Red Sox new A.L. East gold standard

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TORONTO -- The American League East's weekend of change came to a close with the Tampa Bay Rays in the playoffs, Yankee Stadium awaiting the wrecking ball and the Boston Red Sox leaving Toronto with champagne on ice, knowing they had at least clinched a tie for a playoff spot.And for the Blue Jays, just an A.J. Burnett whim away from having Jesse Litsch become their No. 2 starter, the playoffs have seldom seemed as far away. Lord knows what would happen if Peter Angelos sold the Baltimore Orioles to somebody with a clue about winning.Take solace if you want from the fact that the New York Yankees will join the Blue Jays and Orioles on the sidelines next month. But keep the cheering down to a dull roar.The Yankees will generate more revenue in the new Yankee Stadium. They will spend less money on luxury tax because construction and finance costs can be deducted from that figure, and in addition they'll have an extra $64 million to play with if they let Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina walk.But the fact is the Yankees will be an afterthought this October. Coupled with the fact that even for all their postseason appearances they haven't actually won a World Series since 2000 (or been in one since 2003) and the Red Sox have won two in that time, it means that the gold standard in the AL East is the Red Sox.Go ahead. The Red Sox have tied the Yankees this season for most years with 90-plus wins since 2002 (six) and went into the weekend on the verge of qualifying for the playoffs for the fifth time since 2003, which would also tie the Yankees.Admit it. Now, instead of pressing Derek Jeter or Joe Torre to put stuff into perspective, it's Terry Francona and David Ortiz who have the bully pulpit and neither man planned on staying up and to watch the Yankees and Orioles.Francona said his team would still have "a lot to play for," this morning, not conceding the AL East title quite yet. "It's why you just go out and play," he said, fairly spitting on the concept of a ''magic number.'' "If you're good enough, you're good enough."Very Torre-esque. For his part, Ortiz said his wife wouldn't let him have control of the TV because the Packers were on Sunday Night Football -- the couple live in Green Bay in the off-season."Besides, the best way to celebrate is to (expletive deleted) up your clubhouse," Ortiz said. "I'm not going to celebrate by spraying champagne all over my house."Not quite how Jeter would have put it but, well, the message is the same. Patience."It would be nice to get to celebrate (clinching a playoff spot) on the field," said Jason Bay, who must surely have wondered what it would have been like to celebrate his first postseason in the country of his birth just days after the birth of his second child."But, hey, if you're in, you're in, right?"Right. Give Francona and the Red Sox their due: they are going to be in the playoffs despite just 12 wins from Josh Beckett. They have survived what was rumored to be a season-ending wrist injury suffered by Ortiz, dealt away Manny Ramirez and now have Mike Lowell's sore hip to worry about. They have seen team captain Jason Varitek crumble offensively. They have run head first into setbacks and managed change, both forced and planned, because they have become the Yankees."Don't worry," Ortiz said as he stood up from his chair in front of his locker and put on his maroon-colored designer eyeglasses, "we'll figure out a place to celebrate somehow."Of course they will -- they're the Red Sox.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)