N.Y. Yankees: California Reeling

From the desk of:  BLAME CARLOS MAY

The Red Sox Athletics Are Coming!

New York Yankees: Boston Red Sox Poised to Clinch A.L. East Title on Bronx County Grounds.

"Aaron Boone has no pulse."

Back in April (13-15) I attend the Red Sox/Orioles series at Boston immediately following their brouhaha against the Yankees.  I spent the mornings in part listening to WEEI Sports Radio, and sure enough a pair of hosts accuse the Yankees of (paraphrasing) playing asleep, and that Aaron Boone has no pulse.  I dismiss their comments outright, chalking it up to local hyperbole.  Their comments, however, never truly leave my mind.  So I watch as the Yankees negotiate their way through the rest of Spring and the dog days of Summer, and I wonder.  In truth, the Yankees nor Aaron Boone do anything that, to me, serve to dispel the aforementioned critiques levied against them by Boston radio five months ago.

Then along comes Aug. 31, at Detroit.  The Yankees wake up that morning losers of three of their last four.  Later that night a sense of urgency finally erupts through Aaron Boone's otherwise cool exterior, when the manager earns a well deserved ejection from an otherwise victorious Yankees effort over the Tigers.

Since then, the Yankees have won six and lost eight.

So much for inspiring the troops ...

On Sunday, the Yankees suffer yet another debilitating loss against the Blue Jays.  Moreover, they are now losers of three of their last four series.  Only Sunday's Oakland loss against Tampa keeps the Yankees clinging for another day to their precarious 1.5 game lead for top Wild Card spot over the A's.

• The Yankees are 29-25 since returning from the all-star break (26-22 since Aaron Judge went down); the A's have gone 35-18 over the same span.

And now, here come the Red Sox!  They arrive in Bronx County on Tuesday, but the series itself is an afterthought.  Boston already has their playoff ticket in hand, and are poised to clinch the A.L. East any day now.  That leaves the Yankees battling the Oakland A's for the right to host a one game post-season play-in, with only fourteen games left to play.

In the meantime, Seattle and Tampa represent nothing but trouble.  Just ask the Athletics who drop two of three over the weekend against the Rays.  Tampa and Seattle only trail the A's by seven games. The Yankees still must play the troublesome Rays four times before this Wild Card race is through, while Seattle and Oakland likewise have a four game series looming.

The Yankees enter Tuesday's series opener with a 91-58 record.  On Sunday, the Red Sox defeated the Mets at Fenway Park for their 103rd victory of the season and reduced their magic number to clinch the division to two.  Therefore, the Red Sox will very likely secure the A.L. East crown during this upcoming series on Yankee grounds.

That comes on Aaron Boone's watch, who now must find a way to keep his team from potentially boarding that flight bound for California.

It doesn't get any more wild than that.