BeanTown33
06-01-2005, 12:42 AM
not sure if this is the right forum but it was an interesting article. dont beat me *runs from thread*
Mike Puma column: Red Sox have Yankees under their spell
NEW YORK — As Joe Torre suggested late Sunday night, after his team had gotten stomped again by the Red Sox, the Yankees are a good team that had two bad days. Losing a Memorial Day weekend series to the Red Sox does nothing to dampen the Yankees' outlook on the season, one that resumes today with a two-week road trip.
But subtly, there is a problem for the Yankees: They are chasing the Red Sox.
That statement relates nothing to the AL East standings. It's more about the manner in which the teams match up. The Red Sox still have a spell on the Yankees, seven months after Johnny Damon hit that grand slam against Javier Vazquez and the world as we all knew it began changing.
The Yankees had won 15 of 17 games coming into Friday night at Yankee Stadium and looked ready to finish May with a bang. The Red Sox were down, weary, beaten, after getting swept in Toronto. David Wells had been awful, Curt Schilling invisible, on a bum ankle.
But then you saw what happened in the Bronx.
"We have to turn things around," Mike Mussina said. "We didn't pitch very well these three days, we didn't hit very well these three days. We have to regroup and get after it again."
Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano and Mussina — Torre's perfect alignment if this were a playoff series — started three games in which the Red Sox scored 27 runs on 52 hits. Johnson was shaky Friday night, but still managed a victory with thanks to Robinson Cano and Gary Sheffield. Pavano and Mussina threw batting practice over the ensuing two games.
And as expected, it only took a visit from the Red Sox for the Yankees' third baseman to transform from Alex Rodriguez MVP to Alex Rodriguez MIA.
The MVP candidate will likely begin booming home runs again this week in Kansas City, the same way he tormented those poor Detroit Tigers last week.
He is still not David Ortiz, a player who could probably
hobble to the plate on crutches and take a Mussina fastball into the bleachers using his right crutch as a bat.
Likewise, Luis Tiant could slip into his old Red Sox uniform and silence A-Rod for nine innings.
Damon continues to haunt the Yankees. Edgar Renteria is a new entry. Has any member of the Yankees lineup established himself as a Red Sox killer? The closest thing is Sheffield, but even his bat went silent last October as the Red Sox were making history.
Now it's 2005 and the Red Sox have won five of nine games in the rivalry. They've beaten Mariano Rivera. They've shown no fear against Randy Johnson. They even won 17-1, the most lopsided score in the rivalry's history.
"We've been on a good run," Torre said. "We just had a bad couple of days."
The good times could continue right into late June for the Yankees, with a schedule that includes 16 games against the Royals, Brewers, Pirates, Cubs and Devil Rays. The Twins and Cardinals should provide some resistance in between.
They won't resume their rivalry with the Red Sox until the first series after the All-Star break, when we get four games at Fenway Park. Maybe the Yankees will be running away with the AL East at that point, but smart money says they won't.
Based on what you've seen so far, the Red Sox just have to keep the Yankees close in the standings. Close enough that a three-game series at Fenway to conclude the regular season will mean something.
Because in this new world, which started Oct. 20, 2004, the Red Sox have a spell on the Yankees.
Mike Puma column: Red Sox have Yankees under their spell
NEW YORK — As Joe Torre suggested late Sunday night, after his team had gotten stomped again by the Red Sox, the Yankees are a good team that had two bad days. Losing a Memorial Day weekend series to the Red Sox does nothing to dampen the Yankees' outlook on the season, one that resumes today with a two-week road trip.
But subtly, there is a problem for the Yankees: They are chasing the Red Sox.
That statement relates nothing to the AL East standings. It's more about the manner in which the teams match up. The Red Sox still have a spell on the Yankees, seven months after Johnny Damon hit that grand slam against Javier Vazquez and the world as we all knew it began changing.
The Yankees had won 15 of 17 games coming into Friday night at Yankee Stadium and looked ready to finish May with a bang. The Red Sox were down, weary, beaten, after getting swept in Toronto. David Wells had been awful, Curt Schilling invisible, on a bum ankle.
But then you saw what happened in the Bronx.
"We have to turn things around," Mike Mussina said. "We didn't pitch very well these three days, we didn't hit very well these three days. We have to regroup and get after it again."
Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano and Mussina — Torre's perfect alignment if this were a playoff series — started three games in which the Red Sox scored 27 runs on 52 hits. Johnson was shaky Friday night, but still managed a victory with thanks to Robinson Cano and Gary Sheffield. Pavano and Mussina threw batting practice over the ensuing two games.
And as expected, it only took a visit from the Red Sox for the Yankees' third baseman to transform from Alex Rodriguez MVP to Alex Rodriguez MIA.
The MVP candidate will likely begin booming home runs again this week in Kansas City, the same way he tormented those poor Detroit Tigers last week.
He is still not David Ortiz, a player who could probably
hobble to the plate on crutches and take a Mussina fastball into the bleachers using his right crutch as a bat.
Likewise, Luis Tiant could slip into his old Red Sox uniform and silence A-Rod for nine innings.
Damon continues to haunt the Yankees. Edgar Renteria is a new entry. Has any member of the Yankees lineup established himself as a Red Sox killer? The closest thing is Sheffield, but even his bat went silent last October as the Red Sox were making history.
Now it's 2005 and the Red Sox have won five of nine games in the rivalry. They've beaten Mariano Rivera. They've shown no fear against Randy Johnson. They even won 17-1, the most lopsided score in the rivalry's history.
"We've been on a good run," Torre said. "We just had a bad couple of days."
The good times could continue right into late June for the Yankees, with a schedule that includes 16 games against the Royals, Brewers, Pirates, Cubs and Devil Rays. The Twins and Cardinals should provide some resistance in between.
They won't resume their rivalry with the Red Sox until the first series after the All-Star break, when we get four games at Fenway Park. Maybe the Yankees will be running away with the AL East at that point, but smart money says they won't.
Based on what you've seen so far, the Red Sox just have to keep the Yankees close in the standings. Close enough that a three-game series at Fenway to conclude the regular season will mean something.
Because in this new world, which started Oct. 20, 2004, the Red Sox have a spell on the Yankees.