Mr. Wright and the Incredible Sal

        I really couldn’t believe it.  I was waiting on Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, double parked, watching the 12:30 mass crowd streaming out of St. Patrick’s.  The Mrs. dashed out of Mike’s Deli and climbed in the car with a chicken caesar wrap for her and a chicken cutlet with melted cheddar and barbeque sauce for me.  We started for the in-law’s pool in Staten Island in the late summer sunshine.  Unfortunately, and inexplicably, by the time we crossed the Verrazano, all of three minutes later, there was one, big, enveloping cloud in the sky, the sun a distant memory.  This did not bode well.  Although Big Joe (father-in-law) put the pool-heater on, the air outside was a bit chilly without that sun.  Kind of changes the whole dynamic of the day.  But that wasn’t going to stop me.  I was going to splash around in the pool, watch the Yankee game, and flip around the football games on Big Joe’s NFL Sunday Ticket.  Which I did.  And the sandwich was pretty legit, too. 

We were paid a visit late in the afternoon from the Mrs’ cousin, Lauren, her boyfriend Brian, and her parents’, Uncle Lou and Aunt Marcela.  Lauren was stopping by as part of the “Victory Tour” after getting engaged to Brian, who also happens to be Tony Sherry’s boy from college.  The Victory Tour is a Staten Island tradition.  I had to do it myself not too long ago.  All-in-all, a pretty eventful afternoon.  And the Yanks won.

The Yankees have the best record in the American League.  Did everyone hear that?  It was only a matter of time, as far as I’m concerned.  The Yankees are the best team in the American League.  But rewind about three months and we at the BPS were the only ones who thought so.  I guess everybody else wasn’t paying attention.

I’m going to pick on Lupica again, only because somebody has to call this guy to the table for irresponsible journalism.  Here was his little blurb in his column today:

Over the last month, at a time when we’re supposed to believe that the Yankees have begun to dominate not just the Red Sox but everybody else, their record is 18-14.  And that includes 5-0 against the Red Sox.  They have won four series, lost four series, and played a 2-2 series against the Angels.

        I have to tell you.  There are so many things misguided about that statement that I don’t even know where to start.  But here goes.  Lupica is making the point, I guess, that the Yankees haven’t playing as good as the media has portrayed, and therefore don’t deserve all of the accolades afforded them.  Let’s put aside for a moment, that he’s a whiny little Yankee-hater, and has been his whole life.  Let’s put aside that he was the kid talking smack about how the Yankees were going to lose every year, and then was “sick” from school for the couple of days after the Yankees won the World Series.  Again.  But anyway, here are my issues.  First, Lupica is taking liberties with the concept of time.  The article was published on September 10, so a month earlier would be August 11, because including August 10th would be 32 days.  And last time I checked, there weren’t any months with 32 days.  So with that said, of course Lupica, in an effort to make his point more salient, includes the game they lost on the 10th (the last game of a three game set against Chicago) as a full “series loss,” i.e. the fourth lost series.  Bit of a stretch, Mike.  And they dropped the two of three against Baltimore.  Fine.  And the other two were the two series on the west coast, which started the day after the five-game marathon against the Sox.  And they lost both series by a one-game margin, finishing a stretch in which they played 21 games in 20 days.  So sure, they really must s*ck.  And the last game of that trip was August 27th.  And of course Mike didn’t count the win today, which is fine because the deciding game hadn’t taken place before the article was published.  But the reality is that 6 of those 14 losses came in mid-August.  Any way you slice it, that was a long time ago.  Just ask the Twins, White Sox, Tigers, and Red Sox.  Since the Yanks got back from the west coast, they have won four consecutive series.  And those have included everyone’s darlings - the Twins and the Tigers.  The reality is that since “The Massacre” commenced on August 18th, the Yankees are 15-8 and have won five series and lost two (I’ll count the two of three they just won from Baltimore a series win, even though there is another game left - if I’m wrong tomorrow; I’ll change it).  And that was with a team that was resting somebody everyday, sitting anybody with a toothache for precautionary reasons, and giving rookies on the expanded rosters a shot.  So stop reaching and stop playing with numbers to suit your own Yankee-hating whininess, you jack*ss.  The Yankees are good.  Deal with it.

        I was also reading Bill Madden today in the News.  I was going to kill Madden in BPS for crowing about the Marlins while writing “it is the Blue Jays disgrace that they never once remotely contended for a playoff berth despite the Yanks first-half injury woes and the Red Sox second half implosion…”  After reading the piece again, I decided he wasn’t really blowing sunshine at the Marlins, just citing everybody else doing it.  But he is a little off-key on the Jays, however.  “Never once remotely contended?”  I beg to differ. I can remember a few points around mid-year and later when they were exactly a half-game behind the Yanks and the Sox.  They definitely contended for a while.  But you can’t ignore the competition.  You’re talking about the two biggest powerhouses in baseball.   

        This best-record thing is going to be close.  Oakland, Detroit and Minnesota are all within 4 games in the loss column of the best record in the American League.  But as for now, it belongs to the best team in the most competitive league.  The Yankees.