A Season's End
Baseball's regular season ended with a curious whimper—the drama present at the start of the weekend drained out of division races with unexpected speed, as
the Indians continued to choke and the Yankees clinched their division on Saturday, then the Sox eaked into the wild card on Sunday.
The Sox took two out of three from the Yanks, but all that mattered was the Yankee win on Saturday, with Randy Johnson shutting down the Sox. Both teams have vulnerabilities. The Yankees' middle-inning relief is abysmal. (Scott Proctor, Wayne Franklin, Felix Rodriguez....who are these guys?) The Sox's starting pitching is shaky. Even though David Wells and Curt Schilling pitched well, neither of them seems overwhelming. Tim Wakefield, normally so mystifying to the Yankees, got crushed on Saturday, perhaps because he was working on only three days' rest.
Now the Yanks head west to take on the Anaheim Angels, who had a winning record against them this season, while the Sox travel to Chicago to take on the White Sox. It's entirely possible that these two teams will see each other again...good as they are, the Sox just don't seem to have it this year. And the Yankees are a fragile machine. Randy Johnson has been up-and-down. Jaret Wright pretty much stinks. Mike Mussina can be great, and can be terrible. It's a curious season.
And about next year?
Well, clearly the Yankees should sign Boston centerfielder and free agent Johnny Damon...when he's healthy, Damon wreaks havoc on the basepaths. Imagine this line-up: Damon, Jeter, Rodriguez, Sheffield, Matsui, Giambi, Posada, Cano, the dh of your choice, and a healthy Jaret Wright and Carl Pavano. Sounds tough to beat, doesn't it?
