A Straight Steal of the Series

From Mark Feinsand over at Blogging the Bombers:

The Yankees should never have been swept. The record will show the Yankees were swept in the three-game series, but they could have just as easily won two of three if the bullpen had been halfway decent.

The loneliest, most laden word in the English language is "if". It's also the most useless. I mean, if I was smart, I wouldn't be dumb, right? If Dick Cheney told the truth, he wouldn't be a liar. If my pup Maddie was a cat, she wouldn't be a dog. And so it goes. 

As it does with the Yankees. Of course if they had a decent bullpen, they could have won two of three. (They could also have lost two of three, or swept, or been swept.) But that's hardly the point here. It's just stupid to speculate what might have happened "if" thus-and-so. The fact is, the Yankees don't have a decent bullpen, have no real prospects for having a decent bullpen anytime soon, and as such can continue to anticipate disaster for a while to come now.  

And, as I may remind them, it was not their bullpen who a) blew a six-run lead on Saturday, b) allowed Jacoby Ellsbury to steal home while the pitcher, catcher and third baseman all went out for tea, and c) couldn't manage any kind of offense against three rookies (or, in the case of Masterson, near-rookies.) Yes, the bullpen is terrible, but it was not the defining issue in tow of the three losses, and the issue in which it was the defining problem starred none other than the Bronx's St. Peter incarnate himself (Jeter is Jesus incarnate, no doubt about it), Sir Mariano of the Cut Fastball Only. So they have more issues than you think. It's not just the pen.

Pushed to the wall so early in the season, Yank fans are turning tail to the two guys they have most skewered over the past few years: ARoid and Joe Torre. Alex Rodriguez has suddenly become the answer to every prayer, and these guys cannot get him back on the field fast enough. (Why? So they can boo him off it the first time he strikes out with RISP?) The wrong Joe has the mantle now-Torre would have taken control of this team, and given them the what-for! Sheesh. The collective memory of an Alzheimer's patient...

But all's well that ends well, in Beantown anyway.  The Sox are smokin', having won 10 in a row, most of those wins at home against terrible pitching. It would behoove us all to remember that they are 2-6 on the road, and facing Cliff Lee in Cleveland tonight. Will they turn into a pumpkin or marry the prince? Only time will tell...      

Comments

[Kevin S.]

It would also do most to remember that, in spite of the streak, the starting pitching has been hit or miss - Masterson and Wake have been great, Lester okay, and Penny and Beckett have been more Hyde than Jeckyll. Hopefully the two of them will return to form (it's like each shows flashes and then has a one or two inning meltdown of epic proportions).