Overcoming Bad Sportswriting.

"This is apparently another moment in baseball time when the Yankees made a big trade and everybody else in the American League is supposed to stop playing.

The Yankees got A-Rod and everybody else in the league was supposed to be too afraid to come out of the clubhouse."

Not true.

I'm pretty sure I'm repeating myself, but the Yankees had lost Pettitte, Clemens, and Soriano while the Red Sox had added Foulke and Schilling. Before the start of the 2004 season, the Red Sox were probably the favorites to win the AL East.


"It was the same when they put Johnny Damon at leadoff over the winter.
You know what it was really like around here?"

Not true.

Josh Beckett and his 5.00 ERA were considered a more important signing than Damon.

The Red Sox were praised by lots of people, including Mike Lupica, for replacing Damon with Coco Crisp, who has come through with a whopping 21 rbis.


"Around here, the Yankees are still treated like the defending champion of baseball every year, even though the last year they won the World Series was 2000."


Huh? I must have missed the parade, too.

The Yankees have won eight straight divisions and have made the playoffs eleven straight seasons. The Yankees also have the deepest pockets. This is why they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

However, around here, the Yankees are treated like unclutch losers any year they don't win the World Series.

Meanwhile, Lupica treats the Mets like (ahem) the Best Team in Baseball, even though the last year they won the World Series was 1986.

You know how the Yankees have spent about $1 billion on payroll the past five years and not won the World Series? Lupica will remind you from time to time. Well, he never mentions that the Mets have spent about half a billion and not even made the playoffs.

"Since the start of the season, the Yankees have lost Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield, Robinson Cano.

Of course it has been a lot to overcome, and they did it splendidly for a long time before it was time to go out and buy a big-ticket replacement like Bobby Abreu."

Splendid.

"Since the start of the season, the Red Sox have lost three-fifths of what was supposed to be their original starting rotation, lost their starting right fielder, lost their starting catcher.

Doesn't matter.

The Yankees have had to overcome more.

Why?

They're the Yankees, that's why!"

Not true.

The Yankees had to overcome more because (a) the Yankees lost more talented players than the Red Sox lost and (b) the Yankees lost their players for a longer period of time.

"Since the start of the season" is a wee bit misleading (i.e., a big, fat Lupica lie) because, for instance, it ignores the lingering injury to Carl Pavano. While Pavano might not be too good, he was 1/5th of the Yankees' rotation.

Cano has been gone for about a month, Sheffield has been gone for about nine weeks, andMatsui has been gone for about eleven weeks.

Varitek got hurt five whole days ago.