Faithful

a three-game series against the Twins. They can avoid Santana by rolling over for them, but that’s a risk: if they lose too many, we have a shot at catching them. Slim, sure, but a shot.

September 29th

SK: Today is a big day. If we win and Minnesota sweeps…

It could happen. One chance in four.

Meet me at Foxwoods.

SO: I know, I’m thinking the same way, but I read in the paper this morning that Francona and Wallace have decided not to change the playoff rotation to go after the division (that is, they’ll still throw Astacio versus the O’s in that doubleheader). The Coma himself: “At the chance of sounding like I don’t care, because I do, I’m sort of going to be stubborn about screwing our pitching up. I love the idea of having home-field advantage. I also think that you win with pitching. We’re going to somewhat try to remember that.”

And as things shape up, it appears Pedro’s slated for Game 1 (and therefore Game 5) and Schill for Game 2 (and thus Game 1 of the ALCS). So forget that dream matchup of Schilling-Santana. I guess Terry thinks we can split with Santana and take Schill’s start, or maybe he’s hoping we’ll outslug them at home for our #3 and #4?

Call me the tum-ba-lin di-ee-iice.

SK: “I guess Terry thinks”—You’re giving him too much credit.

Your news is unbelievable. The scenario you describe is idiotic. All I can hope is that Francona will change his mind and see reason if Minnesota sweeps New York (they lead in the first game, 3–1, in the middle innings) and we beat Tampa Bay again. Given the last couple of weeks, his plan to start Pedro in Game 1 is also foolish. His inexperience is showing. Not to mention a certain ocher tinge running up the center of his back.

I’m disgustipated, to quote Sylvester the Cat. Could these be orders from Above?— Sigh—Probably not.

SO: Since we’re two and a half back with five to go, I can almost understand the thinking. Almost. Last year we could have run the table if we’d had home advantage.

And did you see who’s sitting behind home plate at Yankee Stadium right now, scouting both the Yanks and Twins for the Cubbies? That’s right: Mr. Grady Little.

I’m back in Maine rather than at Fenway Park or at Yankee Stadium, where a sparse crowd is watching the rare afternoon game, but I’m once more wearing my bright red YANKEES HATER cap, and for a perfectly good reason: the sparse Stadium crowd is in attendance at the first of this year’s last three really important games, two between the Twins and the Yankees, one between the hapless Devil Rays and the Red Sox.

The Minnesota Twins, represented on the mound in the first of these crucial tilts by Johan Santana, who will almost certainly win this year’s Cy Young Award in the American League, are leading 3–1 in the fifth inning. If the Twins go on to win this game (Santana hasn’t lost since the All-Star break) plus the nightcap of this hurricane-induced doubleheader, and if the Red Sox can win tonight in Tampa,[63] the Yankees’ lead in the AL East would drop to a single scrawny game. I’m not saying this will happen, but if it did, considering the fact that Boston and New York have a combined total of eight games left to play… well, in a case like that, all bets would be off.

Maybe it doesn’t matter. Probably it doesn’t matter, in terms of what comes next; once you get to postseason, all the matchups are tough. But I want that home-field advantage. Even more, I’d like to see the Yankees humbled. So come on, you Twins! Go, you Johan!

It’s weird: here we have the Yanks’ ace Moose against Johan Santana in a rematch of last year’s ALDS, in a game with playoff implications, yet when I tune in during the second inning I discover the Stadium is a sea of blue seats. There can’t be more than two thousand people there—less than the number of folks who turn out for BP at Fenway. Later, the Yankees will list the official attendance as N/A—not available. Hey George, I hear Montreal’s looking for a team.

10:15 P.M.: One doesn’t like to believe God is a Yankees fan—it’s a terrifying idea—but days like this make me wonder. I thought that, with New York playing two against a strong Minnesota team and the Red Sox playing one against the hapless Rays, we really had a chance to pull within a breath of first place. At worst, I thought, New York would split their twin bill with Santana taking the opener.

But no. Santana left after five with a 3–1 lead, pulled by the Twins’ skipper, who quite naturally wants to protect his young ace with the playoffs looming. The Yankees then scored a bazillion runs and the camera caught the aforementioned young ace in the dugout, hucking helmets at the cement floor. Getting quite a bounce, too. The Yankees went on to win the second game, 5–4.

In Tampa, Tino Martinez hit a three-run bomb to put the game out of reach in the eighth, but the really disturbing development was how mortal Pedro Martinez looked in his last start of the regular season—how downright lousy. The hapless D-Rays won that one, 9–4, and instead of picking up a game and a half, we lost a game and a half. The Yankees’ margin is now four games, and given that the Red Sox have just four to play, I think that pretty well cooks us in the AL East, don’t you? The bottom line is simply that when the pressure got really intense, the Yankees refused to buckle. The Red Sox—aided by the Baltimore Orioles and at times by Terry Francona, who has a tendency to freeze at critical moments like Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny—did. Now we turn our eyes—ever hopeful, ever faithful—to the playoffs, where we can only hope the script will change.

SK: Santana comes out of the game, the Yanks score four and win. And I saw Santana in the dugout, heaving helmets. It ain’t nothing to Gardenhire; he’s got a lock.

If we finish second, I have no problem with Tito’s doubleheader pitching roster. But what’s with this playoff sked? Are we conceding the games Santana pitches, or what? Saving Curt for “winnable” games? Give me your thinking on this. What am I not seeing here?

SO: I thought the Yanks might tank it to make sure we’d get the Twins, but now it appears the Twins tanked it, pulling Santana after five. The playoffs don’t start for another six days, so it’s not like a starter should be on a pitch count around 70. Boo!

I have no idea what’s up with T Franc’s playoff rotation. It sounds like he’s going with a four-man squad, meaning Curt will start only Game 2 of the ALDS. I guess he’s assuming that’s a W, and he’ll have his #3 and #4 guys set for Games 3 and 4 at Fenway. If the 3 and 4 guys and the home bats can’t get it done, then he’s hoping—someday, some way—for a split between Pedro and Santana. Problem is, Arroyo, who should be our #3, has thrown far better on the road, and at this point we don’t have a reliable #4. I think it’s cavalier of Francona to assume we don’t need two from Father Curt in the first round. Sure, it would be nice to start the ALCS with a fresh ace, but there’s not much margin for error in this plan. Minnesota’s a good team that’s been there before.

September 30th

SO: So was the Coma’s initial rotation just smoke? Because now Pedro’s saying he’s starting Game 2 and Schill’s taking Games 1 and 5. And the Angels, now leading the West by one, have the exact