Yankees vs. Red Sox, Part 7,362. Bitter rivals meeting with a division title at stake in September. It’s huge. But it’s not a matter of life and death.
To fans of both teams, it’s far bigger than that.
So that is what the retooled, revamped Yankees face in a four-game series at Fenway Park starting Thursday. Part of that retooled, revamped roster is a bunch of young guys really experiencing the rivalry for the first time. So the Yankees who have been there, done that, stress that it is just another series.
Yeah, tell that to the fans. The Yankees are four games behind the AL-East leading Red Sox, who lost 1-0 to the Orioles. The Yankees, however, remained two games behind the Blue Jays, who lost to the Rays, for the second wild-card spot. But they also now trail the Mariners, who have won eight in a row, by a half-game.
“What we’ve done a good job with in this transition is not making a big deal out of everything. This is baseball. In between the lines, it’s baseball,” Mark Teixeira said before the Yankees’ 2-0 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday at the Stadium. “We’re just going about our business as usual, and it’s been working for the last month.”
True. Despite the loss, the Yankees are 21-12 over their past 33 games and 33-24 since the All-Star break, tied with Texas for the best mark in the American League during that span.
So the results after trade maneuvers and the desire to make the future appear now have been more than reasonably could be expected. But general manager Brian Cashman, noting no one could have foreseen what Gary Sanchez has done “because people don’t do historic stuff like he’s doing,” claimed no surprise at how the young guys have performed.
“These guys are all capable,” Cashman said. “It’s not just Fenway, it’s everywhere. Yankee Stadium. No matter where they go, they are playing meaningful baseball at the highest level in the world.”
But they still are young, so there is a bit of wonder of how they will respond to the cauldron known as Fenway.
“It could be interesting,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Everything so far, they’ve handled. Are there some tricky things in that ballpark? Yes. So that could happen to anyone, so if something happens I’m not going to be surprised. But my expectation is that they’ll handle it well.”
After all, it is just baseball.
“I suspect the series will be a really good series,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “We’ve got to go in there and play our best baseball and play hard because the focus right now is to win series, and it’s very important for us to keep on doing that.”
But there might be curiosity. Brett Gardner, an elder Yankee, is ready to handle any inquiries. But he doesn’t feel the need to lecture the kids on what to expect.
“Obviously, if the young guys ask questions or want to talk, we will, but I don’t feel the need to,” Gardner said. “These guys do a pretty good job of keeping their composure in pretty big situations. I don’t think it will be too much for them.
“I think it’s really a bigger deal for the fans. Games against the Red Sox, especially early in the year, are just as important as games against Tampa, Baltimore, Toronto. The position we’re in, all of our games are important. Boston has had a great season and they’re ahead of us but we’re still within striking distance.”
Which makes this upcoming series a regular Armageddon.
Even if no one admits it.