Enemy Perspective 2

When your season ends in disappointment (or in some cases, complete and total disaster) all you can ask as a fan is for your team to reach the point where they left off last year.

In the 5th and deciding game of the 1995 ALDS, the pre-dynasty Yankees lost a 6-5 extra inning heartbreaker to the Mariners. Up 2 runs in the 8th and then 1 in the 11th, to this day it’s the worst loss I’ve ever experienced. And I didn’t even have money on the game.

The following year the Yanks not only made it back to the Division Series, but went on to win the ‘96 World Series – and the memory of Seattle was long gone.

It is now 2005. Like Yankee fans in ’96 and Sox fans in ’04, the goal is to get back to where we left off the year before.

Will things turn out differently this year without Dave Roberts? And will the Yankees even make it back to the ALCS without Tony Clark? The answers to these questions and more are here, in this year’s post-season edition of “The Enemy Perspective”…

- First of all, I’ve been effectively banned from Yankee Stadium this October, which is bad news for Sox fans. After back-to-back playoff debacles the last two years, none of my Yankee-fan friends and family are willing to bring me to games this October. What debacles, you ask? Well in 2003, after blowing-out TWO tires on my buddy Jimmy’s car in a parking lot on Jerome Avenue, I witnessed the last 4 innings of the Yankee loss in Game 6 (“Grady Game” eve), and then last year, despite emails that morning BEGGING me not go, I suffered through the horror show in the Bronx that was Game 7. This year I’ve already been told by two people who have extra tickets, “I’m not welcome at The Stadium.” Place your bets accordingly.

- I’m curious to see which Terry Francona shows up this October. Will it be the guy who pinch runs for the guy on first with the tying run on second? Or the guy who (I can’t believe I’m saying this) was flat-out masterful in the dugout last October? I honestly can’t say I’ve ever seen more head-scratching moves than Francona has made here in 2005. (You listening Dale Arnold??) But I think I made the same comment in 2004. The thing was last year – despite his seeming incompetence in the regular season, I thought he out-managed Torre in Games 4-7 of the ALCS, and was in complete control of his team from the first game in Anaheim to the last game in St. Louis. Which Tito stands-up will play a big role in the Sox post-season, since we all know how important a manager is in a short series. Keith Foulke helped too, I know…

- Speaking of Anaheim, I hate the Rally Monkey for the simple reason that I think it legitimately works. I remember watching the Angels series against the Yankees in 2002 and just feeling utterly helpless every time they showed the friggin’ thing on the Jumbo-tron. 5-0, 6-0, didn’t matter. It was like Stallone putting his hat on backwards in “Over the Top”. There was just nothing you could do.

As far as the Yankees’ first round opponent – I’d be surprised if the series doesn’t go 5 games. The Angels always play the Yankees tough. They get the first 2 at home thanks to Showalter tanking the last game of the regular season in Texas, plus they have battle-tested players throughout their roster and a solid manager to boot. And sticking with my theme from the intro, they too remember how they got beat last year, and do not want a repeat performance in ’05. I’m going with Yankees though, in a classic 5 game series.

- I stated at the beginning of the season that after his pathetic performance in Games 4-7 last year, I wanted to see how well Arod hit in the clutch “in May against Detroit” in order to try and determine his success in THIS year’s post-season. Well, I watched over 100 Yankee games this year and I’m still not confident in the probable MVP this October. What? I’m bashing the MVP? Yes. He still takes too many pitches down the middle, and swings and misses far too much. It drives me crazy. And we’re not talking 1986 Mike Scott forkballs. These are hittable pitches from mediocre pitchers that I’m referring to. It tells me he’s still got a long way to go in becoming a smarter hitter at the plate, and talent alone will only take you so far in October. Plus, teams WILL pitch to him, so I see Arod as THE main factor in the Yankees’ success this post-season. As Arod goes, so goes the Yankees.

- My main question with the Red Sox all year was not the starting pitching, not the manager, not the bullpen – it was whether or not they had the killer instinct necessary to defend a title. To me this is the key ingredient. That’s why it’s so hard to repeat. It takes a special club to do so, i.e. the Yankees, i.e. the Pats. After you’ve won once, it becomes about winning for the sake of winning. Not for the parades or the endorsements, or even the multiple appearances on Bravo. It’s like beating your buddy in pickup basketball – you do it just to say you kicked his ass. And based on what I’ve observed this season, from the front office on down, I just don’t see that quality in the 2005 Sox. They had the division by the balls and let it slip away to a team they should’ve put away in July. I think not resigning Pedro will prove to be the downfall this October, and while I’m sure everybody’s books are nicely balanced, when Matt Clement is pitching in a do-or-die game in a matter of days, all the Pedro bashers will be rethinking their position of counting beans instead of rings.

- 3 Things I WANT to see this October: Jeannie Zelesko’s cans, Bernie Williams getting a big hit at Yankee Stadium, and Ron Burgandy throwing out the first ball at a Padre playoff game. “Don’t act like you’re not impressed!”

- 3 Things I DON’T want to see this October: Mariano Rivera in the 8th inning, Suzan Waldman’s cans, and a hittable pitch thrown by anyone to David Ortiz after the 6th.

- I’ve got the Yankees over the Angels in 5, and the Red Sox over the White Sox in 4. So this means for the 3rd year in a row the world as we know it will stop turning for an entire week. Hmmmmm…no Dave Roberts, no Keith Foulke, no Pedro for the Red Sox. No Tony Clark, no Kenny Lofton, no Kevin Brown for the Yankees. Maybe I’ll go alone and buy scalpers for Game 6. Just a thought…