It�s Wild in Boston
By Joe Davis
It was as if someone died on the field today, as Joe Torre cried away in the middle of Fenway Park. No, A-Rod didn’t have a heartache and get rushed off to the hospital. Did Jeter break another nail? No.
The Yankees won the division. Hey Torre, there’s no crying in baseball. Also, you just put yourself in a bad position. If the Red Sox win tomorrow, the Yankees will play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the ALDS.
I prefer the Wild Card. The Red Sox won the World Series last year as the Wild Card. The year before? The Marlins won the World Series as the Wild Card. Beating who? The Yankees of course. Flash back to 2002, who beat the Yankees in the ALDS and went on to win the World Series? If you do not know, it was the Wild Card team known as the Anaheim Angels.
The Yankees won the division Saturday, even though the Red Sox can potentially tie for 1st place in the AL East. But since they have a 10-8 head to head record versus the Red Sox, they have won the AL East. If the Red Sox win tomorrow, they are the Wild Card team. If the Red Sox lose and the Indians lose, the Red Sox are the Wild Card team. If the Red Sox lose and the Indians win, there will be a one game playoff on Monday.
I believe the Wild Card has already been won, and I will tell you why. The White Sox will face the Angels if the Indians win the Wild Card. The Angels have been resting since the middle of last week since they clinched their division during the week. They have been resting all their starters and pitchers to get ready for the playoffs.
To avoid this match up, the White Sox can sweep the Indians tomorrow. This would put the Red Sox in as the Wild Card team.
To further prove my point, Jaret Wright might be the starting pitcher for the Yankees in Sunday’s game. If not, Mike Mussina will take the mound who made his shortest outing in 10 years September 27th. He lasted just one and two-thirds of an inning and gave up five runs on seven hits. Mussina, who has been plagued by injuries all year, will most likely rest tomorrow. Wright, who also has been on the DL most of the year, needs to prove to the Yankees that he should pitch in the playoffs.
IN the game on Saturday, five homeruns were hit. Gary Sheffield hit a 2-run homerun in the top of the first. Manny Ramirez hit a 2-run blast in the bottom of the inning. IN the top of the third, Hideki Matsui literally bounced a ball of the center field wall for a homerun. A-Rod hit his league leading 48th homerun in the top of the 5th. Boston, who never gave up, responded with 2 more homeruns. Tony Graffanino hit a solo shot in the 7th and Manny Ramirez hit his second of the game in the bottom of the 8th.
Randy Johnson got his 17th win of the year. Tim Wakefield got the loss. The Red Sox bullpen pitched 4 innings and only gave up 1 run.
Even though the Yankees will be the AL East champions in the playoffs, they still can hold a share of the division title if the Red Sox win tomorrow. Their records would both be 95-67 if that were to happen.
