i shouldn't be surprised given that they are the biggest chokers in the history of baseball, but i have to confess that even i did not expect a royals sweep. that's just pathetic.

The sweep only tightens Boston's grip on second place.

ouch. go yanks!

i obviously am not going to engage any orioles fans in a debate. looks like i should plan to be in boston this fall, as i did last year.

and, might i add, that i feel a crack whore is the appropriate avatar for someone who seems to be insinuating that the red sox will not win the al east. you have been sucking glass dick a little too long, elvis.

Thrillhouse,

The last time you mouthed off about the yankees, they went on a 16-2 run. So thanks, we've needed something to snap the team out of this funk and I'll bet this will do nicely.

With one WS trophy since women were given the right to vote, you guys sure get pretty fucking cocky. Hell, even Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit and the New York Mets have won at least two in the same span.

Biggest chokers in the history of baseball? Sorry, but one championship series doesn't really compare to several generations worth of Affleck family tears.

During the Pawtucket game on NESN last night (since the Sox played a day game), my wife and I did a fake debate where we tried to out-convince each other that baseball is just a stupid kid's sport where huge 35 year-old men get paid millions of dollars to smack a sphere with a stick and then run around a lawn. And that we're pretty retarded for watching them do it.

We didn't convince each other.

Screw the Yankees in their stupid asses. I hope they miss the playoffs.

My boys bitchslap the $200 million wonders for 3 days straight, & this thread turns into the usual Yanks/Sawx BS. Typical.



LET'S GO, ROY-ALS!!!!!! LET'S GO ROY-ALS!!!!!!

Buddy Bell is whipping them boys into shape.

billy g, i love your tenacity. let's see the yanks go 16-2 again this season. i love that most of their wins are against teams with losing records. and the road trip they are on is off to a tremendous start. i feel pretty safe in continuing to spout off.

elvis, you amuse me. i have to admit that i enjoyed the affleck crack, pardon the crack pun. let's just end the bickering right now. you are not my enemy. i am glad that your team will make it difficult for the yankees to land the wild card. the enemy of my enemy is my friend, naturally. i have to admit, too, that i am pretty scared of the birds. i mean, i expect that ponson will win 20, since there's no reason to believe that the offense won't score 7 runs a game for him all year. also, brian roberts should definitely maintain his pace in all offensive categories out of the leadoff spot. i don't see how he could possibly fall off. palmiero and sosa will play 162 injury free games each, which is very good for you, since sosa is on pace to hit upwards 15 hr. i can't even imagine a scenerio where the o's don't stay red hot.

lastly, to suggest that the 2004 yankees are not the biggest chokers in the history of sport is retarded. wicked retarded!!!

It won't last, but I'm enjoying it while I can. So far Buddy's not doing too much managing himself...he's still kinda getting the lay of the land.

But anything's gonna work better than Tony "Happy Happy Joy Joy" Pena.

After the past 8-9 years, you take what you can in Birdland.

I have no delusions of rings in Ballmer, but they do have some guys that make watching games fun again. Brian Roberts has been my favorite to watch for a few seasons now. I just like the way he approaches the game.

Ha ha...for someone "feeling pretty safe spouting off" you were awful quiet for a few weeks. I suspect you'll be awful quiet again very soon.

Yankees losing three straight to the Royals doesn't change that Boston has the worst bullpen in baseball and its very questionable what you'll get from Shilling this year.

Elvis is right to be pretty happy with his team. Baltimore looks to be for real this year. The biggest question to me about them is the ability of their young arms not to tire out at the end of the year and I expect that they'll strengthen their team at the trading deadline.

Whether you think the O's and the Bluejays are playoff calibur teams or not this year, they aren't the pushovers they've been in past years. The increased competitiveness in the East makes it likely that the wild card will come from another division. When's the last time, Boston actually won the East? Are you in first place now? Yankees are only 2 games behind you. You're really getting awfully cocky for nothing.

Boston won its last division title in '90.

But how much do division titles mean anymore, when the last three WS winners have been wild-cards (Angels, Marlins, Red Sox)?

They mean a lot if you need to win the division to make the playoffs. Last few years, its felt like a given that either Boston or NY would be the wild card. I'm guessing it might take winning the East for Boston to make the playoffs this year. I don't think they're going to do it. That's all.

Harkens back to the days of George Brett and Goose Gossage. Those early '80s series used to be nasty thrillers.

Christ, I wish KC had a winning franchise. MLS doesn't count.

The Royals are a sad sack of players. Whupping on the hapless Yankees will unquestionably be the highlight of the season. Still, it's hard for me to get too excited about the worst team in baseball. On a positive note, that might have been enough to avoid the tag of the worst team in the history of baseball.

Sports have been tough to endure around here lately. Here's to football season and Carl Peterson's much extended 5 year plan.

jc

are you looking at fantasy stats or something because your precious yankees team era isn't that far behind boston's.

that randy johnson is quite the savior eh?

shiv shiv shiv shiv!!! [/chant]

by the way, billy, the yanks have allowed more runs than the sox this year.

Yankees starting pitching has been very disappointing. If you're using their performance to date as a yardstick you're in trouble. Johnson hasn't been dominating anyone but he has pitched well enough for the team to win each of his starts. The offense in games he's pitched has been disappointing.

But you're conveniently comparing team eras when I was speaking of how much Boston's BULLPEN (not entire staff) sucks. The overall team era masks that problem. Even the Boston Herald recently reported that the Boston Bullpen's ERA was worst in baseball and that through late may they'd allowed a pathetic 40% of inherited baserunners to score.

Yankees are playing pretty shitty right now and have been inconsistent all year, but like I said Redsox are only a few games up and your bullpen and Shilling's current questionable status can hardly give you any reason to be exhuberant about your playoff hopes.