One hundred-fifty-nine games have not been enough to decide the American League East. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are going to be facing off this weekend in a final battle for the division championship.
Depending on how the Cleveland Indians fare over their final three games, it's possible that either Boston or New York might not make the post-season. That seemed highly unlikely at the start of the season, as both teams were stacked with talent. But injuries have ravaged the rosters of both clubs. If Major League Baseball added cortisone to its list of banned substances, neither team would have enough players to fill a lineup.
For the Red Sox, Keith Foulke and Curt Schilling have fought achy lower bodies all year. Injuries eventually got the best of Foulke, as his bad knees forced him to shut it down for the season. Schilling, who was fighting ankle problems, is still hanging on by a thread, but he has yet to find the consistency that has made him a dominant starter in years past.
David Wells is also having knee problems, and he is hoping that a recent cortisone shot will help alleviate some of the pain (he might want to think about losing some weight as well). Wells is a big game pitcher, and he will surely relish his role starting tonight in the first game of the series against his former team. If he can fight the pain and maintain his control, he'll be tough to beat.
The Sox have been a bit shorthanded on the offensive side as well. Centerfielder Johnny Damon not only looks like a caveman, he also sometimes plays as aggressively as one. All of his diving and crashing into walls have cost Damon in health, and he has received numerous cortisone shots in his shoulders. If you thought his throwing arm was bad before, wait until you see him now-it's not pretty.
Unfortunately, some of the players who have stayed healthy are the least productive. Kevin Millar is still bringing it every night. It's just hard to figure out exactly what he brings. A hot September has actually helped him bring his OPS to a fairly mediocre .755. "Well", you (or Sox manager Terry Francona) would say, "he's a right-handed hitter so he makes a good platoon partner for lefty John Olerud." But Millar's OPS against lefties this year is a pathetic .694 (compared with Olerud's .862 OPS in 39 at-bats).
So why is Millar playing so much? "Well," you would say, "he plays excellent defense and he's fast." And of course, if you said that, you'd be an idiot. But really, why all the playing time? The answer is that Terry Francona, though a fine manager, has a weak spot for certain veterans like Millar. Besides, Millar keeps outfielder Manny Ramirez happy. That appears to be his main value. Why doesn't Boston just bring in Chris Rock to crack some jokes and keep Manny entertained? At least Rock wouldn't eat up at-bats that could potentially be used by Olerud or Roberto Petagine.
As mentioned earlier, the Yankees have been bit by the injury bug as well. Their injuries have been almost exclusively on the pitching side. Carl Pavano, their major free agent acquisition over the winter, only pitched 100 innings before flaming out with an arm injury. Jaret Wright also battled injury problems all season. He has returned recently but has been very inconsistent. Kevin Brown pitched only 73 innings this season before biting the dust, but at least he didn't inflict any injuries on himself (with the help of a water cooler) this season. Mike Mussina also recently came back from an arm injury but he was hit very hard in his last start.
All these injuries mean that instead of two heavyweights fighting hard to the finish, this final regular season series may look more like the boxers each have a hand tied behind their backs.
