1978?...Not Quite

Tuesday June 12, 2007

The Yankees are too good to play like the Royals for an entire season. It was inevitable the Bombers would make a run, and so I present you the recent six-game win streak. Throw a few Red Sox losses into the mix, and all of a sudden, it is 1978 redeux. Without another win, or heralded hall of fame debut, to write about, the NY Daily News used the 1978 comeback as the cover story. Hold on folks, not so fast.

It is still June, there are roughly 100 games left, plenty of time. Before tracking the Red Sox deficit on a daily basis, the Yanks need to reach .500. Just reaching .500 is not enough, NY needs to pass right by, not stop, not collect $200, and keep going. One big difference between the current underachieving version of the Yanks and ’78, is on field performance. The defending champs of 29 years ago played good baseball (about .550 winning percentage) much of the season, while the Sox were off the charts. This season the Yanks have played poor, and the Red Sox performed as expected. .500 is the first step, and continuing to win every series is required.

Anything can happen on any day in baseball making it tough to win six straight games, but the Yanks completed the feat against a demoralized White Sox team and inexperienced Pirate squad. Teams they need to beat.

While the national focus remained on the Red Sox lead over the Yankees, there were two other teams ahead of New York in the division, and three or four teams leading them in the wild card race. The Yanks are chasing more than Boston. Keeping the focus on winning and taking care of their on business is paramount.