It was nostalgia weekend at Fenway Park.
In what invoked flashbacks to the Original Boston Massacre of 1978 to Boston fans over 40, the Yanks relentlessly pummeled the Red Sox by the scores of 12-4, 14-11, 13-5, 8-5 and 2-1. (For a combined score of 49-26.)
It was a glorious, unmitigated ass-whopping that thoroughly exposed the ineptitude of the Red Sox pitching staff, as well as the failures of Prince Theo to solidify the relief corps while teams with less financial resources such as the Cincinnati Reds were able to improve theirs.
Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy must have thought he entered a timewarp, or perhaps he was secretly gleeful because he saw the marketing potential in new fodder for a future book. Can you blame him? One can only wonder why Bobby Sprowl wasn’t called on to start one of the games.
By the time the Yanks scored 5 runs in the 6th inning of game 3, a “contest” in which Boston pitching served up 13 walks, the faces in the crowd said it all.
Row after Row of miserable, dejected and horror-struck fans with “B”s on their hats sat quietly with their hearts torn asunder.
It was a beautiful site to behold.
Memo to Red Sox nation: These ARE your father’s Red Sox. 2004 is over. It was an aberration. Keep celebrating because it’s two years later now and the Yanks are back where they should be by natural rite: Kicking your butts down to the depths of the Charles River while you clutch longingly to yellowed news clippings of Keith Foulke tossing the last out of the World Series to Mr. Jodi Mankiewicz.
One thing I’ve noticed since the 2004 aberration is that many Red Sox fans—when engaged in conversation—seem to feign indifference when the Sox are losing. They repeat the tired mantra that they won in 2004 so it doesn’t matter what happens now. It’s fun to see a Red Sox fan mutter that it’s almost football season and time to follow the Patriots. Call it a defense mechanism, or living in the past, but should they get into a hot streak, that tune changes and they get suddenly interested. Obviously this doesn’t apply to all Red Sox fans. They do have their share of foxhole guys, but the bandwagon fans are being exposed now…as they should be.
Among the many storylines for the 5 game series was the return of the prodigal idiot, Johnny Damon. He destroyed Boston pitching. In the first three games, Damon went 3-6 in each game: 9-18, 5 runs scored, 8 RBI, 2 HR, 3 Doubles and a triple. Damon told reporters, “I’m now in a place that really wants me.” For his exploits this past week, Damon won the American League player of the year award, based on his 16-41, .390 average with a .878 slugging percentage.
Meanwhile, Coco Crisp, Prince Theo’s replacement in centerfield, was 1-19 for the series and held out of Game 3 so Gabe Kapler could go 0-4 against Randy Johnson and company.
All told in the first three games, the Yanks hit .361 (44-for-122) and .415 (22-for-53) with runners in scoring position. They drew 28 walks and scored 39 runs. By contrast, the Sox were 0-16 with men in scoring position in Game #1. And the first time in their history, the Red Sox allowed 12 or more runs or more in three consecutive games..
As Manager Terry Francona said: “Sometimes it's tough to watch."
Even tougher when you consider that Cla Meredith, rendered expendable by the Boston brain trust, now has an 18+ inning scoreless streak for the San Diego Padres. Righties are 4-56 against him. That’s an 0.71 batting average… his ERA for the season is 1.08….oh, excuse me, it’s 1.07. He got the win on Sunday. I wonder if Sox could use him now?
But enough of the Red Sox ineptitude. The Yankees are winning this year for many reasons, two of which are they are patient at the plate and their defense has improved.
The addition of Bobby Abreu can not be overstated. Since joining the Yankee he’s been on base at nearly a 50% clip. In the first four games he was on base 15 of 23 times. He goes deep in counts and is seemingly always on base for Giambi and A-Rod. When he does make on out, it’s often after a 7-10 pitch at bat, so he helps to wear the pitcher down. Who cares if he’s in a homer drought? He’s an on-base machine.
Robby Cano also is becoming a complete player. Power and a .330 average come in quite handy. His 10 RBIs in first three games were instrumental in the Red Sox annihilation. The youngsters Cano, Melky and Wang are proving quite capable in this pennant chase.
(The youngsters from the supposedly inept Yankee farm system, that is.)
The Yankee defense, much maligned earlier in the year, is converting 70.7% of balls put into play into outs. This ranks 7th best in the majors and 2nd best in the AL. Last year, they ranked 22nd and the year before 24th in the majors. This improved defense is astonishing when you consider that the Yanks must endure the error-plagued A-Rod at 3rd base, who has committed over 27% of all Yankee errors.
The improved defense comes mostly from the outfield: Damon replacing Bernie, and Cabrera spelling Matsui. Abreu also covers more ground than Sheffield, despite his wall- shy tendencies.
On to Game 4 – This game had to hurt Red Sox nation more than the first three. It’s a game the Beaneaters clearly should have won. Curt Schilling pitched his heart out, as usual, and turned the game over to the pen with a 2 run lead. Ol’ Bloody Sock must have been as stunned as the rest of the baseball world was to see Mike Timlin start the 8th inning with a 2-run Red Sox lead.
What could Tino have been thinking? His bullpen had been getting its brains beat in for three games, and he was unable to use his one trustworthy reliever: closer Jonathon Papelbon. You have to use your best pitcher there, ask any Bostonian about that today.
What happened was predictable. Timlin and Lopez loaded the bases on walks and a HBP, forcing Papelbon to enter the game with the bases loaded. Papelbon was throwing BeeBees, and it’s very doubtful the Yanks would have gotten to him had he come in to start the inning fresh. Giambi’s sacrifice fly got the Yanks within one, and Papelbon blew away Cano and Posada to keep the Sox up by one. Very impressive.
In the 9th inning, Melky led off with a booming double. With two outs, Theo Epstein was getting his excuses together for defending his non-moves at the trading deadline while Derek Jeter was perfecting his patented inside-out swing to tie the game. MVP.
The game was tied, and it was a matter of time before the Yanks won. When Hanson came into the game in the 10th, the matter was sealed. Giambi and Posada saw to it with homers into the quiet Boston night.
Or was it morning by then? Time blurs when it’s nostalgia weekend at Fenway.
On Monday afternoon, a tired Yankee team, with many of the regulars off, took the Sox on for one last time in an attempt to complete the first 5 game Yankee sweep in Fenway since 1943. A scoreless pitching duel between Cory Lidle and David Wells ensued until the top of the 6th when Bobby Abreu, that man again, scalded an RBI double in 6th after a Melky SB.
In the bottom of the 7th, Torre once again went to the bullpen, with Octavio Dotel, Mike Myers and Scott Proctor each getting an out. The Yanks scored a run on a wild pitch that should have been stopped by the defensively inept Javy Lopez, but Wily Mo Pena got that run back in the bottom of the 8th with a homer off Proctor to make it 2-1.
You can’t say enough about everyday Scott Proctor. Time after time he has been there to snuff out rallies. One major concern, however, is the overuse of both Proctor and Ron Villone. Proctor leads all relievers in baseball with 1,263 pitches this season, and Ron Villone is third with 1,211. Both men never refuse the ball.
By the time Kyle Farnsworth retired the Sox in the 9th, the sweep was complete. The Yanks fly to Seattle with a 6 ½ game lead over Boston.
For the series, the Yanks’ bullpen ERA was 3.60, and Boston was a slightly higher 11.50.
Your father’s Red Sox indeed.
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