New York Daily News guest columnist David Wells tells it like it is:
- "Let's end one debate before it really gets started. The Red Sox gave it a nice run for a while, but the Yankees are the team of the decade -- again.
I can just imagine what the scene in Red Sox Nation is about now. The fans are bitter. Very bitter. The Yankees are back on top, and that can't be sitting too well in New England."
You should read the whole thing because Wells has some choice words for Mel Stottlemyre and Joe Torre regarding the 2003 World Series. But I want to revisit this team-of-the-decade thing, since I first addressed it a couple of months ago. What I wrote is below.
The answer to the question has to be the Yankees or the Red Sox. A few relevant numbers:
Wins: Yankees 955, Red Sox 909
Postseason Wins: Yankees 41, Red Sox 34
American League pennants: Yankees 3, Red Sox 2
World Championships: Red Sox 2, Yankees 1
Gosh, it's not as close as I thought.
If the Yankees advance farther than the Red Sox next month, it's a landslide.
If the Red Sox reach the World Series but don't win, you might make an argument for them, based on the primacy of world championships, their historical significance, their sentimental value, and their jewel of a ballpark.
If the Red Sox do win the World Series, then you'd have a pretty decent case because of their big edge in world championships and American League pennants, and because they would have closed (and perhaps eliminated) the Yankees' edge in postseason wins.
So yes, the jury's still out. As usual in those parts, nothing will be decided until autumn in New England.
Well, autumn didn't go so well in New England, while it went smashingly in New York. The updated numbers:
Wins: Yankees 965, Red Sox 920
Postseason Wins: Yankees 52, Red Sox 34
American League pennants: Yankees 4, Red Sox 2
World Championships: Red Sox 2, Yankees 2
Landslide. Sorry, Nation.