Even Jeter the Cheater Can’t Stop Sox Magic Number from Dropping!

I mean, it’s still at 23. But, it’s dropping. If the Yankees keep dogging it for the next couple weeks, and the Sox can string a few, the last week of the season could actually be interesting.
I wonder what Theo is thinking these days. Even with him giving up on the team in July, they’re hanging close. Does he regret taking the summer off? Is he kicking himself? Does he think, “If only I had actually done something constructive once or twice this season…we’d be right there!” Does he wish he had picked up Kearns at the deadline so the team would have that one more bat? Does he wish that he had improved the bullpen over the season? Even a little? Does he look back as games they lost with Jed Lowrie pinch-hitting for Bill Hall and feel disgusted with himself? Boy, I hope so.

The Sox are currently 6 games back from the Yankees. They play the Yankees six more times this season. Very interesting. The Sox play Toronto and Baltimore, while the Yanks play Baltimore and Tampa. Other than the games against each other, there are only four games different between the two teams. Boston plays Chicago four times, while NY plays the Rays those four times. They each have three game sets against Baltimore and Toronto. Interesting. Very interesting. (And, we obviously all remember, the Yankees are the biggest chokers in the history of baseball.) Can the Sox just keep winning?

Jeter the Cheater tried his best to at least control the Sox chances. He joined the ranks of Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada as completely Bush League Yankees. Actually pretending to be hit by a pitch is about as classless as they come. I really shouldn’t be, but I’m still amazed at the national media rising to his defense. If Jeter does it, lying is apparently just fine. Wasn’t he supposed to be this great role model showing kids across America how to play the right way? Apparently, if you lie but run out groundballs, you’re a model baseball player and citizen. When is the media going to finally admit they’ve been backing the wrong horse for 15 years?

The best part of the Yankees rough stretch, is it makes it OK to cheer for the Rays next week. A couple weeks ago, I figured that the Sox’s best chance would be if the Yankees swept the Rays in their last seven games. That would put the Yanks in full coast mode when they faced the Sox in September. I’d rather be neck-and-neck with the Rays while the Yanks are playing their C-Team. But, I couldn’t bring myself to actually cheer for the Yanks. Now, however, it’s changed. The Yanks themselves are now the easier catch. So, we actually want the Rays to sweep the Yanks and bring the Yanks even closer. So, I can cheer for the Yankees to lose every game the rest of the year. Life is normal again.

Boy would a 5-1 homestand look great right about now.