It's the Red Sox and Yankees in the ALCS for the second straight season, which again has confident Sox fans saying "This is The Year."

We asked you to submit an essay on why (or why not) this is the year the Red Sox will beat the Yankees in the ALCS and win their first World Series in 86 years. We were planning on posting just a few of the entries, but we were so overwhelmed by the number and the quality of the responses that we decided to post them all. Enjoy ...

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Forget about who Wins this one! I have nothing but the utt most respect for the Red Sox, as do most of us Die hard Yankee Fans do , I think these two teams and there So Called "Hatered "for one another is the ONE good thing that is still alive in baseball today ! With Players making so much money with endorsements and so on, With ticket Prices so expensiive ,When these two teams play ,wheter it be ALCS or in the Reg season game, They play hard! They play the game like it was played when Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio and all the greats did, Not for money or fame "But to win!! Unfortunetly for you Bostonians you have always come up short.So I would like to thank you all for hateing us Yankee Fans and us native New Yorkers because in this crazy changing world, I fing comfort in these two fact 1) the Red Sox fan will always Hate us! and 2) You will never beat the Yankees to get to another world series!!! Sorry !!! Thank you, Frank Mallia The EVIL EMPIER

Frank Mallia III, Yankees in 7

The '04 Sox will beat the Yankees in 5 games and go on to the World Series. This Red Sox team is the most well rounded, deep and balanced Sox team I have seen. Historically, the Sox have been a team of slow sluggers, relying on that one big blast over the Green Monster to win the game. While those types of wins are certainly exciting and dramatic, expecting to win in the postseason with that type of team is sure to backfire eventually (as it has in past over and over again). This year's team has solid pitching from it's starting rotation and bullpen. We certainly have the sluggers still (Ramirez, Ortiz, Millar) but we also have speed (Damon, Roberts and even Varitek has some wheels even though it's overlooked. Kapler and Cabrera aren't slow either). Intense grinders like Bill Mueller (one of my personal favorites because of the way he approaches the game), Varitek and Nixon are great guys to have around. This team has got excellent defense now too with Mientkiewicz, Cabrera and Reese. The other guys flash the leather too: Mueller, Damon, Varitek, Nixon and even Ramirez have all turned in consistent and sometimes impressive defensive performances. There simply isn't a big glaring weakness in this Red Sox team. Pitching, defense, offense, some speed and a great team atmosphere.. the intangibles. This team believes they can win and are proving that they can. Everyone seems to get along and no one player is behaving as if he is more important than the whole. I think the '03 Sox were a great team but I think there are a few important differences between last year's team and this year's team. Balance, solid defense, better starting pitching and bullpen and I think this team had to pull together to overcome the adversity of injuries, a mediocre mid-season performance, the fight with the Yanks, the big trade, etc. I thought there was great chemistry with last year's team, but this year's team seems to have exceeded that chemistry. They had to pull together and figure out how to be a team again. Props to Theo for putting pieces together that worked. I was as big a Nomar fan as the next guy and am still sad that he's no longer with the Sox, but the Sox needed to be shaken awake and Theo did it and it worked. They play as a team again (and I'm not saying it was Nomar that kept that from happening. I wasn't around them or in the clubhouse... I think it was more of the shock and the shake up following the Nomar trade and the ensuing changes that sparked the team to pull together). I think they are working like Jiffy Lube... a well oiled machine... a juggernaught that is going to steam roll their way to the Series. The Yankees look like they lack the emotion and the desire of the Red Sox. All season long they've appeared to play without much emotion (with the exception of Jeter at times). They approach the game as a business and don't have the chemistry or camaraderie of these Sox. The word robots comes to mind. The joy and celebration of the Red Sox after they swept the Angels far surpassed that of the ho-hum, we-expect-to-win-and-don't-enjoy-it-that-much Yankees.

Eric, Sox in 5

The Red Sox have never beaten the Yankees,and never will. I am 68 years old and the Red Sox have never won aworld series in my lifetime and beyond for almost 100 yearsThe curse of the Bambino is alive and well! They stink as usual.

Don, Yankees

ALEX RODRIGUEZ IS GOIN TO END THE 7 GAME WHIT A HOME RUN AND THE CURSE WILL LIVE FOR EVER.

bernie#1, yanks in 7

This is the year for Boston, because everyone in Red Sox nation believed it was "the year" immediately after we signed Schilling and Pettite left for Houston. However, practically everyone lost hope somewhere between May and August and gave up on the season. And some how after trading our most popular player ever, the sox turned this thing back around. This is just the type of storyline that would make sense to explain why the red sox will win (that and we have a better pitching rotation than the yankees for the first time this decade). Sox go from 2-1 favorites to win the WS,, then play .500 baseball for 3 months and are barely 2-1 favorites to come in 2nd in the AL East. And all of a sudden we end up nearly closing in on the yankees for 1st place, and now we will ultimately catch them in our quest for the 1st World Series title in 86 years!

Chris, Sox in 6

Baseball elementary by Eric Heredia There is a tentative solution to 2004's "B" factor and a mirror image of last year's epic Game 7 of the ALCS. But it could be another major "B" to crush the Red Sox Nation for the 87th time in their fabled history including the infamous Babe Ruth sell, Bucky Dent and the 2003 version, Aaron Boone with his timely blast in the 11th inning sending the World Series to the Bronx. But Bubba Crosby doesn't seem like the home run type. He's young, but he doesn't have the extra pop the Yankees thought Boone would bring before his 15 minutes and a career-shifting basketball injury in the off-season, sending him out of the Yankees, clearing the spot for Alex Rodriguez and landing himself on a Cleveland's DL. If anything, Bubba could be called on to patrol right field with a 2-run lead, replacing Sheffield's wounded glove arm which has slightly hobbled his gutsy fielding all-year long. I predict a tight game, probably in the extra-gappy Fenway where Crosby's magic occurs. Left field has hogged too much attention lately. From Dent's Green Monster Mash, to Boone's magical hack, I see a comfortable 4-runnish lead, which would technically fall under the comeback nature in possibly Orlando Hernandez's first start this post season. Probably Game 5, maybe 4. Crosby's youthful legs will make David Ortiz walk off of a familiar Fenway Park - dodging a maze of winning Yankees. It might not clinch the title, but it will hold weight with the remaining game(s) in New York. I'm just not sure how ... yet. I need to see how much Jeter struggles. Same with a Pedro. Manny will be in the mix, either way. Same with A Rod. But Crosby will make road magic this year. I am confident. I've seen it too many times to think, know or ponder otherwise. Yes, I am an insane 26th man in a comfy Yankee cap. But my logic has won for 86 seasons. Boston will walk into a dry, quiet and eternally humbled clubhouse this year. The most specific prediction won't be typed here, but it will involve the following, usual suspects. Jeter will have early offense against Tim Wakefield. Alex could have a quiet, but contributing game. These statements comfort me in the wake of their intricate brilliance in Game 4 in Minnesota Saturday. I see another outfield assist of armageaddon-like proportions. Out of nowhere, Crosby's arm will inherit Sheffield's strength, Shane Spencer's luck and Ruth's mystical guidance. YES I SAID IT! Mystical. The mystique the media coins this beautiful rivalry-controlling, possibly supernatural "curse." ARod at third base will become a picture that will exemplify this post season for the winners and after the right - of - passage series with Minnesota, the playoff MVP will match the former Texas Ranger's 162-game dominance.

Eric , Yanks in 7

Last week my recently wed son and I were going through boxes of his belongings that still remained in our home. Among the treasures was his baseball cards. We opened the 1987 Fleer box to make sure it contained a Barry Bonds rookie card and dumped some out. There, on top of the pile was Terry Francona... in a CUBS UNIFORM!!!! My vision blurred, my head spun. I felt like Steve McQueen when Edward G. Robinson turned over the queen of diamonds in “The Cinncinati Kid.” “Abandon all hope,” I croaked. “What?” asked my bewildered son. “He’s a Cub!” I rasped, still reeling. The Boston press has been calling him "Tito" all year and I had fallen for the deception. The real "Tito" had never played for the Cubs. I had checked. Astute fans are well aware of the well documented Cub factor. Basically, it shows that three ex-Cubs will infect your team with "the will to lose." The virus is activated in the post season, where it will spell doom to World Series hopes. Our last Cub manager was Don Zimmer. Speaking of Zimmer, (a rare triple Cub, who had played for, coached, and managed the Cubs), I had been curious to learn if it was possible for him to have infected Pedro Martinez with the virus, when he bullrushed him last year. Zimmer ended up going down, after all, he’s a Cub, but had the virus been passed? Poor Pedro, overcome in games 3 and 7, hasn't been the same since and looks to be nearly finished. He lost 4 in a row, 2 to the D-Rays (Zimmer‘s on their payroll), to close out this season. A records check revealed that Zimmer HAD done it before. In 1984, at Wrigley Field, a hot-headed Latin pitcher (sound familiar?), named Mario Soto, attacked the Cubs 3rd base coach. Soto, an 18 game winner, bullrushed Zimmer and tackled him to the turf. The formerly dominant Reds pitcher won 12 games the following year. Then 3. Then 3 again. He was finished. He had clearly been infected. It is a matter of record that both of Zimmer’s cross infections occurred in years that the Cubs were one game from the pennant, with three to go. Coincidence? All season long in 1986, Red Sox manager John McNamara had removed Bill Buckner in late innings, when the team held a lead. With no Cubs on the field, victory was preserved. But in game 6 of the World Series, the strategy was abandoned. Ex-Cub Buckner took up his position at first base in the 10th inning, with a 2 run lead. What followed is history, too unbearable to repeat. But Cub fans had seen the play before (1984 Leon Durham). Who can forget ex-Cub Rod Beck’s gopher balls in 1999‘s ALCS? A game one, 10th inning, walk-off home run, for Bernie Williams and a game four, 9th inning, grand slam, to Ricky Ledee. Goodbye Sox. The Yanks then beat the (3 ex-Cub) Braves. But this year, the Yankees have six Cubs!!! In their arrogance, and defiance of history, they have entered the post season with Lieber, Sturtz, Gordon, Heredia, Cairo, and Lofton (ex- Cubs all) on the roster. Hah! They have no one to blame. They did this to themselves. We have but two, Bellhorn and Mueller. It should be no contest. Sox in 5! Note to Theo. Keep Francona on a short leash.

Dalton, Sox in Five!

As a Boston fan living in New York, I have to say it's hard sometimes. I remember in particular the game on Sept. 17 when a group of rowdy Yanks fans started cheering for Rivera, and said things like "How many World Series do YOU GUYS remember winning?" and the t-shirt that said "The distance between the DYNASTY and the WANNABE -- abotu 215 miles." The irritating thing is -- they are, to a point, right. The Yankees are accustomed to victory. They have a team that has been second to none in not just signing superstars but *balancing* them. A-Rod is arguably one of the most intelligent baseball players in the majors. But when he was with Texas it didn't matter, because you can be the best player in the world, but a team consists of nine people on the field. The best-known Yankees -- I am thinking of Derek Jeter and A-Rod both here -- do not have a .400 hitting average, but they do play great defense and are surounded by people who are nothing if not consistent. This means that they have much more flexibility than any other team but the Red Sox and Cardinals in setting up their lineup. Nobody on the Yankees roster has the average of a David Ortiz or Ramirez. But they don't need it because they haev focused on every aspect of the game -- baserunning and productive outs, for example. That said, this year I think they are more vulnerable. The pitching rotation has two gyus who anywhere else would be number one starters, but Orlando Hernandez and Javier Vazquez are question marks. Kevin Brown is inconsistent, though on any other team he'd likely be the number one. Anyhow, If the Sox are to win it, and I think they can, Schilling and Martinez have to put in performaces liek no other they have done. They have to get to the seventh inning. Preferably get *to* th eighth. Foulke has to fan the opposition or get the fly outs, a dangerous proposition in Fenway. The baserunning game has to be the best the offense has done -- ever. Stats-wise, the Red Sox are a superior team. But the reason the Yanks won three more games was in part because of the inconsistent defense. The Red Sox should probably start with Mientkiewicz the whole game at first in Game 1. Key will be shutting down the slugfest. Wakefield should be a long relief man, since the knuckleball is weird enough that it throws hitter's rhythms off in the late innings and if you are ahead, using Mirabelli isn't such a bad idea. In one sense, the Yankees are exactly what the Red Sox were last year. Which is why I think they may well take it to the Yankees. So I see it going to game seven. But this time, no Aaron Boone.

Jesse, Red Sox in seven games

That gut feeling. We know it all too well. You could be in Tibet watching a game via satelite and you know exactly what your brethren are going through back home and abroad. We have this wierd but undeniable connection with our beloved teams. In 2001 our football team started out ok but we were not expecting much by halfway through the season. Then, we had that Monday Night Football game against the Rams. We didn't win the game but something clicked that night. It was that gut feeling. Suddenly, with no explanation to why we thought such a preposterous thing, it became very clear to us that this band of cast-offs were going to win the damn Superbowl. I mean we KNEW IT. It was only November, but we all could feel what no one else could. Our baseball teams go even deeper than that. Sure, we forgive Pedro for not holding the lead last year in game 7. He pitched his heart out for 7 plus innings but everyone and I mean everyone back home knew that Pedro was gassed and should not have been on that mound starting the 8th inning. This Red Sox team has that something that the Patriots had in 2001. No one knows for sure how this thing will play out but I for one feel that this team is going all the way. Never mind the individual matchups. Its that intangible called character and when I look at this team I see what the Pats had. I see champions. From Kapler to Millar to Varitek. Heart. And when we look back on this season, we should all be able to say, "We knew it".

Rick, Red Sox in 6

Second Addition after removing typos: One of my first memories as a boy growing up in Rhode Island was collecting and trading Boston Red Sox baseball cards in 1967. Since the Sox were having a good year and Yaz was hitting the cover off the ball, I couldn't help but be drawn to the team. I know that every New Englander feels this way, but when Bob Gibson and the Cardinals beat us in 7, I took it personally and felt it was a personal slight by the Gods of Baseball. 1975 was twice as bad as I came to love Freddy Lynn, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Louie, Fiske, Spaceman, Bernie and the ageless Yaz as they played their hearts out but eventually lost to the Big Red Machine in 7 as well. Then there was 1986, which I still can't talk about. Every time the Sox fell short, I asked myself how many World Series Championships would we have collected since 1918 if we were in a different division, without the burdon of fighting the nuclear arms race that is the Red Sox -Yankees rivalry? How many second best division finishes, almost championships and abject heart breaks could have been avoided if majors league baseball had had the guts to prevent the Yankees from using the rest of major league baseball as it's own personal farm system? How many bad personell decisions would not have been made if we weren't always worried first and foremost about our 17 or 18 games against the Bombers every season? Every year, the pressure builds a little more...the inevitability of ultimate victory gets a little closer...and the odds of this being the year more in our favor. Forget about the matchups....Schill versus Moose....Manny versus ARod.....Rivera versus Faulk....their allstar team versus our happy idiots.... This is about balance in the universe. The baseball Gods owe us, and they owe us big time. In 1967, when I was 5 years old, I went outside after game 7 and repeated every curse word I had ever heard in my brief life. In 1975, I did it again, with a much broader vocabulary. In '86 and '03 I invented new words to decribe the pain. But not this time! In the imortal words of John Bellushi, "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! And it ain't over now! So who's with me? Ahhhhhhhh!" Red Sox in 6! Let sanity return to the universe. We will not, can not be denied!

Larry, Boston in 6