Pitching...not quite everything

Pitching in baseball is the key, no offense can be expected to keep up with bad pitching, but good pitching does not guarantee anything this year for Boston.  They have 8 dominant starters( the Yanks have two), and three dominant relievers( the Yanks have none).  The Boston ofense is 8 very good hitters, one great clutch hitter( Mike Lowell one of the best players the Yanks did not keep).  The Yanks have a big four: Jeter, Teix, Arod and Matsui- but a very good support group- Cano, Posada, Damon- who will each take over a few games down the stretch. But Boston will fade to fall behind Tampa, the depth wont be enough and young pitchers will be caught short in the pressure part of the season to come.  Smoltz, Penny, even Wakefield have question marks on effectiveness as the season begins to grind. AND Tampa has more talent than either NY or Boston.
The Yanks need to win three or four against Boston this year, so far they have won ZERO, they will need luck because Boston seems to have their signals and signs, and that amazing way they get favorable calls on ball/strikes. Some big offense will probably be the way...big scores, close games will go to Boston, that is their edge, but the Yanks need to win a small number 3-4, the Sox will need to sweep the season to keep themselves ahead of the Yanks, Tampa will rise like cream and Boston will have the hardest time of the three, to  stay afloat...good pitching is not the same as great pitching...Boston this year...has good pitching, and it may not be nearly good enough.

Start your engines...

Well now for the start of the pennant race in the AL East.  The favorites are Tampa and Boston, but the winner will likely be the Yankees, they will be tougher or they will be broken by the ordeals of their season. The league does not seem to want their success, they tax the Yankees, ten times more than any other team, give their money to other teams as profits.  They pay much more for talent and have much less than than their rivals, especially pitching and youth. Then there is the on-field disparities, the Yankees get the least of borderline calls for their pitchers or hitters, its as if every umpire has a script to follow.  They outed A-Rod the only player to have his confidential health information published ..as if being dumb enough to take steroids and shorten one's life was not bad enough, now the press "on steroids" has a field day with him.  I don't think there is an advantage to steroids for a hitter, big muscles slow down the bat and steroids slow down the brain; impair judgment... imagine how many more he could have hit with a clear mind and nature's own incredible reflexes.  You don't need big muscles to hit home runs, and hitting is more important than home runs. So with injuries and age, and hostility all around...if they can swim they will become the sharks in the water, and they will be toughened to win under pressure.  Boston has overrated pitching and the most generous treatment by umpires...incredible, but they will fade, Tampa will be the wild card and will take someone to game seven.  The race begins...this is news n Boston, I think they thought they were ahead because they swept the Yanks a few series... Calendar says its not August yet, that is the time to prove what you build in July...the race starts now.