Haters, get over it
Haters everywhere mocked for the better part of the entire baseball season that the greatest franchise in the history of professional sports was going to miss the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. A broken pitching staff and ominous Boss would supposedly tarnish the Yankees' Torre mystique. Then, less than two weeks ago, the much maligned Bronx Bombers hit their mark, overtaking the Red Sox for first place despite an 11-19 record to start the season. And yesterday, they beat Boston in Fenway to insure their eighth straight division championship.
Special thanks for the most exciting AL East race in years goes to:
- The indominatable Joe Torre, who accomplished arguably the greatest coaching achievement of his career by overcoming the lofty expectations attached to his team's payroll, season-long pitching woes, relentless rumors of his impending firing, and the return of George the Tyranical;
- Mr. Sandman Mariano Rivera, the rock on which the team is built, and who should finally win the Cy Young award;
- MVP A-Rod, who silenced relentless criticism by combining stellar defense with timely, potent offense;
- Newbies Aaron Small, Shawn Chacon, Chien-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano, and Bubba Crosby, who collectively earned 1% of the overall payroll but saved the team when the supposedly rebuilt pitching staff imploded and old-timers turned stale;
- Homegrown pillars Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and much beloved Bernie Williams, who continued to produce after ten storied seasons together;
- Ferocious Gary Sheffield, Steady Hideki Matsui, and Comeback Kid Jason Giambi, who reincarnated the vaunted Murderers Row of 1927;
- Classy veterans Tino Martinez, Ruben Sierra, and Tom "Flash" Gordon, who did whatever was asked of them;
- Randy Johson, who made us all forget an otherwise inconsitent year with an exceptional September and a 5-0 record against the Red Sox; and
- GM Brian Cashman, who weathered the failed Pavano/Brown/Wright pitching fiasco by finding Chacon in the sale pile, and calling up underrated Wang and retread Small from the minors.
P.S. On another sports note, Eli Manning is making me a believer.
posted by Jeremy Del Rio @ 10/02/2005 11:24:00 PM
2 Comments:
i'm happy for ARod and his 48 homers - he's taken so much guff cuz of that big contract
the rest of the yanks, well, it's one thing to win the lowly AL East, it's quite another to not, uh, choke in the World Series
brother. i mean it. and don't say anything about the dodgers, nuthing to say, why devote manful thwacks to a dead equine?
Dodgers as targets ... too easy!
Lowly AL East? Hmm, five of the last ten World Series Champs came from the AL East, and four of the others had to beat the Bombers in the playoffs. If that qualifies as lowly, count me in!
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