What's that?

The Yankees & Red Sox met in a three-game series at Yankee Stadium? The Sox had won four straight heading into it while the Yankees had gone home limping after a 16-0 drubbing the previous night in Detroit?

And then the Yankees swept the Red Sox? And the Sox hit a collective .081 or something against that erratic Yankees pitching staff? Derek Jeter went 4-4 in the final game? And the Sox' three best pitchers all lost? Yes, September is upon us. And some traditions never fucking die. Fuckin' Yankees.

More appropriately, fuckin' Red Sox! Exactly a month ago today they made a big splash and traded for veteran stud reliever Eric Gagné to add even more muscle to what was already the best bullpen in the Major Leagues. Here's what I wrote at the time on si.com's message board:

Don't get me wrong - the Red Sox needed another quality arm in the bullpen, if
only as insurance (though the logic of bringing in another chronic medical case
eludes me somewhat). The real need on this team, however, is in the lineup: they
have a shortstop barely above the Mendoza Line, a streak-hitting centerfielder,
and a colossal underachiever in rightfielder (no matter who starts there). Am I
the only person to notice that the Red Sox reach double digits in the LOB
[runners left on base] category on an almost routine basis? And how many
1-run games have they lost recently? Too many. In fact, they're below .500 in
1-run games for the season, an unusual mark for a team with the best record in
baseball. Simply put, it's sickening (assuming you're a Red Sox fan, that is).
This team needs a quality, clutch hitter in the worst of ways right now, and I
won't be too confident of a World Series appearance, much less a victory, until
they find one.

And what just happened in the Yankees series? They lost all three games, getting fewer and fewer hits each game: 3 runs on 7 hits in game 1, followed by 3 runs on 4 hits in game 2, and finished off by today's 0-run/2-hit implosion at the hands of Chien-Ming Wang. One thing is certain: the starting pitchers and relievers didn't lose these three games in the Bronx. If this three-game display of chronic impotence didn't sound the alarm in Theo Epstein's brain, I don't know what would.

Welcome to September, Red Sox fans. Here we go again . . .