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Yankees vs. Red Sox, the most storied and greatest rivalry in sports will have a little less meaning this time around because of Boston’s injury-plagued season that has left them on the brink of elimination, but it still is a must win series for the Bronx Bombers.

The Red Sox are going to be on the outside looking in this year and have had a miserable season this year with key injuries to team leaders Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis, that coupled with disappointing performances form Josh Beckett and free agent acquisition John Lackey has taken a little bit away from the remaining six games they have with the Yankees.

On the other side of the field are the Yankees who hold a half-game lead over the Rays currently, which they would be very happy to add to this weekend, as they look to gain home field advantage throughout the AL playoff series.

And the Rays are not the only team on the out of town scoreboard that the Yankees will be watching this weekend, the Twins have put on a charge of late and have made this a three team race for best overall record in the AL.

The Red Sox certainly know what is at stake for their hated rivals and would enjoy nothing more than to wrestle away best record in the AL form the Yanks, so let there be no mistake, the Red Sox aren‘t going to lay down and let the Yankees walk all over them.

Joe Girardi knows how important home-field advantage is to his team and is going to have his players ready to go, and I think that it is clearly a must-win for that same reason, home field advantage.

It could make or break the Yankees hopes of repeating this year, and we already know the NL has home field advantage in the World Series, so the fewer games this veteran Yankees team has to play through the AL playoffs, the better

This will be a highly-contested series, as it always has been, just with a little less drama, because win, lose, or draw, the Yankees are going to the playoffs and the Sox are not, but it would behoove Joe Girardi‘s squad to win this series as they hope the Twins and Rays run into some trouble.

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Joe Girardi managed the New York Yankees to their 27th World Series title last season and has the Bombers primed for another playoff run here in 2010, but is he the driving force behind this juggernaut or is he just along for the ride?

Everybody knows that Girardi is wearing No. 28 because he hopes to win the Yankees 28th World Series this year, just as he wore 27 last season.

Everybody knows about his playing days with the Yankees back in the late 90’s, where he won three rings under his former manager and predecessor Joe Torre. And nobody knows where Girardi will be next April.

Torre was truly a great manager, and has continued to be in his post-Yankee years with the Dodgers, leading them to back-to-back National League Championship Series the past two years, although it does look like his team will fall short this year, which would end 14 consecutive years of postseason baseball for Torre.

Girardi led the Yankees back to the promised land in 2009, and has them in position to become the first repeat champs since the 1998-2000 Yankees, who won three straight.

So back to my question, is Girardi a good manager? Well, to be honest, I would have to say he is an average manager right now.

I agreed that it was time for Torre to go, but I certainly did not agree with the way the Yankees went about letting him go and I wasn’t a big fan of Girardi when he got hired. Personally, I thought that Don Mattingly should have been named manager at the time.

Three years later, and Girardi’s contract is set to expire after this season, which has sparked rumors of him heading back to the North Side of Chicago to manage the Cubs.

He is a Northwestern graduate and he did begin his career with the Cubs, so there are obvious ties with Chicago.

I think that Girardi will be wearing a Cubs uniform next season, no matter what the Yankees do in the playoffs or how much money they throw in Girardi’s face to convince him to stay. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t lose one bit of sleep over it, as a Yankees fan.

The ginormous payroll of the Yankees ensures that they will be in contention every year, and that it really doesn’t matter who the manager of the Bombers is at the end of the day, because if you don’t win, you will be packing your bags; just ask Joe Torre.

Who would have ever guessed in 2000 that he would be retiring as a Dodger and not a Yankee?

From Girardi’s standpoint, he would be leaving the Yankees on his own terms, and Chicago is not just a home coming, but a chance to prove that he is a great manager and can get the job done, whether it be in the bright lights of New York or the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, where Cubs fans have waited for over 100 years to raise another World Series banner.

And just think if he does win it all with the Cubs, he would the toast of the town for the rest of his life; hell, they would probably put up statues of him up.

In the end, it’s Girardi’s decision. Will he choose to continue his tenure with the Yankees, which will almost certainly end ugly eventually, or will he go home to Chicago, with the hopes of trying to end the longest championship drought in sports history? Who knows?

But right now his focus has to be on bringing the Yankees their 28th World Series title, and that’s all that really matters.

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There has never been a more successful quartet of players than Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada who have won a combined 19 World Series together.

What makes this foursome so special is that they have won those rings on the same team they all came up with, the New York Yankees. Aside from Andy Pettitte’s three year stint in his home state of Texas with the Houston Astros, they have all spent their entire career’s in Yankee pinstripes, which is amazing for any era in sports, but especially in this era of free agency, where you hardly see even one player spend their entire career with one team.

Amidst the Yankees core four, is the greatest closer of all time and greatest postseason pitcher of all time, Mariano Rivera. In over 130 innings pitched in the playoffs, Mo has an ERA of 0.74 and a WHIP of 0.773, clearly stifling numbers to opposing hitters. He has also recorded the final out of 70 games and nailed down 39 saves in postseason play.

2010 arguably, has been Rivera’s best season ever, considering he has his lowest ERA of his career at a minuscule 1.07, he also has recorded 29 saves as well.

Then there is Andy Pettitte, who is no slouch of a postseason pitcher himself. He went 4-0 for the Yanks last year, winning each clinching game of the three playoff stages, and in doing so he became the all time wins leader in postseason history with 18.

Pettitte has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts here in 2010, going 11-2 with an ERA of 2.88, which could have wound up being his best year ever, had it not been for a groin injury that has kept him sidelined for the past month and a half. But it looks like he will be returning shortly, the groin seems to feel fine, and he should be back in the starting rotation after a rehab start this Thursday.

And of course there is Mr. November, Derek Jeter who has had his worst offensive season since his rookie year, hitting at a very pedestrian .264 coming into play tonight. The home runs (10) and RBI (60) are what is expected out of a lead-off hitter, and he does have 96 runs scored, but the low batting average really sticks out, considering he is a .314 career hitter and hit .334 just last year.

Never the less, Jeter’s .313 batting average in the postseason speaks for itself and I believe that should hold true, despite the down year in the regular season. Jeter is a natural born leader and wants nothing more than to win another championship for the Yankees.

The lesser of the core four, in terms of performing in the playoffs, is Jorge Posada. The veteran catcher has continued to prove to be a productive catcher, even at age 39, posting a .261 batting average, along with 17 home runs and 52 RBI this year. However, his .239 postseason batting average is less than sparkling, and he certainly will never be held in the same breath as Jeter or Rivera when it comes to playoff legends.

But just like Jeter, Rivera, and Pettitte, Posada has more playoff experience than any other player on any other team can even come close to. Sure, Joe Mauer is a better player than Posada, Hanley Ramirez has better numbers than Jeter, and David Price is a better pitcher than Pettitte, but I wouldn’t even consider swapping any of those players for one another, why? Because the core four has experience, and that is all that counts when the playoffs roll around.

So when the Rangers, Rays, Twins, or who ever rolls into the Bronx this October, the Yankees will always have at least one advantage over them, experience, and I will take that any day of the week over younger and more talented players.

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The Yankees won their eighth consecutive game today against the Toronto Blue Jays, and are the hottest team in baseball as the stretch run begins.

Javy Vazquez was less than stellar in his return to the starting rotation today, giving up five runs in four and two thirds innings pitched, the Blue Jays also slugged two home runs.

The bullpen came in and bridged the gap to Mariano Rivera, and as usual, the sandman finished it off. Mo also lowered his ERA to 1.06, which would be a career low if it holds up through the end of the season, pretty amazing for a 40 year old pitcher.

The Yankees offense continued their hot hitting, driving in seven runs on the strength of nine hits.

Robinson Cano and Francisco Cervelli each had multi-hit games, and Brett Gardner was on base three times hitting out of the lead-off spot.

But it was Marcus Thames who delivered the big blow in the seventh inning, a two run shot to left-center field, breaking a 5-5 tie and putting the Yanks on top 7-5.

With the win the Yanks move to 86-50 on the season, which is their high water mark for the year, and their eight game winning streak is the longest this year as well.

The win is also significant because the Red Sox lost the first game of a double header with the White Sox today, making them nine and a half games out of first, and possibly putting the nails into the coffin on Boston’s season.

Meanwhile the Yanks extend their lead over the Rays as well, pushing them two games out of first currently, but they still play tonight at Baltimore.

Even more good news for the Bronx Bombers today, as Andy Pettitte threw 50 pitches in a simulated game without aggravating his groin injury. Alex Rodriguez took part in that simulated game and collected two hits, and didn’t experience any setbacks either, he will likely be activated tomorrow.

So with reinforcements on the way, and the Yankees performing so well, they have to be considered not only the hottest team in the Majors, but the best team in baseball as the playoffs draw closer with each passing day.

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The Yankees concluded a four game series against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, winning 11-5, and thus winning their first series in the month of August.

Phil Hughes looked shaky early on, surrendering a two run home run to Miguel Cabrera in the first inning, but that would be all the damage he would allow, retiring 11 straight batters to end his day.

Sergio Mitre was not as effective as he has been recently, allowing three runs in his three innings to close out the game, but he did earn his first career save today.

The Yankee offense was the real story of the day, erupting for 11 runs on 11 hits and five walks.

Robinson Cano led the charge, going 3-5 with three RBI and three runs scored, and fell a triple shy of the cycle, he has also hit a home run in three straight games now.

With Lance Berkman on the DL, Austin Kearns took over the DH role today, going 2-4 with two RBIs.

Most of the damage was done in the sixth inning, which saw nine runs cross the plate and 13 batters step in the box.

I think that this series was really what the Yankees needed to get back on track, a sweep would have been perfect but winning the series is really what it’s all about.

This series was almost a must-win for the Yanks, as the Rays and Red Sox are getting stronger and neither one of them seem to be fading at all, so three wins here was big as it looks like the AL East will come down to the wire this year, as it has so many times in the past.

Winners of three games in a row now, the Yankees welcome the Seattle Mariners to the Bronx Friday night, a series which the Bombers should also win, considering how bad the Mariners are this year, and the fact that they don’t have Cliff Lee anymore helps as well.

Noteworthy: Lance Berkman was placed on the 15 day DL and shortstop Eduardo Nunez was called up from Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Nunez popped out to the catcher in his first major league at bat, Phil Hughes improved to 15-5 on the year and is tied for second place in wins, Jorge Posada passed Thurman Munson for 17th on the all-time Yankees hit list with 1,559 career hits.

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After witnessing yet another poor start by Javier Vazquez on Monday, I believe that it is about time to call upon the services of 23-year-old Ivan Nova.

As you may or may not know, Vazquez is going through a stretch of dead arm right now, which is severely limiting his velocity on pitches, which are topping out at 88 miles per hour.

He got ripped by the Rangers last Wednesday, and he gave up two runs through four innings against the Tigers yesterday, throwing 106 pitches and dodging several scary situations in the process.

Joe Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland have stood by Javy through this dead arm period, but this simply cannot continue, not with the division lead on the line seemingly every night.

And speaking of the division, Monday’s loss put the Yanks in a tie atop the AL East with the Tampa Bay Rays.

You can blame the hitting, but the Yankees are pretty much stuck with what they have until Jesus Montero gets here in September.

As for Javy, the Yanks can fix that problem, put him on the DL, and call up Nova!

I know that I sound like a broken record, as I have been lobbying for Nova to be in the Majors long before now, but how much longer can Brian Cashman sit there and ignore what is looking him right in the face?

It’s clear that Javy has lost his ability to give the Yankees quality starts due to the dead arm, and the best thing for that issue is rest.

I could understand why the Yankees would continue to run him out there every five days if they didn’t have any other options, but they do.

Nova has been excellent at AAA Scranton all year, posting an 11-3 record, with a 2.93 ERA in 22 starts. He has given up 130 hits in 138 innings while walking 44 and striking out 108, good for a respectable 1.258 WHIP.

In such a tight pennant race, as it is in the AL East, the Yankees can’t afford to keep sending Javy out to the mound every five days, not only because he has lost his velocity, but because such short outings like yesterday against the Tigers tax the bullpen much more than normal.

I wouldn’t usually say this, but in the current Yankees plight, the rookie Nova gives them a better chance to win than Javy does right now. A two-week stint on the DL should help restore his velocity, while Nova could help the Yankees in their dogfight with the Rays for first place.

All I’m saying is give the kid a shot, Cashman.

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The Yankees open up a four game series against the Detroit Tigers tonight, a series that the Yankees desperately need to win.

Coming off of a 3-3 road trip, where they came from behind to beat Cliff Lee and the AL West leading Rangers on Wednesday, and yet got shut out 1-0 by the lowly Kansas City Royals yesterday.

To say the least, manager Joe Girardi was less than pleased with his team’s effort.

Girardi had every right to be mad at his team. They got shut out by Bryan Bullington, and in the process, wasted A.J. Burnett’s best start of the year.

Some are suggesting that the Yanks have the “get away day blues,” putting up sub par performances in the final game of road series.

I understand that players just want to get on the plane and move on, but that is no excuse for such a poorly played game as yesterday in Kansas City, especially in a tight division.

But the one thing that is great about baseball, and sets it apart from any other sport is that you play every day, a chance to forget about yesterday or last week in general.

And that’s exactly what the Yankees need to do as they welcome the Detroit Tigers to the Bronx tonight, a chance to recover from a disappointing and frustrating road trip.

The Tigers come into tonight’s game on the heels of two come from behind wins against their division rival White Sox, but still remain pretty much out of playoff contention and are looking to play spoiler.

The Yankees on the other hand, have split their last three series and have not won a series since taking three of four against the Cleveland Indians on July 29.

Amazingly though, the Rays are still one game back, as the Red Sox remain six games out. Just goes to show that if the Yanks had gone 4-2 on their latest road trip that they would be in a much more comfortable position right now.

But they didn’t go 4-2, and now have the Rays nipping at their heels for the AL East crown once again, meaning that the pressure is on the Yanks to win this series with the Tigers.

A series victory here would go a long way towards righting the ship, not just keeping pace with the Rays, but getting the Yankees back into a winning mindset.

And not only that, but not to sound mean or anything, but the Tigers aren’t exactly a power house team, certainly not compared to the Yankees.

With that said, I have to say that this series is a must win for the Yankees.

Joe Girardi knows it, his players know it, now it’s time to see if they can do it.

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With three home runs and five RBIs in Saturday night’s game against the Royals, Alex Rodriguez has put himself right into the middle of the American League MVP race this year.

A-Rod smacked his first home run of the night in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie, giving the Yanks a 2-1 lead. It was also the first of three Yankee home runs in the inning, as Jorge Posada and Curtis Granderson would go back to back.

He hit a two-run shot the following inning to straightaway center field, bouncing off the hitter’s back drop.

A-Rod completed the hat trick as he launched his third home run to deep left field, which was also a two-run shot and sealed the victory for the Yanks, 8-3.

This marks the fourth time that A-Rod has hit three home runs in one game, and his first since April 26, 2005, where he drove in ten runs against the Angels.

After belting his three home runs and driving in five runs on Saturday, A-Rod has planted himself right in the middle of the MVP race.

He now leads the league in RBI with 97, has 21 home runs, and .268 batting average. You have to say that he is right in the mix for a chance to win his fourth MVP award this year.

Right now, I would have to give Josh Hamilton the award, but a lot can change with about a month and a half to go this season. A-Rod could still be the MVP, despite having a down year offensively, by his standards.

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When the Yankees acquired Graig Nettles in a trade with the Cleveland Indians, they had no idea of how good a player they were getting.

Coming in at 6’0″ 180 lbs, Nettles was hardly a player you would expect to have nearly 400 career home runs. Nevertheless, by the time he retired he held the American League record for most home runs by a third baseman.

He hit the majority of those home runs while in Yankee pinstripes, slugging 250 of them during his 10-year tenure in the Bronx.

You could say that he revolutionized the hot corner into the power position that it is today with such power hitters like Alex Rodriguez, Chipper Jones, David Wright, and Evan Longoria following in his foot steps.

Not only did he set the standard for offense at third base, but also in defense.

A career .961 fielding percentage doesn’t look that great, but for the hot corner it’s pretty good. He earned two gold gloves for his slick fielding and holds the single season record for most assists by a third baseman with 412 in 1971. He is tied with Brooks Robinson in assists for second most all time at third base.

One of the most clutch performances of his career occurred in game three of the 1978 World Series. It wasn’t his bat, but his glove that turned that World Series around for the Yanks.

With the Dodgers up two games to none in the series, game three was practically a must win for the Bronx Bombers. With Ron Guidry on the mound, Nettles made sure the Yankees came out on top with several clutch plays to stop potential run scoring hits.

The Yankees would in fact go on to win that World Series, giving them back to back championships for the first time since the 1961-62 Yankees

Nettles would help the Yankees to another World Series in 1981, but this time the Dodgers beat them in what would be the Yankees last World Series appearance until 1996.

In January of 1982, Nettles was named Captain of the Yankees. He was the first Captain since the passing of catcher Thurman Manson in 1979.

He remained Captain until his trade to the Padres in 1984, ending a decade in pinstripes for him.

Number nine, which he had worn all ten years while in the Bronx, was retired by the Yankees to honor Roger Maris soon after Nettles trade. This could have been George Steinbrenner’s way of getting back at Nettles for negative remarks towards The Boss.

After his retirement at age 43 in 1988 he was not voted into the Hall of Fame, despite his 390 home runs, 1,314 RBI, 1,189 runs scored, and his relatively close walk to strikeout ratio.

But with his combination of hitting and fielding, Graig Nettles is and always will be the greatest third baseman in the epic history of the New York Yankees to me.

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The Yankees had to overcome a five run deficit last night to beat the Texas Rangers after Javier Vazquez’s poor start, a start he shouldn’t have even made.

Javy’s pitches topped out at about 85 mph last night, which is not good enough to get major league hitters out, let alone the heavy hitting Texas Rangers.

Apparently he has a case of dead arm, which is slowing his pitches down to nearly Tim Wakefied speeds. The only problem is Javy doesn’t throw a knuckle ball.

I give Javy a lot of credit for going out there and making his scheduled start, but I feel that a stint on the 15-day DL would do him and the team more good than having him out there every five days throwing a 68 mph curve or a 85 mph fastball.

But Javy is not the only concern right now for the Yankees. Surprisingly, it’s the offense that has let them down recently.

With Jorge Posada, Francisco Cervelli, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, and Lance Berkman all going through varying degrees of slumps right now, that mighty Yankee lineup isn’t looking so mighty anymore.

So what options do the Yankees have to help get them through the playoff push?

For the pitching, they have an excellent live arm in the minors by the name of Ivan Nova.

The ace of the staff for the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees is putting up numbers that the Yankee front office can’t ignore.

Nova is 10-3 with an ERA of 3.02 in 21 games started this year. He also has struck out an even 100 batters, while walking 43 in 131 innings, and has only given up 10 home runs all year.

He’s got a flame thrower of an arm, even rumored to have thrown a 100 mph fastball earlier this year, which could prove to be just what the Yankees need to get them through September and into the playoffs.

Any way you look at it, Nova has got to be better than dead arm Javy.

As for the offense, it has to be Jesus Montero.

With both Posada and Cervelli struggling at the plate right now, I think it might be time to call upon the top prospect in the organization.

Montero got off to a very slow start this year, but has bounced back and is one of the hotter hitters in the minors now. He’s coming into today with a .287 average, and leads the team with 14 home runs, 53 RBI, and 52 runs scored.

The man can hit, plain and simple.

The Yankees carried three catchers last year, and might just do so again this year as they head down the stretch.

In my mind, Nova and Montero would be a shot in the arm that the Yankees desperately need to have with the Rays and the Red Sox nipping at their heels for the AL East crown.

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