The ALCS: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox

[Guest Crazy Dan]

It never does. The Yankees just know how to win the big games/series. Typical Yankee team, the starters will have issues throughout the season. Come October, it is like the flip a switch and pitch like a Cy Young winner. I am not giving up hope yet, as the Sox should be able to hit better in at Fenway to win at least 2-3, but Arroyo needs to step it up and pitch like he did in Game 3 of the ALDS. Losing Schilling hurts big, but Pedro looks really good, despite the lost. I hope he gets another shot and gets run support. Judging how this series has gone, look for Brown to revert back to mid 90's form and throw a no-hitter. Something about the Yankees that makes players take it to new levels. I tried to see who goes for Game 4, but it was blank, perfect time for Schilling's ankle to give out. So you either get Wakefield (yikes) or Lowe as possible starters. Man talk about scary, it ain't over till it is over, but all signs point to the Yankees. The Sox have lost the edge in starting pitching, so they need to outscore the Yankees to have a chance. Also, more patience please when trying to hit. And the Sox can't be trying to play catch up in the 7-8 innings, because Rivera means lights out. I think Bill Simmons observation that the Sox might have been wise to start Schilling in Game 3, especially with his ankle like it was and being that Pedro was pitching like he did, that might be something they ponder as it is likely they will watch the Series at home, again. Damn that curse and the fact that the Yankees know how to put a team together that wins when it counts and has an owner who spends to win along with a pact with the Devil.

[strummer 0]

Schilling is out for game 5, Derek Lowe starts. Just heard it on WFAN. If there is a rain out tomorrow, then Lowe is skipped.

[Jericholic82 0]

Of course itll rain and ruin our roll lmao. anyhow yea I know I havent shown up till now but I havent had a chance to go online for a few days. I am glad that like I said in the alds forum, if the yanks can win the first 2 itll be the best chance for them to win. with a rainout, the sox will have a chance to rest and rethink. hope it doesnt kill our roll.

 

That all being said, this is a tough series to call. it has been really close, even when it shouldn't have been (see game 1) but I have been mightily impressed by Moose and Lieber in this postseason.

 

Game 3 may be the most important game of this series for both (definately for the sox. but if the Yanks can muster a third victory there, their chances are extremely good of course) I hope Mr. Brown can pitch like he did in Minnesota.

 

 

and wtf is up with Tom Gordon? Is his eye that messed up from the errant cork shot, or has his arm gone dead like El Duque?

 

 

 

if the yanks win game 3 if its played on friday that is, who will start game 4? If we are up 3-0, youd have to go with Vazquez, unless you want to play games and try hernandez.

 

 

anyhow once again this is a long way from being done, even I have to believe that the sox will fare better in their park (which is why I disagree with the 2-3-2 format of the LCS, in fairness since the sox were a wc team it should be 3-2-2, but I guess they like the whole even thing) This series still has the feel of a classic and you just know something big is gonna happen in Fenway.

 

 

and enough of the networks promoting the sox. you can so tell they are rooting for Boston, I guess they think theyll draw better ratings or something.

 

 

and why are we the evil empire? You rarely see any of the Yanks acting like punks or jerks (well except for the July 24 brawl). while the sox are full of dislikable punks with bad attitudes (like Pedro usually is and Manny)

 

I understand the whole underdog thing, but then again were supposed to be the underdogs in this series right?

 

I just can take so much of the NY bashing in general. If Boston did win this year and went on to spend lots of cash and win 5 of the next 6 ws, would people then hate them?

 

my point is, I don't think the yanks would be as disliked if they played in a smaller market or anywhere outside the NYC area.

 

 

as my dad says, there are 2 kinds of people, New Yorkers and people who wish they were

 

 

Go yanks!!!!!!

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

I really despise how the Red Sox fans are going to blame losing the series on Schilling's injury.

[Slayer 0]

as my dad says, there are 2 kinds of people, New Yorkers and people who wish they were

It's that kind of arrogance that is one reason why I hate NYC in the first place

 

Back in '00, I lived in NYC for one month on business. Other than being able to see the Twin Towers before their destruction, there is nothing I relish from my stay there.

 

On the other hand, I spent three days in Boston (in the middle of said stay) and loved it

 

So really, this extends even beyond the Sox vs. Yankees for me

[Guest The Shadow Behind You]

.

 

 

and enough of the networks promoting the sox. you can so tell they are rooting for Boston, I guess they think theyll draw better ratings or something.

 

 

and why are we the evil empire? You rarely see any of the Yanks acting like punks or jerks (well except for the July 24 brawl). while the sox are full of dislikable punks with bad attitudes (like Pedro usually is and Manny)

Boston WOULD draw bigger ratings ratings. Despite what many believe, America doesn't care about The Yankees and the whole "People will watch to see them lose" explanation never was true.

 

People either are interested in the curse or really hate Boston's fans enough to watch and cheer against them.

 

 

Fox is justified in pushing Boston here.

 

It has nothing to do with the players. It's Steinbrener, who is apprently evil for wanting to win. I love how Boston tries to call George evil for spending that much money...when they spent only about 15 million less. The Evil Empire is a term created by jealous bitter bostonians. It's never that they choked(which Atlanta fans will admit to), its the damn made up curse and the "evil empire".

 

Which brings me back to the Boston would be a bigger draw, it is my belief America hates Boston more then They hate the yankees....and unlike the Yankees, the fans know with Boston, they leave with what they wanted to see, Boston choke.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

I was watching a video package on a sports channel here in Canada about the Yanks and Sox series. Especially the heated shit that has gone on in the past few years.

 

In almost EVERY instance, besides 1 or 2, it has been the Red Sox throwing at a Yankee player. Or the back catcher attacking A-Rod. Or Pedro jerseying a 70 year old fat man instead of walking away. And the worst, When Roger Clemens through a pitch high and over the plate and Manny Ramirez loses his shit and starts shit thinking that the pitch was aimed for his head.

 

This whole rivalry and hatred is completely on the Red Sox side. They have a chip on their shoulder, and complete inferiority complex when it comes to the Yanks. Its quite sad when you think about it. The Yanks are so in their head, and the Sox will almost need to completely rejuvinate their roster to ever have a shot against them in the post season. If people shut up about the myth, quit whining about the "evil empire", and bashing New York, there would be less pressure and more focus on baseball.

[Guest Posada20]

Nice of "Posada20" to not show up until the Yankees are up 2-0. Hell of a fan, that guy is.

Hey, I just don't post much. Look at my posts count, I just don't like to type. I'm here all the time reading posts though. Besides I have nothing to post about, Posada has been lousy in the playoffs.

[bob_barron 0]

Don Zimmer shouldn't have ran onto the field and gone after Pedro.

 

You're fair game if you run on during a brawl.

 

America hates the Yankees a lot more then they hate Boston. Everyone (but people in NY) want Boston to win

[Guest The Shadow Behind You]

That's not true. YOU might want them to win. But thankfully you aren't everyone, if that was the case, we'd be nation of Pedophiles watching Dirty Work on DVD all day.

[bob_barron 0]

It pretty much is true though despite what your stupid and unwarranted personal attack would say otherwise. But nice try though.

 

The Yankees are the most hated team in baseball. The Red Sox are not. Therefore I think everyone (or at least 99% of all non-NY fans) wants Boston to win.

[KingPK 0]

If I may submit this for your approval. From what I've seen so far:

 

3 Reasons Why Boston is Losing this Series

 

1. Johnny Damon - 0-8, five strikeouts. He's supposed to be the tablesetter for the rest of the lineup, but he's looked horrid at the plate. Couple that with the ineffectiveness of Mark Bellhorn (who, on hindsight, shouldn't have been in the two spot if he's supposed to be a walks machine, since Lieber doesn't walk many), Manny and Ortiz have nothing to work with once they come up to the plate.

 

2. The offense in general - They are going to have to get runs off the starters, there's no other way around it. They were way too overanxious against Lieber, and that plays right into his hands. They have to work the count and get the pitcher's pitch count up to be effective.

 

3. Curt Schilling - We now know the ankle was worse than what the Sox said, and that pretty much sucked the effectiveness from him.

 

and

 

3 Reasons Why the Yankees are Winning

 

1. The offense - They are getting hits when it counts. They blasted Schilling early, added a few runs to cushion the blow of the Sox comeback, and then got a few more to give Mariano some comfort. They also did enough off Pedro, who had no run support, to give Rivera two runs to work with. Speaking of.....

 

2. Mariano Rivera - The MVP of the series right now. He's definitely got a lot on his mind, but once he steps on the hill, he shuts it off and goes to work. First ballot HOFer no doubt.

 

3. Starting pitching - Supposedly the Sox strength, but Mussina and Lieber have completely shut down the Sox bats so far. Who knows if that will continue once we get to Fenway, though.

[Guest Brian]

This series is ass backwards.

[Guest GreatOne]

Going by the last two series' once it switched to Fenway, this series will end in Boston.

 

I don't know whether the Sox have actually won a 'must-win' series against the Yanks at Fenway (you could count July if you were of the opinion that the Sox would lose the wildcard to the Angels--wow--at the the time).

 

Yeah I know, brilliant analysis but guess what, you get the SAME BRILLIANT ANALYSIS FROM TIM MCCARVER!~

[KingPK 0]

At least you aren't one "episode" away from saying that Bronson Pinchot is pitching game 3 for the Yankees.

 

Please Fox, more Al Leiter. Lock McCarver out of the booth if you have to.

[nl5xsk1 0]

as my dad says, there are 2 kinds of people, New Yorkers and people who wish they were

Your dad is wrong ... it's not like there's some kind of entrance exam to get into NYC; if anyone really wanted to be a New Yorker, all they'd have to do is move there. And, as someone that's been to NY more than my share of times, I can say - without a shadow of a doubt - that I'm glad that I'm not a New Yorker.

 

/yes, I'm from Boston

//no, I'm not a Sox fan

[Guest Anglesault]

So far I have learned/reinforce two main things.

 

1. I am an idiot when it comes to predicting these things. Thank God I am not a gambling man.

 

2. Either God is a huge Yankee fan, or Steinbrenner renwed his contract with the Devil.

3. Perhaps, just maybe, first place New York is better than second place Boston.

 

Nah, what the hell was I thinking.

[Guest The Shadow Behind You]

4. New York doesn't get nervous and don't pay attention to the hype. Boston falls apart if one little thing happens. case in example

 

Kevin brown hurts his hands...Yankee Players response

 

"What a dumb move! That's okay, he'll heal up in time and we'll find ourselves a way out of this Jam"

 

Curt Schilling fucks up his Ankle...Red Sox Players response

"Fucking curse"

 

That is why Boston will always be a second place second rate city to New York.

[the max 0]

4. New York doesn't get nervous and don't pay attention to the hype. Boston falls apart if one little thing happens. case in example

 

Kevin brown hurts his hands...Yankee Players response

 

"What a dumb move! That's okay, he'll heal up in time and we'll find ourselves a way out of this Jam"

 

Curt Schilling fucks up his Ankle...Red Sox Players response

"Fucking curse"

 

That is why Boston will always be a second place second rate city to New York.

^^ This may be the stupidest post in TSM history.

[Slayer 0]

That is why Boston will always be a second place second rate city to New York.

NYC (as a city) is better than Boston because the Yankees respond to stimuli better than the Sox?

 

Spoken like a true New Yorker, namely, blinded by their own self-worth

 

I stand by my opinion though

 

Boston (as a city) >>> NYC

[the max 0]

Massachusetts as a state > New York.

 

 

But that's just stupid comparisons that don't belong in a baseball thread.

[Slayer 0]

This may be the stupidest post in TSM history.

As long as we have the stupid post generator that is hunger4unger/INXS running around in CE, I don't think anyone can over take him... but that's neither here nor there

[Guest The Shadow Behind You]

Im not even a New Yorker and I didn't mean in the "BETTER CITY" sense of the world.

 

I don't feel a personal preference to either town....I meant that Boston is a second rate New York, the franchises not the towns.

[Guest cpac]

Hey max, sorry to tell you but stupidiest is not a word. Why dont you use dumbest instead.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

Hey max, sorry to tell you but stupidiest is not a word. Why dont you use dumbest instead.

stu·pid ( P ) Pronunciation Key (stpd, sty-)

adj. stu·pid·er, stu·pid·est

Slow to learn or understand; obtuse.

Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.

Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake.

Dazed, stunned, or stupefied.

Pointless; worthless: a stupid job.

[the max 0]

Hey max, sorry to tell you but stupidiest is not a word. Why dont you use dumbest instead.

You're right. StupidIest isn't a word.

[Slayer 0]

Anglesault must be rolling in his grave

[the max 0]

Anglesault isn't a word.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

So far I have learned/reinforce two main things.

 

1.  I am an idiot when it comes to predicting these things.  Thank God I am not a gambling man.

 

2.  Either God is a huge Yankee fan, or Steinbrenner renwed his contract with the Devil.

3. Perhaps, just maybe, first place New York is better than second place Boston.

 

Nah, what the hell was I thinking.

You are right, common sense tells us that the first place team usaully is better becuase of the wins. But in the case of the last two World Champions, the Wild Card team had been playing better down the stretch and carried that to a title. This year the best record down the stretch belonged to the Astros, and they still were a good chunk of games down to the Cards. And they still could beat the Cards. The Sox were playing better baseball and I mistakenly thought that Yankees, despite the wins, still had some issues with their pitching which had the opportuntity to get exploited by the Sox. Since this is the Yankees, Mussina and Lieber have pitched them to a 2-0 lead, both on excellant pitching outings. Mussina pitched the best I have seen him in a long time. And even though I am not familiar with Lieber, he had some nasty stuff that had them swinging at nothign. So I will admit that I misjudged the Yankees, I was wrong. The Sox need to win tonight, or this is done. Arroyo needs to step it up and shut the Yankees down. And the Sox need to score more runs and not run out of time and into Riviera.

 

I felt the Sox had played better down the stretch, but due to a big lead of the Yankees, could not win the East. But they had the 2nd best record in the American League, meaning if the Sox were in any other Division, they would be Division Champs. They made all the right trades and as result gelled as a team. And they won the season series against the Yankees. And they beat a very dangerous Angels team in the ALDS. The Angels are dangerous becuase they will keep the at-bat alive and get hits, they had a very tough bullpen, and had the possible MVP in Vlad. Taking nothing from the Twins, but the Angels were, IMO, a tougher team to get in a 5 game series. Schilling, Martinez, and Arroyo were stellar and the Sox offense look tough. And the Sox did not not unraval when the Angels came back like they normally did in years past. They looked that they had a team that was on a roll. Unfortunately they rolled right into the Yankees and it was more of the same.

 

So the Yankees did have the better record, but many felt that at the end of the season, the Sox had a better overall team, despite not winning more than the Yankees. If the Yankees had maintained the huge lead all season, then I would have thought differently. Sometimes if a division leader blows a lead it is a good chance that they will be exiting the playoffs early, or not make the playoffs all together. Yankees almost blew their lead. Also, look at those Atlanta, SF, and Seattle teams who had the best regular season record, but did not win it all. The best record does not always mean a Championship. After two games, I think that the Yankees are in prime position to go for another title. So far their starters have been awesome. Do I think the Yankees will sweep, no. The Sox will play better at home and I think they will hit better. And I think that they will be able to score earlier in the game and not have to hope that Riviera has an off post season outing, which has happend once in 2001. Schilling's ankle injury has taken their best pitcher out of the picture. The pitcher who had a very good record in the post season and against the Yankees, is out for maybe the rest of the season. Now the Sox are going to have to rely on Wakefield and Lowe, which is a good sign that the Yankees will beat the Sox again. And despite a great performance by Pedro, that still was not good enough to win. The Yankees just have the number of the Sox, it just seems that the Sox will never get this curse to go away and the mental handicap that comes with it.

[KingPK 0]

Dammit, because of ESPN Classic showing the same Red Sox/Yankees related material every day this week, Cheap Seats was pre-empted. And they were going to make fun of crappy wrestling!

 

There is a limit to the number of times I can watch "2003 ALCS: A Rivalry Renewed" in a day.