No Joy in Beantown

It is looking more like the nation will be deprived this year of one of the greatest shows in sports, a Yankee-Red Sox postseason series.

Oh, the Yankees will certainly do their part in the first round, crushing the spunky Twinkies from Minnesota, whose payroll for their entire team equals roughly that of the left side of the Yankees infield.

But the Red Sox are down in their series to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Orange County, Southern California, USA, 1-0 after the Sox' top pitcher, Jon Lester, was drubbed last night. (It was on TV too late for me. One advantage of my current station in life is I could record it and then watch it this morning. Of course, it wasn't much of a treat today.)

I know, things changed for the Sox after the miracle of 2004, when the Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit against the Yanks, celebrated their pennant on the infield of the old Yankee Stadium (no wonder they had to build a new park) and then swept the Cardinals in the World Series to end an 86-year championship drought. Then they won the series again in another sweep two years ago.

But for fans who have been rooting for them as long as me, it will take more than a decade or two of success to remove the assumption built on years of following them that if something bad can happen to the Sox, it will.

My attitude for years has been if the Sox win I'm thrilled, but if they don't I'm fine as long as the Yanks don't win.

I have the usual Yankee-hater's complaints about them just buying what they need, (especially this year. Need an ace for the pitching staff and a new cleanup hitter? No problem) a certain arrogance of the fans and an owner who, before he grew old, would have been complimented if called merely obnoxious.

But it looks like the Yanks' year. Unless, of course, there is a Red Sox jersey or some other talisman buried in the concrete of that new taxpayer-financed edifice they now call home. One can on only hope.