One team is going all out to win every day.
The other team is the Red Sox - asking you to stand back and look at the big picture.
The starting lineups told you everything you needed to know about the respective approaches of these rivals. Yankees manager Joe Girardi, burning his guys in a manner like Don Zimmer (circa 1978), put out his best nine players along with the winningest pitcher in baseball (tied with Adam Wainwright going into yesterday’s games). Jorge Posada wound up being a late scratch because of an injury, but the point was made. Girardi used his big guns. The Yankees are going wall to wall to clinch the division and the best record in the American League, ASAP.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, are using these final days to get some rest and tune up for the playoffs. Terry Francona started Rocco Baldelli in right, Jed Lowrie (hitting .158 entering the game) at short, and Brian Anderson in left. Chris Woodward played short in the eighth and dropped a throw from Victor Martinez that led to a pair of unearned runs. If not for four hit batsmen (two each side), this could have been March 18 at City of Palms Park.
The message from Boston was clear: everything is settled. The Sox are going to win the wild card. They are not going to challenge the Yankees for home-field advantage. Let Girardi wear his guys out. The Sox are getting ready for the playoffs. Call it Tito’s rope-a-dope.
“The mind-set is to manage everything to win,’’ Francona said. “It’s not just one thing. We want to show up and play the game right and be cognizant of what we are trying to accomplish.’’
Occasionally, this means giving a guy like Jason Bay a day off when the Yankees are taking your lunch money. It means keeping your bench sharp. It means giving the big guys a rest. It means thinking big-picture.Girardi clearly feels differently and yesterday said, “I thought it was important that we continue to play meaningful games, I do. I think at this time of year, it’s important that you play those and that you don’t necessarily let your guard down and you keep playing hard and keep playing winning baseball. To be able to win that series out in Anaheim, I thought was real important. And to be able to win these two tough games, I thought was important as well.’’
Two managers. Two theories. Sox fans might not agree with Francona, but he knows his team and has a pretty good track record in this area.
This is why you are asked not to be bothered that the Sox are 1-8 against the Yankees since Aug. 6. This is why you should close your eyes and think about October if the Yankees beat the Sox again today and clinch the American League East.
“Right now, we haven’t played the greatest,’’ said Youkilis. “We’re just winding it up. We’re going home. We’ll be focused on playing better ball to come. Both of us are probably going to the playoffs. We’ve just got to go out now and win three games so we can make the playoffs.’’I guess that's why they lost the previous six out of seven to the Yanks coming into this series too. After all they're just playing for the wild card, right?
I wonder if this idiot - by idiot I mean Red Sox fan - saw the lineup the Yankees used to beat the Angels the other day. Probably not. After all he's got to cover (the asses) of his Red Sox. He also seemed to forget that Jorge Posada missed two of the three games this series, and that Johnny Damon sat today. Two guys who would likely have played had this game "mattered".
It probably also doesn't matter that the Yankees pounded Jon Lester on Friday because he was probably trying out new pitches or something. Why would he try to pitch well when the games don't matter? That would just be silly.
Anyway, for a team that has yet to clinch anything, they might want to try winning some of these games, but hey, that's just this Yankees fan's opinion.
At least Nick Cafardo has a clue.
What a dope. Hopefully Peter Abraham could smack some sense into the Boston writers. I know he's a Sox fan too, but he knows what makes sense and what doesn't.
ReplyDeletethey cant and wont accept the fact that the sox folded.
ReplyDeletewow that article seriously made me mad. how could you be so ignorant.
ReplyDeleteHey, some of us (myself included) have criticized Girardi for resting TOO MANY players down the stretch. Now, we should reap the benefits as most of our guys will be well rested for the playoffs. The new dilemma is how much baseball to give them in the final week of the season so they don't get rusty. For once, there will be no complaints from me whatever lineup Joe puts out tonight!
ReplyDeleteMaybe Shaughnessy should have done his homework and seen that the Yanks have been resting players for quite some time while the sox were fighting hard to win every day.
ReplyDeleteHey Shaughnessy... there is a new concept called "Reality"... you try it some time!
The Sox are used to second place, they know they can't beat the Yanks in 162 games, their only chance is to get lucky in a short series. I'm not a fan of the wild card, 162 games is plenty to separate out the good from the also-ran.
ReplyDeleteComments like the ones Ortiz or Youkilis made make them look like quitters and sore losers.
It reminds me of a little kid
ReplyDelete"I only lost because I wasn't really trying"
Shaughessy = Fail.
ReplyDeleteStupid article, no doubt. Like the '07 Giants, I'd rather have momentum going into the playoffs than playing it safe to avoid injuries and getting guys out of their rhythm. Granted we can slow down a bit now, but I doubt Girardi is going to be playing all reserves the rest of the season.
ReplyDeleteWhat drivel! 'nuff said....
ReplyDeleteMike
If you don't think the Red Sox were trying to win, you don't know anything. 'Don't worry fans, they swept us but we weren't really trying.' Sounds like a couple of 6-year olds arguing after their game ended.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile once the postseason begins, I'm sure the Sox will be trying hard to win games. Unfortunately for them, I think they will fall short and our guys will be in the World Series.
Nyah, nyah!
Red sox had there a lineup out on friday and sunday. enough of the excuses.
ReplyDeleteThis article proves that the Wildcard needs to be changed or tweaked.
ReplyDeleteI hate to agree with anything Michael Kay has to say but in this case he's right. The Sox didn't play well enough to win their own division but they played well enough to outlast other teams in other divisions. As a result these games in late September don't mean anything and their is no penalty for the team that didn't play well enough to win their own division.
The Red Sox are can't compete in the strong AL East so they take advantage of lesser teams in lesser divisions like the central for example. The bottom line is the current structure allows a team like the Sox to bypass tough in division competition and take their chances in a short series.
They have turned baseball into the NHL and the second season strategy. Thish is why it isn't always the best team that wins but rather the hottest team.
Agreed but at the same time the Yankees get to use that opportunity to their advantage as well. How would you propose a different playoff structure would look like?
ReplyDelete-G
That's tricky no doubt. The common answer is to add another wildcard team and another playoff series. The wildcard's play each other first then the winner plays one of the 3 division winners (best record I suppose). This way the wildcard has a tougher road to the WS and in turn it would place a premium on winning the division.
ReplyDeleteBaseball would love the idea because it increases revenue. For me the simple answer is no wild card at all. Go back to East and West divisions and just play the LCS and WS. The whole point of this system was if you won your division you were good enough to compete for the WS already. The entire purpose of the wildcard is ratings and revenue. It has no real baseball value. In the end it cheapens the regular season.
"The entire purpose of the wildcard is ratings and revenue. It has no real baseball value. In the end it cheapens the regular season."
ReplyDeleteAmen Brad. Amen.
This is what makes Boston fans the worst sportsfans on earth. You'd better believe that if the Sox swept the Yankees this past weekend, we would be hearing about how much these games "mattered." They are fair-weather fans in the worst way: "My team lost? Well, I don't really care about them when they lose." Pathetic.
ReplyDeleteIf there is no wildcard, then the Giants don't go to the playoffs in 2007 :(.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Danny boy has to say about tonight's Sox lineup, which has everyone in it besides Lowell.
ReplyDeleteEllsbury
Pedroia
Martinez
Youkilis
Ortiz
Bay
Drew
Kotchman
Gonzalez
I guess that lineup is their "B" lineup right? Because they have Kotchman in there instead of Lowell, of course. They didn't want to win that game either. Nevermind a cold, potentially wet - their entire starting lineup aside from one guy was in there.
New "wildcard" structure?
ReplyDeleteThe team with the best record gets a bye the first round of the playoffs.
The other two division winners pay each other.
Then the bye team plays the winner of the first series.
I dislike the notion that a second place team that wasn't good enough to win its division can make the playoffs. Talk about an NHL mentality?
My dislike even extends to the very beginning of the wildcard system when the Yanks were the wildcard team. Back in 1995 I felt they did not deserve to be in the playoffs as they did not win their division.
Mike