A Near Perfect Weekend

How sweep it is! What a finish to a great and near perfect weekend! The Yanks finished the sweep of the defending World Champs. The A's took 3 of 4 from the Red Sox and the Yanks sit only a half game back. And I got a Buck O'Neil autograph. The only thing that would have made the weekend perfect would have been an A's sweep. But I can't complain about them taking 3 of 4. This just goes to show that when the Sox run in to a good team, they'll struggle. Thanks Oakland, I knew you had it in you.
We'll start with the Buck O'Neil autograph. Earlier in the week I found out that Buck was going to be at a Rochester Red Wings game signing autographs. I was pretty excited since he no-showed the Sunday I was at the FanFest. It's funny how things like that work out. I made the short 1 hour drive down the 90, stood outside in the 95 degree heat for 1.5 hours, and got the signature. I didn't stick around for the game, but I did spend an hour talking to a fellow Yankee/baseball fan named Paul. Nice guy. I'm sure our paths will cross again as we collectors seem to show up at the same events. Thanks for the Coke Paul.
Oakland, the worst hitting team in MLB, went into Fenway and took 3 of 4. So much for that home-field advantage that was supposed to give the Sox and easier time of winning the East. It didn't take long for the Sox to squander their 4 game lead. Funny how it happened right after interleague play ended. I've said it several times in many posts, and I'll continue to say it, the Sox are not that impressive. If you want to know some reasons why, please go back and check out some of my past posts.
I didn't get to see the Yankee game today as I was in Rochester. But I did get to listen to the entire thing on XM. Kyle Farnsworth continues to make these games interesting. Just throw fastballs bro. That's all you need to do. Octavio can't get here soon enough to help out. Rumor has it, he's not that far away. But we've heard that before. With the exception of Farnsworth, the bullpen continues to be pretty solid. Ron Villone is quietly having an awesome year. I'm still a proponent of having Villone start a few games. I think he could easily be the 4th/5th starter. Who knows? If Ponson falters and if Dotel comes back, it might free up a spot to try that out. The Yankee offense is getting it done, which is no simple task when 4 out of your 9 starters (Sheff, Matsui, Cano, Damon) are injured. The fill-ins have made it work and most have contributed to the Yankee success. You gotta love Miguel Cairo. With the exception of Aaron Guiel, the entire lineup had a base hit today. We need this. The sweep of Chicago accomplished many things. Not only did we trim the Sox lead in the East to .5 games, but we knocked 3 off the wild card lead as well, which is just as important. I'm still baffled by all of the talk that the AL East is only getting one team into the postseason. I'm not impressed with the White Sox after watching them play the Yanks and the Red Sox. And the Tigers may be baseball's best team in terms of wins and losses, but they are 3-10 against the Yankees, Red Sox, and White Sox. The AL Central is no joke. These teams are going to beat on each other. Assuming that the Central is getting the wild card isn't as automatic as everyone thinks. And from what I've heard, most of the so-called experts aren't giving the Yankees much of a chance to beat Boston. I don't understand that. I'm telling you Boston, isn't that great. Sure the Yankees have their issues, but they seem more complete. It's scary to think where the Yankees would be if they had Matsui and Sheffield.
The Mariners, losers of 8 of their last 10, are coming to town. The Yanks are hot right now and with Wang and Johnson getting the ball in 2 of the 3 games, the odds are in the Yankees favor for another series victory. And that's all you can hope for. If you consistently win the series, you'll be in the playoffs.
I'm excited because on Thursday the Bombers will be north of the border in Toronto and I'll be there for the series. I've been waiting all summer for this week. Anybody else going?
J-Boogie