Coming up on September 1st, and the Red Sox lead the Yankees by six games in the American League East. As Mike Francesa of Mike and the Mad Dog (WFAN, New York) says, "The Red Sox are like the timezones - ahead in the spring and behind in the fall." Look at this chart:

With the exception of 2004 (their World Series year), where they actually made a mini-run at the division at the end of the season, the pattern is always the same - build a small lead in the beginning of the season, and then watch it fade away by October.

This year, unfortunately, has been a bit different. The annual, mid-season lead spiked to double digits for the first time in six years, and this is their biggest lead for September 1st in that timeframe (data prior to 2001 was not easily available on the web). The biggest 9/1 lead they've blown has been 5.5 games (in 2001), so it's not out of the realm of possibilities, but it's going to be tough...

GO YANKS!