The Buhner.com Blog

I’ve missed writing in this thing, and I think that if I don’t necessarily write in it daily (as was promised before), I think I can balance everything. I won’t ramble on about that - let’s just get down to business.

So the Yankees got their ass handed to them, 17-1.

As impressive as that is, what seems to be lost in the message board flamewars is that it’s just… one… game. One game in the Major League Baseball season is 1/162 of the determining factor (that’s .6 of 1%) when it comes to the final outcome of the regular season. While it may be reflective of things to come (although considering who was pitching - it’s only reflective if the Yankees can’t deal with their starting pitching woes), it’s not like it’s a major blow.

That isn’t to say that the win is worthless. Obviously, it puts the Yankees another game back of the Sox, but perhaps it gives the Red Sox momentum to take the final two games of the series. A 17-1 loss is demeaning, and can crush the spirit of a team. The Yankees seem to be in such a shambles as a roster right now that it’s a perfect opportunity for the Sox to roll off of that and take the final two games and put the Yankees 4.5 games back. That makes an impact - not one game, no matter how many runs you win by.

As it turns out, if the Yankees should happen to win the final two games of the series, it would leave the Yankees a half game behind Boston and likely knock Boston out of first, as the Orioles are only a game behind them currently.

This is one of the main reasons why some people can’t get into baseball until the playoffs roll around. In a 162 game season, individual games are almost worthless - while some fans seem to react like it’s life or death when their team wins or loses, a baseball fan can see one loss and shrug it off, blaming it on a bad game by the pitcher or some stupid error that a fielder made. Football, in contrast, has only a 16 game season - each win and loss there is equal to a 10 game winning or losing streak in baseball, which definately has an impact on fan feelings and how a team looks towards the next games.

But what can baseball do? They can’t reduce the number of games - the schedule has been set in stone already, if only for recordkeeping purposes. MLB saw the effect that Sosa and McGwire’s chase for Maris’ record in 1998 had on the sport. Reducing the number of games to 154 (as it was before the 1961 season) or more puts records like those all the more out of reach. Milestones become more difficult to reach, and as difficult as it is for current players to get respect for their accomplishments (Rafael Palmeiro is a perfect example, having hit 500+ home runs and 3000 hits, and people are still doubtful of his Hall of Fame chances), reducing the numbers is going to make it even more difficult.

So settle down Boston fans - while yesterday’s score may have been 17-1, the real score is 6-5 Boston, with 8 games left to play.