I have the attention span of a gnat and I never finish what I start. When I first started writing in Friendly Fenway I figured I'd probably make it half way through the season then give up on it. That probably would have been the case if Randy hadn't asked me to start writing minor league updates here. After the minor league seasons ended I crashed and needed a break. I had planned on starting to write again a while ago, but something started happening. The Red Sox lost a few games and the Nation started to panic.
If there's one thing in the baseball world I can't stand more than Manny Ramirez not running out a grounder, it's Sox fans being such little bitches. With every Red Sox loss, the season is over. With every Yankee win a Sox fan jumps off a bridge. I can't stomach to listen to or read the writings of people like that and these days, nearly everyone is like that. And, really...there's absolutely no reason. I have no idea if Randy or the readers here have hit the panic button and started to spew irrational junk becausee I haven't been able to bring myself to look. It's not because I don't think highly of you guys. It's because I can't bring myself to look at any Sox talk these days. I don't like listening to WEEI, I can't read Sox blogs, and I don't bother trying to talk about the team witih anyone. Too many people are driving me up the wall.
What everyone needs to realize is that the season is 162 games long. Are the Red Sox doomed because there's no longer a 3 game gap between them and the Yankees? No. And if you believe they are doomed, please go slam your head in a car door to maybe knock some sense into yourself. Yeah, the Red Sox are a flawed team. On any given day their starters are capable of being blown apart and no lead is too great with the state of their bullpen. One thing people don't seem to relize is that there's no such thing as a perfect team. The Yankees are also flawed. The Indians are red hot, but they're not exactly perfect. Before the sweep of the O's, the Sox were playing some mediocre baseball while the Yankees were red hot, but that can change at any given moment. The Yankees have had red hot stretches all year only to be followed by sub-.500 ball for a couple of weeks. The Red Sox, as we all know, have had their ups and downs too.
The first 155 games didn't matter. Right now things are the same as they were on day 1. The Sox and the Yanks are tied for first with the same record. We've traveled 5 months and have spent hundreds of hours talking, following, and watching the game, but as of right now we're back to square one. Over the next 7 games the Sox could easily go 6-1 while the Yanks could go 1-6. Sure, it could go the other way, but I have a little faith in this team. There is absolutely no reason to hit the panic button yet.
Besides, to steal a line from a Boston Globe e-mailer, this year the Yankees might "revoke the choke", but they have to go through Boston to do it. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling good about the last weekend of the year. Over the course of 153 games the top two teams in the AL East have proven that they are equals. The division will likely be decided by a single hanging slider or a bad bounce in the infield...a blown call by an umpire or an extra bit of oomph in the swing of a clean up hitter. It seems as if for 86 years those kinds of things never went our way. I don't believe in curses, but in 2004 things felt different. In 2005 the Sox obviously caught some breaks and they broke whatever curses you might believe in. They don't have this division wrapped up, but unless you're the type that's afraid of the dark or afraid of the monsters under your bed, there's no reason to be afraid of the Yankees.
I'll be at Fenway next Saturday and I plan on celebrating. It's going to be a great week of baseball so let's all just sit back, relax, and enjoy it. If they win the division, then they have a great chance to go all the way. If they don't...well it was a great season, it was fun, we'll get them next year. I, for one, think they have a damn good shot.