Red Sox Magic Number - 35

With the Red Sox 10-5 win over the Angels last night the magic number for them to clinch the AL East is now 35.

There are 39 games left to play and the Red Sox could go just 19-20 to finish the season which would force the Yankees to go 24-15 (a .615 winning clip) just to tie. Now I don't think the Red Sox will go less than .500 for the rest of the season but there is a chance the Yankees could.

Not only do the Yankees play their next six games on the road against the Angels and Tigers - after that they play 25 of the last 33 against AL East opponents against whom the Yankees have gone just 22-25 so far this season. All this is just a way of taking the long way around the barn to once again say that the Yankees just aren't catching the Red Sox this year.

The uniform number 35 was worn by both Rickey Henderson and Rick Miller for the Red Sox. You would think it would be Rickey Henderson I would want to talk about but instead its Rick Miller. Back after the 1977 season - Angels owner Gene Autry informed his GM that he wanted "that outfielder from Boston". Autrey was actually quite taken by Dwight Evans but his GM thought he meant Rick Miller so he signed the free agent Miller. I always found that story amusing.