Second Half kicks off...

It's was a solid first half for the Sox despite their average June. The good news is that pitching is the strongest it's been in a long time, despite the shoulder injury to Schill. His replacement in Gabbard has been OK and Lester (just pitched a 2H CG) still awaits a call-up. Manny Delcarmen is starting to emerge as their 7th / 8th inning guy, and they boast the third best ERA in the MAJORS. Guess what wins in Oct? While batting seems to be an issue, they still rank in the top 5 of runs per game. Crisp seems to be out of his funk, JD Drew is showing some life finally, but Lugo remains awful. Manny has always been a second half guy, and lets hope Ortiz can survive the nagging leg injuries.

The Yanks have had their worst half of baseball since the early 90's. There was way too much off field nonsense surrounding this team as well. Giambi, Stray-Rod, F-Rod (classic), was all just embarassing for the once mighty bombers. The NY papers haven't been kind, and many columnists have already printed their obituary. No argument here...

If not for A-Rod's amazing statistical season, they'd be much further under .500. Other than Jeter and Posada, none of the regulars are hitting over .275. Pitching has been an issue all season. Outside of Wang and the most recent performances of Clemens, it's been horrible. Pettite has been terrible of late and Mussina still has an Era hovering in the high 4's. It doesn't really matter who is in the 5 spot at this point.

It's true the Yanks have one of the easiest remaining schedules in the second half. But guess who has the easiest? The Sox. They only have 30 games against teams over .500, with the Yanks having 33. Heck, the Sox only played doormat Tampa Bay 4 times, with 15 to go...

Trading deadline? Not much going on for either squad. Even if the Yanks really turn it on quickly, who would they get? Is Cashman willing to sacrifice his youth for a shot at the wildcard? Gagne isn't enough. What starter is avaliable? The Sox will probably dabble in a few minor league deals or just unload Wily Mo.

So it begins... The Yanks try once again to reach the .500 plateau... See you in late Aug boys...