The Hate Is Back

With the Red Sox safely in first for much of the summer, I wasn't feeling the Yankee hate as much I have in the past. In fact, there were certain points early in the year when I almost felt sorry for the team. And as they got better over the summer, it was frustrating to see them vault into the wild card lead, but again - the Red Sox were in first, so I couldn't go too crazy.

But after Friday night's gut-wrencher, the hate is back. I'm taking the gloves off.

That instant "YES classic" was easily the most brutal game of the year for me. Especially seeing them tee off against Okajima and Papelbon. In the big scheme of things, I didn't think it was a big deal - if Mariano can have his off days, so can anyone else. I'll still take Okajima and Paps in a playoff game against the Yanks over almost anyone else out there. But to see them blow it against the Yankees in Fenway, to see the glee on the Yankee fans' faces - it was too much for me.

- One saving grace: the Red Sox can beat Yankee starting pitching. They hit well against Pettitte and Wang, the Yanks' two best arms.

Still Sweet

Why have I not posted in months? I'll 'fess up. I liked the direction the Yankees were going in, and didn't like where Boston was headed. I thought Cashman was smart in trading Sheffield, Jaret Wright (on the DL again), and Randy Johnson for young pitchers. And I hated the J.D. Drew deal, and wasn't so sure about Dice-K. I also didn't like the fact that the payroll gap between the Yanks and the Sox shrunk from $80 million to about $20 million. It's hard to argue that the Yankees are ruining baseball; aside from the Nationals, Royals, Orioles, Devil Rays, and Pirates, it looks like every team has a shot at the playoffs. And even if you argue that they're still messing up the game, the Red Sox aren't much better anymore.

But when Mariano gave up that walk-off homer to ex-Met Marco Scutaro, I felt that feeling again. That pleasure in seeing the Yankees lose, especially in such dramatic fashion. Once you're a Yankee-hater, you're always a Yankee-hater. I used to think Mariano was a rare classy Yankee, but he acted like a jerk this spring. Hey Mo, keep giving up homers to .050 hitters and maybe the Devil Rays will come calling next winter.

- The Yanks are in trouble, and they're lucky that Toronto just got hammered by injuries. I'm not surprised by the injuries to the Yankees' pitching staff. With Pavano, you knew it was only a matter of time. And Mussina, too. The guy is 38 and has had a few DL stints over the past couple of years. The Wang injury was arguably more unexpected, but remember that the guy missed a few months in '05 and a year-plus in the minors to injury.

- And one stupid move by Ca$hman was signing Igawa. Everyone knows that was just a dumb reactionary move to counter the Dice-K acquisition. At least Dice-K probably has the stuff to be an ace. Igawa has the ability to be the Yankees' version of Gil Meche.

- Even though many of the names have changed, these are still the Yankees of A-Shmuck, J-E-ter, Johnny "Traitor" Damon, Juice-on Giambi, Joe Snorre, John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Still pretty hateable, I must say.