Boston 2
New York 3

You know what? Good for them. The final Red Sox-Yankees game ever at Yankee Stadium proved to be a joyous one of the Bronx faithful. After watching the Red Sox take the first two games of the series and effectively squelching New York’s playoff hopes, it was heartwarming to see the Yankees have their inspirational “Rudy moment ” this afternoon. Hopefully, today’s events will make the final memories of the Stadium less dreary for our cousins in the south.

Rico from Jersey City? Joey from Staten Island? Listen, put down that Nathan’s hot dog and shut off the engine on that suped-up Honda Civic hatchback for a moment, I have something to say to you. Congratulations, good sirs, and “salute”.

I have thoughts on several items from today’s game, most of them negative.

Alex Cora
The eventual winning run reached base in the 9th inning via a grounder up the middle, one which most shortstops in the major leagues would have handled. Now, when a team has a no-hit shortstop (and he is a no-hit shortstop, despite his currently inflated OBP) on their major league roster, the implication is that they should be at least above average defensively. Alex is a sub-par defensive shortstop, and he is also sub-par in every other category. He does not excel in anything related to hitting, fielding, or running. It is my hope that after this season ends, the Red Sox will not carry someone like this on their 25-man roster ever again.

Jonothan Papelbon
Son, you have to put that 0-2 pitch somewhere else. Especially to a hitter like Jason Giambi, a chemically engineered cyborg created by the NSA for the sole purpose of beating the Red Sox. If it’s Jose Molina at the plate, sure, burn another one down the middle and let the fat little bastard try and hit it. But when dealing with hormone-infused cattle like Giambi, you sometimes have to get creative, okay?

Hideki Okajima
Look, I told you before, it was Jon Lester’s God-given right to win this game for all that is holy and righteous, and you stole that from him! God dammit, YOU STOLE THAT FROM HIM!!! Seriously, no, I’m not furious at Okajima. I think think he was poorly used in this game, and I think Terry Francona should have played this one differently and handed the ball to Masterson in that situation (no outs and a man on second). With men on second base, hitters have hit .318/.400/.455 against Okajima in the past 2 years. Granted, it’s only 26 plate appearances, but it might not be a fluke, since his other splits are decent across the board.

When all is said and done, a banged-up skeleton crew Red Sox team strolled into the ultimate hostile environment and took two critical games out of three against a motivated Yankees squad.

We can’t ask for much more.