Loose Moose Convinces Me

Why I know that the Yankees will win the AL pennant. (written 2 weeks ago, forgot to post)Pathetic dates are synonymous with the Boston Red Sox organization. For instance, 1918 was the last time they won a World Series, and 1986 was the last time they blew a World Series. However, July 24, 2004, was one date that most Red Sox fans happily recall.

It was the Turning Point game, the one where Bill Mueller hit a walk-off homerun off of All-World closer Mariano Rivera, thus capping Boston’s miraculous five run comeback. Watching these events unfold (coincidentally, it was one of the only games I was able to catch this summer due to limited television access), and watching the now infamous Varitek-Rodriguez fracas that caused both benches to clear, I knew that if Boston was to make a comeback in the AL East, Red Sox fans would cite this game as the turning point. And, whaddyaknow?, Boston trimmed the Yankees’ 10 ½ game lead down to 2 ½ games, and whaddyaknow? the date 7/24/04 was etched into Red Sox fans’ heads.

New York’s history is a bit more illustrious than Boston’s, to say the least, and there are too many important dates to remember. However, there is one date that this year’s Yankees fans should recall: 9/4/04. It wasn’t the date that Derek Jeter broke out of his horrendous slump, nor was it the date where El Duque joined la rotación de lanzadores, nor was it when Jason Giambi was diagnosed with his mysterious parasite (steroids, anyone?).

It was when a Moose was finally spotted in Yankees Stadium. The date when Mike Mussina returned to form, pitching seven strong innings, albeit in a loss. It was the first time when I was finally convinced that the Yankees would hold off the Red Sox for the divisional crown, and eventually, hold off their foes for the American League pennant.

You see, every Red Sox fan will tell you why they are finally ready to beat the Yankees: because they finally have a stronger pitching staff than the Yankees, they finally play better defense than the Yankees, and they (supposedly) have finally figured out Rivera. Okay, maybe they do play better defense.

But, in the Age of the Titans that Major League Baseball is enduring, pitching is the key ingredient to success. There’s no plausible way that I can argue that the Yankees’ pitching rotation is better than that of the Red Sox. Pedro and Schilling are lethal in a five game series, and the team is more dangerous when they add Lowe and Wakefield in a seven game set. However, New York’s pitching staff, which includes El Duque, Mussina, Javier Vasquez, Jon Lieber, and possibly, Kevin Brown, isn’t chopped liver, either. And, after all, the Yankees did defeat Oakland’s Big Three (Zito, Mulder, Hudson) in a five game series–so it’s not like the Yankee bats aren’t used to beating hyped rotations.

And then, there’s the one aspect of the game Yankees fans are always willing to bring up: the intangibles. The New York tradition of clutch play. What will Keith Foulke do when he’s pitching to Derek Jeter in the bottom of the ninth in a tied game 7 with a 3-1 count and the bases loaded? Will Terry Francona’s latest mistake be dubbed as Terry’s Boner, a la Grady Little? We know how Joe Torre will handle tough spots, and we can assume that Rivera will uphold his status as the best postseason closer of all time.

There is one date that Red Sox Nation is hoping to never utter miserably in their lifetimes: October 20, 2004. The possible Game 7 date of the 2004 American League Championship Series in Yankee Stadium. Knowing how Boston has performed in October elimination games in Yankee Stadium, it wouldn’t surprise me if a word resembling `Foulke’ resounded throughout New England on the morning of October 21st.