Below The Beltway

Starting tonight, the Yankees face a series with the Red Sox that will determine if they make the post-season this year:

The Yankees cannot be eliminated from the postseason this week no matter what happens. But the three-game series that starts against the Boston Red Sox tonight at Yankee Stadium will determine whether the games that follow have any meaning.

The Yankees (70-60) trail the Red Sox (75-55) by five games in the American League wild-card race with 32 games remaining. Win two or three games and the pennant race is on. Lose two or three, and vacation plans can be made for October.

“I definitely feel like it’s a must-win series,” said Andy Pettitte, who will start tonight against Tim Wakefield. “I don’t necessarily feel like we need to sweep them, but I feel like we need to win the series. I really feel like we can’t afford to lose any more series this year.”

Go Yankees !
Update: Peter Abraham notes that, barring a meet-up in the post-season, this will be Boston’s last visit to an iconic stadium:

Tonight will be the 771st time the Red Sox will play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have won 483 of the games and there have been four ties. That doesn’t include 10 games in the ALCS.

If you’re a regular visitor to the Stadium, you know the games against Boston have a different feel. No matter if it’s April or September, seeing the Yankees and Red Sox on the field together is an event. You don’t want to avert your eyes because something is going to happen.

Part of it is the talent. Both teams have always spent money to get the best players. DiMaggio played against Williams. Yaz played against Mantle. Fisk took on Munson and now it’s Ortiz and Beckett against Jeter and Pettitte.

Think of the characters like Reggie, Manny and A-Rod. Now everybody hates Kevin Youkilis just like they used to hate Bill Lee.

Geography dictates the passion to a large degree as well. New York kids go to school in Boston. Boston kids come to New York seeking their place in the world. Boston has the hospitals; New York has the museums. Connecticut sometimes feels like a demilitarized zone between two city-states at war for 100 years, a modern Athens and Sparta.

That’s never going to change. But when the Yankees move across the street, it will be different next season. The new Stadium will have the same dimensions but it will never have the same feel. You won’t be able to lean forward in right field and be fairly sure that J.D. Drew can hear you curse him.

So take a good look these next three days and file it away to tell the grandkids what it was like. Unless the teams play in the ALCS - and that’s unlikely - then these will be the last games Boston plays at Yankee Stadium.

Why Major League Baseball scheduled the last game between New York and Boston at The House That Ruth Built for August instead of September is something I don’t quite understand.