Anxiety in the AL East

It's August. The frivolity of the All-Star Break has come and gone, as has the frenzied deal-making surrounding last Friday's trade deadline. While the rest of us make plans to fritter away our summers at beach houses and margarita bars, Major League baseball teams are preparing to plunge helmet-first into what promises to be a very exciting pennant race. This is an especially charged week for MLB's power division, as tonight sees the Yanks in Toronto and the Red Sox in Tampa Bay. Then, on Thursday the Sox invade the Bronx to try and extend their complete dominance of our beloved Bombers. With the Yankees just .5 games ahead of the Red Sox and the Red Sox 5 games ahead of the Rays and the Rays 6.5 games ahead of the Blue Jays, a lot of ground stands to be won. As of this writing, it's the Yankees division to lose, but, well, when it comes to Doc Halladay and the Red Sox...losing's just sort of the norm.

Roy Halladay: Yankee killer, Fantasy saviour

A Halladay start is the only thing that ever tempts me to cheer against the Yankees. There's something terrifyingly sublime about his ability to drain all power from their otherwise formidable lineup. Smart people don't root against the supernatural.

And so, should tonight succumb to the tide of history, spitting our Yanks on the opposite shore of victory, my sadness will be bouyed by understanding and dignity. The same cannot be said of this weekend's series against the Red Sox. Seriously, boys, don't you think it's time we won a few?

"In our culture, we kill and eat our young."

Of course we should and I think we could, but that doesn't mean we will. And, if we don't it's going to be one depressing weekend.

But enough of all that, for now. It's come to my attention that readers would occasionally like to know about people who neither Yankees nor Dodgers nor Grady Sizemore. Go figure. So, from this point forward, I'm going to try and include a photo of a previously under-recognized player to the end of every blog post. To kick things off, here's current hot arm and non-douchey D'back, Dan Haren.




Dude must feel pretty good knowing that he can retire from baseball and go straight into a lucrative career of tending bars in Williamsburg.