Superior pitching. Better bullpen. Deeper lineup. More consistent offensively. These were all adjectives describing the New York Yankees in comparison to the Boston Red Sox prior to their weekend series.
And guess what! The Red Sox took three of four from their mortal enemies, and made all the media members and fans who spat out those adjectives look foolish.
Start with pitching. The Yankees holy foursome of Orlando Hernandez, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite and Mike Mussina went 0-3 over the weekend, with only the fat Texan incurring a no-decision.
Boston's 'inferior' rotation of Paxton Crawford, Pedro Martinez, Hideo Nomo and Frank Castillo went 3-0 with a 1.80 E.R.A. over 25 innings in the series. Wow, who could have predicted this one?
None other than the pitching Ph.D. himself, Joe Kerrigan. The doctor told reporters early in the season that he was happier with his staff than ever before and would take them over the Pinstripes vaunted rotation.
Pedro received the no decision, and Derek Lowe, the Sox all-star closer, has been terrible early in the season. These two were supposed to be the cornerstones of Boston's rotation, and instead they are the biggest underachievers (Pedro being only 1-0 with a 1.23 E.R.A. after three starts is underachieving, in case you New Yorkers didn't know).
Factor in Boston's dominant bullpen members such as Rod Beck, who is unscored upon this year, Rich Garces a premier setup man in the league, and converted starters Rolando Arrojo and Tim Wakefield and the Red Sox can stack up with any working staff in baseball.
So, now that Boston has matched New York's pitching by spending less than half the money, and while Cy Young award winners Bret Saberhagen and David Cone continue to strengthen their injured arms and are looking stronger than in the past four years, New York should be afraid. Yet true Yankees fans won't worry, and will say "they can't hit, we're safe."
Alright. Let's dissect this lineup and its early season performance.
Manny Ramirez is going to hit, without question, and he will do it ALL year. He has produced more runs over the past four years than anyone in baseball, and, despite a slow start to his year, is already in the top 5 in the AL in RBIs.
Next, Carl Everett, however insane he may be, and whether or not he hates his manager and teammates, will hit. After hitting .417 on his recent homestand and scoring 11 runs, there is no doubt in the minds of Red Sox Nation that he can hit third in the order and will regularly give Manny some one to knock in.
A renewed Dante Bichette, finally out of Jimy Williams' doghouse, should see some significant playing time after hitting well over the weekend, and you now have a third pure basher who will regularly dent the Monster at Fenway and make opposing pitchers fear the middle of the lineup. Possibly Jimy should consider playing him at first base just to get his bat in the lineup regularly.
Add a healthy and hitting Jose Offerman, who is now hitting .342, and the always steady Jason Varitek, who has started slowly despite a solid weekend series, and you have a 2-6 group that can match up with anyone. With rookie Shea Hillenbrand being a steady hitter early in the year, having hit safely in 10 out of his 12 games, the Sox now have an added component to their lineup, which helped them tee off on the Yankees, including getting 14 hits off of Pettite, which was a career high for the Yankee lefthander.
Add to this mix the following names: Scott Hatteberg, Brian Daubach, Troy O'Leary, Lou Merloni, Mike Lansing and Chris Stynes. This forms the bulk of the Red Sox bench, and it can do some damage. Daubach is the Sox leader in dingers with four and second on the team with 10 RBI. Hatteberg, Merloni, and Lansing are among Boston's top seven hitters right now while spot starting and coming off the bench. That steady play, combined with O'Leary's power will make up for the absence of Nomar Garciaparra and the slow starts of Varitek and Trot Nixon.
Compare this to a bench that has Joe Oliver, Michael Coleman (unwanted by the Sox), Luis Sojo, Clay Bellinger, Shane Spencer and a less than mint condition Henry Rodriguez, and I'll take Boston hands down.
All this is speculative, however, as it merely means that Boston WILL beat the Yankees in the majority of the 19 games that the teams will play over the regular season. The rest of the league is another matter. Any who doubt this can watch this weekend when the boys of summer head to the Slum that Steinbrenner Bought for another series.
To make things worse for those poor people in New York who like the Boss and his overpaid crew, Nomar will be back for AT LEAST the second half of the year. Boy are the Yankees really in trouble then.
So come playoff time, Yankees' fans should be hoping that someone beats the Sox first, or else. For a Red Sox " Yankees playoff series, without Tim Tschida at second base, can result in only one thing this year: a NEW World Series Champion.
