Peter Botte,
Daily News:
The Mets and their embattled manager began the weekend as the local team embroiled in turmoil. The Yankees and their new skipper now clearly are the ones in chaos and in need of a soul-searching team meeting.
Filip Bondy,
Daily News:
Funny how a wet, one-sided weekend can change everything. Willie Randolph entered the borough on Friday reeling and rationalizing. He was supposedly losing control of his clubhouse. Two games later, the Mets are one game out of first place, while things are Subway Serious for the last-place Yankees and their beleaguered manager. ...
The Mets and Randolph are done running back-page interference for Girardi and the Yanks, who are now a full six games back of Boston, with plenty of possible wild-card ambushes lurking in three divisions.
More to the point, the Yanks are doing almost nothing well. ...
Bondy mentions the Red Sox
and a non-Yankee wild card possibility in the East. On May 19!
W L PCT GB RS RA
Boston 27 19 .587 --- 239 209
Tampa Bay 25 19 .568 1.0 201 176
Baltimore 23 20 .535 2.5 179 184
Toronto 23 23 .500 4.0 177 181
New York 20 24 .455 6.0 179 197
Note: The Mets have played three fewer games than the Yankees, but have scored 25 more runs.
Filip Bondy, Daily News:
16 comments:
Wallace Matthews, Newsday:
It used to be so easy to be a Yankee fan. You'd flip on the TV in April, sit back for six months and wait for the victory parade in October.
But it has gotten a whole lot tougher the past few years. Now, they ask you to be patient. They ask you to have faith in their ability to come back. If you can't believe in anything else, they beseech you to at least believe in their history.
And now, every October, it seems, they are issuing apologies, making promises, hurling threats. ...
But how much patience can you have, how much faith can you retain, how long a memory do you need after what the Yankees have shown you so far this season, which is now more than one-quarter gone?
***
Boo hoo.
Seriously Wallace Matthews from Newsday?? How about the faith of waiting for decades upon decades, hearing 'this is the year' every year and year.
It's been, what, eight years for the Yankee fans. They need to chill and appreciate the game, after 2003 that's the only way that I (Red Sox fan) managed not to get horribly depressed.
Appreciate it when Big Papi put one of his beautiful swings on the ball, or Manny did something so totally insane, Yankee fans need to enjoy the game. (Course, 2004 was 2004 um... so that kinda wrecks the whole patience angle of my arguement, but ya know...)
I think it's good to have disappointment, it got me back to seeing the whole game of baseball after 2003, not just the Red Sox Nation part of it. As much as it hurts not to win the trophy with all the flags on it, it's not just about the WS.
I don't think it's too early at all to consider Tampa Bay as the primary Sox challenger for the East. The Yankee problems are not going away...a lot of declining old guys, a big offensive piece missing (Posada), two past-their-prime starters backed by untested (over-rated?) kids and a legitimate ace. Add Hank to the mix, and it looks grim.
The Yankees have wriggled out of messes too many times before, but if I had to make a bet, it would be on the Rays.
"It used to be so easy to be a Yankee fan.....sit back for six months and wait for the victory parade"
He's acting like they'd win it all every single year. Maybe by "used to," he means pre-1965. In the past 42 seasons, the Yanks have won 6 World Series. In the 42 before that, they won 20.
1923-1964 (42 seasons): 20 championships
1965-2007 (42 seasons because no champ in '94): 6 championships
I like to think of it that way. The Yanks lead us 6-2 since 1965. Big deal:)
"it's not just about the WS."
Right. If it was, there wouldn't have been any of us Sox fans left to witness 2004!
"The Yankees have wriggled out of messes too many times before, but if I had to make a bet, it would be on the Rays."
Don't forget the Jays, though. I still say it's way too early in the year to think the Rays can play even at the pace they're going now for a whole year. But they're definitely moving in the right direction.
jere: I also don't think it's too early to forget about the Jays (I'm on record ad nauseum in believing that March 30 wasn't too early either.) Burnett is always going to be one of those infuriating, never quite-makes-it pitchers, and the team's hitting and defense were suspect even before Wells went down. This is an 83-84 win team, best case; I think they are worse than that. They will give the Yankees a run for third, though...
Seriously Wallace Matthews from Newsday?? How about the faith of waiting for decades upon decades, hearing 'this is the year' every year and year.
It's been, what, eight years for the Yankee fans. They need to chill and appreciate the game
You really took that bait, didn't you? Hook, line and sinker.
PS: Don't assume Wallace Matthews speaks for all Yankees fans, anymore than CHB speaks for all Red Sox fans.
i had to laugh when i saw choclate rain warming in the 4th!
Although their start last year was worse and only hitting (mostly A-Rod) kept them in the game, their pitching eventually stabilized. This year, I think they have a lot more to be concerned about. Sure, they will have their games when the offense wakes up. But think about the fact that some of their pitchers are overperforming, especially Mussina and Rasner. (Strangely, Rasner was up in the bullpen last night although he didn't come in.) True, they could have expected somewhat more from Hughes/Kennedy, and may still get it, but I don't think there's as much chance for a turnaround this year.
Four games below .500 isn't the end of the world and they could certainly still contend for a playoff spot. But they have a challenged rotation, older hitters who are streaky at best, the same injury problems that anyone can expect and perhaps more so due to age, and increased competition within the division. I would not quite bet money on the Rays finishing ahead of the Yanks, but the Rays and the Jays will certainly drag them down some if they do have a second-half surge.
I hope it's finally the year for them to stay home in October. And it will be fun watching them try to turn it around.
Why anyone thought the Jays would be much more than a .500 team this year -- like they have been for half a decade -- is beyond me.
The Yankees are done.
They will not make the playoffs.
Mark it down.
If Tampa keeps it up, MLB might seriously have to consider realigning the eastern and central divisions. Our third place team has the same win/loss ranking as their first place team, and year after year, our division wins the wild card.
If you go by time zones, though, the only real choice is to swap Detroit into the AL East, and although they're worst in the league so far this year, that probably won't hold (at least for future years).
A RLYW poster notes that they had the same record last year at this point (20-24). Last year their Runs Scored / Runs Against was +27 (though I didn't confirm this). This year it's -18 (which I did). Big diff.
PS: Don't assume Wallace Matthews speaks for all Yankees fans, anymore than CHB speaks for all Red Sox fans.
I never assume anything. And, yep, I did take Matthews' bait. It just annoys me that there are some Yankees fans (and reporters) who are freaking out because, what, they haven't won it like 8 years?? Look at the Cubs fans, 100 years since their last WS win.
I know it doesn't exactly mean as much as it could, since I've now seen two WS wins (which is two more than I ever really thought I would). But I do feel like Aaron Boone and 2003 really did make me a better baseball fan, a little less Red Sox centrist. A little more able to marvel at other things that are happening in the league.
A lot of Yankee and Red Sox fans do have one thing in common, sometimes I think some of us forget that there are 28 other teams.
Danie, I understand, and I agree. I recognize bait-taking because I do it so often.
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