Weekend in the Wild Wild East
By Kevin Horn
The Yankees beat the Red Sox in the opening series, and it appears everything is headed back to normal after last October’s changing tide. The Yankees are on top of the division and the Sox are still trying to catch up with their rivals. And then, in a New York Minute, everything changed. Fast forward to Sunday night, when not only have the Blue Jays won their series over the Red Sox (thanks to some bullpen collapses), but the Orioles were able to take two of three from the Yankees.
Do we detect a pattern? Is there really a chance that the balance of power has shifted in the AL East? No, most likely not. But it remains a topic for discussion. For the last three years, the competition in the AL East has been for the first and second spots, with everyone else lagging far behind. As it stands right now, The Blue Jays are on top for the first time in a long time, followed by the Yankees, Orioles and Devil Rays all tied, and the Red Sox bringing up the rear.
This is clearly not going to continue over the whole year, as Foulke and Rivera will settle down, the Red Sox will get Wade Miller and Curt Schilling back from the disabled list, and everything will equal out. But it shows the gap has shrunk between the AL East haves and have-nots. The Orioles have been able to build a formidable team through offensive free agency and young players on their pitching staff. The Rays and Jays have managed to build clubs through trades, not over paying their talent and building young squads of hustlers. Whether these young teams are able to combat the high spending of the Yankees and Red Sox remains to be seen, but it should make for an interesting April.
A few notes from the Red Sox- Blue Jays games this weekend. Johnny Damon didn’t play Saturday because of the stitches in his arm from cutting himself on the stupid scoreboards along the outfield walls, those things have to go now. David Wells is proving his case for Red Sox Mole as he allows back to back to back home runs to Blue Jays Vernon Wells, Corey Koskie and Shea Hillenbrand. On a side note, Wells was VERY upset with being pulled from the game in the 7th, but I don’t understand why. He wasn’t exactly on a role, giving us three jacks in the same inning…although I do think it lowered his ERA. Halladay pitches a pretty good game, and leaves with a lead. The Blue Jays bullpen promptly allows Boston right back into the game, leading to an eighth inning most Jays fans wouldn’t have expected this year, one filled with power (in fact the Jays are tied for third in the majors right now for home runs, something no one expected). Anyway, John "I want my Momma" Halama comes in and promptly serves us a grand slam to Gregg Zaun, a career back-up catcher keeping the job warm for the Jays prospect in AAA. Jays win 12-5, and with almost coming back last night they are looking for real.
Sundays game saw the first start of the year for Blue Jays 2004 All-Star Ted Lilly, which I always thought was a stupid rule (having one player per team). I wonder if these guys are beaten up in the dressing room by guys like Manny Ramirez and Frank Thomas. They probably have to wash all the uniforms after practice. The Red Sox go up early in what was really a slow game until the last 3 innings. The announcers were mentioning about how many Red Sox were writing books and appearing on talk shows after their win. This says one thing to me….complacency! That may be their biggest enemy this year, they don’t have any pressure on them. The announcers also discuss the A-Rod trade that fell through for the Red Sox last year. Probably the best trade never made in baseball history, as their chances of winning the title decrease about 90%. Seems like a more pro- Red Sox crowd today versus the last two games. Jays announcer Rod Black about Frankie Catalanotto : "I love looking at this guys eyes"…he quickly adds…"while he’s batting." Corey Koskie gets thrown out on a pretty play after a bases loaded single by Hinske, replay shows him quite safe though. Who’s the next major league closer to blow a save in the season’s first week? Answer: Miguel Batista! The Blue Jays closer loads up the bases for Edgar Renteria with the Sox down. Will he try and best David Wells for the coveted role of the Mole or will he come through? BAM! Renteria drives in the tying run, but Batista gets out of the inning without further damage. Bottom of the 9th, Reed Johnson is able to work his way on base because of bad footing by Mark Bellhorn. The announcers blamed it on the turf, but in reality, he’s played on that turf before and he should know better. If his footing is bad enough that it can slip, he didn’t give himself good footing regardless. Anyway, next batter Orlando Hudson doubles to the neon sign in left-centre field, Johnson hustles all the way around from first, ball game. Great series, with two of three games this weekend coming down to the bottom of the ninth.
The Red Sox now go back to Boston today to get their World Series rings in front of the New York Yankees, (possibly the greatest karma moment ever). Shouldn’t be too eventful, (I don’t predict any brawls today) but this is quickly turning into a must win series for both teams. The Red Sox can’t afford to fall too far behind the Yanks in the first month, and the Yankees have to win to keep pace with the…I can’t believe I get to say this…Blue Jays!!
