Friday, July 02, 2004

Yankees Sweep

You won't read a better baseball column this year than Murray Chass's dissection of the Boston Red Sox. Wednesday night, David Ortiz misplayed a hard-hit grounder and made a scene of replacing his glove, as if that had anything to do with it. Thursday night, Derek Jeter risked all to make a spectacular catch of a looper foul ball. The contrast in athletic behavior could not have been more stark.

The Yankees of 2004 have become a great baseball team. The Red Sox of 2004 have become an error-prone embarrassment. One hopes the Sox get their act together soon. If they don't, there won't be an ALCS rematch. The Angels will be playing the Yankees and the Yankees will win.