(I didn't watch *) Rewind 24 hours. ESPN talking about the NY Yankees/Red Sox race.

[Buzz Clik]

"If things go as they are, and the Red Sox lose and the Yankees beat Toronton Thursday night, the Yankees will be three-and-a-half games behind the Red Sox."

And that's why they play the games!

Boston scored two in the bottom of the ninth to beat Tampa Bay, and the Yankees lost to Toronto tonight. The Yanks now trail by five and a half.

Okay, now back to *.

[BeyondGeography]

1. Big deal...the Yankees own the Sox this year

And tired armed Dice-K will be served for dinner tomorrow night.

[RoyGBiv]

3. Well ...

They're 7-8 against the Yankees. Not exactly owned, imo.

[BeyondGeography]

4. Sox are 2-7 in the last 9; Yanks have the best record in MLB since the break

Boston's tough, but they need to give poor Dice-K a breather. The season's longer here and he's used to five days rest on top of it...but who am I to give the haters advice...

[RoyGBiv]

5. A mostly familiar pattern really ...

Yankees surge late. Boston tanks late.

I's just sayin' that head-to-head, they're basically even with three games between them to go.

Wouldn't have mentioned it but was looking at stats like that earlier and noticing how the some division leaders have fairly even records against several teams and lopsided winning records against one or two teams. Boston's are the White Sox and Tampa Bay.

[BeyondGeography]

6. I know; just talkin' smack for the Soxies here

And the Yanks have sucked against Tampa and Baltimore; who knows why. The Yankees are old in field and they tune out of certain games when they fall behind early, which their starting pitching was doing all the time especially earlier in the year. But they're still very dangerous.

Baseball...the ultimate brain tease and it'll tear ya to bits if you put your heart out there. It has taken me the better part of five decades to not get too caught up in rooting for laundry (if only, if only, if only...) and to enjoy the randomness and inner beauty of the game. Why 90-feet between the bases (sheer perfection; how many plays are settled with half-a-step to spare?); why 60-feet, 6 inches from the mound to home plate (the poetry of those dimensions). It's 127 feet 3 and 3/8 inches from home to second, and just about every steal attempt is a close call. Did God design this game?

[zeemike]

2. I didn't watch aether, had to take a dump

And that made me feel better than watching that crap.
I don't have cable or dish to keep up with baseball but then I am still hoping that the Cubs can win.