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Start of The Ending
2008-08-26 05:45
by Alex Belth

Tonight is the first of the final three games the Boston Red Sox will play at Yankee Stadium. Here are some links n things...

First off, Steve Lombardi breaks down the pitching match-ups at Was Watching.

"When they tear down a ballpark like that, obviously the history that's going on in New York, you miss it," Mike Timlin said. "It's one of the first major ballparks that I ever played in, when I was coming up with the Blue Jays. You step back, you feel the history, you know what has happened in Yankee Stadium. Yeah, you'll miss it."
(Amalie Benjamin, Boston Globe)

Jeff Horrigan, writing in the Boston Herald, and Anthony McCarron, writing in the New York Daily News, look at the Yankee-Sox rivalry in the Bronx.

Fatigue is word at YFSF:

It has become an enervating task, to get oneself up for another Yankee-Red Sox game, outside this site the vitriol will once again elevate to a point that I no longer find comfortable or commensurate with these regular season games. This may sound crazy, but it would almost be nicer if our teams were in fourth and fifth place, fighting for nothing, and we all could watch the games for the sport of it, rid ourselves of the overlying tension of the rivalry and the zero-sum nature of the results.

Over at the Times, Richard Sandomir tackles the high price of new sporting stadiums while Jack Curry profiles Jason Bay. Man, it sure will be odd to see the Sox in the Bronx without Manny. Bay is a fine player. Perhaps the Red Sox are a happier team without Ramirez. Still, it won't be the same.

It hasn't been the same all season without Bob Sheppard writes Ben Kabak at River Avenue Blues.

At SI.com, Jon Donovan examines the very real possibility that both the Yanks (for sure) and the Sox (for maybe) might miss the playoffs.

Finally, Kat O'Brien reports on Joba Chamberlain's latest throwing session.

Comments
2008-08-26 06:23:28
1.   Ben
I know I'm not the first to note this, but isn't really, really strange the way athletes switch the pronoun I for YOU.

I guess they have a lot of people talking to them about them as an entity, like "Manny, this is a good deal for Manny Ramirez." so they get this third party relationship with their public persona. Maybe it's just a habit that is easy to catch and hard to break. But it reads really, really peculiarly when Timlin is saying about the stadium "Yeah, you'll miss it." Who me? Weird.

2008-08-26 08:12:52
2.   Dan M
For all the talk about this is "do or die" for the Yankees, the Upcoming Schedule on the right of this site reminds me that even a sweep of Boston won't mean that much if they can't solve Burnett and/or Halladay over the weekend.
2008-08-26 08:33:29
3.   OldYanksFan
2 Well, Red Sox loses are as crucial as Yankee wins. If the Sox play better then .500 ball, we have very little chance. 3 Wins would be great for us, but 3 Boston loses would be equally important.
2008-08-26 08:41:54
4.   tommyl
2 Which is why a sweep here is so necessary. If we sweep and then lose to both Halladay and Burnett, and the Sox win their respective games we'd be 4 back which is doable. If we only take 2 out of 3 and lose those games we could be 6 back. Its a huge series. I'm going to the game tonight hoping to see a flat knuckleball and Andy being dandy.
2008-08-26 08:55:55
5.   Knuckles
2 One day at a time...they should be channeling Mariano Duncan right now.
2008-08-26 08:57:54
6.   OldYanksFan
I should also point out that everything that could possibly be in our favor IS. No Beckett. No Dice-K. A rusty Wakefield. 'Ace' Lester with a terrible last outing. No Lowell. No JD Drew. And of course, NO MANNY!If the Yanks can't sweep under these circumstances then they ain't going anywhere anyhow.
2008-08-26 09:02:15
7.   tommyl
6 Don't forget we have both Moose and Pettitte pitching this series. Yeah, we need to come out swinging and deck these guys.
2008-08-26 09:41:06
8.   Schteeve
The next two series might be as close to playoff baseball as we get this season, so I plan on enjoying every minute of it.
2008-08-26 09:53:50
9.   Sliced Bread
8 Word. I'm walking into the Stadium tomorrow night with a playoff game stride.
Heck, I might even wear a Ponson jersey.
Nah. But I plan to savor the experience, as it will most likely be my last time in the old place.
Definitely hoping Mo is the last pitcher I'll watch on the mound.
2008-08-26 11:07:28
10.   3rd gen yankee fan
It's okay with me if the Red Sox are in 5th place. :-)
2008-08-26 11:10:39
11.   3rd gen yankee fan
Sounds like you guys are as jacked for these games as I am. I'm glad to see that! Fuck it if we don't make the playoffs, let's just beat the Sox! Y'all who are going, raise a glass in the old Stadium for the rest of us.

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