would have to say that the Red Sox are looking good coming into this series.

Considering the Yankees' utter decapitation of the Red Sox over a 5-game stretch last year, I'm not counting on anything. The Sox currently hold a 7.5 game lead over the Yankees, and there are six games left between the two teams. Beyond those matchups, both teams also have a lot of mouth-watering Tampa Bay, Toronto, and Baltimore matchups.

So, to state the obvious, these games will be important.

This first series will feature playoff-like pitching matchups: Dice-K/Pettite, Beckett/Clemens, Schilling/Wang.

(Come to think of it, each matchup has a former Astro involved as well)

Boston scored buckets of runs against the White Sox, but everyone's been doing that this year. The Yankees are scoring buckets of runs against everyone.

I'm going to hold off on making specific predictions and try to react more on a game-by-game basis throughout the week.

What I'd like to see is the Sox take at least 2 out of 3 this time around as well as next September, but again, I'm not calling it a prediction.

This could wind up being one of those great heroes and goats series...