I am a petty little person

My team is out of the playoffs but I am getting great joy in rooting for the Giants, my dad's team.

But I am getting another perverse pleasure that I am not proud of... but I admit is there. It is always fun to not only see the Yankees lose, but to read the abject panic that happens in Yankee land by way of the New York press.

It's truly difficult to understand what the New York media or any Northeastern media is regarding baseball unless you experience it first hand.

There is no middle ground... only chest thumping arrogance, or Chicken Little hysteria.

Before the series started? The columns were about how the Yankees experience was going to overwhelm the Rangers... and how the showdown with Philadelphia was inevitable.

Now the Yankees have been out played for all but 2 innings and are handing the fate of the season over to A. J. Burnett... the Yankee press is now pushing Kate Winslet out of the way to get into a lifeboat before the boat sinks.

Lamenting the Burnett signing...
Grinding their teeth over Lee's dominance...
Doubting the Yankees ability to come back...

It's good old fashioned Schadenfreude! Rooting AGAINST the Yankees goes beyond the days of Joe Hardy... And yeah, it's fun to admit that watching Yankee land squirm is fun.

Classy?
No.

Honorable?
No.

But neither is laughing at someone passing gas... but we still do it.

Look at that! The Red Sox won a game!

Christ, I forgot what that even felt like.
Well a night where the Red Sox and Yankees played a combined 20 innings, it is nice to know they had one more comeback and one more walk off win.

Granted it was the Red Sox JV team beating the Yankees JV team... but think of THIS, lovers of Schadenfreude... if the Rays win a game against the 94 loss Kansas City Royals tomorrow, they will be AL East Champs.

And if the Yankees have to play a game 5 of the Division Series or Game 7 of the ALCS on the road, they can remember a night when they were pooped and had Ivan Nova chucking meatballs to Bill Hall.

You are welcome Tampa. Now win your game tomorrow.

10 Reasons to watch this weekend's Red Sox/Yankees Series

When the 2010 schedule was published showing the season beginning and ending with Red Sox and Yankee series, it sure felt exciting, didn't it?

Perhaps there would be a great showdown for the AL East... maybe playoff positioning?

When the Red Sox were hovering around contention the 6 head to head meetings over the final 10 games sure looked inviting.

Now...
Flop.

The Red Sox are all but done... the tragic number is 4. They are playing out the string and getting ready to play golf this October.

The Yankees are cruising to another October appearance and trying to right their pitching staff while jockeying for position with the Rays and Twins.

So why should Red Sox fans even watch this series?
There are some reasons...


1. WIN THE SERIES AND THE RED SOX HOLD OFF ELIMINATION

Yeah elimination will be inevitable... but if it can be held off until Monday, then as a point of pride we can say "We weren't eliminated until the last week of the season."

With all the injuries on the team, that's a nice (if misleading) thing to say.


2. DELAY THE YANKEE CELEBRATION

It's clear by the way Joe Girardi is managing that he is simply trying to make the post season without worrying about the Division... sure he would LIKE to win the Division but he'd RATHER have a healthy pitching staff. So the Yankees clinching a playoff spot seems to be the goal.

They'll get there, but it doesn't have to be on OUR watch.


3. JON LESTER, COMPROMISE CY YOUNG CANDIDATE?

Can Jon Lester get to 20 wins? If he does will he be a Cy Young Candidate? (Sabathia's 20 wins seem to be his only qualification over Felix Hernandez but he is talked about as the front runner.)

If Lester gets 20, his name will be in the mix. He goes for win #19 on Saturday.


4. 90 WINS IS A GOOD GOAL FOR THIS TEAM

Seriously, with all the injuries and strife on this team to finish with 90 wins would be a real accomplishment.

They need to win 6 games out of their last 10 to pull that off. That would give Francona six 90 win seasons out of seven years in Boston. Not bad.


5. MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE WILL GET HURT

The Red Sox have had 19 guys on their disabled list.
Why not 20? Seriously... a nice round number is easier to remember. And that would be the legacy of the 2010 Red Sox... 20 dudes on the DL.

That would make 90 wins even MORE impressive.






6. IT WILL TAKE YOUR MIND OFF OF THE PATRIOTS/JETS LOSS

Perhaps seeing a New England team beat a New York team will take the sting out of it.

Yeah that is petty... but so are we!



7. YOU'LL GET TO SEE THE RED SOX SEE THE SUBTLE STEINBRENNER MEMORIAL

Then again they can probably see it from Fenway Park.






8. MAYBE THEY'LL SHOW SOME CLIPS OF THE 2004 ALCS

Those are always fun to see.

Granted they will also show clips of Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone etc... but those don't hurt as much since '04 and '07.

Plus it is always interesting to see how they can spin the rivalry since the whole Bambino thing is over.




9. NO MATTER WHAT THE STANDINGS ARE, IT IS ALWAYS FUN TO SEE THE YANKEES LOSE

It isn't nice to admit that, but it is true.

Admit it Sox fans... when you saw that the Yankees were getting killed last night, you checked in... hoping to see Joba and Vazquez get slapped around. Seeing the seed of doubt creep into Yankee land, especially on the dawn of the playoffs, is a beautiful thing. Why not see the Sox contribute to that?


10. YOU WILL SEE THE BEGINNING OF THE GREATEST END OF THE SEASON COLLAPSE IN YANKEE HISTORY AND THE RED SOX STORM INTO THE PLAYOFFS

Hey... how is that any less likely than the Red Sox coming back from a 3-0 series hole, trailing in the 9th facing Mariano Rivera?

I bet you thought we were dead then too!

The come back starts NOW!



So have fun, and remember Sox fans who make the trip, you will be in THEIR home. Play nicely.

Besides, Red Sox fans and Yankee fans should be friends.

So play ball! Go Sox and make us proud in what is left of this season.
(And let's hope Joba gets an appearance or two.)

A disturbing stat for Yankee haters

For those of us who are saying "Oh please don't have the Yankees repeat this year" (and it isn't just Red Sox fans saying that), I figured out something that refers the Schadenfreude of watching the Yankees blow a game.

The Yankees are on a roll now, winning 7 in a row despite no A-Rod and uncertainty in their rotation.

And they still aren't blowing games. Sure they've lost a few, including 13 in a not bad but not stellar August.

But they don't blow games late. Yes, Mariano Rivera lost a game to Texas in August, but that game was tied.

The Yankees haven't lost a game where they led in the 8th inning or later since Joba Chamberlain coughed up 4 runs against the Mariners on July 10th.

That was BEFORE the All Star break.

So for those of us hoping to see the Yankees drop a heart breaker, it just isn't happening.

(Maybe they'll be due for a face plant in October! A petty Sox fan can dream, can't he?)