2. Both teams featured underachieving, jeer-worthy Number 2 starters. So what happens when Sonny Gray faces David Price?
3. Neither team put its closer on the line. So what happens in a close game?
4. Both teams can hit pile-on home runs.
5. Neither team mounted a heart-stopping comeback, the kind known to occur in past Boston-NY series. The adage, "No lead is safe," did not apply.
6. Thus, neither team landed a psychic knockout blow, the kind of pineapple colonoscopy loss that haunts a team. Each win, each loss, was sort of ho-hum.
7. CC Sabathia can still rise to an occasion. The question is whether he can last the season.
8. The next series could feature entirely different starters. Drew Pomeranz and Masahiro Tanaka should be back. Plus, either team could trade for a Number 2.
9. The Yankees did not subject their rookie starters - German and Loaisiga - to the series. But their rookie hitters - Torres and Andujar - did fine. So did the Redsocks' Rafael Devers. Both teams were led by young, ascending stars. The old guys - Gardy, Pedroia, Nunez, etc - didn't matter.
10. The biggest wild card of all could be Aaron Hicks. Over the last 30 days, Giancarlo Stanton (9 HR, .317) took the headlines, while Hicks (8 HRs, .291) quietly drafted him. Early last year, he looked like a rising star. Could it finally be happening?
I have to go work. I'll get to this later.
ReplyDeleteSo endeth the JuJu.
Volare, oh oh
ReplyDeleteCantare, oh oh oh oh
Let's fly way up to the clouds
Away from the maddening crowds
We can sing in the glow of a star that I know of
Where lovers enjoy peace of mind
Let us leave the confusion and all disillusion behind
Just like bird of a feather, a rainbow together we'll find.
I don't know if we'll ever get more than the stray, tantalizing month or two of greatness from Hicks. But hey, I'll take it.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe that the Sox will actually trade for another starter. First, not sure what they HAVE to trade, and second, I don't think Dombrowski is going to fall for Happ or Hapless.
But who knows? Other teams have a history of giving away the store, if it'll stop the Yankees.
Also, first time to more than 8 runs in 34 games—the sort of blowout we badly need to preserve the bullpen. (Though Ma Boone used them anyway. I know, I know: he was worried about rust. Frankly, I would rather have them blow an outing due to rust than be worn out by October.)
And yes, the inability of either team to hit the other one's top pitcher makes taking the division all the more imperative. If we can force the Sox to waste Sale against the Mariners or whoever, much the better.
What happens when Chris Sale faces Luis Severino?
ReplyDeleteDon't cross the streams, Venkman. It would be ... "bad."
Yeah, and I know we talk about Seattle, but does anyone really want to face off against James Paxton in sudden death?
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows I can't stand Hicks, but he was robbed of the back pages and I'm incensed. Fuck Lebron #HackExecellence
ReplyDeleteI am so sick of NBA talk and of LeBron talk. The fucking season never ends. I promise you; within a week, the rookie camps of the NBA will be open.
ReplyDeleteChange the rules so that only when a backboard is shattered, and play delayed for more than 20 minutes , does a basket count.
Alternatively, make it a 365 game season. With playoffs ( where only the knicks are excluded ) added on.
Volare, oh oh
ReplyDeleteE contare, oh oh oh oh
Nel blu, dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassu
E volavo, volavo felice piu in alto del sole ed ancora piu su
Mentre il mondo pian piano spariva lontano laggiu
Una musica dolce suonava soltanto per me
Volare, oh oh
E cantare, oh oh oh oh
No wonder my happy heart sings
Your love has given me wings
Nel blu, dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassu
ReplyDeleteoLarvay, ohay,
antarCay, ohay, ohay
et'sLay essDray inay atinSay,
anday ingSay inay igPay atinLay
isThay isay arderHay anThay itay ooksLay,
oSay I'll opStay ightRay owNay...
-BJLay (Iay ishWay)
LBJ, you move me man. You really do.
ReplyDeleteyes, that was beautiful
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Alphonso!
ReplyDeleteThis is due, once again, to the modern sportswriter's complete preoccupation with the "business of sports," something that usually bores me silly.
Gee, can LeBron reinvigorate a franchise all the way across the country? Who gives a damn?
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