Series preview: Stanks @ Sox

"Kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down..."

New York Stankees (22-29)
AL EAST: 13.5 GB (t-4th)
STRK: W-1 LST 10: 4-6
AVG: .272 (7th) ERA: 4.62 (10th)
HRs: 55 (7th)

Last meeting: NY won, 2-1
Season series: BOS up, 6-3

KEY PLAYERS:

• A-Rod (.292.19/45)--after torrid first month, Mr. April has come down to Earth thanks to a horrid May (.235/5/11); perhaps it was the strip clubs...?
• Jeter (.343/32R/28RBI)--the Stankee captain has done it all: his avg. ranks 5th in the AL, he's hit in 21 of his last 24 games, his .421 OBP is 6th in the league and he's 2nd in hits (70)
• Posada (.357/6/30)--somehow Georgie has found his way to the top of the AL in batting average; no better time than now to knock that dickweed off his perch
• Judas Demon (.264/3/17)--hit his first leadoff homer of the season the other night in Toronto, but is in a 3-17 funk, and the banged-up former caveman continues to be a big-dollar bust (tee hee!)
• Hideki Matsui (.282/5/25)--batted .301 in May after a tough April (.207) and has hit in 10 of his last 12 games with 3 doubles, 3 homers and 7 RBIs; still not near the production the Stanks need from him

Pitching Matchups:
GM1 Fri 7P Wang (3-4, 4.13) vs. Wakefield (5-5, 3.36)
GM2 Sat 3:55 Mussina (2-3, 5.86) vs. Schilling (5-2, 3.68)
GM3 Sun 8P Pettitte (3-4, 2.51) vs. Beckett (8-0, 2.65)

What, is it that time again already? Time for another meeting between the bitter old rivals, the beloved BoSox and the hated Stankees, baseball's two most storied franchises, sqauring off for the umpteenth time, yadda yadda yadda...

Let's face it, with Boston kicking more ass than Jason Bourne and the Stanks looking like the cast from The Sandlot 3: the Dysfunctional Years, it really has taken some of the luster off the Rivalry, at least in the public's (i.e. ESPN's) eyes.

But here in the Nation, a series against the Stanks means something whether Boston's up 13 games or down 13 games...okay, that's a lie, 'cause after the Boston Massacre II last September, the remaining series against them was meaningless.

I guess what I'm trying to say is when the Sox have a 13 1/2 game lead over the team that has kicked sand in its face for decades (save for 2004), a series like this means even more than one in which the two teams are even in the standings. This is Boston's chance to absolutely bury its enemy as far as the division race goes, and a sweep would almost certainly sound the death knell for playoff hopes in the Bronx, at least in the critic's eyes.

A lot has happened since the last time these two teams met just 10 days ago: Boston has gained 4 games in the standings on New York, and the Stanks have had another rash of bad play, bad press and bad luck.

Just in the last four days a picture was splashed across the back of the Post of A-rod walking into a strip club with a stripper. By all accounts the woman escorted Rodriguez up to his Toronto hotel room, where they presumably talked about what Derek Jeter was like.

If that wasn't bad enough, the next day in a game against the Jays, old blue lips incensed the Toronto players & coaches and once again pissed off baseball "purists" when he yelled "mine" while rounding third base, causing the Jays shortstop to let a pop up drop in front of him.

That A-Rod, classy all the way.

If that's not bad enough, Jason Giambi had to go on the DL with a foot problem, presumably from inserting it in his mouth too much, and New York announced that Roger Clemens won't make his 2007 debut in Boston this weekend, but rather away from the glare in Chicago on Monday.

What a friggin pussy!

It's just as well. The NY brass doesn't want to look like total fools if the Sox were to hammer the Rocket like chop meat, booing him off the field once again and laying waste to any pipe dreams the Stanks might have of catching Boston in the standings with the addition of the $21 million dollar mercenary.

The Sox will have to be content with beating the Stanks sans Roger, and with the pitching matchups much more favorable for this series than last (other than Wake facing New York again-gulp!), a sweep is entirely in the realm of possibility.

Well, at least for Boston it is.

Down with the Feeble Empire!
Sweep the Stanks!