Don't gloat today, Red Sox fans... just grin

Hey fellow Red Sox fans... do me a favor. Stay off the Yankee message boards today.
Don't write on Yankee blogs and don't gloat.

Yeah the Yankees did a faceplant and couldn't take advantage of having Verlander rained out to only one start. They stranded a 25 man roster on base last night and A-Rod is back to being a goat.

Trust me, I understand. I LOVE the sight of the Yankees staring from the dugout with the collective "How did it get to here?" 1,000 yard stare.

It's great.
I'm reading all the articles breaking down the Yankee's disappointing ending which are all basically the same article that has been written EVERY fall since 2001 with the exception of 2009.

I'm watching the clips.

But I'm not gloating.

The Red Sox did an epic collapse and couldn't make the playoffs.
The Yankees collapse wasn't epic. It was more of a whimper.

So yeah, it takes a little of the sting out knowing that there won't be ANOTHER parade in New York.

But that's not reason to gloat.
Just grin and revel in a little Schadenfreude.

10 Reasons why the Cleveland Indians winning the 2011 World Series would be good for baseball

It is time to continue my series of Why Each Team's Potential World Championship Would Be Good For The Game. Before it is too late, I better do one for the Cleveland Indians.



It is very late August and the Indians, once the best story in baseball have fallen below .500. The Indians have had a very unlikely fun summer, but they are one modest losing streak and one modest Detroit winning streak from calling it a year.



The Tigers sweep of the Tribe was bad. The Indians losing 3 of 4 to the lowly Mariners was worse.



But by the same token, if the Tigers stumble and the Indians go on a winning streak, they could close in. Cleveland play the Royals 6 times and the A's 6 times before taking on Detroit again. They can pile up some wins.



Who knows? This season has been unexpected thus far. So let's get in this entry before they slip away!

10 Reasons why the

Cleveland Indians

winning the 2011 World Series

would be good for baseball

1. A World Series title is the final piece in Jim Thome's career



Jim Thome returned to Cleveland yesterday. All I thought was "Why couldn't have hit his 600th homer as an INDIAN?"



He's back where his wonderful career began. And this might very well be his last hurrah. He has smacked 600 homers scandal free and been as likable a player in baseball. Plus he was a veteran of the 1995 and 1997 World Series heartbreak.



What better way to put a bow on his potential Hall of Fame career than being the most recognizable name on the World Champion Cleveland Indians.

2. A World Series ring for Sandy Alomar, Jr.



Decades of futility started to turn in 1990 when Sandy Alomar Jr won the AL Rookie of the Year. He came over from San Diego with Carlos Baerga and the foundation of the Indians first pennant since 1954 was being put into place.



In many ways Alomar symbolized the changing times in Cleveland. And if the Tribe got those last outs in the 9th inning of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, Alomar would have been the Series MVP.



He would get that ring if the Indians win it this year as Alomar is currently Cleveland's first base coach. Better late than never!







3. A championship would bring some credit to an underrated front office



The Indians fell apart after the 2001 season but by 2005 they were contenders again and Division Champs in 2007. They fell apart again but by 2011 they have contended.



Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti aren't mentioned as great brain trusts in baseball, but they don't let Indians fans wait long between good seasons. Carlos Santana, Matt LaPorta, Justin Masterson, Chris Perez, Carlos Carrasco, Joe Smith, Michael Brantley, Jason Donald and Lou Marson were all brought into the organization as minor leaguers from trades. They could be creating a nice nucleus for the future while avoiding signing crippling long term contracts.





4. Baseball fans claim they want a low revenue, star free World Series winner NOT from the Northeast. Here you go!



People complain that the Red Sox and Yankees win the World Series every year (even though they don't.) And small budget teams can't compete. (Even though they do.) And simply signing superstars will buy a title. (Even though it doesn't.)



Well imagine the 5th lowest paid team, playing in the midwest with a payroll less than what Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez will make and whose biggest star is Asdrubal Cabrera winning it all.



What would people say? Well they probably would say "The Yankees win it every year."





5. A well deserved title for long time Indians Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner



Both Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner are on the Disabled List now and their seasons are probably over. But for the past 8 seasons they have been teammates on some terrific Indians teams and some lousy ones.



Both came up big in the 2007 Division Series victory over the Yankees. Hafner got the walk off hit in Game 2 (the Midges game) and Sizemore batted .375 with a 1.211 OPS for the series.



Both were stolen from other minor league systems and are "Real Indians" by any definition. Enough real Indians have ended their career ringless. Let's not have Sizemore and Hafner on that list too.









6. We DON'T need another Major League movie.



Seriously, when has a sequel decades after the original worked? ONCE! The Color of Money... and that had Paul Newman, Tom Cruise and Martin Scorsese directing it.



They couldn't even make The Godfather, Star Wars or Indiana Jones work! Now Major League is funny... but it is also available on BlueRay and Netflix. And the charm of the original was that it played off of Cleveland's futility. If a REAL Cleveland team patched together from other teams beats the odds and wins it all, why make a fake movie about it?



Besides, we have been enabling Charlie Sheen WAY too much.









7. Think of all the people a Cleveland championship would let off the hook!



Jim Poole letting up David Justice's homer. Jose Mesa blowing the save in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. Charles Nagy letting Edgar Renteria smack a 2 out hit to win the World Series. Joel Skinner not sending Kenny Lofton home with the tying run in Game 7 of the 2007 ALCS.



And that's not even counting Craig Ehlo, Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble... They would all be relieved of their goat horns.



I've seen it happen. The goats of Red Sox past are absolved. Bill Buckner (who should NEVER have been a goat) received a standing ovation. Johnny Pesky (also an unjustified goat) got his number retired.



It will happen in Cleveland. YES, even for Jose Lima.







8. It could be the beginning of forgiveness and acceptance of LeBron James in Cleveland





I know a lot of Cleveland people will think I am crazy for even suggesting this, but hear me out.



If LeBron had won a title in Cleveland, the whole "Decision" would have been less of a fiasco. It was based upon the idea that LeBron was supposed to deliver that elusive title. The anger came in a not exactly subtle way from that hole in your collective lives. That "We have never seen a title of any kind" agony.



Remove that. Have the euphoria of seeing a championship in Cleveland. And before long you will be able to let go of the anger about LeBron. And eventually you will be able to say "Remember when we had the best player in the NBA? Remember how exciting it was? Remember how much fun we had WHILE he was in Cleveland?"



I know I sound crazy now. Call me 10 years after a Cleveland championship.







9. An Indians championship would mean the Cubs would stand alone



The Cubs used to have lots of company in the whole "Waiting forever for a championship" misery. Forever it was the Cubs, Red Sox and White Sox fans sharing misery.



But when both Sox won, it meant that the Indians and Giants were the only original franchises to NOT win a World Series title since the expansion era. Take the Giants off the board and only the Cubs and Indians remain. The Cubs since 1908. The Indians since 1948.



Remove the Indians and the Cubs' closest partners in misery would be the Rangers and Astros (since 1961 and 1962.)



For fans of Schadenfreude, leaving the Cubs alone in misery would be enough to root for the Indians.







10. It would be the single greatest sports championship parade in American history.



Cubs fans have waited for more than a century, but they have had the Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks win.



Red Sox fans waited forever, but the Celtics won over several generations.



Giants fans agonized about their team but could be consoled by the 49ers.



Imagine the frustration compounded over the decades without ANY kind of release. Especially in a cold weather city where industry has dwindled away and sports means so much. San Diego has waited longer for a title, but when they lose they can go to the beach.



There are people in their 50s with no clear memories of a Cleveland title and anyone born after 1964 can honestly say "It hasn't happened in MY lifetime."



We may never see an outpouring of pure joy quite like a Cleveland title. And I am rooting for it to happen just so I can see it.



And just think of the incredible HBO Sports special they can make!





I really hope it happens for the Indians but it looks remote at best. I've enjoyed writing about Cleveland and making a video about their fans, but eventually the story must end. Maybe it won't be this year, but they are putting together a nice core. Maybe it will be soon. (Where have I heard THAT before?)







If you liked this then go ahead and read the entries for the other teams.



CHICAGO WHITE SOX

LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM

NEW YORK YANKEES

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

I can't tell what I love most about the Lakers 3-0 hole

There are so many wonderful things about this Lakers collapse, I can't pick what is the best part.

- The Lakers are a loss away from a monumental face plant and doing it because the team is imploding from within.

- The Lakers are a loss away from having Phil Jackson's career end with a whimper. Red Auerbach's coaching career ended with the 1966 NBA Title. See the difference?

- The Lakers are a loss away from forever ending any talk of Kobe Bryant being on the same level as Michael Jordan. Kobe is a great player. A Hall of Famer. But would Jordan be swept out of the playoffs like this?

- The Lakers are a loss on Sunday away from making last Wednesday's 93-81 fiasco their last home game of the year. That would mean the last game Phil Jackson coached at home, the Lakers got booed by the remaining fans in Staples at the end of the game.

- The Lakers call in show on 710 ESPN are filled with fans complaining about refs calls and intense denial. Schadenfreude is fun.

- Because the Lakers are down 0-3 in the series, there is talk about how no NBA team has ever come back from that. But guess what other team they brought up? What other team came back from an 0-3 hole? I'll give you a hint... they don't bring up the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers.

That's right. My 2004 Red Sox! So I get to hear about Laker misery and how they probably won't match Red Sox heroics.

It doesn't get any better than that!

I am a petty little person

My team is out of the playoffs but I am getting great joy in rooting for the Giants, my dad's team.

But I am getting another perverse pleasure that I am not proud of... but I admit is there. It is always fun to not only see the Yankees lose, but to read the abject panic that happens in Yankee land by way of the New York press.

It's truly difficult to understand what the New York media or any Northeastern media is regarding baseball unless you experience it first hand.

There is no middle ground... only chest thumping arrogance, or Chicken Little hysteria.

Before the series started? The columns were about how the Yankees experience was going to overwhelm the Rangers... and how the showdown with Philadelphia was inevitable.

Now the Yankees have been out played for all but 2 innings and are handing the fate of the season over to A. J. Burnett... the Yankee press is now pushing Kate Winslet out of the way to get into a lifeboat before the boat sinks.

Lamenting the Burnett signing...
Grinding their teeth over Lee's dominance...
Doubting the Yankees ability to come back...

It's good old fashioned Schadenfreude! Rooting AGAINST the Yankees goes beyond the days of Joe Hardy... And yeah, it's fun to admit that watching Yankee land squirm is fun.

Classy?
No.

Honorable?
No.

But neither is laughing at someone passing gas... but we still do it.

Look at that! The Red Sox won a game!

Christ, I forgot what that even felt like.
Well a night where the Red Sox and Yankees played a combined 20 innings, it is nice to know they had one more comeback and one more walk off win.

Granted it was the Red Sox JV team beating the Yankees JV team... but think of THIS, lovers of Schadenfreude... if the Rays win a game against the 94 loss Kansas City Royals tomorrow, they will be AL East Champs.

And if the Yankees have to play a game 5 of the Division Series or Game 7 of the ALCS on the road, they can remember a night when they were pooped and had Ivan Nova chucking meatballs to Bill Hall.

You are welcome Tampa. Now win your game tomorrow.

10 Reasons to watch this weekend's Red Sox/Yankees Series

When the 2010 schedule was published showing the season beginning and ending with Red Sox and Yankee series, it sure felt exciting, didn't it?

Perhaps there would be a great showdown for the AL East... maybe playoff positioning?

When the Red Sox were hovering around contention the 6 head to head meetings over the final 10 games sure looked inviting.

Now...
Flop.

The Red Sox are all but done... the tragic number is 4. They are playing out the string and getting ready to play golf this October.

The Yankees are cruising to another October appearance and trying to right their pitching staff while jockeying for position with the Rays and Twins.

So why should Red Sox fans even watch this series?
There are some reasons...


1. WIN THE SERIES AND THE RED SOX HOLD OFF ELIMINATION

Yeah elimination will be inevitable... but if it can be held off until Monday, then as a point of pride we can say "We weren't eliminated until the last week of the season."

With all the injuries on the team, that's a nice (if misleading) thing to say.


2. DELAY THE YANKEE CELEBRATION

It's clear by the way Joe Girardi is managing that he is simply trying to make the post season without worrying about the Division... sure he would LIKE to win the Division but he'd RATHER have a healthy pitching staff. So the Yankees clinching a playoff spot seems to be the goal.

They'll get there, but it doesn't have to be on OUR watch.


3. JON LESTER, COMPROMISE CY YOUNG CANDIDATE?

Can Jon Lester get to 20 wins? If he does will he be a Cy Young Candidate? (Sabathia's 20 wins seem to be his only qualification over Felix Hernandez but he is talked about as the front runner.)

If Lester gets 20, his name will be in the mix. He goes for win #19 on Saturday.


4. 90 WINS IS A GOOD GOAL FOR THIS TEAM

Seriously, with all the injuries and strife on this team to finish with 90 wins would be a real accomplishment.

They need to win 6 games out of their last 10 to pull that off. That would give Francona six 90 win seasons out of seven years in Boston. Not bad.


5. MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE WILL GET HURT

The Red Sox have had 19 guys on their disabled list.
Why not 20? Seriously... a nice round number is easier to remember. And that would be the legacy of the 2010 Red Sox... 20 dudes on the DL.

That would make 90 wins even MORE impressive.






6. IT WILL TAKE YOUR MIND OFF OF THE PATRIOTS/JETS LOSS

Perhaps seeing a New England team beat a New York team will take the sting out of it.

Yeah that is petty... but so are we!



7. YOU'LL GET TO SEE THE RED SOX SEE THE SUBTLE STEINBRENNER MEMORIAL

Then again they can probably see it from Fenway Park.






8. MAYBE THEY'LL SHOW SOME CLIPS OF THE 2004 ALCS

Those are always fun to see.

Granted they will also show clips of Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone etc... but those don't hurt as much since '04 and '07.

Plus it is always interesting to see how they can spin the rivalry since the whole Bambino thing is over.




9. NO MATTER WHAT THE STANDINGS ARE, IT IS ALWAYS FUN TO SEE THE YANKEES LOSE

It isn't nice to admit that, but it is true.

Admit it Sox fans... when you saw that the Yankees were getting killed last night, you checked in... hoping to see Joba and Vazquez get slapped around. Seeing the seed of doubt creep into Yankee land, especially on the dawn of the playoffs, is a beautiful thing. Why not see the Sox contribute to that?


10. YOU WILL SEE THE BEGINNING OF THE GREATEST END OF THE SEASON COLLAPSE IN YANKEE HISTORY AND THE RED SOX STORM INTO THE PLAYOFFS

Hey... how is that any less likely than the Red Sox coming back from a 3-0 series hole, trailing in the 9th facing Mariano Rivera?

I bet you thought we were dead then too!

The come back starts NOW!



So have fun, and remember Sox fans who make the trip, you will be in THEIR home. Play nicely.

Besides, Red Sox fans and Yankee fans should be friends.

So play ball! Go Sox and make us proud in what is left of this season.
(And let's hope Joba gets an appearance or two.)

A disturbing stat for Yankee haters

For those of us who are saying "Oh please don't have the Yankees repeat this year" (and it isn't just Red Sox fans saying that), I figured out something that refers the Schadenfreude of watching the Yankees blow a game.

The Yankees are on a roll now, winning 7 in a row despite no A-Rod and uncertainty in their rotation.

And they still aren't blowing games. Sure they've lost a few, including 13 in a not bad but not stellar August.

But they don't blow games late. Yes, Mariano Rivera lost a game to Texas in August, but that game was tied.

The Yankees haven't lost a game where they led in the 8th inning or later since Joba Chamberlain coughed up 4 runs against the Mariners on July 10th.

That was BEFORE the All Star break.

So for those of us hoping to see the Yankees drop a heart breaker, it just isn't happening.

(Maybe they'll be due for a face plant in October! A petty Sox fan can dream, can't he?)

Responding to Adam Felber

I've been good friends with Emmy nominated writer, NPR personality and author Adam Felber for well over a decade now.

We've worked on projects together, done comedy together, our wives have become friends, our kids play together and our siblings are all friends as well.

We get along about as well as any friend I have... with one exception. Our lone true tensions have arisen during Red Sox/Yankees match ups.

As you all know, I am an obnoxious Red Sox fan.
And Adam is a cocky Yankees fan.

While I have preached goodwill between Sox and Yankee fans, I can't claim I've always PRACTICED what I preached.

And when we both lived in New York, no matter how good our will was, it sometimes caused some tension, apologetic e mails after nasty passive aggressive taunts and some moments where we both wished the match up would just be over with.

Adam is a lifelong Yankee fan who went to college in the Boston area... and lived among Red Sox fans and saw us at our worst.

I am a lifelong Red Sox fan who went to college and lived 15 years in Manhattan... and I have always wondered why Yankee fans consider themselves to be classy.

In a recent e mail exchange, Mr. Felber tried to get me fired up about the upcoming clash between the Red Sox and Yankees.

I couldn't take the bait. Earlier in the year, I compared a lifeless Red Sox/Yankees series with Superman IV.

All the players were there, but it just seemed tired.

Well with the decimation of the Red Sox this season, I have a hard time getting pumped for this series. No Youk, No Pedroia, possibly no Lester and nearly a week behind in the standings...

It's worse than Superman IV.

It's like Caddyshack II.

There are too many replacement Red Sox to give me any real hope for making up six games in the loss column.

I wrote to Adam "This Year is Lost for the Sox."

I guess this was NOT what Adam had in mind.


"What are you talking about? With a sweep the Red Sox could be 2.5 games behind the best record in baseball. There are 4 teams in all of baseball with more wins than the Sox right now. And the Yankees have been kind of sucking this week. If the Sox win a couple this weekend, talk sh*t and rub it in! Make me hate Boston fans all over again. What's the matter with you?"

He then tried needling me comparing the Sox with the 1980s era Yankees and talking about how if this were a small market team this close, people would be pumped.

But alas in order for the Sox to really make any headroom, they would have to sweep. And in case you missed it, they couldn't even WIN a series against Seattle nor Cleveland, 2 of the 4 worst teams in the American League.

I'd love to see them back in it and when they slapped around the Angels and the
Tigers I thought "Oooo, maybe they're making a run at it."

However Youk's injury and Lester looking hurt may just be the final white flag.

But hey, the morons who said we Red Sox fans were going to miss "The Curse" are
proven wrong again. If I were still waiting for the Series win, this year would
be agonizing. After seeing them win a few titles, I can be a little less frantic and more practical.

That being said... there is one constant to the world of Red Sox and Yankees... the pleasure felt by seeing our team win can only be rivaled by the sick joy of watching the other team squirm.

That's why Yankee fans were so happy all those years.
That's why we Sox fans were so nuts in 2004.

In 2009, I had to sit through the Lakers and the Yankees each winning a title.
This year I had the gut punch of the Lakers beating the Celtics... I can't deal with a Yankee repeat.

Chances are the Yankees and the Rays are both going to the post season. And one of them will probably have to face Cliff Lee and the Rangers in a Best of Five series.

And with the Yankees shaky starting staff, uncertain bullpen and the implosion of Joba Chamberlain, a team like the Rangers could certainly steal a game from the Yankees and throw Cliff Lee at them in games 1 and 5.

And if the Yankees are the Wild Card team, they'd be facing Lee on the road.

And if that is the case, there would be a damn good chance that the Yankees would lose, Derek Jeter would have his 1,000 yard stare and Yankee fans would be sad.

And that's a GOOD thing!

So one way to help set up that match up that would NOT favor the Yankees is to WIN THE SERIES!

That's it!
I got all the motivation I need to get pumped for this series!

Schadenfreude is a powerful muse.

OK, Felber... it is ON!

My Red Sox may not win this year, but I'll be damned if YOU feel any joy this October!

Let's Go Sox!
Suck on it Felber!

(And we should get out families together soon.)

Sully