August Analysis: The Eastern Empires

The hype leading up the Rise of the Planet of the Apes didn’t interest me at all. As a 21 year-old with no fanatical background of the Planet of the Apes movie franchise, I watched each trailer numbly and never felt remotely excited to watch. Was it because I knew how big of a following the movie already attained? Being cognizant of that following and knowing that I probably wasn’t going to see the movie, was I just relying on at least one of my friends to tell me about it first before I decided? Was I apathetic because I didn’t remember much from the 2001 release but every online review told me it sucked? I wasn’t completely sure.
Somehow, I ended up seeing the midnight premier after a night of bowling. Pure happenstance. By the time I walked out of the theater, I was exceedingly satisfied. I was impressed with the cinematography and camera work, engulfed by the polarizing connection between James Franco’s character and Caesar (the lead monkey which becomes intelligently enhanced by a drug intended to cure Alzheimer’s), transfixed by the way Caesar eventually lured fellow monkeys into his following, and enjoyed the action scenes that concluded the film. It was an awesome movie that’s worth seeing more than once in theaters.

And for some reason, the storyline about the rise of an empire is more gratifying one of an existing reign. I’m a college student with standard cable, so I wasn’t able to watch last weekend’s series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox until Sunday night. The first Sunday Night Baseball promo I saw (which was about this time last week) had me hooked instantly. Yes! Yankees/Red Sox! The biggest rivalry in sports on national television on my HD TV? I know where I’ll be spending my Sunday night!

Then the game came on, and it was gratifying for about two innings. It’s always fun to see the Yankees come to Fenway Park (the vintage atmosphere, the boisterous crowd, Derek Jeter getting booed profusely, the shouts of YOUUUKKKKK!!!! every time Kevin Youkilis makes a routine out from third or gets a base hit, the love for David Ortiz, the Green Monster in left field, etc., etc.), but all of that stuff is indulged and fully digested by the fourth inning at best. By the fifth inning, I was totally disconnected, playing Words With Friends and perusing over my Twitter and Facebook feeds. Mostly because the game had been on for about two hours and it was only the fifth inning.

We could get into all the problems with the game of baseball, but that’s another story for another day. To put it simply: games are just way too long sometimes, most notably when the Yankees and Red Sox play one another. National League baseball has become more fun to watch this season; mostly because you can watch the Giants and Phillies play a two-hour game featuring a magnificent pitching duel in two hours. It takes Josh Beckett two hours to throw one pitch.

Putting all of those negatives aside, the Yankees and Red Sox are still two of the three most talented teams in baseball. One of the chief reasons it’s hard to stay connected is because they’re two of the few teams that don’t have anything to worry about in August. They may be playing with genuine senses of urgency now that baseball has entered its backstretch, but it’s not palpable for fans because we automatically assume that the Eastern Empires have literally nothing to play for until October. They’re basically locked into playoff positions.

But it’s difficult not to marvel over the talent, albeit purchased rather than groomed. The Red Sox feature the best hitting in all of baseball, ranking first in the majors in batting average (.281), on-base percentage (.354), slugging percentage (.457) wOBA (.355), and rank second in home runs. (For information on what wOBA is, it is hyperlinked above. The stat has now become the most prevalent form of hitting stat, taking into account every hitting aspect in the sport and weighting the ones that are more imperative when it comes to reaching base. In simple terms, it most accurately describes how good or bad a hitter is at the plate, not how good or bad he has at merely hitting the ball. Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays is currently this year’s leader in wOBA, with a .452 average.)
This just in: the Red Sox are good at the plate. Unfairly good. So good that they induced a blown save by Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning on Sunday with beautiful baseball (Jacoby Ellsbury bunted Marco Scutaro from second to third, allowing Dustin Pedroia to perform a sacrifice fly to score the run) and later won in the tenth behind Josh Reddick’s walk-off hit to score David Ortiz. Prior to Reddick’s at-bat, the red-hot Carl Crawford was walked, but it didn’t matter.

Do you see how cruelly unfair that is? In a lineup filled with All-Stars and MVP considerations, the nine hitter (Scutaro) scored the tying run against the machine known as the Sandman, and Crawford was walked in the tenth to bring up the seven hitter (Reddick), who drove in the winning run.

And although they lost the contest, the Yankees are really good too. Their hitting numbers rank second in the majors to the Red Sox in almost every category, and, surprisingly, they lead the American League in steals (116). CC Sabathia has been putting up Cy Young numbers all season (until he faced the Red Sox, of course), and despite critiques within the starting rotation, the Yankees are actually third in team ERA (.352).

However, we can’t mention these juggernauts without mentioning some flaws because, well, would we consider these teams empires if we didn’t expect them to fall at some point? We could go into detail about how good the Red Sox personnel is, but it’s already been done marvelously right here. The truth is, their starting pitching is secretly sub-par (ninth in the AL and nineteenth in the majors with a .411 ERA), and Clay Bucholz was recently placed on the 60-day disabled list. So the current playoff rotation consists of a locked-in Josh Beckett, John Lester, a horrendous John Lackey and either a 90 year-old Tim Wakefield or newly acquired Erik Bedard. Bucholz could possibly return for the postseason, but it’s unsure if he’ll completely be the same after recovering from a stress fracture to his vertebrae. As the San Francisco Giants taught us last postseason, starting pitching is the equivalent to defense in the NFL: It wins championships.

As for the Yankees, they’ve been confronted with more of a conundrum rather than a flaw. Alex Rodriguez is expected to return to the lineup next week, which will inevitably bolster New York’s already-powerful hitting prowess and improve their fielding (the Yankees are a mediocre seventh in the AL in fielding percentage, fourteenth in MLB. For some reason, Rodriguez doesn’t qualify for individual fielding percentage, but his .979 percentage is higher than any qualified third baseman and he has only committed four errors all year).

Rodriquez will bring much-needed balance to the Yankees’ roster, but could concurrently decrease a strength upon his return. Curtis Granderson is having a phenomenal season in both hitting and running the base paths, and his presence at the third spot in New York’s order has been an imposing one. How often do teams have to face a three hitter with 29 home runs at this point in the season (third in MLB) and 22 stolen bases? If you challenge him, he has the ability to drive the ball out of the park, and if you pitch around him, you leave a lethal runner on base with Mark Teixeira at the plate. Those situations give a pitcher a variety of things to consider along with executing his pitches.

Once A-Rod returns, Granderson will presumably drop to sixth in the order, where he will inevitably make less of an impact. His power will make the bottom half of the order more daunting, but his threat as a base runner won’t be as exasperating for opposing pitchers. The Yankees are currently suffering a three-game losing streak, so maybe change will be a good thing.

But we’re nitpicking here, because the Yankees and Red Sox still exude traits that resemble the empires of baseball. When you’re faced with conundrums that spot Curtis Granderson at sixth in your order, it’s safe to say you’re doing okay. When you’re lacking depth in your starting rotation but have hitting potent enough to leave the saving to the best closer in 2011 (Jonathan Papelbon is 25/26 in save opportunities this season), then it’s safe to say you’re doing fine.

When it comes to notorious greatness, predicaments and minor flaws are more interesting to point out than the assets. One thing’s for sure: hype won’t be necessary for the Yankees and Red Sox once the postseason hits. Everybody will be far too aware of what the Sox and Yanks bring to the table, and nobody will be significantly interested. That is, until they face off in the ALCS.