Remembering August 21, 2006 and ALDS 2007

I was in Copenhagen, having just started a study abroad program. I knew that baseball wouldn't be on television, but I didn't think I would be this far removed from the baseball world. And at the time, the Yankees were playing the Red Sox. The Yankees were a team battered and bruised and struggling and trying to right a ship. And when I came back to my dorm room on August 21st after some orientation activity, this AP article was sitting in my e-mail box:

Yankees finish off five-game sweep

By Associated Press  |  August 21, 2006

The New York Yankees celebrated in the dugout as if they'd just clinched a playoff berth.

In a way, they've done everything but.

Hugging and shaking hands after a demoralizing five-game sweep of the rival Red Sox, the Yankees took a season-high 6.5-game lead in the AL East with a 2-1 victory over Boston on Monday. The Yankees hadn't swept Boston in five games in more than half a century.

"A sweep in Boston?" winning pitcher Cory Lidle said, pausing before breaking out in a big smile. "Pretty awesome."

After outscoring the Red Sox 47-25 in four games over three days and two early mornings, the Yankees rediscovered their pitching to win the sleepy series finale at Fenway Park.

"Everything went about as wrong as it could," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

Lidle (2-2) pitched six shutout innings in his third -- and best -- start since coming to New York at the trading deadline along with more-heralded slugger Bobby Abreu.

With All-Star closer Mariano Rivera unavailable after pitching two innings to win Sunday night's game -- actually, it ended at 1:26 a.m. Monday -- Kyle Farnsworth pitched the ninth for his second save in six tries.

Yankees manager Joe Torre shouted in the Yankees' dugout and exchanged hearty handshakes with his coaches, then hugged his players as they came off the field after the hard-to-believe sweep.

"It was emotional," Torre said. "When you're sitting there, a manager's dream is to have these guys, their attitude. The guys that didn't play today -- you had to be in the dugout to hear the support that they gave each other."

There were a lot of regulars not playing for the Yankees, who rested three regulars -- center fielder Johnny Damon, catcher Jorge Posada and first baseman Jason Giambi -- and used Derek Jeter at designated hitter.

David Wells (2-3) coasted through the makeshift lineup for five innings before Abreu doubled in Melky Cabrera to break the scoreless tie.

Nick Green doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the eighth to make it 2-0. Wily Mo Pena homered off Scott Proctor for Boston's only run.

It was 28 years ago that the Yankees came to Fenway in September with a four-game deficit and left tied for the division lead -- a series remembered in baseball as the "Boston Massacre." New York, which had trailed by as many as 14 games, won the AL East in a one-game playoff settled when Bucky Dent's popup settled into the net above the Green Monster.

The Red Sox hadn't been swept in a five-game series since the Cleveland Indians did it in 1954. The Yankees swept Boston in five games in New York in 1951 and at Fenway in '43.

"It's been an emotional weekend," Red Sox second baseman Mark Loretta said. "It's been physically challenging and emotionally challenging for both sides. It's a little easier to take if you're winning."

--snip--

In 2007, the Yankees played the Indians in the American League Division series having gone 6-0 during the regular season against the Tribe. Here were the scores: 10-3, 9-2, 8-6, 6-1, 11-2, 5-3. Here were the Yankees to get wins in the first three games of that series: Chase Wright, Kei Igawa and Sean Henn. The Yankees didn't just dominate them in 2007, they had dominated for years; 2003: Yankees won season series, 5-2, 2004: Yankees won season series, 4-2, 2005: Yankees won season series, 4-3, 2006: Yankees won season series, 4-3.

Why do I go back to these dates and events? Well one because I need something uplifting after the week of baseball I had. But mostly because it proves that wins in the regular season and dominating regular season series mean nothing in October. NOTHING. The Yankees MASSACRED the Red Sox in 2006 and MASSACRED the Indians in 2007 and they have zero postseason series wins to show for it. Let's not declare the Red Sox the World Series champs just yet--let's just make sure we're ready to win when we face them in October. As Francona said in 2006: "We certainly didn't put ourselves in a very good position. If we allow it to devastate us, then we weren't good enough in the first place."