Jul 30 2008
Yankees Rebound
Jeter leads the way for the Yanks
Who Knew?
Two months ago the Yankees tickets were only good to give the venerable Yankee Stadium its well-deserved farewell. Now the Yankees have come alive for the annual second half run. The lead in the American League East is shrinking fast for the Boston Red Sox and the Tamp Bay Rays.
Boston was playing for the division title not that long ago. The only pressure was to catch the mysterious Rays. Now that the Yankees have been able to close the gap with an incredible run, Red Sox tickets are for games that could make the difference between the division title, the wild card, and sitting on the coach in October.
The Yankees have been closing in not due to the Red Sox deficiencies. Boston is still playing pretty good ball. New York has simply been playing tremendously. Going 8-2 in the last ten, having the pitching finally come around. Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte have been good as usual, but Joba Chamberlain has stepped up since Wang went down with injury.
The Red Sox appear on the edge of exploding as the annual Manny Ramirez break might actually sink the team this season. Normally, Boston fans can ignore the slugger until the off-season when they weigh the pros and cons of every trade. This season feels different. This season might be it for the slugger.
Since the theme of the 21st century seems to be breaking curses, first with the Red Sox and then with the White Sox, maybe baseball destiny has left Boston and moved to Chicago to help the Cubs win a perfectly timed World Series.
Of course, let’s get past the first round before we start counting on the Chicago Cubs to do anything but disappoint.
New York could ruin that party too, with the New York Mets on top of the NL East. There first place standing is always in jeopardy, but they managed to come back from third place and overtake the Philadelphia Phillies and the Florida Marlins.
No matter what happens this summer, at least the New York teams have made another season of MLB worth watching in the city that never sleeps. The last year at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium has had a fine send off so far.
Boston was playing for the division title not that long ago. The only pressure was to catch the mysterious Rays. Now that the Yankees have been able to close the gap with an incredible run, Red Sox tickets are for games that could make the difference between the division title, the wild card, and sitting on the coach in October.
