It's only April 8th, less than a week into the Major League Baseball season, and we've already had an extra large helping of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. The teams played 3 excruciatingly long games - long mostly due to the teams' knack for working the count and working over pitchers.
The Yankees came out on top in the series, but we're a long way (159 games to be exact) from finding out who is the better team in 2010. There were a few things I took away from the series, however....
* Curtis Granderson will be just fine in New York, Any worries that Granderson could capably fill Johnny Damon's shoes seem to have been put to rest already. A home run in his first Yankee at-bat on opening day, then a 10th inning home run off Jonathan Papelbon to win game 3.
* Speaking of Papelbon, doesn't he seem a bit less invincible lately? Maybe it's because of his post-season meltdown against the Angels, but more likely it's because 8th inning man Daniel Bard is throwing some serious cheese. This will never happen, but I think the Sox would be better off making Bard the closer...now.
* Speaking of Bard, what was Sox manager Terry Francona doing pitching him in ALL three games? This kid is the goods. I know you want to beat the Yankees, but pitching Bard in three straight games, even with the day off, is mind-boggling.
* Joe Girardi, on the other hand, was calm, cool and collected in this series. He continued to show off his best attribute: his handling of the bullpen. Even after the bullpen's meltdown on opening day, he wasn't afraid to go back to his guys in games 2 and 3. And he resisted the urge to use his 8th inning man, Joba Chamberlain, in all 3 games. Nice job, Joe...
* How much of a gamer is Andy Pettitte? After getting pummeled by Jacoby Ellsbury on a play covering first base in the first inning, 38-year old Andy bounced back with the best Yankee pitching performance of the series, one run in 6 innings. John Lackey's debut for the Sox was just as terrific.
* Red Sox DH David Ortiz is sure in for a long season. After going 0 for 7 in the series' first two games, he was already being hammered in the Boston papers. I read this quote on another website this morning, and it's so true: "Boston's a great city to play in if your the hero, but a terrible city to play in if you're the goat." Ortiz needs to get going, and quick.
* Red Sox veterans Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek sure are class acts. They've accepted their new bench roles without a complaint (at least publicly). Hopefully Ortiz will do the same once Francona finally decides to sit him against lefties.
* One thing is certain in this rivalry: these teams will finish 9-9 on the season after their 18 games are played. It seems like every year, no matter who has the edge early (the Red Sox started 8-0 vs. the Yanks last year), the final tally is always 9-9.
Round 2? Strangely...back at Fenway, May 7th. Why do I get the feeling these two teams will be tied for first place on that day?
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