Bring it, Crabby. Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
There is no getting past this. There’s a reason that the tagline of my original blog was “Because life is too short to be a Yankees Chick”. That reason is, no matter how hard I try to be indifferent I absolutely can’t stand the Yankees. Seeing the Yankees lose is number 2 on my list of favorite things about baseball (Seeing the Red Sox win being number one). I try to deny that part of myself but it’s impossible for me. It’s there and it’s real and while I don’t need to flaunt it I certainly feel the need to embrace it sometimes.
So this is me, embracing my Yankee hate. I stayed up until just past 1am today to watch the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees out in Arizona. I especially took joy in AJ Burnett struggling. Hey, the Sox weren’t playing last night so I got my entertainment where I could.
Ultimately, the most important aspect of last night’s Yankees loss is that it put the Sox a half a game out of first place.  I saw Mitch Williams on MLB Network last night and he, predictably, hasn’t mentioned his contention (in May) that the Red Sox lost the division in April. Fortunately for him he said it to Dan Patrick for print and not on the MLBN so he can’t be taunted with the video.
Don’t get me wrong, I get that you also don’t win the division in June, but Williams had the Sox completely written off (as did so many others) and a win by the Sox tonight coupled with another Yankees loss and you can’t really blame April for what happens to the Sox from here on out can you?
I find it fascinating that no writers except Peter Gammons, really, have brought up the injuries the Sox are working through as a reason for their struggles. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, Mike Cameron, Jacoby Ellsbury…all starters for the team who have been unhealthy this year more than they have healthy. Or, as Gammons put it:
Does it make sense that on the morning of June 21, the Red Sox had two starting pitchers and two outfielders on the disabled list, had used five left fielders, six center fielders and five right fielders and were leading the Major Leagues in runs, slugging and OPS? And were a game out, with the third-best record in baseball, the best since April 20?
A Yankees fan who reads my blog and often contacts me during the season sent me an email yesterday (prior to the D’Backs putting the beatdown on AJ Burnett) asking me if I was disappointed that this is the last week of interleague play since, come Friday, the Red Sox will soon have to face American League teams again “and that’s where they have trouble“. In May the Sox were 16-10 against AL teams and in June they are 6-4 against the AL. The Yanks? Against the American League: 16-11 in May and 6-3 in June. Those numbers don’t scream “trouble” to me. Going 13-7 in the last 20 games, as the Yankees have, while your rival goes 15-5 and closes the 2.5 game gap between you to a half a game…well, that to me is “trouble”.
And, yes, that email is what triggered my decision to write this entry today.
As I mentioned yesterday, MLB is being kind to us, for the first 3 games of this trip anyway, and starting the games in Colorado at 8:40pm instead of 10:05pm…and that ensures that the live chat will be happening tonight. Jon Lester goes up against Jhoulys Chacin in Lester’s first appearance in Colorado since he started game 4 of the 2007 World Series. I’m full of hope for this series and this road trip (even if the Sox do have to go up against Ubaldo Jimenez and Tim Lincecum) and the road to a sweep begins tonight.