I’m not talking about the Yankees, although I hardly recognized Vazquez, Cervelli and Granderson, who didn’t look like professional ballplayers tonight but rather some rank amateurs. I’m talking about the Red Sox. They beat us 6-3, but it felt like we lost to…just another team. What I’m trying to say is that the old intensity of the rivalry, the rage, the fury – they weren’t there. Except for Ortiz and Papelbon, the usual villains were absent and so was my hostility. Did the Yankees feel the same way? Is that why they were so lackluster? Because Pedroia, Youkilis and Varitek weren’t on that field? Because truthfully, it’s hard to get all fired up to face Buchholz…

and Lowrie…

and someone named Kalish…

whose name kept conjuring up thoughts of this.

Maybe for tomorrow’s game, the Yankees could line their lockers with images of past battles. They need something to get them going.