A Good Weekend

I'm a Yankees fan. Can't help it. Was raised about 35 miles from Yankee Stadium. Boilerdowd is an anti-Yankees, anti-Cubs, anti-Cardinals fan. Handy, when you want to dig your friends' teams. He also likes the Red Sox when they win.

But this isn't about our handsome co-editor.

It's sucked being a Yankees fan for a while. The team's been boring, actually, winning games in recent years, but also being (painfully) obviously not a championship-caliber team.

Their players also went from being hard to dislike in the 90s (early-era Jeter, when he had certain joy for the game, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, David Cone, Rivera, etc.) to being easy to dislike, even for fans of the team (surly players, cheaters, etc.). There was no joy. The Steinbrenners had made it a win or you suck situation. Winning a World Series would have brought relief rather than joy and that sucks. And so the winning stopped.

Now, though, things seem fun again. Sure, there's a lot of payroll. Blah, blah, blah. I don't want to hear any more about how the poor midwestern teams can't add payroll as the White Sox add Peavy and the Cards add Holliday, etc. Just shut it.

I happened to be in the NY area this whole weekend and that Yankees-Sox series felt like it meant a lot to these guys for the first time in a long time. Not that it hadn't been important before, but there was a feeling of morose-ness among the guys. The Sox weren't the punching bag Sox anymore, so it was less fun.

But now it's fun again, because the Sox are good and won't roll over. And neither will the Yankees. And my team is enjoyable and seems to be having fun again. That's all I wanted.

And to crush Boston.

October is Different, Part III

After four terrible first-round series in the MLB playoffs, we're down to the Final Four. And if you had these final four back in the beginning of the season, well, you're a complete liar. Oh, sure, a lot of people thought the Sox would be good and quite a few may have believed the Indians could bounce back from a poor showing last year, but if you claim you knew the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies would be in the NLCS, you're a big fat liar. So let's get on with it, shall we?

Arizona Diamondbacks versus Colorado Rockies

Both of these teams don't belong here. This was supposed to be the Mets and the Dodgers, wasn't it? Or the Mets and Cubbies? Or the Cards and Phils? Anybody but these two. These teams were expected to be at the bottom of the heap in their own division and with just a couple weeks to go in the regular season, the Rockies were indeed near the bottom of the NL West. Well, you know the rest... they went on an unbeliveable, almost movie-like run, winning 13 of 14 to close the regular season. That one loss? To the Game 1 starter tonight, Brandon Webb, and the D-backs. (Am I the only one who always looks at that "D-Backs" jersey and thinks "D-bags," as in "Douchebags"? I am? Okay.) Then the Rocks continued winning, closing out the season with two more wins and then beating San Diego in that incredible one-game playoff last Monday.

They then continued to buzzsaw right along, punching the Phillies in the mouth and taking that series in three straight. I will say, though, that Philly looked like a team that had done what they did -- spent five months trying to catch the Mets. They caught them, squeaked into the playoffs and had nothing left. Of course, one could make the same argument for the Rockies, although they didn't spend the entire season under the pressure of being expected to challenge for their division. They were kind of expected to suck, so there wasn't much pressure, and when they began winning at a ridiculous clip, people were very supportive and thought it was great. So here they are.

The D-Backs are still confusing people. They were outscored during the regular season, which almost always means you're not a very good team. But for the D-Backs this year, it has simply meant that when they win, they win 3-2 and when they lose, they lose 12-3. That sort of thing. That kind of stuff usually balances out over the course of 162 games but it hasn't this year. The D-Backs are a statistical anomaly, which is why I picked them to lose to the Cubbies in the first round. That and because I find the D-Backs and their fans boring. Boring fans, boring level of interest, boring team. And yet they keep on winning, going so far as to sweep the Cubs in the first round. They have JD Drew's less worthless brother, Stephen, they have a pitcher (Micah Owings) who hits a ton, and they were the only team in the NL to win 90 games (until Colorado reached that mark with the one-game playoff win). So they must be good. I just don't see it.

So what will happen? Will this long stretch of off-days hurt the Rockies momentum? Well, there's not really any such thing as momentum, so I don't think so. Since the Rockies have only lost one game in almost a month, and it was to this team and this guy in this park... I'll say the D-Backs win Game 1. But I think the Rockies hitting just might be enough. Obviously, this series could go either way and I really think it should be a good one. It's very, very hard to pick the Rockies to go to the World Series because it just sounds weird to say it. And it also might snow in the World Series if the games are played in Denver. But, all that being said, I don't see any reason to stop riding the Rockies surge.

Rockies in 7.

Boston Red Sox versus Cleveland Indians

While a lot of people think that MLB and television execs wanted this one to be Yankees-Sox, this series should be a lot better. While it won't have quite the drama as New York-Boston would have on the Eastern seabord, it'll be a better matchup and it's a good thing we don't have to see more stupid footage of the Sox and Yankees battling.

The Indians put a hurting on Yankee pitching, especially their supposed stud ace, Chein-Ming Wang. The Yankees couldn't do very much at all against the Indians top two pitchers, CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. And if Fausto Carmona isn't the best smut love novel name in MLB, I don't know what is.

The Indians hit a ton but they also strike out a lot. Grady Sizemore, for example, struck out 155 times this year. That's a lot, especially for a top of the order guy. If he does that and doesn't show discipline, the Sox pitchers will eat him up.

Pronk (Travis Hafner) needs to also step up his game. This guy had a respectable year, but it was a considerable downgrade from 2006. He, Sizemore and Victor Martinez need to be the guys in this series who control the Tribe's future. They cannot rely on the likes of Casey Blake or Senor Gutierrez. And Sabathia has to be better than he was in Game 1 against the Yankees. People forget this now because the Indians blew it open, but the Yanks had closed it to 4-3 and were clearly seeing the pitches against Sabathia okay. If the Yanks could have held down the Cleveland attack for another inning or two, I think that game might have turned very differently and beating the team's ace would have meant a lot. The same applies in this series -- if the Sox beat down Sabathia, the Indians are in trouble. Cleveland needs -- needs -- Sabathia and Carmona to win games, because Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd are not going to win much. If they can get a single win from the latter two, that would be terrific. The Sox are a patient, good-hitting team that will totally feast on the junkballs Byrd throws and the mediocre stuff that Westbrook has. Trust me on this -- Sabathia and Carmona need to be sharp.

For the Sox, there is some truth to this as well. If Beckett and Schill get slapped around, the Sox are in trouble becuase if they have to rely on Fatsuzaka and Wakefield for big wins, it's gonna be a short series. Thing is, I think Beckett will win his game and I think Schill will lose at least once. I think that opens the door for the Tribe and it will kind of depend on whether or not Cleveland's second-tier starters can get the ball to the Indians excellent bullpen. Well, excellent until you get to the closer role.

As much as I want to see Cleveland win, I have serious, serious concerns (along with all of Cleveland, I imagine) about Joe Borowski as closer. What is it with Cleveland closers, anyway? Borowski, Wickman...can they get a non-fat-slob closer in there or what? Maybe David Wells is available to close for those guys next year. Damn, they all look like Lou Brown. Maybe it's the food in Cleveland. Too many trips to the Bob Evans and Steak-N-Shake.

This is another one that's really hard to pick -- and that's a good thing. It means baseball is doing well and there's a fair amount of parity, despite what people like to say.

My gut makes me think the Sox are going to pull through, and I think that's because they're a bit more of a veteran club and a team that's been there before. The guys on that team that came back from the 0-3 hole to the Yankees believe -- rightfully so -- that anything is possible and that they're never beat. If they go down 0-2 to Sabathia and Carmona, they're not going to panic (although all of New England might).

All that said, I think the Indians are a terrific team and I felt they were a World Series team back in the Spring. And why not...

Indians in 7.

You Know How I Know You're Gay?

You dress like a teletubby.

That's "Dice-K" Fatsuzaka in the picture, dressed as a Teletubby. For those that don't know, major legaue teams haze their rookies during late-season road trips every year, forcing them to dress in weird ways for flights to other cities. The Orioles, for instance, chose to dress their players as gorillas, nurses and cheerleaders.

The Red Sox? Well, Dice-K was a teletubby, Okajami and Ellsbury were "female pirates" (presumably a Terry Francona fantasy), Clay Bucholtz was Minnie Mouse (clearly a Manny fetish) and Brandon Moss was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (could be anyone's preference).

The lesson? Clearly the Red Sox are gay.

Oh, the Outrage

In a story you may or may not have seen, this little twit to the left got the pictured autograph from Yankee rookie Shelley Duncan during the recent Yankees-Red Sox series. And now he and his mommy are acting like his growth has been stunted by this callous, horrendous act.

Yeah, right.

Look at this little wank? All dressed in his Red Sox gear, already on his way to growing up to be yet another bitter, obnoxious New Englander who would rather see the Yankees lose than the Red Sox win. And do you think maybe... just maybe he has ever uttered "Yankees suck"? Ever? Hmm? If you answer no, you're either clueless or a liar.

Duncan was being funny because a little kid in a group of fans no doubt telling Shelley how bad his team sucks and, hey, he signed the autograph! Isn't ESPN and every other East coast media outlet always talking about how amazing this rivalry is? And then when a player verifies it for a kid who is growing to love baseball by writing this -- a thing said on every playground from Jersey to Maine about one team or the other -- well then, what's so wrong with it?

Just take it easy on the forced outrage, Boston.

Uh-Oh

Oh dear, here they come. You knew it was going to happen eventually. At least, if you had any sense you did.

You knew Alex Rodriguez was going to get hot again. You knew Bobby Abreu (whom we began referring to as "Robert Ahbrew" at my bachelor party Yankee game) wasn't going to hit .230 all year. You knew their pitching would start to get healthy. You knew Johnny Damon would begin to recover from his ailments. You knew they'd eventually get a run of games against bad teams. And it's all happened.

Less than two weeks ago, the Yankees trailed the Red Sox in the division by 13 1/2 games. Ten games later, they trail by 9 1/2 games. And the Wild Card? The Yankees are only 5 1/2 behind the Tigers for that. I know, I know, it's way too early to celebrate, and I don't want to be lumped into that (well-deserved) idiot-labeled front-runner fan base of Yankee fans who come back out of the woodwork after a few wins. Those who know me know that's not the case here.

No, I'm just pleased with myself for not having been like certain other fans who throw in the towel on their team as early as possible. Yankee "fans" everywhere, along with sports radio, were talking about how this team sucks and how they need to fire Torre (with many saying to replace him with Mattingly, which would be a HUGE mistake -- more on this in another post one day), etc.

People always knocked the Yankees for not being a team and standing up for one another, and then Scott Proctor throws a few beanballs and actually gets suspended backing up his teammates... and then you hear rumblings about how that's a stupid thing to do.

Alex Rodriguez, criticized for not being the "winner" that Derek Jeter is, is off to a monster year, yet he cannot ever seem to do the right things. He spooks a rookie third baseman in Toronto into dropping a pop-up and everyone sides with... the rookie? Give me a break. A-Rod slides hard into Dustin Pedroia trying to break up a double play and he's called a cheap artist for that. A week later, Mike Lowell lowers his shoulder into Robinson Cano as Cano is applying a tag on Lowell in the baseline and it absolutely levels Cano to the ground. Cano still made the tag-out and got the man at first base and did it all without glaring at Lowell or saying something about Lowell being "bush league" to the press. You know, the way Curt Schilling or Jason Varitek would if the situation was reversed or (especially) if it had been A-Rod on the basepaths.

But it hasn't mattered. The Yankees stayed afloat while playing poor baseball and now have put together a good run where they've won six straight and have a chance to really put some more wins together.

When the Mets were winning early this season, I had many Mets fans all over me b/c I still wear my Yanks cap to softball games and whatnot. And when they were celebrating the Yankees demise in early May, I really was surprised. But I shouldn't be. People are always ready to celebrate the Yankees demise. And so be it. There always needs to be an evil empire to root against.... I get that.

Speaking of celebrating in May, it still amazes me how many Red Sox fans do it, too. But perhaps they're also trying to convince themselves that the Yankees are buried when, really, that's far from the case. And how much will it hurt to blow as big a lead as the Sox had? I don't know, but we might find out. What with more than three and a half months of baseball left.

One more Red Sox-related nugget: A certain friend of the Boiled Sports staff (we'll call him a "friend of the show") whose name may or may not rhyme with "Shark Burley" was sending me text messages one night when the Yanks and Sox were playing. As the Yanks applied a whipping, I commented on the Sox possibly blowing their division lead, more to wrankle him than anything. I realize that's a long shot, but hey, it's fun to mess with Sox fans. And his response?

"Ha if the sox blow this lead i will kill a random hooker"

So if any hookers go missing and it coincides with the Yankees overtaking the Red Sox... well, you heard it here first.

Hired Gun

I just got the picture to the left in my inbox from a Red Sox-fan friend of mine who has also pelted me with emails over the past two days about what a joke Clemens is and, well, you know the drill.

Well, that's definitely true -- he plays just for the money. As opposed to gamers like Curt Schilling who plays the game for free. Or Manny Ramirez, who donates all $20 million of his salary to barbershops across Boston.

I once heard Jason Varitek promised to wear whatever letter of the alphabet he was able to get to without looking above the blackboard for help. What a guy!

Those Red Sox sure are likable. I especially like how when Manny hits a home run he stands there and postures and walks to first base. And then, if anyone dares to pitch him on the inner half of the plate, he absolutely flips out. Those guys sure are awesome!

And let's not forget their two-week dynasty in 2004 -- their fans sure haven't forgotten it!

But yes, the truth is, Roger Clemens IS a hired gun and is just having a hard time turning down the boatloads of money he is getting offered each year. And if he had chosen the Red Sox, the fans would be lining up to kiss his fat ass.