Do Sox Have Managerial Lead Over Yankees?

Dayne Perry wrote an article today about how the Red Sox appear to be the better team going into the 2008 season. He gave the Yankees the advantage offensively, which I'm sure most people would agree with. The Yankees ranked first in runs scored last year, while the Red Sox ranked fourth. Perry also gave the Yankees the edge in their bench. That's a no-brainer, given that the Red Sox currently don't have a bench, and will be looking to make one over the next few months.

Perry, however, gave the Red Sox the advantage in the rotation, the bullpen, their defense, and their manager. I think it's clear why he claimed the Red Sox have the better rotation. Nothing against the Yankees great young pitching prospects, but they will go through some growing pains. Even the best of pitching prospects do. And they haven't been stretched out to a full season's work load either, so the will likely have to be supplemented with other Yankees starters such as Mike Mussina or Kei Igawa.

The Red Sox would appear to have a better bullpen as well. Mariano Rivera may be the best closer of all time, but Jonathan Papelbon is clearly the much better closer right now. And the Yankees lack set up men as strong as Hideki Okajima and Manny Delcarmen.

Perry also explains why he chose the Red Sox defense over that of the Yankees. According to Perry, "by whatever measure you choose to employ — fielding percentage or more advanced and more useful metrics like Defensive Efficiency and the Plus-Minus System — the Red Sox come out on top. The Yankees have sub-optimal defenders at the outfield corners, shortstop (no, Derek Jeter is not a good fielder), and second base."

Perry then goes on to give the Red Sox the managerial advantage. He justifies his choice by saying Francona has two World Series rings. That's not really fair though, Girardi only managed one year and he managed the Marlins. He did very well with what he had, winning the Manager of the Year award.

How Girardi will handle the Yankees is a very interesting topic to ponder. He didn't do so well with the management or media in Florida, something he'll have to improve immediately in New York. But other than that, Girardi's ability to manage the Yankees is a big question mark. Another question mark, just like the Yankees rotation and bullpen. 2008 will certainly be an interesting year in the Bronx. They'll go into the season with more unknowns than I can remember them having in at least a decade.

Any of you have some thoughts on how Girardi will do? If so, feel free to share. Just make sure you give an explanation.

No, You Should Be A Yankees Fan

In order to explain this story, I'll have to first provide a small bit of background information. I come from a very large family which is about 90% Red Sox fans. My grandfather raised his five children to be Red Sox fans, and in turn those children have raised almost all of their thirty or so children to be Red Sox fans. There is one exception.

One of my uncles has never been a large baseball fan so he didn't really instill Red Sox allegiance in any of his kids. And so only one of his sons has grown up to become a Red Sox fan while the other son roots for the Yankees. Most of us live in New York so that's nothing out of the ordinary.

The two sons, on opposite sides of the rivalry are around the ages of sixteen and seven. The older is a Red Sox fan while the younger prefers the Yankees. At our Christmas gathering earlier today, the elder son was picking on his younger brother. He was telling him how the Yankees are slowly falling apart year by year, and how if he wants to enjoy a team he should switch over to the Red Sox.

So what did I do? I told the younger kid, "no, you should be a Yankees fan." I explained how the Yankees have an incredible history and no one should be ashamed to root for them. Then I said how the team you grow up rooting for is sacred. Once you pick a team, you should stick with them because one of the greatest things in baseball is the loyalty their fans typically display towards their teams.

And I truly believe that. I'm not sure how much my younger cousin understood of what I said, given his age. But I've never been one to try to "convert" people to being Red Sox fans. Have I influenced a few former girlfriends to root for the "good guys"? Sure, but I let them choose on their own whether or not to follow baseball and most of them have chosen to support my love of the Red Sox, often becoming involved in the team themselves.

It's a love of the game that matters most, before allegiances to any team. At least that's what I've always believed.