A Process of Elimination

Two very wonderful things happened yesterday to all those members of Red Sox Nation and for the benefit of the rest of the world too.

1) The Boston Red Sox secured a spot in the MLB playoffs for the 5th time in the last 6 seasons.

2) The New York Yankees were eliminated from post season contention.

The Sox making the playoffs is nothing new. The members of the Nation are getting accustomed to it. I won't say we expect it but there is a feeling every spring training that we will put a competitive team on the field and have a fair shot of ending up in the post season after the 162nd game is in the books. This year certainly had its trials and tribulations and may even be a sweeter reward than last year when they lead the division coast to coast.

The Yankees not making the playoffs is really the cherry on top of the sundae. Damn is that sweet! The Evil Empire had been in the playoffs for 13 years running with a whole string of division championships over most of those years. Frankly I was surprised the Yankees played as well as they did with their pitching woes. I think they will miss Joe Torre a great deal over the coming years.

In a perfect world the Yankees would have lost to the Orioles Sunday night on national TV and been eliminated from the playoff chase in the last game ever at Yankee Stadium. I had the headline all written in my head: "O's No Hit Yanks, Wait Til Next Year". But of course the Orioles have been no competition for the Yankees for the last dozen years or so. I think it really all goes back to the Jeffrey Maier homerun game. The Yankees have owned the Orioles ever since that game in 1996.

If that play were to happen this postsason it would surely have a different outcome now that MLB uses instant replay. It is designed exactly for that type of play -fair or foul? home run or ball in play? There is no doubt in my mind that the Maier ball would have been ruled fan interference and the batter would have been ruled out. That ruling would have totally changed the outcome of that game, maybe the entire series, perhaps the entire postseason history of both the Orioles and Yankees.

Whoa, that is pretty deep. I better stop now before I mess up the space-time continuum and end up in 1885 with Doc Brown shoeing horses in the Old West.

Mood: Optimistic

Random Movie Quote:

"Marty, you're not thinking fourth dimensionally!" - Back to the Future Part III