Still No Word On Torre....Sox Lose Again...And a Few Other Things

We are still waiting to hear about the fate of Joe Torre. Some say that is a good sign, others a bad. I tend to think it is good because at least it means that they are actually having a debate about this and not making one of George's hot headed, rage fueled decisions. At the same time it is almost criminal to make Joe wait so long for a decision. Here is a guy who has given you 4 rings, countless wins, and a trip to the post season every season he's been in charge. If you are going to can him just do it, but don't make the poor guy wait much longer, he deserves better than that.

Of course the big story of the day is that Cleveland is a win away from the World Series. Now don't get me wrong, nothing will make me happier than the Indians putting the nail in Boston's season. But as my buddy Matt pointed out, even though no one really thought Cleveland would do this well, they are not the Cinderella story that Colorado is. They have been good all year and have some of the best pitchers in the league. They are getting a lot of attention in the postseason because they faced the Yankees and now the Sox, but they deserve some credit for their regular season accomplishments too.

This is a little off topic, but part of being a Yankees fan, or even a Red Sox fan for that matter, is knowing who is on the other team. Earlier in the season I wrote a post about my predictions for Dice-K. I predicted that he wouldn't be worth the paper his $50 million negotiation fee was printed on. Well, I wasn't spot on with that prediction but I wasn't that far off either. Sure, he won 15 games but who would have thought that he would run into so many problems late in the year and especially in the postseason. Let me qualify that by saying he hasn't pitched poorly, he just isn't effective without more rest than a bear gets in the winter. Because of that he is not the type of pitcher that you can rely on in the playoffs when you may be called on to pitch with minimal rest at best. Beckett is the Sox only true post season pitcher at this point when you consider that Schilling also needs a lot of rest and Wakefield is unpredictable. With Beckett taking the mound on Thursday the Sox will be relying on him more than ever. If he fails to give them six innings they will be in for a whole world of trouble should the series goes any further, or should they advance.

Again, off topic but a quick word of the Nats if I may. My brother hates the Nationals, primarily because when we were kids we would often go to Montreal to watch the Expos. Sure, I liked the Expos, but I was always a Yankees fan first. When MLB was looking to relocate the team he was steadfastly against Washington. His only real argument being that DC has lost teams in the past and Montreal has a rich history of baseball (minor league yes, major league no). I think that is horse sh**. Granted, I lived in DC at the time and I may have been a little biased as to where they should relocate, but one thing was for sure MLB was not working in Montreal and the team needed to go somewhere else. The first few seasons of have been pretty decent for the Nats, but with the new stadium opening for next season baseball in DC is going to be great. The pictures I have seen of the park, and the surrounding areas will help solidify the teams presence in the city and help to revitalize that area in much the way the Verizon center did for Chinatown. There is talk of water taxis from the Anacostia waterfront to Georgetown, sports bars and memorabilia shops around the stadium (something that is desperately lacking around RFK), and new housing developments that will utilize the forgotten views of the river. It's also exciting to see young players like Zimmerman and hear about all of the prospects that are working their way through the farm system. Anyone who thinks that baseball isn't here to stay in DC is delusional.