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A Chronological History of Amazing Boston Red Sox Losses, Remarkable Collapses and Other Record Breaking Feats
1900- | 1910- | 1920- | 1930- | 1940- | 1950- | 1960- | 1970- | 1980- | 1990- | 2000-2000 87-74, 2nd place in the AL East, 2-1/2 games back of the New York Yankees
June 19, 2000: The Yankees beat the Red Sox 22-1, handing them their most-lopsided home loss ever. New York scored sixteen runs in the final two innings of the game.
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July 15, 2000: The player's families (including Carl Everett's wife and baby boy) were in the stands for "Family Day" at Fenway. Everett was ejected from the game for a profanity-laced tirade that resulted in his bumping home plate umpire Ron Kulpa twice. Everett (who blamed the media) was suspended for ten games. Earlier in the season, Everett went into a tirade and demanded that reporter Dan Shaughnessy leave the clubhouse after Shaughnessy reported that Jeff Frye and Everett had an "animated discussion". Later in the season, Jim Rice had to restrain Everett after he threatened teammate Darren Lewis, who had questioned him about not arriving early to get treatment for injuries.
September 29, 2000: A one-run extra-inning loss against Toronto on September 14 started a Yankee losing streak where they dropped twelve out of fifteen games. New York's lock on the AL East crown was at risk. The Sox needed a sweep of their final series versus (last place) Tampa Bay in order to have a chance at forcing a one-game tiebreaker for the Division Title. Boston lost the first game 8-6, permitting the Yankees to back into the postseason. New York went on to win the World Series (their third in a row, fourth out of five, and twenty-sixth overall).
December 11, 2000: The Boston Red Sox signed Manny Ramirez to a contract worth $20 million per year, surpassing the prior record of $17 million (earned by Carlos Delgado).
2001 82-79, 2nd place in the AL East, 13-1/2 games back of the New York Yankees
May 23, 2001: Yankee SS Derek Jeter had the only five-hit game of his career, as New York beat Boston, 7-3.
May 30, 2001: Boston's Pedro Martinez beat the Yankees for the first time in over a year (since May 28, 2000 Martinez faced the Yanks five times and Boston lost all five games). The following day Pedro scoffed at "The Curse", telling reporters "I don't believe in damn curses, wake up the dumb Bambino and have me face him -- maybe I'll drill him in the %#$." At the time Pedro was 7-1 with a 1.44 ERA. After his challenge, he managed only seven more starts during the season (without a win) due to rotator cuff trouble. It was the first time that Martinez was winless in seven straight starts since the first seven of his major league career; during this time he went 0-2 with a 4.54 ERA. The Red Sox lost their seven remaining games in 2001 against the Yankees after Martinez's comment.
June 16, 2001: The Atlanta Braves shut out the Boston Red Sox, 8-0. It represented the 1000th time that the Red Sox were shut out in their history.
July 22, 2001: As the Red Sox visited Chicago, Magglio Ordonez and Ray Durham each stole two bases. White Sox C Mark Johnson had one of his two SB of the entire season, and Herb Perry had one of his two SB of the season. Aaron Rowand added another. The seven swipes were all off of Red Sox C Scott Hatteberg. No White Sox runners were caught stealing during the 13-8 Chicago victory.
August 13, 2001: After hitting a home run, Carl Everett grabbed his crotch as he spit at opposing pitcher Jamie Moyer. Major League Baseball fined Everett for "inappropriate on-field conduct." Prior to the start of the regular season, Everett had been fined over $97,000 by the Red Sox and suspended for one exhibition game. Later, in September, he was fined and suspended by the team after berating manager Joe Kerrigan, calling him a drunk and a racist.
August 16, 2001: On the 53rd anniversary of Babe Ruth's passing, Boston terminated Jimy Williams, and named pitching coach Joe Kerrigan manager. The move was considered questionable for three reasons; historically pitching coaches have not been successful at managing major league teams, Kerrigan had never managed a team at any level, and at the time, Williams had the Red Sox in playoff contention (five games back in the East, three behind Oakland for the wildcard).
In response to player complaints about Boston's ever-changing lineup and batting order, Kerrigan promised a "stable lineup" during his introductory press conference. In his first twenty-four games as manager, he used twenty-four different batting orders (and 42 different orders in his 43 games as manager). His 17-26 record is one of the ten worst in the history of the franchise.
September 2, 2001: New York's Mike Mussina took a perfect game into the bottom of the ninth at Fenway, but had to settle for a one-hit shutout. It was the finale of a three game sweep, and the first time in major league history that a team swept a series despite not scoring in the first seven innings of any game. The sweep was the second of four consecutive against Boston; Cleveland swept Boston between August 28 and 30, New York swept between August 31 and September 2, The Indians swept again on September 4-6, and that was followed by another three-game sweep in New York.
September 7, 2001: Mariano Rivera grabbed his 45th save of the season (enroute to a total of 50) as New York beat Boston, 3-2, at Yankee Stadium.
The 2001 Red Sox had a .286 record in September. They did not have a pitcher who won more than thirteen games or who was among the top-thirty ERA leaders. However, fourex-Red Sox were on the top-30 list (including three 20-game winners); Curt Schilling (2.98 ERA, 22-6), Jamie Moyer (3.43, 20-6), Roger Clemens (3.52, 20-3), and Aaron Sele (3.60, 15-5). The 2001 Red Sox stole an AL-low 46 bases, while allowing the most in the majors (223; 68 more than second place Baltimore). Both Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki (56 SB) and Detroit's Roger Cedeno (55) individually had more stolen bases than the entire Red Sox team. Boston batters led the AL with 1131 strikeouts.
December 13, 2001: Boston unloaded Carl Everett by trading him to the Texas Rangers. In return they received starting pitcher Darren Oliver. Oliver's ERA over the prior two seasons was 6.60. His last winning season was 1997, when he went 13-12. Oliver was released at the end of June after he failed to win a game over a seven-week span. After Everett fully recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery, he became the Ranger's full-time leftfielder. He represented Texas in the 2003 All-Star Game.
2002 93-69, 2nd place in the AL East, 10-1/2 games back of the New York Yankees
February 27, 2002: Ownership of the Red Sox was transferred from the Yawkey Trust to a group led by ex-Florida Marlins owner John Henry. GM Dan Duquette was fired the next day. Tom Yawkey, his wife, or their trust had owned the team for 69 years. During that span, the Red Sox went to four World Series, losing all four in game seven. Nobody has ever owned a major league baseball team for a longer period of time without winning a championship.
May 26, 2002: New York had six home runs at Fenway (including two by 2B Alfonso Soriano) during a Yankee 14-5 victory.
July 16, 2002: Detroit's Damion Easley tied the major league record when he was hit by three Red Sox pitches on May 31, 1999. It happened again on July 16, 2002 when he was hit twice by Boston's John Burkett and once by Willie Banks.
July 20-21, 2002: On July 20, Boston rallied to take an 8-6 lead in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. New York tied the game in the bottom of the inning. The Yankees had the bases loaded with one out in the eleventh with the game still tied at eight; Mike Stanley (managing for Grady Little, who was ejected) left the infield at normal depth instead of bringing them in. Robin Ventura's grounder up the middle drove Alfonso Soriano home as the infield was too far back to make a play at the plate -- or to try for a double play. On the next day, the Red Sox again rallied from behind, taking an 8-7 lead in the seventh inning. After getting the final two outs of the eighth, Boston's closer, Ugueth Urbina, took the mound in the bottom of the ninth -- still holding the one-run lead. With the Red Sox infield in an extreme shift (playing three infielders between first and second), Jason Giambi led off with a check-swing single to the third-base side. Enrique Wilson, running for Giambi, scored the tying run when Trot Nixon let a Bernie Williams single to roll under his glove in right. Bostonintentionally walkedthe next two batters, loading the baseswith no outs. Urbina walked Jorge Posada, forcing Williams home from third. The Yankees won their second game by a score of 9-8 in their final at bat.
August 1, 2002: John Burkett started the game in Texas for the Sox. He gave up eight earned runs on six hits and two hit-batsmen in 1-1/3 innings pitched. He was relieved by Frankie Castillo, who gave up ten earned runs on eleven hits (including four homers) and four walks over 3-2/3 innings. After five innings, the Rangers had an 18-1 lead. The game ended in a 19-7 Texas victory.
August 27-28, 2002: The Yankees came to Fenway for a two game series. David Wells pitched eight scoreless innings as New York blanked Boston 6-0 in the first game. On the following day, Mike Mussina pitched a three-hit complete game shut out, winning 7-0. It was the first time since 1943 that the Yankees shutout the Red Sox in consecutive games at Fenway.
September 3, 2002: Roger Clemens struck out ten Red Sox batters in 7-1/3 innings, notching his 100th win since leaving Boston.
September 7-8, 2002: The drug-themed song "I Get High", by Styles, was played before Manny Ramirez's plate appearances on September 7. Ramirez took an unusually long amount of time before his first at-bat on September 8. Fifty-four seconds into the song, the word m$therf&*ker blared over Fenway's loudspeakers and the music was shut off. Afterwards, Red Sox spokesperson Charles Steinberg said there were no plans to stop letting players choose their own music.
Boston starting the season by winning forty games and losing only seventeen (.702 through June 6). In their final 105 games, they went 53-52. The Red Sox were the first team in baseball to reach 40 wins in 2002, the fourth to reach 50, the eighth to 70, and theninthteam to reach 90 wins. Nomar Garciaparra led all shortstops in the American League with 25 errors, Shea Hillebrand was tied for the most in the majors at thirdbase with 23.
With player salaries topping $108 million, the Red Sox had the second highest payroll in baseball for the second consecutive year.
November 25, 2002: The Red Sox named Theo Epstein general manager. At age 28, he became the youngest GM in major league history. His first move was to claim Ryan Rupe off of waivers two days later. Boston OF Trot Nixon had thrown his bat at Rupe on May 5, earning him a four game suspension. Rupe did not make the team. It was reported that Epstein became violent after failing to sign two free agents in December. He reportedly broke a window and a door in his Nicaraguan hotel after Jose Contreras signed with the Yankees. It was also reported that Epstein broke a chair during the winter meetings after realizing Edgardo Alfonzo had chosen the Giants over the Red Sox.
2003 95-67, AL Wildcard, lost to the New York Yankees in the ALCS
July 20, 2003: Jeff Bagwell hit his 400th career home run. He was still playing for the Houston Astros, to whom the Red Sox traded Bagwell in 1990 for Larry Andersen.
August 31, 2003: Roger Clemens made his final regular season Fenway Park appearance. Clemens threw 6-2/3 innings of six hit, four run ball -- at one point retiring eleven of twelve Red Sox hitters. The game ended 8-4 when Nomar Garciaparra struck out with the bases loaded. Roger Clemens won his 100th game at Fenway Park, making him the pitcher with the best record ever at the Fens (100-55). Manny Ramirez did not play in the three game series due to a severe sore throat, although he was seen out at the Ritz-Carlton lounge with Enrique Wilson.
Boston earned the 2003 American League wildcard spot, and played in their first postseason in four years.
October 1, 2003: Facing the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS, the Red Sox played in their first playoff game since 1999. Pedro Martinez pitched seven innings, giving up three runs. Two Todd Walker blasts led the Red Sox offense to a 4-3 lead. After Mike Timlin pitched a scoreless eighth, Byung-Hyun Kim took the mound in the bottom of the ninth, still nursing the one-run lead. Ramon Hernandez flew out to center. Kim walked pinch hitter Billy McMillon on four pitches, and Eric Byrnes came in to run. On a 1-1 count, Kim hit Chris Singleton with a pitch, advancing Byrnes to second. Kim struck out Mark Ellis, and Alan Embree relieved him to face Eurubiel Durazo. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth (and runners of first and second), Durazo hit Embree's third pitch into left center to tie the game. Keith Foulke threw seven pitches in the top of the tenth, retiring three Red Sox batters. He struck out three in the eleventh, and Rich Harden pitched a hitless twelfth inning that was highlighted by Eric Chavez's spectacular catch and dive to get Manny Ramirez out at third to end the inning; Ramirez had failed to get a good jump on the ball despite there being two outs and a force play in order at third. Oakland's bullpen had held the Red Sox scoreless for five innings. Derek Lowe (pitching in relief) walked Durazo to start the bottom of the twelfth. Eric Chavez replaced Durazo at first when he grounded into a fielder's choice. He advanced to second on a Miguel Tejada grounder to third. With two outs, former Sox catcher Scott Hatteberg walked, and Chavez stole third off of Lowe's deliberate motion. The Red Sox intentionally loaded the bases, and Lowe faced Ramon Hernandez. Hernandez took a strike. With Boston 3B Bill Mueller playing deep at third, Hernandez laid a perfect bunt up the line to squeeze Eric Chavez home to win the game.--!> October 2, 2003: Barry Zito struck out nine Red Sox batters over seven innings pitched, as Oakland beat Boston 5-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series. Zito struck out the side in the fourth inning, as well as the first two batters in the fifth -- tying the postseason record of five consecutive strikeouts. All of Oakland's runs were scored in the second inning off of Tim Wakefield. The Athletics bullpen has not given up a run in the series. Boston needs to sweep their remaining three games against Oakland in order to continue to the ALCS.--!> October 4, 2003: As Boston closer Byung-Hyun Kim took the field during pre-game introductions a Fenway, fans began booing (in reaction to his blown save in ALDS game 1). Kim stopped tipping his cap, raised his right hand and put up his middle finger to the Fenway faithful. Earlier in the season, Kim had complained about the negative atmosphere in the Boston clubhouse. Derek Lowe held Oakland to one run over seven innings, and the Boston bullpen (sans Kim) did not give up a run in four innings of relief. A Trot Nixon home run in the bottom of the eleventh beat the Athletics, 3-1.--!> October 11, 2003: The Boston Red Sox came back from a two-game to none deficit against the Oakland Athletics to advance on to the American League Championship Series. They split their first two at Yankee Stadium and the series moved to Fenway tied at one game apiece.
Boston took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game three with three hits off of Roger Clemens. Jorge Posada scored on a Karim Garcia single in the second, andYankee ShortstopDerek Jeter tied the game with a solo homerover the Green Monsterin the third. In the top of the fourth, with the game still tied at two, the Yankees had runners on first and second. Hideki Matsui's ground rule double gave New York a 3-2 lead. With first base open, Pedro Martinez hit Karim Garcia with his next pitch. Nick Johnson scored when Alfonso Soriano hit into a double play and Garcia slid hard into secondbaseman Todd Walker. Both teams came out of their dugouts as the two players started shoving. While standing well behind his teammates, Martinez pointed at his head taunting New York's Jorge Posada, but did not enter the fray.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Roger Clemens threw a 1-2 pitch to Manny Ramirez that was high,but clearly over the plate. Ramirez dove out of the way before the ball reached home plate; both dugouts emptied. In the melee Martinez grabbed 72-year-old Don Zimmer by the head and slammed him to the ground after Zimmer charged towards him. Once play resumed, Ramirez struck out on the next pitch. Boston later scored a run in the seventh to bring the game back to within one. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings; New York won the game 4-3. Roger Clemens got the win in his final appearance at Fenway Park. Don Zimmer was taken from the park by ambulance after the game.
October 14, 2003: After Boston tied the ALCS at two games each, New York's David Wells pitched seven innings, giving up four hits and one run. He handed over the game to Mariano Rivera, who got his second save of the 2003 ALCS as the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 4-2. New York took a three game to two lead in the best-of-seven series. Wells is one of only five lefties to ever beat the Red Sox at Fenway in the postseason (joining Rube Marquard, 1912 Giants World Series game 3; Hippo Vaughn, 1918 Cubs World Series game 5; Bob Ojeda, 1986 Mets World Series game 3; and Andy Pettite, 1999 Yankees ALCS game 4).
October 16, 2003: After rallying to come back from a two-run deficit in game six, winning 9-6, the Red Sox painted the World Series logo on the field at Fenway Park. They took an early lead in the final, deciding, game of the ALCS. Boston got four runs off of an ineffective Roger Clemens before Mike Mussina took over with runners on first and third with none out in fourth. Mussina got out of the jam, and pitched a total of three scoreless innings in the first relief appearance of his career. The Yankees chipped away, scoring one run in the fifth, and one in the seventh -- both on Jason Giambi home runs.
New York's David Wells came in to the game in the top of the eighth and gave up a homer to David Ortiz on his first pitch. Boston took a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the inning. Pedro Martinez's pitch count was in triple-digits after a shaky seventh, Boston's bullpen had been doing an outstanding job during the entire postseason, and two relievers were ready in the pen. It appeared that Pedro would not be pitching the eighth. The early edition of the New York Post already included an editorial chiding the Yankees for being unable to close out the series. Grady Little left Martinez in the game. Pedro got Nick Johnson to pop out and Boston was five outs away from beating their archrivals to advance to the World Series.
Derek Jeter doubled to deep right. Little left Martinez in the game to face Bernie Williams, who brought Jeter home with a single to center. New York's best two clutch hitters were due up next. As Grady Little walked to the mound, it seemed that the righthanded Martinez was once again done for the night; lefthanded hitting Hideki Matsui was due up at the plate -- representing the tying run. Matsui was in the top-fifteen in the league in hits, RBIs, and doubles. But Little left Martinez in the game to face Matsui, whose ground rule double brought Bernie Williams around to third. Then, Little left Martinez in to face Jorge Posada (top six in the league in walks and on-base-percentage, 101 regular season RBIs, 30 regular season home runs, .345 season average versus Boston). Posada's two-run double tied it at five.
After Martinez was finally removed from the game and Jason Giambi was retired by Alan Embree, Ruben Serria reached first on an intentional walk. He was replaced by pinchrunner Aaron Boone, who failed to scored. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera came in to pitch the top of the ninth of the tie ballgame. Jason Varitek hit a one-out single, and was replaced by Damian Jackson who moved to second on a Johnny Damon grounder. Todd Walker lined out to end the inning. New York could not get a runner on base in the ninth against Mike Timlin.
David Ortiz hit a two-out double off of Rivera in the top of the tenth. Little replaced the slow-footed Ortiz with Gabe Kapler; Boston no longer had Ortiz or Varitek in the lineup. The next batter, Kevin "Cowboy Up" Millar, popped out to end the Sox inning. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who already had two wins in the '03 ALCS, had a 1-2-3 tenth inning. Rivera stayed in, retiring three straight Boston batters in the top of the eleventh. Aaron Boone (who had been batting .161, and had managed only one RBI, in the postseason) hit Tim Wakefield's first pitch of the eleventh inning into the leftfield stands to win the game, 6-5. The following morning a large blue tarp, surrounded by yellow warning tape, covered the freshly painted World Series logo on the Fenway Park grass.
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Mariano Rivera, who had two saves and a win, was named MVP. In the two American League Championship Series in which New York played Boston (1999 and 2003), Rivera pitched a total of 12-2/3 innings. He gave up ten hits, walked none, struck out nine, and allowed just one earned run.
AL Batting Champion Bill Mueller hit .222 in the ALCS, striking out seven times. In twelve postseason games, he never drove in a run, and scored only once. Nomar Garciaparra was second in the league in runs scored during the regular season, but only scored twice in the series. He came to bat with runners on base twelve times against the Yankees, and never had a hit in those twelve at-bats. With runners in scoring position during the 2003 postseason, Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, and Mueller all batted .000. The Red Sox record in the six AL Championship Series in which they have played is 11-19 (.367).
October 25, 2003: The Florida Marlins beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. Chad Fox and Ugueth Urbina joined 42 other players who have played for the Red Sox and went on to other teams to earn their first World Series ring.
Shortly after the postseason, the Red Sox declined to pick up Grady Little's 2004 option and announced their annual ticket price hike. The average cost of a ticket to see a game at Fenway in 2004 will be $44.37. The cost to take a family of four to a Sox game at Fenway is $263, which is $70 more than the second place Chicago Cubs. Fenway is the most expensive venue in baseball for the sixth straight year, and 2004 is the ninth consecutive year that the Red Sox have raised prices.
2004 98-64, World Series Champions
The Red Sox entered '04 with a $125 million payroll; second only to the Yankees, and approximately twenty percent higher than any other team besides New York. Boston was the early favorite to win the Series. They have four All-Stars eligible for free agency after this season; Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, Nomar Garciaparra, and Jason Varitek. Even if the team is able to shed Manny Ramirez's contract, it is unlikely they will be able to sign all four. Additionally, 2B Pokey Reese and RP Scott Williamson are also eligible for free agency. This, coupled with their lack of depth in the minors, placed pressure on the 2004 Red Sox to get it done now.
February 16, 2004: Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig approved the trade of New York's Alfonso Soriano, and a player to be named later (minor leaguer Joaquin Arias), to the Texas Rangers for reigning American League MVP Alex Rodriguez. The Red Sox had courted Rodriguez for the better part of the off season. In the end, they needed to absorb another $2 million dollars annually of A-Rod's contract in order to come to terms that would satisfy the player, the league, and the Players Association. The talks between the Rangers and the Red Sox spent little time in private, with both sides issuing statements and deadlines through the press. When the player's union first rejected the proposed restructuring of Rodriguez's contract, Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino lashed out at the union and their Associate General Counsel Gene Orza. That aliented Orza, and placed A-Rod in a difficult position among his fellow union-members. Those two items made a compromise difficult. During their negotiations, the Sox made it known that they were planning to trade their "franchise player," Nomar Garciaparra, to Chicago.
Rodriguez offered to play third for the Yankees, allowing their captain, Derek Jeter, to remain at shortstop. Rodriguez will be wearing number 13 for the Yankees, since the number three is retired in honor of Babe Ruth. The trade for Rodriguez has been called the biggest move in baseball since New York purchased Ruth from the Red Sox prior to the 1920 season. The need for a thirdbaseman in New York arose when Aaron Boone injured his knee in a basketball game and appeared to be out for the season. Boone hit a bottom of the eleventh homerun to beat the Red Sox in game seven of the 2003 ALCS.
With 98 wins and 64 losses, Boston had their best record since 1978, and took the AL wildcard. 2004 marked the seventh year in a row that the Yankees won the AL East, while the Red Sox came in second. Boston swept the Angels in the ALDS. They overcame a 3-0 deficit in the American League Championship by winning the last four games against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox advanced to the World Series for the first time since losing to the Mets in 1986.
October 27, 2004: The Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in four straight games. The Curse was broken.
2005 Yankees 95-67, Sox 95-67, Yankees win season series and Division
There is an old expression that says, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." No better slogan than that sums up the 2005 Boston Red Sox season.
For the first time in 86 years the Sox entered the regular season as defending World Series Champions. The curse had been broken; things were finally going to be different for one of baseballs oldest franchises. For the better part of the regular season the Bo-Sox lead the AL East, but just when things were looking best, the traditional Red Sox returned.
Boston once again squandered the division lead in September as the Yankees stormed back to win the season series and, subsequently their eighth straight division title. Once again the team, who has been synonymous with late-season collapses, suffered another late-season collapse. The 2004 ALCS showed the Red Sox could finally beat the Yankees when it counted, but is proving to be nothing more than a blind squirrel finding the eventual nut.
Things got even worst for Boston in the playoffs as the Gods seem to begin extracting payment for the gift they had given the Red Sox the previous year. After losing game one of the 2005 American League Division Series to the White Sox, Boston was in a position to claim game two and even it up again. Leading 4-0 in the fifth inning the White Sox chipped away at the lead until they were down only two with one out. Juan Uribe proceeded to step up to the plate and hit a slow ground ball to second baseman Tony Graffanino that appeared to set up an inning-ending double play. However, in true Buckner form, Graffanino allowed the ball to scoot right in between his legs. Two batters later Tadhito Iguchi crushed a go-ahead three-run homer and the White Sox won the game 5-4, and swept Boston out of the playoffs a few nights later.
Hopefully "Red Sox Nation" enjoyed 2004, because if 2005 is any indication of things to come, reversing the curse won't have done a thing.
2006 Yankees 70-46, Sox 68-50, Sox 3 games back
With about a month and a half to go in the regular season, the Red Sox are once again proving that perhaps there was no curse after all. After being up as many as four games over the Yankees during the course of the summer, Boston is now facing a gut-check, backs-against-the-wall series this weekend against the New York.
Most die-hard Sox fans will tell you that it's because Boston is facing a couple of injuries that the Yankees have been able to take control of the division. You're kidding, right? Yes, it is true that Jason Varitek is more or less lost for the season, and it's true that Tim Wakefield hasn't started in a month and the Sox are without Trot Nixon right now. However, of all those injuries Varitek is the most detrimental - mainly due to the leadership aspect that he brings to the team. Wakefield has been inconsistent at best this season, sporting a 7-8 record with a 4.14 earned run average and Nixon had been productive with a .293 average, but his power numbers are significantly down.
If you want to talk about injuries, the Yankees were bitten by that bug significantly harder. Playing without Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield all summer, the Yankees have had to get production out of rookie Melky Cabrera, aging veteran Bernie Williams and, until recently, Kansas City reject Aaron Guiel. How depleted was the Yankees outfield this summer? One night in Arlington, the Yankees starting outfield was Cabrera, Bubba Crosby and Guiel (Damon was out nursing a hamstring) - and they still won!
The injury bug also hit the infield when all-star second baseman Robinson Cano went down for a month. Miguel Cairo filled in for him, but Cairo is nowhere near the player Cano is. Not counting the injuries to relievers Tanyon Sturtze, Octavio Dotel and Kyle Farnsworth at points during the season, the Yankees were essentially a shell of a team.
Though all of these injuries, Boston couldn't put the Yanks away and now they are paying for it. Where the Red Sox neglected to make a move at the trading deadline, the Yankees improved their injured outfield with Bobby Abreu. Down three games to the Yankees, the Sox will have to be perfect this weekend to take back the division lead. New York is once again hitting their stride at just the right time and Boston is going into the tank once again when it counts the most.
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