The Blue Jays, 3 1/2 games out of the wild card race, have nothing to lose this afternoon (1:00 on Sportsnet) and the Yankees, especially Juan Rivera, are obviously feeling tons of pressure. Doug Davis has had surprising success against the likes of Giambi and Posada, and a few Toronto mashers always enjoy hitting off Jeff Weaver (Delgado has a 1.473 OPS, Hinske 1.408 and Wells 1.111). Weaver has seen his 2003 ERA rise by nearly two runs in his last five starts (1-2, 6.90, with 14 walks and 43 hits allowed in 30 innings). He did beat Toronto April 17, but a lot of things have changed in both dugouts since then.
The Yankees have enough talent to turn this mess around eventually, but for now, the aura is black, and Richard Griffin sums up the current state of the pinstriped mystique:
"Even the legends in Monument Park seem to be looking the other way, pretending they don't know these guys. If bronze could blush, it would."
A bunch of local media stories beginning "fresh off an 8-2 road trip and a four-game sweep of the Yankees" might even put some curious spectators in the seats next week. My brother-in-law, a TV cameraman who used to travel with the team in the glory days, hasn't even watched for the last several years, but yesterday admitted that guys he'd never heard of (Lidle, Catalanotto, Wilson) looked like winners. He's typical of the "lost" baseball fans this team is about to recapture.
I apologize in advance for being scarce around here for the next few days. We are moving, a monumental task when your body is as old and out-of-shape as mine. There's only two more days to pack, and it's going down to the wire. From Tuesday to Thursday, I won't have Internet access, but I'll be with you guys in spirit. With all of the creative input in Da Box, I'm sure you won't even miss me.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030525094503999