Sweep...and Memories of 1978
The Yankees have taken five straight from the Sox in Fenway, the first time that's happened since 1943, and Sox fans are in despair. How quickly the memories of the Curse return!
Well, I can understand why. The Red Sox were humiliated over the weekend, beaten in every possible aspect of the game—pitching, hitting, defense, base-running. (The Yankees won yesterday because of a run on a passed ball.) Yankee hitters feasted on Boston pitching for three games...and then, when Curt Schilling and David Wells pitched well, the Yanks somehow scratched out wins. A number of Yankees picked the perfect time to have big moments: Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, even Melky Cabrera. And then you have A-Rod, Jeter, the newly acquired Bobby Abreu... It's hard to remember that the Yankees were thoroughly trounced by the Orioles, 12-2, the day before the Sox series began.
So...is it over for the Sox?
Well, you could certainly make a suasive case to that effect. The Yankees seem to have gelled at just the right time, while the Sox have fallen apart at just the wrong time. And the series showed some of the Sox's weaknesses: starting pitching and relief pitching, to name two. Beyond that, you have to wonder: When you get past David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, just how good is this team? Especially—especially—without Jason Varitek.
But to play devil's advocate...the Yankees have their weaknesses as well. Their hitting onslaught this weekend obscured the fact that their pitching wasn't exactly stellar. Randy Johnson's ERA is 4.98; Cory Lidle isn't exactly a dominating pitcher; Jared Wright is an ongoing question mark; and Mike Mussina has tailed off since the first half of the season. Only Chien-Ming Wang is consistently outstanding. (And even he got pounded by the Orioles.)
Then you have A-Rod's ongoing mental problems, and the possiblity of injuries, and the fact that the Red Sox have to be a little pissed. If they get a couple of breaks, and a little bit of heart...this divisional race could be a dogfight yet again.
Sportswriters and commentators have been bringing up memories of 1978, which I enjoy, as that's the subject of my next book. It was in that season that the Yankees came from 14 games down to win the division, thanks in large part to a four-game series at Fenway in which the Yankees just obliterated the Sox. "The Boston Massacre," it was called, and there's been a lot of invoking its memory recently.
But what people seem to forget is that the Sox
recovered from that massacre to win 12 of their last 14, including their last eight straight, to tie the Yankees and force the one-game playoff at the end of the season......
