Eight weeks, two nominations, and one megadeal later, the Sox and Yankees meet again tonight in Yankee Stadium and Boston trails New York by a mere 3 1/2 games. It's the first of six meetings between the Sox and Yankees over the next two weekends and these September jousts are generating more hype than some recent World Series.
New York scribes were trolling the Sox clubhouse yesterday afternoon, looking for material suitable for back page headlines. The Sox were on their best behavior. Varitek didn't want any attention, Mike Timlin tried to claim it's just another series (like Tiger is just another golfer and Adrianna just another Jersey girl), and even motormouth Kevin Millar said, "I'm laying low."
God bless the American League schedule-maker (only the threat of rain can mess this up). Finally, a September with good matchups. Though they are ancient rivals, it's rare that the Sox and Yankees have played each other this late in the year during seasons in which each battled for first place. And the unique twist of 2004 has the Sox getting hot late in the season while the Yankees briefly teetered on collapse.
New York, which has never blown a first-place lead of more than six games, led Boston by a whopping 10 1/2 games in mid-August and the Sox chiseled the lead down to 2 games just over a week ago. But it was exhausting. Think of how many times you've seen a basketball team trailing by 25, cut the lead to 6, then exhale and lose by 12. It takes a lot of work to shrink a double-digit lead and Sox fans are no longer confident that the Sons of Tito can overthrow the Empire.
What is beyond dispute is the idea that the brawl of July 24 kick-started the Sox' surge every bit as much as the Nomar trade. And that is what heightens the interest in these games in New York. The Yankees simply aren't used to having somebody steal their lunch money.
