Guest Blog: Yanks not built for October

You might recall I wrote a guest blog for the Red Sox blog Two Cents From Beantown back in July. Now, the owner, Chuck Hanf, has written something that should stir up the New York readers just a little bit. Thanks for writing, Chuck.
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Like I say every year about this time, if you are a sports fan like me, it is truly the best time of year. The transition from regular season baseball to playoff baseball along with the opening of a new NFL season is simply fantastic.

Now, this weekend we have Yankees/Red Sox for the final time in the regular season of 2009. I could give a rat’s ass less to be completely honest with you. Let’s face it, both teams know what’s next for their respective organizations, and this weekend is just a roadblock that stands in the way of these two titans going at it in the ALCS ’09.

Counting my chickens before they hatch you say? So what. Yes in fact I am doing that. Now all you Yankees have to do is be very careful not to slip up in the first round and cost me and my fellow Red Sox fans a dream ALCS matchup with you in mid-October. Do not screw this up New York. We will surely hold up our end of the bargain when we beat the bag out of our regular first round opponent of every year---the Anaheim Mighty Ducks--- I mean Angels. Oh no, it’s the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim now right?

Whatever their name is now, no worries in Beantown. You can put lipstick on a pig or dress the pig in some new clothes and change its name and give it a piggy pedicure, but it’s still a pig. All kidding aside, this Angels team is the most impressive edition that I’ve seen since this ALDS annual matchup between Boston and Los Angeles/Anaheim kicked in years back. It will be a hell of a fight, but I don’t see the Red Sox going down in this matchup.

Beckett and Lester, Lester and Beckett, however you’d like to phrase it or pair them, along with a bullpen who’s key parts are just way too strong, is just too much of a challenge to overcome for the Angels. The icing on the cake for me would be to give Scott Kazmir a good solid beat down in this series to further enhance the theory that the Angels just don’t beat the Sox in October no matter who they pry off of other teams rosters to do so.

If you are a Yankee fan right now, you are worrying. I don’t care what you say in your attempt to cover that ‘worry’ up. There might be makeup to cover up some of the holes on Hideki Matsui’s ugly mug, but they don’t make any makeup to cover up ‘worry’ that all of you New Yorkers are feeling right now. No cover-up makeup for ‘worry’ and all of you fans have to be wrecks right now.

Yes, you’ve basically locked down the division. If you ever blew this division right now , it would be epic. That being said, it’s not going to happen. We are talking playoffs here now though. Who is your ace in the hole in that rotation? Who? CC ‘Hammer Pants’ Sabathia? A.J. ‘What planet am I on’ Burnett? Who?

New York is built for the regular season and that’s all well and good---until you get to the postseason. I pray to God that you guys don’t run into a hot Justin Verlander in the ALDS against the Motor City, because if you do, it will dash our hopes here in Beantown of another epic postseason battle to decide who heads to the Series. Detroit is a very mediocre baseball team right now. Treat them like one and take care of business.

Johnny Damon, show them the way in that clubhouse. You are the most significant part of that team who actually remembers what it takes to win a World Series, since you just did it in 2004. Lead them and remind my boy Jetes what it takes to win in October, since it’s been a little while for he and Jorge and Mo… Hammer Pants CC, take control of that series with the space-shot known as Burnett and deliver your team to round two against your brothers to the North.

We all eagerly await one hell of an ALCS in mid-October. Don’t let us down. Take your beat down from a real team, don’t let it come prematurely by Detroit.