Todd Walker is blunt: "No doubt about it, whoever wins this series will win the World Series." ... Bob Hohler knows "It's On." ... More on Lowe ... It's the hugging, stupid! ... A season of thrills ... Bill Lee v Jim Bouton.
Red Sox Roster: Kim and Brown are off, Suppan and Jones are on. Damon is still on the roster. Having Suppan, Jones and Arroyo seems redundant, but it's doubtful any of them will get much playing time. ... Leaving Brown off if Damon cannot play as early as Game 3 Saturday is mind-boggling stupid. McCarty remains in uniform for some reason. ... The story on Kim seems to change every hour. I could have a blind spot with BK, but if his shoulder is okay, I want him in this series. Pitch him only in Boston, if necessary, have him go 3 innings in relief of Burkett, have him set-up Williamson, anything; leaving off a healthy Kim is a mistake. ... Schedule with probable starters:
Game 1 at New York: Wednesday, October 8: Wakefield vs. Mussina, 8:00
Game 2 at New York: Thursday, October 9: Pettitte vs. Lowe, 8:00
Game 3 at Boston: Saturday, October 11: Martinez vs. Clemens, 4:00
Game 4 at Boston: Sunday, October 12: Burkett vs. Wells, 7:30
Game 5 at Boston: Monday, October 13: Wakefield vs. Mussina, 8:00
Game 6 at New York: Wednesday, October 15: Pettitte vs. Lowe, 4:00
Game 7 at New York: Thursday, October 16: Martinez vs. Clemens, 8:00
If this series remotely resembles the 19 games played this summer, it will be one for the ages. I'll be in Row Y of the distant left field bleachers tonight. I hope security is a little better than it was in 1999, when a Red Sox fan had his cap lit on fire while two security cops stood by laughing.
Many papers don't include their prediction boxes online, so this is all I've found so far:
Dan Shaughnessy: Red Sox in 6
Gordon Edes: Yankees (I think)
Garry Brown: Red Sox in 6
Baseball Weekly: Yankees and Cubs.
New York Post
George King: Yankees in 6
Joel Sherman: Yankees in 6
Kevin Kernan: Yankees in 4
Mike Vaccaro: Red Sox in 6
Mark Hale: Yankees in 6
New York Daily News
Sam Borden: Yankees in 5
Peter Botte: Red Sox in 6
John Harper: Yankees in 6
Bill Madden: Yankees in 6
Anthony McCarron: Yankees in 7
Adam Rubin: Yankees in 5
Vic Zeigel: Yankees in 6
Newsday:
Jon Heyman: Yankees in 6
Shaun Powell: Yankees in 6
Ken Davidoff: Red Sox in 5
Mark Herrmann: Yankees in 5
Bob Herzog: Yankees in 7
David Lennon: Yankees in 7
Marty Noble: Yankees in 6
Anthon Rieber: Yankees in 6
Jim Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer: Yankees in 6
Roch Kubatko, Baltimore Sun: Yankees in 6
Larry Stone, Seattle Times: Yankees in 6
George Richards, Miami Herald: Yankees in 6
Ken Daley, Dallas Morning News: Yankees in 5
Larry Millson, Toronto Globe & Mail: Yankees in 6
Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times: Yankees
Mike Berardino, South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Red Sox in 6
T.R. Sullivan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Red Sox in 7
Chris Jenkins, San Diego Union-Tribune: Red Sox in 7
Gary Huckabay and Nate Silver, Baseball Prospectus: Yankees in 6
Joe Sheehan, Baseball Prospectus: Yankees in 5
Aaron Gleeman: Red Sox in 7
Wasting print or air time talking about a curse when there is so much baseball news and analysis to offer insults the intelligence of every fan listening/reading and exposes the media as lazy hacks who can't be bothered to do any real work at the most important time of the year. Do books on dentistry waste pages weighing in on the existence of the tooth fairy? No, they do not. Let's can the curse bullshit and focus on the game. ... By the way, in a telegram to the Boston Herald and Journal after he was told of the sale, Babe Ruth wrote: "The Boston club is my favorite, and naturally I wanted to remain there, but as the deal is completed, I suppose I will have to go to New York. ... I appreciate the stand taken by the Boston people and very shortly hope to be in Boston to thank them in person for their support. Thanking you for past favors and wishing you success, I remain, your friend, Babe Ruth."
Take a deep breath. ... Relax. ... It Is On.
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