Ready To Do This All Over Again

Well, another October is halfway done, meaning that once again my Red Sox and the Yankees are ready to start another ALCS. And while it feels like just last month I was up at 12:30 am seeing Aaron Boone hit that eleventh inning homer while his brother sat in the broadcast booth saying absolutely nothing; in the past year it is necessary to note the following changes.

-The Red Sox have a true stopper/leader/ace. Before they may have just had an ace, but with the pickup of Curt Schilling, Boston has a guy that doesn't scare the crap out of me pitching Game One in Yankee Stadium. He said as much today, he signed for this moment, lives for these moments and does not fear Yankee Stadium. While I can't say the same for Boston's Game 2 pitcher, I know at least the Red Sox will be in the game in the seventh for Game 1, if not winning it handily.

-The Red Sox are now built for postseason baseball. Two Aces (Schilling/Martinez), one upstart young pitcher pitching his best baseball this time of year (Arroyo), and one Yankee killer (Wakefield). Plus this is the best defensive Red Sox team of my lifetime. Boston doesn't just have relief pitchers, they have a relief first basemen (Mientkiewicz). In the 9th our Nickel Defense (Mueller, Cabrera, Reese, Mientkiewicz) rarely lets a ball out of the infield. The Nomar trade was made with this series in mind.

-The Yankees are not the same Yankees. When I say this I don't mean it like the rest of the country means it. I think their starting pitching is or will be fine in this series. However, notable Red Sox killers like Soriano and Giambi and Pettite will not be in pinstripes tomorrow and there is some comfort to take in that.

-The Yankees have A-Rod and no one is taking more painful #2's than A-Rod right now. This series will end up being a judgement on whether or not the Red Sox didn't get A-Rod out of a twist or fate or just part of the cruel joke God plays on Red Sox fans. Come next Thursday I will hear 'someone' from 'a car' on WEEI saying either "Lucchino f**ed up the A-Rod deal, screw him" or "We would not have won this series with A-Rod, thank God things happened the way they did." Is Alex Rodriguez a money player who wanted to be in the highest of high pressure situations or did he just want out of Texas that bad. We will find out.

-Pedro has a good luck midget. The difference in pre-midget Pedro and post-midget Pedro could be the X-factor in this series.

-My 'Master of My Domain' challenge for this postseason is still going strong. No chicken choking helped the Red Sox to a pleasantly surprising sweep of Anaheim. Climbs up Mount Everest haven't worked but those people never had to work with 18-year old hostesses with asses the shape of peaches. Wish me luck in this.

All that said. I've said it so many times. The Red Sox are the Red Sox and the Yankees are the Yankees until I see otherwise. When Matsui and Williams get on second and third with two out in a late inning of a tie ball game and John Olerud or Miguel Cairo are up, you'd think it would be easy to picture Keith Foulke getting either of them to chase a curve ball for strike three. Of course not. One of them will hit a gap double both Matsui and Williams will score and that scene will happen: A bunch of Ricos, Sals, Irvings, Vincenzas, and Noras jump up and down as if they haven't seen this 500 FRICKIN times! Trot Nixon with a towel over his head and me wondering why I put myself through this every year.

Of course that's what happened LAST year...this is THIS YEAR.

Still...Prediction: Yankees in Seven (of course)