Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
I am not at all proposing that the Red Sox have a late-season run left in them. They don’t, and I also have no confidence that the Red Sox are somehow primed to do much damage to the Yankees’ chances in their six remaining meetings this season.
If the Yankees are going to have a collapse this season, it’s going to come mainly from within.
From within does not mean that this team has some bad seeds like the Red Sox had last year, when they were starting to get into a comfortable rhythm about who would place the Popeyes order and who would get to collect the deposits on the Bud Light empties each night.
What it does mean is that the Yankees have some baseball issues going on that could make them vulnerable to the Orioles, who refuse to go away even though their presence still defies logic, and the Rays, who seem primed to finish strong again.
After last year, it wouldn’t be the strangest collapse in the world.
Herald | Spoiler alert: Yankees in peril
With the Sox going nowhere, and the young guys not playing well, there really isn't much reason to follow this team anymore. I moved in August and didn't get cable until last week, and can't say I missed seeing them game-in and game-out all that much.
That said, Sox fans are always in favor of a Yankees collapse. Can this team contribute to the Yanks' downfall? I doubt it. Even without (the massively overrated, but still good) Mark Teixeira, the Yankees' lineup is still miles ahead of the Sox' lineup, which featured James Loney as the clean-up hitter on Sunday.
Furthermore, most of the players on this Sox team have no experience with the Sox/Yankees rivalry -- it's really just Pedroia and Ellsbury who have links back to when the rivalry meant anything at all.
Meanwhile, the Yanks might be nervous about their collapse, or about the Orioles and Rays, but what could make them relax more than playing their once-foe, now-hopeless counterparts in Boston? Nick's in charge of the series preview later, but I'll give you a series preview preview: Get ready for another sweep.
Herald | Rebuilding of rotation atop Red Sox' to-do list | Hiroki Kuroda's the one that got away | Globe | Slumping Sox may find pick-me-up in pinstripes | Fenway Park brings out best in Podsednik | CSNNE | You think the Sox are innocent? | ESPNBoston | Lester: Beckett wasn't the problem
Image: DeviantArt
