Watch out, baseball — here come the Yankees.

It was a great weekend in Chapel Hill, with more than 200 former basketball players returning to celebrate the uncovering of the Roy Williams Court at the Smith Center. A golf tournament Friday, a gala buffet Friday night on the concourse of the Dean Dome, the new and old players scrimmaging Saturday afternoon and a cookout for all the families and their kids that night.

While Williams golfed, joked and pushed back tears all weekend, he might have noticed that his favorite Major League Baseball team had closed to within six games of the Red Sox in the American League East. A week ago, the Yanks were 10 and a half games behind before they swept four from the Orioles while Boston was getting blown out in Tampa by the surging Rays and outscored 24-5 in three games.

Thirty games remain in the regular season and six of those are between the Yankees and the team they are chasing. The schedule ends with a weekend series at Fenway Park between the heated rivals. Right now, I like the Bombers’ chances to pull off another miracle comeback. As the saying goes, they are trending that way.

Despite not having the injured Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorious, the Yanks have won eight of their last nine and are getting contributions from everyone – from talented rookies to wily veterans. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have lost five of seven and their lethal bats have gone silent while Chris Sale lingers on the disabled list with a sore left shoulder.

As of September 1, Major League rosters can expand to 40 active players through the end of the regular season, and that’s another advantage for the Yankees, who have a deep and talented farm system and will bring up more players ready to contribute than perhaps any other team in baseball.

Put that together with a lock down bullpen that bails out some shaky starters, once the Yankees get Judge, Sanchez and Didi back, they are in great position to pull a September surprise. That’ll keep Ol’ Roy happy for a few more weeks.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing Out
Roy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!
UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps Up
Dean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) Star
Ben Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and Ambitions
Garrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID Debate
Clemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft Dodgers
Carolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?
What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To Carolina
UNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra Motivation
Carolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›