BK: "You Can Stick Your Silver Lining In A Sack!"

Guest poster Bernard King may have a point below, but that does not obscure the fact that A-Rod is a douchebag (not that the issue was ever broached).
A counterpoint brought to you by Bernard King:

In my second guest column, I thought I’d respond to Luol’s absurd Sox silver lining post below. I’m a Yanks fan (a post about the existence of non-douchebag Yanks fan is coming), so the logical thing to do was to make some counterpoints.

Luol - The Sox beat up the Yanks best starters.
No argument here, so long as you're just talking about the September series. If Wang and Pettitte have consecutive games of 4 and 5 ER, in 4 and 5.2 IP, respectively, the Yanks will go nowhere regardless of who they play. You cleverly omit Wang's one-hit, seven inning shutout game against Boston in his win at the end of August. Pettitte also beat Dice K in that series, allowing 3 ER in 7 IP. So, you can skew the stats any way you want, or you can say the home pitcher held serve.

Luol - The Sox two best pitchers owned the Yanks
Owned? C'mon. First, Beckett owns everyone, so I can't really argue that. The guy's having a Cy Young season. The Yanks were lucky to beat him in the August series, but he was outpitched by Roger. Luckily, game time temperature was 79 degrees and sunny. Second, the Yanks didn't face Clay Buckholz. I'll address Dice K when we're not talking about the Sox "best" two pitchers. I think he’s 1-4 in his last 7 with a 7.15? That’s Ace stuff right there. Apparently his meatball, er, gyroball, isn’t fooling anyone.

Luol - The Sox got to Joba.
What exactly do you mean by "got to"? You’re reaching. If an inconsequential Mike Lowell homerun and some base runners is a silver lining, great. Exactly what happened after that homerun? Oh, right, he struck out three and got the win. In the words of Police Chief Bruce Grady, “Desperation is a stinky cologne.” Perhaps the definition of “got to” might instead be the back-to-back homeruns that sparked that demoralizing comeback WIN against Okijima in the first game of that series. The Sox, having shut down Okijima with a tired arm, are still feeling the effects of the Yanks having gotten Joba’s Sox counterpart. I won’t even bring up Eric “Nail in the Coffin” Gagne. Nice pickup.

Luol - Mo has been shaky as hell.
Since when? His post-All Star ERA is 1.99, and he has 18 saves over 1 loss. He’s saved four of the last five Yankee wins over the Sox (the other win was 5-0). There’s not much more I need to say about this really. So you loaded the bases on him off of a few bloop hits in that last game, and unlike you’re guy, he actually shut the door? The only chance you have of getting to Mo’s is if Manny’s in that lineup. Otherwise, good night. As you admirably point out, if Mo is shaky, Papelbon is fucking mess. That stupid fucking angry Cartman face he makes just doesn’t intimidate the Yanks anymore. He’s blown two saves in his last two appearances against the Yanks.

Luol - The Yanks suck on the road.
Really? The Yanks just took 2 of 3 in Boston. Pretty sucky.

Luol - Roger Clemens is really old.
You think so, Doctor? I hate Roger and can't defend him, ever. I hope his arm falls off and ends his 19th "farewell" tour. The worst part about this whole Yanks surge is that it loosely coincides with Roger’s comeback. Thanks for the six wins - what is that, $3 million per win? Penis.

Luol - The Sox lineup, as presently constituted, is ridiculous.
“[A]nd made the playoffs with this lineup” is just about the dumbest thing said that entire post. The Sox made the playoffs playing .700 ball in the first half of the season, with the lineup as constructed in the off-season. With this current lineup (basically since Manny went down), you guys flushed away the 14.5 game cushion your real lineup got you. Hence, “the Sox lineup, as presently constituted,” is the reason you’re writing about a silver lining in the first place.

-Bernard King