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October 9, 2007
Click here to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam. The topics: why the Indians will be a tougher foe than the Angels; Cleveland's ability to drive up pitch counts, and what that means for Dice-K; why Schilling should get the start in Game 2; why the Red Sox' 5-2 record against Cleveland this year means little to nothing; the extra rest for both teams and how that might affect things; and who will stay with the Yankees, and who will go.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:
Why the Indians will be tougher: "In boxing they say style makes a fight, and in baseball there's a little bit of that matchup issue that goes into making a good series. For some reason the Angels can beat the Yankees in the postseason, but they can't seem to beat the Red Sox, and it's kind of a weird thing to try to figure out. But the Red Sox have the Angels number -- they've swept them twice in the last four years now -- and in terms of the Indians, I think that their starting pitching is more dominant, with Sabathia and Carmona. I think their lineup is certainly more formidable. The Angels have kind of an agressive, pesky offense, where the Indians are a little bit more like the Red Sox -- maybe not in name recognition or marquee value -- but there's some guys, from Hafner to Martinez and others, that can really do a lot of damage, and drive the ball and produce runs, and that's something the Red Sox didn't have to worry about in the last series."
Have the Sox given an indication of who starts after Beckett? "No, but you'd find it hard to believe, having watched the two of them pitch in the first round, that you wouldn't now put Schilling ahead of Dice-K in the rotation."
The Yankees' future: "I think they will do everything in their power, and that's considerable given the Yankees' resources, to keep Posada and Rivera both. Those guys are irreplaceable. There's no way you can go out and get a catcher who is familiar with the staff and is as good offensively as Posada. ... I think he has made it clear that, all things being equal, he would like to stay with the Yankees. And the same is true with Rivera, who may not be what he once was, but is still in the elite school of closers. ... Pettitte's a little hard to figure out; he has an option [and] can come back at, I think, $16 million and pitch another year. Clemens -- I've given up trying to forecast what he's going to do. ... As far as Joe Torre goes, I think this is probably the end."
Posted by Mike McDermott 
at 12:31 PM to McAdam
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