Time for the statistical recap of the most beautiful 5 game series ever played in the history of all mankind. Are you ready? I thought so.
Yankees Bats
.321/.417/.554 (.971 OPS)
49 runs on 20 doubles, 2 triples, and 7 home runs
6/7 in stolen bases
Red Stockings Bats
.256/.344/.405 (.749 OPS)
26runs on 14 doubles and 5 home runs
1/1 in stolen bases
Yankees Starters
26.0 IP
5.89 ERA
1.770 WHIP
16 walks, 16 strikeouts
Stockings Starters
28.0 IP
8.04 ERA
1.786 WHIP
16 walks, 20 strikeouts
Yankees Pen
20.0 IP
3.60 ERA
1.500 WHIP
10 walks, 13 strikeouts
Stockings Pen
18.0 IP
11.50 ERA
3.000 WHIP
16 walks, 20 strikeouts
These numbers show just how badly we whipped Boston's ass. The difference in OPS between the teams is brutal. .971 for the Yankees and .749 for Boston is something that almost makes you look away in horror. The Yankees pitching was pretty bad actually. Lidle turned in the best performance for the Bombers, and his counterpart David "Crisco" Wells did his thing for the Red Sox. Ponson was the main culprit dragging the Yanks pitching into the basement, but thankfully he's sleepin' wit' da fishes (and Jose Lima) right now. Josh Beckett's hideous showing was the shame of the Cape Cod circuit. The Yankee bullpen was fair, if unspectacular, while the 11.50 ERA that the Sox pen vomited onto the Fenway diamond is an affront to my delicate sensibilities.
Nothing more need be said about this stunning turn of events. It's something I plan to glow in for a while. The Red Sox people (fans, bloggers, apologists) are starting to search for excuses. They seem to range from blaming Epstein for trying to rebuild and contend at the same time and getting caught in the middle, and blaming the Yankees payroll. Something like, "Waaaaah! Waaah! The big bad Yankees spend a wot ob money so us widdle Wed Sox can't win."
To that I say...horseshit (my favortie baseball word). You spend plenty of money in Boston and charge your fans a ton for breathing the rarified air of the Fens. You charge for thinking about the Red Sox. There's plenty of money there. You spend it too. Yes, the Yanks spend A LOT more, but your mistakes were thinking that Coco Crisp could replace Johnny Damon in center, and that a starting rotation featuring Wells and Clement was enough to win the AL East. In fact, overrating Josh Beckett was a big mistake too. Look at his numbers. You have to factor in the AL bump that NL guys get in their numbers.
The last note today is about Koshien and the Japanese High School champion Waseda Jitsugyo. The ace pitcher that led the Tokyo school to victory, Yuki Saito, says that he will go on to Waseda University (one of Japan's best private universities) and speculation is that he'll go directly to the Majors if anyone will give him a shot. He wrote in his Elementary School graduation note that he wanted to be a Major Leaguer when he grew up, and that he specifically dreamed of being a Yankee. Don't we all. Before anyone gets excited about this, remember that he's an 18 year old kid who stands 5'9 and weighs in at 165 pounds. Unless he develops Pedro's stuff, and continues getting taller and bigger, he will be a nice Japanese Pro and that's it. Scary good potential, but size issues that are hard to overcome. See you tomorrow. Go Yanks. Get them......Mariners.....ah well....it was fun while it lasted.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The Aftermath
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What the Yankees did to the Sox this week was so much worse than a sweep. If it had been a three or four game series, there would have been room for the Sox to recover, because it could have been written off as a bad weekend.
This cannot be written off. In five games the Yanks turned over Boston's entire rotation, pulled its bullpen inside out, and pinned the offense spread-eagle on the dissection tray.
The Yankees didn't just take five straight games; they wrote the book on the Red Sox this weekend. Now it's there for for every contender and every pretender the Sox have to face in the next five weeks. And what fun those five weeks will be: the Angels, the A's, the Jays (two series, eight games), the Chwhite Sox and Minnesota (don't forget the Yankees, again!).
That's pretty "brutal", as Josh Beckett would put it.
The good offensive teams of that group now know that Schilling, or any Sox starter having a good day, can simply be waited out. They'll know it's a whole new game when that bullpen door opens.
The good pitching teams now know that it's ok to give an intentional pass to Manny once in awhile. Who's backing him up again? Lowell? Pena? Javi freakin' Lopez?
Forget all the runs the Sox have scored this year, their high OBP, and their good slugging numbers. That offense is two (astonishingly good) men deep, and the bit players who were contributing earlier have almost vanished, those not on the DL, that is.
That series OPS is very telling. It looks like the Sox fielded a lineup of Coco Crisps. Without Sidney Ponson and a thoroughly gassed Ron Villone, their runs scored over the weekend would have been more in line with that number.
That's enough unseemly wallowing. I'm afraid the Yankees are in for a letdown tonight. I like Karstens, he's no arsonist and Safeco will help him, but he's still a minor league callup. The M's have scratched Meche and brought up their own callup, but after losing 11 straight, I think Cliff's Law of the Reverse Lock applies, just like it did with the Royals earlier this year.
The Yanks might also be Moose-less for the Angels series. Bad.
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