2008 Woodie Awards
Sox vs. Yanks...Biggest Series Ever?
Colin White
Issue date: 9/28/05 Section: Sports
|
It just doesn't get any better than this.
All eyes will be on this series. Even the six or seven people who do not have any interest in this rivalry will still tune in to watch.
Even though people can say that the playoffs have already started because so many teams are finding themselves in must-win games every day, those games don't have a thing on this weekend.
After last year's monumental collapse by the Yankees, they went out and finally got their man by trading for Randy Johnson.
Johnson started off slow, but has recently been back to his dominant self.
The Yankees offense is once again a force to be reckoned with, and has recently found offense in spots where they didn't expect it at all.
Last week, Bubba Crosby hit a walk-off homerun to beat the Orioles. No, that is not a typo.
The Red Sox have slugged their way through the season on the bats of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.
Their pitching, especially their bullpen, has been suspect all season. Now that closer Keith Foulke has packed it in for the year with a knee injury, the bullpen is even more of a mess.
Sox fans everywhere collectively hold their breaths when they hear the call to the bullpen and guys named Bradford, Hansen, and Harville trot out to the mound...yikes.
So, how could this series be the biggest series ever?
Well, there is more riding on it than you may think.
For the Yankees, there is a good chance that there will be a front office overhaul if they fail to make the playoffs. Since they spent an MLB record $206 million this year, anything less than a championship would be a major disappointment.
Rumors of Manager Joe Torre and GM Brian Cashman being let go after this year have been swirling, and should the Yankees come up short this year, Steinbrenner's decision will be a lot easier.
Plus, if you are a Yankees fan, you are probably sick of seeing those 2004 Red Sox World Series Champions t-shirts. Well, your team is the only one who can stop the 2005 shirts from being printed.
As far as the Sox go, if fans don't know how important this series is, all they need to do is ask themselves this one question...What could be better than last year? Well, I'll tell you what's better. Instead of letting Sox fans sweat out another seven game thriller against the Yanks, why don't they just knock them out of the playoffs altogether? I'm sure I wasn't the only one who heard "Yeah congratulations you guys finally won a title, you're going to have to wait another 86 years for your next one!"