ALCS Preview

By Adam Ulrey

Could you ask for anything more than a match up of two teams who have been bitter rivals since the early 1900s? For the Yankees it's mostly been dominance with all those World Series wins. For the Red Sox it's all about "The Curse". Ever since they traded Babe Ruth nothing but misery has followed. After an exciting five game series win over the Oakland A's, they get another chance to try to break the curse. It won't be easy, because standing in their way are those mighty Yankees who have feasted on the Red Sox for years. It's like having a big brother who always picks on you. One day though you hope you get big enough to fight back, the Red Sox believe they are big enough to do it. The pitching rotations favor the Yankees. With Pedro Martinez only able to maybe pitch twice the Yankees have the advantage.

People keep trying to point out that the Yankees rotation is old and ripe for the picking. Yet every time you turn around they are shutting those same critics up. In the Division series the old guys went out and pitched 28 2/3 innings giving up just 24 hits, 6 runs, 7 walks while striking out 27 Minnesota hitters. The combined ERA was just 1.88. Until somebody is able to break through that starting pitching the Yankees will win it all. Mike Mussina will face Tim Wakefield in the first game. Moose, as Mussina is affectionally known, is a horse and will come right after the Bosox lineup. These two teams faced each other 19 times in the regular season with the Yankees wining the series 10-9. The Bosox love to hit and the Yankees love to beat you with pitching. For the Red Sox to have any chance Wakefield, Derek Lowe and John Burkett will have to be at their best. You know Pedro Martinez will be on his game, but over his career the one team that has had success against Pedro is the Yankees. When you can throw Mussina followed by Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and David Wells all who won over 15 games on the year the Red Sox have a daunting task ahead of them. The bullpens could be the real difference. For the Red Sox that has been a glaring weakness all year long. The Yankees clearly have the advantage as Mariano Rivera looks to be his old self. All he did in the Division Series was dominate the Twins. He went 4 innings in two games getting the save in each, without giving up a hit or walk.

The hitting though is a whole different story, with the Red Sox breaking all kinds of major league records. They had 8 players with 80 or more RBIs, 6 players with 25 or more homers, and 8 with 30 or more doubles. These guys can just crush the baseball. Your number 9 hitter is All-Star catcher Jason Varitek. That is just wrong. The old adage is that good pitching will beat good hitting. The Yankees hope to prove that true. The Yankees have a pretty fair lineup themselves with Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada. But the Red Sox are just a machine, and will need to be if they have any chance of upsetting the Yankees. One hitter who must come to the rescue is Manny Ramirez who when it comes to the playoffs has been horrible. He has hit just .185 in five divisional series with the Indians and just .188 in his only series with the Bosox. In two World Series with the Indians he hit only .182 so it's imperative that he comes through against the Yankees or this could be a quick exit from the series. The other question for the Red Sox will be the condition of centerfielder Johnny Damon who was involved in a violent collision on Monday and his status for the series is up in the air after suffering a concussion. He's vital to the top of the lineup, in his absence they will most likely go with Gabe Kapler. Nomar Garciaparra hit .375 in the Division Series, but had no RBIs. The Red Sox only hit .216 as a team against the A's, but that won't get it down against the mighty Yankees.

This is the series that as a fan you dream of. One of the most historical rivalries in any sport now takes center stage with the prize being a trip to the World Series. For the Yankees it would mean a chance to add more hardware to their all ready impressive warehouse of trophys. For the Red Sox it's all about getting rid of the "Curse". I'm probably like most baseball fans that would love to see a Cubs vs. Red Sox World Series, but to me the Yankees pitching is just to strong. I like the Yankees to win in six.