Last night was really October

        The Yankees weren't just blowing smoke when they had said before Game 1--in Erik Boland's story today--that their rough September meant nothing.

        They played one of their vintage October games, just wearing down the other team. Liriano was good for a while, but "a while" never cut it against the Yankees in the Bernie Williams-Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez era. It didn't cut it last night.

        The Yankees looked sharp and fresh last night, if not perfect. They didn't have the lapses that marked that series against the Rays at the Stadium or in the final two games at Fenway.

          No guarantee the Yankees will win the World Series or even the pennant (although my money definitely is on the latter, if not the former), but September is officially over.

           I'm not saying the Yankees can turn it on and off. I am saying that I'll never forget 2000, when the Yankees looked absolutely awful down the stretch and wound up hoistina a flag the next April.