After making my first trip to Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, and after experiencing the Boston perspective for a few days, I have made many observations about not only the Boston Red Sox , but also about the Yankees. Despite not seeing a single Yankee game on this trip, I have a new outlook on the Yankees this season. Just a warning, it isn’t an optimistic one, however I think I need to share it nonetheless.

First, I wanted to share my thoughts about Fenway Park. Fenway is a beautiful park, of course some of this beauty is destroyed by the sea of red throughout the crowd, but nonetheless it is a gorgeous ballpark. After being to many games in Yankee Stadium, watching a game at Fenway provides a nice sense of old-fashioned, natural, and traditional baseball in a small, cozy environment, almost like a minor league ballpark.

Fenway has not changed all that much from when it was first built, that’s changing recently though with the seats on top of the Green Monster and the future seats for rooftop buildings, but the overall appearance of Fenway has stayed the same from when it was first created. It creates a homely feeling that everyone in the park is there together, to root for the BoSox. Of course, it isn’t the case for those that aren’t BoSox fans and it was a horrible feeling to hear all of the cheers for the Sox, but it was a pleasant experience nonetheless.

Enough talk about Boston though, now let’s talk about the Yankees. The Yankees are very barely just slipping by. The starting rotation includes about ten different pitchers, and while analysts say they’re fine because they’re getting by, the good times are bound to end. Just as they did with Al Leiter. Leiter has not posted a quality start since his first start in Pinstripes this year. Chacon is off to two good starts, but when will his success end? It’s bound to happen soon

The Orioles are out of the picture in the AL East, but the Red Sox are certainly a proven contender. I was at Tuesday’s game at Fenway, and the Kansas City Royals were off to a good start. They scored three runs off Wakefield in the first, and increased their lead to four to nothing in the third. However, the Red Sox battled back with a Manny Ramirez three-run homerun in the fourth to make it a 4-3 game. The Royals looked good, looking to get the W until the seventh inning. With Boston having runners on first and second, on a routine base hit to right field, the right fielder trips and the ball rolls all the way to the wall. The Red Sox score three runs and win 8-6.

The point of telling that, is that the Red Sox are finding ways to win. And while you might say the Yankees are also finding ways to win, the Red Sox are doing it consistently, with a solid lineup every day and a pitching staff that has dealt with injuries ten times better than the Yanks. Schilling picked up his sixth save of the season on Tuesday. The Yankees are in turmoil compared to the Red Sox, and the Red Sox have a very solid team. At this point in the season, I’m almost giving them the AL East, and it’s time for the Yankees to start competing for the Wild Card.

But the Wild Card is a whole different story. Five or six teams are very close to each other within three or four games of each other. Those teams include the red hot Athletics, Indians, Blue Jays, Indians, and the Yankees. The Wild Card won’t be a piece of cake for the Yankees, especially if their good fortunes of late end. It will be an interesting remainder of the season, that’s for sure.
from NYYFans.com