1st Place

Monday July 27, 2009

As I waste time at work on this miserable Monday still battling a hangover from Friday night my beloved Yankees sit 2.5 games ahead of Kevin Youkilis and his band of slumping companions in Boston. What better time could there be to write my first post on beanyoukilis?

I'll start with a pseudo mission statement/introduction to the world of blogging: I hate Kevin Youkilis (as a player) I don't know the guy. I'm sure he's cool enough to share a beer with in some underground biker bar. I hate the fits he throws when he makes an out. I hate how he crowds the plate. I love when Joba beans him. But most importantly I hate that he was the face of a Red Sox World Series Championship in 2007.

OK, that being said here's my take on the state of the American League East: The Sawx have lost their personality. This is something I value in a team, perhaps more than I should and surely enough to frustrate my best friend (my favorite baseball conversationalist). *NOTE* From this point on we can refer to this friend as the "Red Sox Spy" or "The Spy" for reasons I will get into at a later time. Back to the Red Stockings, in 2004 they were the idiots, a name I obviously got a good kick out of, but the idiot tag brought them together and gave them a face. This unshaven, scrappy blue collar attitude that everyone on a Boston pub stool is enamored with was their M.O. from 2004-2008, a period of enormous success for the Sox. During this time the Yankees were plain, boring and too business like. They didn't seem to be having any fun but instead longing for the days of Paul O'Neil's intensity and Derek Jeter's early years. Towards the end of 2008 Jason Giambi started emerging as a dominant personality in the Yanks clubhouse and things seemed to get a little more relaxed. They were having fun again and that was only the beginning. The stache is gone (I was a big supporter) but in comes Mark Teixiera, the best 1st Baseman in the AL, CC Sabathia, clubhouse mayor, AJ Burnett, shaving cream pie connoisseur and Nick Swisher, a total clown who leaves his bat on his shoulder too often looks lost in right field but is loved by the section 203 Bleacher Creatures and widely agreed to be a good clubhouse personality.

The Red Sox have lost that swagger they had for the last 4 years. They look robotic, boring and are playing a very mundane brand of ball and momentum has shifted back towards our Evil Empire. I LOVE THIS TEAM. Things have gotten so relaxed in the clubhouse that even stern Jorge Posada can get a good laugh out of being hit with a pie in the face. Obviously it's only because they are winning, but I attribute much of their success to the new clubhouse demeanor the Yankees have embraced, that lights out pitching and a pony league right field porch but again I digress.

In conclusion, it is my opinion that the Yankees will open this lead up and finish at least 6 games ahead of the Red Sox this season. Mark this down so the spy can mock me when I'm wrong but I'm fine with going out on a limb here. We're 0-8 against them this season and that will change, for the better. The Bombers are a different team then they were when we allowed ourselves to be shellacked by the Sawx and I have very high hopes for them this season.

Sorry for rambling, I'll get better at this.