08/28: It Is What It Is
Posted by: Patrick
Here it is. 2007 New York Yankees, this is your life. I feel pretty good about these next 31 games because of who we are playing. We have 6 with the Red Sox and 3 with the Mariners. Besides those 9, we have 22 games against bad or mediocre teams: 6 games with the Devils Rays (.389 winning percentage), 3 with the Royals (.442), 6 with the Blue Jays (.504) and 6 with the Orioles (.450).
I believe we can still win the division. Even at 8 games back. Crazy? Maybe. Optimistic? Yes. But, the reason I feel that way is because of those 6 games with the Red Sox. We can get it down to 2 games back all on our own. But, I think that that is what we need to do - win all 6 games. That's not gonna be easy, but it can be done. We swept them in a 5 game series last year - different time, different circumstances, whatever, I don't care - we can do 6 this year. If we do that, I think we'll win the division. If we lose one game (if we win 5 out of 6), we'll be 4 games back and, though we could make that up, I don't see it happening. So, we take those 6 games, we win the division. The Red Sox also have a weak schedule the rest of the way out, except for us, so we need to sweep them twice.
Even if we fail to do that, we're only 2 games back of the Mariners (thank goodness). I've said all along that all we need to do is get in the playoffs. Get in the playoffs and anything can happen. We have 3 games against the Mariners, as I said. So, that'll be our opportunity to gain ground. Hopefully we can maintain pace with them to where we don't need to sweep them, but at least we'll have the chance. In their final 33 games, they have 6 against the Angels (.588), 3 against the Tigers (.542) and 5 against the Indians (.562), in addition to the 3 against us. So, they've got a bit tougher schedule than we do.
And that's a part of my optimism here. The good teams that we play are the ones that we need to pass. Every other team we play is below .500 except for the Blue Jays, which are just above. It's funny how that worked out. The stage is set. Now, like always, all we have to do is go out and win. Easier said, then done. But, it begins with a single game. Let's go, Yankees...
I believe we can still win the division. Even at 8 games back. Crazy? Maybe. Optimistic? Yes. But, the reason I feel that way is because of those 6 games with the Red Sox. We can get it down to 2 games back all on our own. But, I think that that is what we need to do - win all 6 games. That's not gonna be easy, but it can be done. We swept them in a 5 game series last year - different time, different circumstances, whatever, I don't care - we can do 6 this year. If we do that, I think we'll win the division. If we lose one game (if we win 5 out of 6), we'll be 4 games back and, though we could make that up, I don't see it happening. So, we take those 6 games, we win the division. The Red Sox also have a weak schedule the rest of the way out, except for us, so we need to sweep them twice.
Even if we fail to do that, we're only 2 games back of the Mariners (thank goodness). I've said all along that all we need to do is get in the playoffs. Get in the playoffs and anything can happen. We have 3 games against the Mariners, as I said. So, that'll be our opportunity to gain ground. Hopefully we can maintain pace with them to where we don't need to sweep them, but at least we'll have the chance. In their final 33 games, they have 6 against the Angels (.588), 3 against the Tigers (.542) and 5 against the Indians (.562), in addition to the 3 against us. So, they've got a bit tougher schedule than we do.
And that's a part of my optimism here. The good teams that we play are the ones that we need to pass. Every other team we play is below .500 except for the Blue Jays, which are just above. It's funny how that worked out. The stage is set. Now, like always, all we have to do is go out and win. Easier said, then done. But, it begins with a single game. Let's go, Yankees...
