Yankees Coming to Town

The Sox face off against their bitter rivals the New York Yankees in a pivotal three game series in Fenway. An important juncture for the AL East race, this series will determine whether the Sox can climb back in it or if the Yanks wrap it up early.

Game previews, matchups, and Sox news inside...

8/7: Beckett vs. Burnett. Again…

Josh Beckett hopes to get the Sox back on track until our next questionable starter takes the hill...

Lady Luck is a fickle mistress — just ask the Sox and Yankees

This decade has been the most monumental in the franchise's history. Not only did new ownership arrive, but Fenway Park was revitalized, a Nation was born (in the media, that is), a new generation of stars (Nomar, Manny, Pedro, Big Papi, Papelbon, Pedroia) put their stamp on their team... oh, and there were those two World Championships as well.

All this was done thanks to the incredible work that Theo Epstein and the rest of the baseball operations put in to give us the players that we root for every day. They are, to be certain, the reasons why we have our first two rings since 1918.

But let's not count out Lady Luck. Lady Luck is a fickle mistress; you never know when she'll turn on you.

4/25: Something’s gotta give.

Burnett has gotten off to a great start and has a good chance of snapping Boston's eight-game winning streak due to his career 5-0, 2.56 ERA record against the Sox. Meanwhile, Beckett returns from suspension and takes his turn on five days rest. He hasn't given up a homer on the year yet. One winning streak has to come to an end today.

Nine Up, Nine Down: Welcoming the Yankees

In advance of the Yankees coming to town tomorrow for a three-game set in what will be the unofficial start of baseball season around here, I figure we should get caught up with what's going on in Yankeeland.

After the jump we bring you up to speed on CC Sabathia's struggles, the injury report plus a breakdown of the pitcher's the Sox will face this weekend.

Know Thine Enemy 2009: New York Yankees

The other half of the best rivalry in sports, The New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers "only" ended up with 89 victories last season. And the key players they inked this past off-season, have them looking incredibly strong on paper for this upcoming 2009 season.

The philosophy about building a strong farm was basically put on hold for a year. But Brian Cashman made some nice maneuvers, and the result--whether it was intentional or not--allowed the Yankees to lose their first three picks this year. And that is better than losing a first-round pick in three consecutive seasons, of course.

Why was Josh Beckett “less great” in 2008?

Injury is rumored to be a reason why Beckett backtracked a tad, yet his peripherals were still very impressive to look at. So while his visit to Dr. James Andrews may have been legitimate, Beckett showed flashes of brilliance throughout the year, to have us believe that maybe the injury effected him slightly, but not enough to completely harness his great stuff.

Yankees, Cashman land Sabathia

For the Yankees, there was only one move that would make this off season anything short of disappointing; signing CC Sabathia. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees and Brian Cashman have accomplished that goal.

No A.J.

Amazed I was, in comparing A.J. Burnett's 2008 breakout year stats against the rest of the Red Sox rotation, to find that A.J. would probably rank as the #4 starting pitcher at Fenway, while earning 2x - 40x more than the rest.

Following are what curiosity and wonderful stats from mlb and fangraphics revealed.

Fireside Chats #28: Where the hot stove keeps us warm and we tool on Evan Grant in honor of the AL MVP

In this week's Fireside Chats podcast, Tim and Paul celebrate the coronation of Dustin Pedroia: AL MVP, look at what the trade of Coco Crisp to the Royals may signify, and talk over a hot stove.