Arrgh! More Yankees-Red Sox talk!! I can’t take it anymore!!! Curse you, East Coast Bias!!!!
That is what I would like to be yelling right now, but I can’t, and not just because I used up my exclamation point quote for the month. As any non-New Yorker or Bostonian can tell you, the annual overexposure of every single Yankees-Red Sox series is both annoyingly frustrating and frustratingly annoying. The entire week leading up to the series, the major media outlets (especially the four-letter one) clobbers us over the head with stories about the impending series and the doubles down on their coverage once the games actually do begin. You just can’t escape it, even if you don’t like baseball.
But you know what makes it even more irritating?
The series is actually, you know, really good.
I’m probably only enabling the evil forces behind the over-hyping of the Yankees-Red Sox series by admitting that, but I can’t just ignore the facts. I mean, who in their right mind would be turned off by the teams with the two best records in the American League, in a deadlock for the AL East division crown, doing battle? If you like baseball, you have to like that kind of match-up, even if the two teams involved are ones that you bitterly detest.
And just to make things even harder, the stupid teams had to go and actually make good on all the hype by playing a thrilling game to end the current installment of the series. Seriously, it just isn’t fair to have a pitchers’ duel featuring Cy Young contender Josh Beckett that then turns into a tense extra-innings affair ending with a walk-off base hit and in a nationally televised game no less! It was a great game to end a great series, a series that I am no glad is over so that I can get a rest from the hype machine. Deep down though, I must confess, I can’t wait until these two teams meet again at the end of August… and then again at the end of September… and then again, probably, in the post-season.
Also last night: Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 28… Stud prospect Brett Lawrie his his first MLB home run in a Toronto win… and finally, stud prospect Johnny Giavotella also hit his first MLB home run in a win, but he gets final billing because his name is worth more points in Scrabble.
What to watch tonight: What happens when two slumping clubs collide? We get stuck with a Charlie Morton-Ryan Vogelsong matchup, that’s what happens. Something will have to give in this series as the Pirates, losers of ten in a row, start what has to be considered their last ditch effort to save their season and get back into the NL Central race (SPOILER ALERT! They won’t get back into the race), while the Giants, losers of eight of their last ten, will be hoping to take full advantage of Pittsburgh’s cold streak and save themselves from losing their own divisional lead over the Diamonbacks, a lead that is down to just half a game. Full schedule with probable pitchers here.
