Tough Enough?

Shank implores the Red Sox to toughen up if they're going to beat the Yankees.

Red Sox need to be tougher to beat the Yankees

NEW YORK — The Red Sox are playing scared.

They need to put on their big boy pants and start playing like the team that won 108 games this season.

They need to start playing like the team that effectively ended the American League East race in early August by sweeping the Yankees four straight at Fenway Park.

They need to start playing with the swagger and idiocy of the 2004 Red Sox, who beat the Bronx Bombers four straight times after falling behind, 3-0, in the ALCS.

This is actually a pretty good column by Shank. There's a reason for that - Shank manages to criticize nearly aspect of the Red Sox. When he vents his spleen he puts forth a better column than most of his USPS mail-in jobs.