If they dominate one night - scoring with abandon, and having their way at numerous positions - they'll show up next day ready to accept extreme degradation in order to supplicate their rivals.
If the past is prelude, the Yankees will give back last night's victory, perhaps with chocolates and a promotional video. (Does Jeter have any leftover gift baskets?)
This evening, we'll learn whether the Yankees are finally making their run, or they simply won a game last night and now will give it back.
Win today, and fears of a modern Boston Massacre will boil inside every Redsock Yellowshirt fan. Lose, and last night was just another false-positive.
Which Yankee team will show up?
Which reminds me...
1. Joey Gallo remains an enigma. Damn - he's such a K/W/HR - and yet he's a great fielder. Last night, early on, he ran down a shot into the corner, holding the hitter to a single. It meant runners on first and second, rather than second and third. Huge difference. Is there no way for this guy to alter his swing with two strikes and put more balls into play? Damn, if he could bat - say - .240, instead of .200...
2. Gerrit Cole's W-L record last night improved to 16-8, but because of that 3-run HR by Devers, his ERA increased slightly to 3.08. Today, Robbie Ray goes for Toronto. If he pitches well, Ray would almost wrap up the Cy Young award. But if he gets whacked - well... Either way, they'll each at least get one more start.
3. Today, it's Nasty Nestor (4 innings?) and Michael King (three?). If they make it to the eighth, it'll be mix-and-match. (I doubt Mean Chad Green goes two straight nights.) But if we have a shot - spoiler alert: It's Aroldis in the ninth, seeking to close the Gates of Hell. We always knew 2021 would boil down to that. Here it comes.
Posts
14 comments:
From a tweet:
Twins beat the Jays 3-1. Yankees are now two games ahead of Toronto for the second Wild Card spot and one game behind Boston for the first spot
Yankees could go 5-3 in their last eight regular season games and the Blue Jays would need to go 8-0 in order to eliminate them
-----------------
That looks better than twelve hours ago...
Oh Ranger, you sweet deluded creature. The Yankees can't go 5-3. They are the worst.
If Toronto goes 8-0, it means they beat the Yankees three times, and thus, they finish ahead of us.
I'm just being the messenger Winnie...didn't say I agreed with it...
If NY goes 4-4 and both TOR & SEA go 6-2 they'll all have same record. There would then be a Yankees/Mariners game Monday with the winner playing the Blue Jays Tuesday to decide who gets to travel to Boston for the WC on Wednesday. In that scenario the Yanks would play both games at home, but in a tie with only Toronto they'd be the road team. These are very real possibilities as are ties in NL East & West.
- MelquÃades
And if Ia bird shits in the woods and it lands on someone else's head, does it really matter?
I mean, it's fun and all to discuss probabilities and outcomes - in fact, it's some of the only speculative fun left in baseball and is a time-honored tradition in late September. I'm just saying that these guys won't do it.
Yes, ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN if you make the playoffs, but the gods have clearly marked this time with a big, red "A" on their foreheads - for "Assholes" - and I see no juju or magic for them.
Speaking of late September, I'm getting old and must call AT&T to talk to their "Customer Loyalty Department" because life is too short for THEIR bullshit.
Later, my people.
I'm still biting my nails.
Does this whole WC thing go down to the wire? It sure livens up late September.
I think Yellowshirts is good, but given the shade of yellow, maybe the Boston Lemons is the way to go. And since they've now lost and the string is broken, do they go back to their real uniforms today?
Enquiring minds want to know.
"The Urine Stains"
"Yellow Bellied Sap Suckers"
Because Boston Sucks!
@Rufus, I like that one, the Urine Stains.
Cole finally delivered a decent game in a big spot. We're in control of our own destiny for the coveted Wild Car. Whuppee!
Must have been divine intervention.
Now we can prepare for two excruciating losses.
The Hammer of God
ranger, Duque, you're saying THE SAME THING.
IF the Yankees go 5-3 from hereon in, the BJs would have to go 8-0 to beat them out.
I know the pressure is on, but let's keep it together, guys!
Let's look at that scenario for a moment, though. That would mean the Yanks losing all 3 in Toronto, but taking the remaining 5 against Boston and TB.
So the best Boston could go then is 6-2—which they well might. And then THEY would finish ahead of us, too. Which, judging by the rest of 2021, is exactly what will happen.
it's the "Boston Yellow-Bellied Sap Suckers" and they play at "Golden Showers Field."
Okay, my third grade class is calling me back inside.
A nice win last night.
Now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But until then, this best sums up this putrid season:
“It’s time to tell it like it is, sports fans. And this is the most wretched road trip I’ve seen in 20 years. Is the modern-day athlete a pale imitation of the great old warriors? Only Crash Davis stands out this year, begging the question: What are these boys thinking about? Because it sure ain’t baseball.”
I realize that this blog has shifted to a group of people who are huge chanting fans of Jesse Jackson (" . . . keep . . . hope . . . alive!").
To inject a little realism:
Let's say the Yankees get hot now.
Let's project that the NYYs make the wild card, win the play-in game, and end up in the 5-game series that follows.
3 games in Tampa, 2 games in the Bronx.
Current record: Rays 9, Yanks 7.
Would you actually bet real money that the Yankees will take 3 of the 5 games?
Their records are instructive. For example, the Rays have scored 819 runs, while the NYYs have plated 676. Runs allowed are about the same. TB's record at home is 50-29.
You might wish that our team beats the Rays in the playoffs -- as do I. But it is NOT a good bet . . .
Post a Comment