Mike Lupica thinks Baseball is Horseshoes.

I already ranted at length about this exact same "Shooting From the Lip" article (I'm Mike Lupica, and I am outta control, man. I'm not shooting from the hip, I'm shootin' from the lip, throwin' crazy knowledge at you, with some hip puns, too.), but this is my blog and I want to vent.

Lupica has the nerve to casually try to sneak the following argument past you:

"(Epstein) was hiring somebody to manage the Red Sox, who might be working on two World Series in a row right now if not for Grady Little."

I know Lupica covers his butt with the qualifier "might," but he's really implying that the Sox are good enough to have won the last two World Series. They should have won. One stupid managerial move is the only thing that stopped them last year. They almost won.

Big deal.

You know who else almost won in 2003? The Yankees.

You know who else almost won in 2003? The A's.

Also, the Giants, the Twins, the Cubs, and the Braves. Oh, and don't forget the teams who almost made the playoffs. They all might have won. A clutch hit here or there, a fly ball that doesn't curve foul, a favorable umpire's call, maybe a bad managerial move is all that stopped them.


Besides, why is he giving the Red Sox game seven of the 2003 ALCS? If Little brings in Williamson or Embree ... I dunno, Mike Timlin ... the Yankees automatically lose? Hideki Matsui strikes out on three pitches because Embree is a Super Human with a lifetime ERA of 0.00?

What about the freakin' Florida Marlins? Why on Earth does Lupica assume the Marlins could not beat the Red Sox in the World Series? I know Lupica says might, but anything is might. It's the Butterfly Effect, for crying out loud. Lupica wouldn't say it if he didn't think it should have happened.

Until Theo Epstein became the New Kid in Town, Lupica has spent most of the past 364 days writing "I <3 Josh Beckett" on the cover of his Trapper Keeper. Now he thinks his ex-boyfriend would have laid down against the Red Sox?


As a Yankee fan, I'll gladly apply Lupica's logic to my team. The Yankees almost won this season, and last season, and in 2001, and in 1997, and in 1995. They were in first place in 1994 when the strike hit. Even in the 2002 loss to the Angels, I think that if Torre had taken El Duque out of game #2 before he pitched to Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus, the Yankees would have won. Then, they would have won the World Series.

So, there ya go. The Yankees are world champs for the past ten years! Brian Cashman and Gene Michael are geniuses, man! Ten almosts in a row!