Big Series Starting Tonight

[Doc Milo]

At Yankee Stadium.

Yankees vs. Red Sox.

Showdown for First place begins with Mussina vs. Martinez.

Any predictions, Basball fans?

As of now, the Yankees have a 3 game lead in the AL East. BoSox can only tie the Yanks for first with a three game sweep.

What's your analysis, CMJ? Carr? JMK? Jedieb? Any other big baseball fans?

[CMJ]

Red Sox take 2 of 3 so they gain very little. I expect a terrific series...I like Pedro this evening, so we'll be off to a good start. ;)

[JMK]

I don't think it matters how well the Sox do in this series, the Yankees are in first place to stay. Sorry Sox fans, you get the Yanks, I get the Braves. :p

[CMJ]

True enough...maybe the Expo's can make a push for the Wild card though for ya Kyle. :)

[JMK]

That's the hope in the city now. Actually, it's been the only real option. Catching the Braves stopped being possible weeks ago. I think they're 6 or 7 games out of the wild card spot, so that may be possible, but it looks unlikely. Expos pitching, outside of Colon has been very shaky lately, especially the bullpen. They're routinely getting rocked for 4-8 runs in any one given inning and are costing us alot of wins right now.

[CMJ]

One thing's for sure...the Braves look REALLY good this year. It's not their most talented squad, but it MIGHT be their best TEAM. We shall see.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

They'll just choke in the playoffs, so why get enthusiastic?

[Jedi Master Carr]

They always choke at least of late, I think either Arizona or the Dodgers will beat them IMO. In the AL really the best hope for the Sox would be the ALCS I like my chances with Pedro and Lowe especially with the Yankee pitching struggling, especially Clemens, that would be our only chance to get to the WS. Oh by the way Boston leads 2-0 in the 7th, Pedro has looked awesome so far.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Boston won 4-2, Martinez pitched great (though I think Little left him out there too long in the 8th) giving up 2 runs and striking out 9. Battle 2 is tomorrow the battle of the cubans, Arrojo vs Hernandez.

[CMJ]

So far, so good. :)

At the very least maybe we'll get the wild card.

[Jedi Master Carr]

That is my hope we have like a 2 game lead over Anahiem and Oakland, both of whom are still fighting it out with Seattle, it also helps that we play in the worst division, we still have like 7 games against Tampa Bay (who we own) and a bunch of games against Baltimore another sub .500 team, I think considering that we have an excellent shot at the wild card.

[JMK]

Unfortunately, the Blue Jays are looking as though they may play the role of spoiler in the AL east.

[Jedieb]

Damn for two reasons, 1) I missed the game , 2) the Yankees lost!
I think this series is much more important for the Sox than the Yankees. The Yankees are in first and have been playing great ball for the last month or so. The Sox have hung in there, but it must be disheartnening to see the pin stripes pull ahead yet AGAIN. The Yankees will do fine to just win 1 game in this series. A Sox sweep could give them the momentum and confidence they'll need in October. I'm going to try to catch today's game. Does anyone know the match up for the 3rd game? Is Clemens pitching?

[JMK]

Geez, what a marathon today. It was *only* 11 innings but took soooo long to play. Pretty good game though considering it looked like the Yankees were going to run away with it.

I thought Clemens was put on the DL?

[Jedieb]

Clemens is on the DL?:huh Damn, I've got to do a better job of keeping track of the season. I caught the end of the end game, great finish, if you're a Yankee fan. ;) I think they made a mistake by not pitching to Jeter. They should have taken their chances. Pitch to Jeter, if you get behind in the count then you go ahead and walk him. The rubber game tomorrow should be sweet.

[JMK]

The other mistake that I didn't get either, and Joe Buck and Tim McCarver were puzzled over it, was why didn't the Yanks get someone up in the bullpen when the Sox were coming on in the late innings? Yeah the pen has been crap of late, but Hernandez's pitch count was waaaay to high to expect any more of him, especially in the jam he was in. And it was so slick how Torre & co stalled for time to allow Rivera to get ready. But he threw what, a couple pitches? Me thinks Steinbrenner will loosen the purse strings once again to acquire more quality arms in the pen before the deadline comes. Even if he doesn't need them he'll take them just so that their rivals don't. Must be nice to have a virtually unlimited amount of money to spend. What was even more staggering was the statistic that claimed the Yankees were worth 15 BILLION dollars. That's sick.

[Jedieb]

Only $15B! Let me check my son's piggy bank...

[Jedieb]

An error, a bases loaded walk, and another 9-8 victory for the Yankees. You have to ask yourself, when Red Sox fans have nightmares, is everything painted in pinstripes? :evil

[JonathanLB]

I'd like to see the Yanks go back to World Series Glory this year with another World Series victory (or, 4 of them, haha). Last year was just annoying. I was happy that they did well still, actually they were quite outgunned and still nearly won, but this year should be different I hope.

I like to see the Yankees win every year possible, and another reason it's so great is because so many people hate the Yankees and I get to hear their idiotic complaining and whining and I can just laugh at them. Yankees always have been the best, they always will be the best. Yankees forever! :)

[JMK]

You're a bad man Jedieb!
It's got to be so disheartening for BoSox fans when they're always so close to beating the Yanks, just to fall just short.

On the other hand, the Expos have made the most significant roster moves in years, and they're playing some of the worst ball imaginable. I have no doubt that I could slip into that lineup on any given day (right now anyway) and not look out of place. They just got swept by the Marlins, and have in the process slipped to 3rd in the NL East.

This is wack.

[JonathanLB]

JMK, you wouldn't look out of place until you stepped up to the plate and tried to hold the baseball bat like a lightsaber and then said, "As you see, my Jedi powers are far beyond yours." THEN you'd look out of place ;)

[JMK]

No, then the pitcher would look out of place because he'd be the only one soiling himself.

[JonathanLB]

Amen :)

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah well we blew it that is all I can say. Also Jon there may not be a WS if things keep looking as they do, if they do come to an agreement I say there will be a strike at the end of August or the beginning of September and if that happens, I will never watch the game again.

[BUFFJEDI]

*Yawn* isn't base ball over yet?? maybe they will go on strike and stay there :) sorry to interupt Doc's thread , I just hate baseball:evil

[JonathanLB]

Yeah, with all of these strikes, baseball is a ridiculous sport. I really enjoy it come playoff time, but jesus, these strikes have been excessive. Way too many in the last few decades.

Other sports do not have those problems.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well Baseball has a strong union the strongest of all sports (football's union is the complete opposite) and that has a lot to do with it, still both sides are at fault, can't figure out why they can't just comprimise, there is so much money its not like there isn't enough to go around.

[JMK]

The more money people have, the more they want. There's been a strike date tentatively set for September 16th by the player's union. The reason behind it is because they only miss one paycheque, while leaving the owners in the lurch come the final stretch and playoffs. Both sides are sickening with their greed, and I swear that if I wasn't such a die hard fan/player/coach, I would turn my back on the game and never go back to it unless they cleaned house and brought a shred of dignity back to what I lovingly refer to as "the game of life".

And noo Buff, I don't mean dating. :p

[Jedieb]

Player's Union:
"In order to give the nation something to help comfort it on Sept. 11th, we will not strike until Sept. 16th."
Fan:
"Hey, don't you guys get paid on the 1st and 15th of every month?"
Player's Union:
"Uhhhh...."
Fan:
"With that strike date you'll only miss 2 paychecks, right?"
Player's Union:
"Uhhhh... we love our fans, we're doing this for the good of the game!"
:shootin :shootin :shootin

[JMK]

Can you imagine the nerve some of these pro atheletes have? Some of them get paychecks that rank in the tens of thousands every two weeks, and then say they want to strike late so that they only miss two paychecks, or won't be able to make ends meet? Disgusting. :verymad

[Doc Milo]

Baseball wants to be active on 9-11 ... so, I say, if nothing is resolved by then, we show them that we don't care if they are active on 9-11. We set 9-11 as a national baseball fans boycott day. Wouldn't it be great if on 9-11, with all the mourning remberances set to occur at all the ball parks around the nation if no fan was in those seats in protest!

[Jedi Master Carr]

That is a great idea maybe we need to start the drive, I sware I won't go.

[Jedieb]

I think this drive has already started in some MLB ballparks YEARS ago. I can't believe my father may miss ANOTHER World Series. This is simply ludicrous. I've heard more than one commentator say that maybe a strike would be in the best interest of baseball because it could lead to the whole thing being torn down. Maybe it'll get so bad they'll start from scratch. A whole new revenue structure with revenue sharing, etc.

You'd think that football, with only 8 home games for each team, would have more problems. Each MLB team has over 80 home games, there's TV money everywhere, but they just can't get their crap together.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well Football has a huge contract with the networks and the most expensive ticket prices, also the NFL Union is very, very weak they cave into everything the owners demand. Of course it helps that Football is the most popular sport at the moment in the US so the NFL is fine. Hopefully the crisis will be averted, I read there was some talks yesterday and that 6 players from the Red Sox all said that they were closer than they were before, so maybe they will strike a deal in the next month.

Speaking of the Red Sox anybody see that score today, They beat Tampa 22-4 in the first game of a double header, Nomar hit 3 home runs and had 8 RBIs (why couldn't he do that against the Yankees) and they still have another game I wonder if Nomar can do any more damage.

[JMK]

Why couldn't he do it against the Yankees? Sorry dude, the Yanks are not the Devil Rays! :lol

Meanwhile, the Expos seem intent on tanking for the second half as they've dropped their 5th in a row. I just don't understand this team. They're so good at home, and the total and complete opposite on the road. Its really frustrating.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Hey I know that but Nomar is a great player, he did have a very good game on Sunday the pitching just stunk for them. Looks like we will beat the Devil Rays again, we will be 10-0 against them, and the Yankees lost to Cleveland so we are only 2.5 back, then there is the wild card regardless what happens between Oakland and Anahiem we will be 1/2 game up maybe a 1 and 1/2 that is going to be more important now I guess.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Just as I say that that bum haney puts the bases loaded with no outs, now Urbania has to pitch.

[JMK]

Oogie Urbina! That guy throws smoke!
A happy birthday for Nomar, huh? Just as long as they make the playoffs, that's what counts.