It's a Whole New Ballgame

Manny on His Fanny

“The (Sox) players were calling him Manny Ripken last night. ..If you hung out in the clubhouse of the Angels (this week), a team that plays hard all the time, you would be surprised at the disgust that other players have for the quote ‘Manny being Manny’ thing… He virtually gets a free ride in this town, and if that’s what they want, fine, but let Hanely Ramirez come up to the big leagues and play like Manny, then see what the whole team is like.” -- 9.9, ESPN's Peter Gammons on WEEI's Big Show

It's a Whole New Ballgame

Yanks Have Been Flat All Season

And Their Backs Are Against the Floor This Weekend

“The one thing is the Red Sox have to avoid being swept and put the Yankees right back in it. One thing that troubles me is that the Sox have not hit pitchers they don’t know and have trouble with guys that pound the strike zone (like Small)… it’s (the series) is so important for the Yankees.” – 9.9, ESPN’s Peter Gammons on WEEI’s Big Show

Embree Oh My

"'When I am right, bet on me (when facing David Ortiz),' Embree said. 'I don't mean that as a slap at David. He is a .300 hitter. Hopefully I can get the other .700. He is a good friend of mine, but I hope we beat them,' said Embree, who was released by the Red Sox and picked up by the Yankees on July 30. 'He is one of the most dominating left-handed hitters in the game. You can't argue with his numbers but you have to be aggressive. You try to be too careful and you make a mistake.'" -- 9.9, New York Post

Still Juice Guys?

(Only Their Pharmacist Knows)

It's Incredible...

How Much Giambi Has Bulked Up Lately

“The return of Jason Giambi has been more dramatic and much less predictable than the resurrection of Jason Voorhees. The Giambino's .435 on-base percentage leads the league. His July — 14 home runs and 1.498 OPS — was one of the greatest in Yankees history.” -– 8.30, Kevin Hench, FOXSports.com

The Most Bloated Payroll in Baseball

But Can They Still Wrestle with the Red Sox?

"'I think this is a team that thrives on adversity,' says Millar, Mr. T-Shirt Man. 'I talked to one of our former teammates who's now on the Yankees, and he couldn't believe how different it is, how everyone goes his own way as soon as the game is over. I know this team is crazy and all that, but we're all in the clubhouse at 2:30 every day, getting on one another, and we hang out long after the game is over. You hear stuff about teams that have each other's backs, but it's real here.'" -– 9.4, Peter Gammons, ESPN.com insider

"'I think what's developed here is a mentality similar to what the Yankees used to have,' says Trot Nixon. 'Not that the current Yankees aren't a great team; they are. But when they had Paul O' Neill, they were a little different. You could be up 5-1, but they'd never quit, they'd start chipping away and we'd start to think, 'uh oh, here they come again.' We learned a lot from that '03 series. We might have lost, but it hardened us. There were guys like Ortiz and Millar who were going around telling everyone we had the series won when we were down 3-0 last year, and we believed them. There's no question that playing 60-something games with the Yankees the last three years has been good for us, because it toughens. There's no tougher rivalry in baseball. None. I think you see a lot of teams get leads here and when we start scoring begin to think, 'here they come.'" -– 9.4, Peter Gammons, ESPN.com insider

"Not too long ago, the Yankees were at the bottom of the wild-card leaderboard. Now they're on top, and it's hard to imagine a scenario where the $200 million payroll doesn't stave off the small-market competition."

"Just two months ago — in fairness to Mr. Shaughnessy — it was hard to imagine a scenario where the Yanks made the playoffs."

"Starters Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown, Jaret Wright and Chien-Ming Wang all went on the disabled list. Randy Johnson missed a start with a tight back. Only Mike Mussina was taking his regular turn."

"Al Leiter, Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small were brought in to bail water from the rapidly sinking ship. Leiter and Chacon were a combined 4-14 in Florida and Colorado, respectively, this season, and the 33-year-old Small had never made a start in the big leagues."

"The Yankees were dead, right? Well, maybe, if a certain someone hadn't had the audacity to point it out. Shaughnessy should have known better."

"Like a bad tag line for an unnecessary movie sequel — 'Nothing this evil can ever die,' all the Boss' money and all the Boss' men were able to put the Empire back together again." -– 8.30, Kevin Hench, FOXSports.com