It’s easy to mock the absurd hype that goes into every series between the Yankees and the Red Sox – Gary Sheffield, for instance, says “It’s the biggest series, probably in the world, in any sport.”

It sometimes seems – as when Sheffield proves that he doesn’t follow soccer – that these games are black holes, vacuuming all the pompousness and vainglory in the world into the northeast of America for three and four day stretches, and that the true baseball devotee would be best served registering a protest against it all by watching, say, the Tampa Bay-Toronto set that begins tonight.

Any series that is implicitly promoted as promising a violent spectacle like those that have accompanied far too many Red Sox-Yankees games over the last few years deserves at least a bit of scorn.

This seems especially so when the games are fundamentally meaningless. Had Boston been able to stay a bit closer in the race, these games might have offered the novelty of seeing the division lead change hands, which would be entertaining and dramatic; we have no idea how this Yankees team would react to such a total collapse. As is, even a Boston sweep would leave them in second place.

But while all this is true, this weekend should present the best of baseball, not because of a potential Sheffield vs. Pedro grudge match, but because these are the two best teams in the league, playing largely for pride. This should worry Yankees fans. Pride makes men, and managers, do unwise things.

The Yankees’ pitching staff, as everyone knows, is in a rather precarious state heading into the playoffs. Kevin Brown was supposed to be rounding into shape right now, preparing for the role of postseason ace for which he was acquired. It’s now uncertain whether he’ll even pitch in October, and unclear what sort of shape he’ll be in if he does.

This starts something of a domino effect – without Brown, the lesser Jon Lieber will take a turn in the playoff rotation, putting a great deal of pressure on Joe Torre’s already badly-overworked troika of relief aces, Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon, and Mariano Rivera.

Right now, more than anything else, the Yankees need to rest these three. Quantrill in particular is showing signs of breaking down under a huge workload – his August ERA was 6.19, and this month it’s 10.29. Unfortunately, Boston is unlikely to cooperate in any scheme to rest the Yankee bullpen, and these have excellent chances of being close games.

While tonight’s matchup of Bronson Arroyo vs. Orlando Hernandez looks on the surface like something of a mismatch, I think it will be a pitcher’s duel. Arroyo has not done well against the Yankees this year, giving up 14 runs in 18 innings, but he’s pitched quite well lately, with five quality starts (6 or more innings, 3 or fewer runs) in his last seven outings.

There are also some odd quirks in Arroyo’s statistics this year – he has a 3.83 ERA in day games against a 4.42 in night games, and a 3.18 road ERA against a 5.12 mark at home. In a night road game, he should be at his best.

Tomorrow’s Jon Lieber-Derek Lowe game should be a high-scoring slugfest – two excellent offenses and two mediocre starters should result in a long, back-and-forth contest. Both of these two are sinkerballers whose sinkers haven’t been sinking very well, resulting in line drives in the gaps and plenty of hard hit balls up the middle. I’d be surprised if either lasted six innings, and that means more work for the better relievers.

Sunday’s Mike Mussina-Pedro Martinez game should be another one in which the back end of the bullpen is needed at the end of a close, tight game. Pedro is Pedro, while Mussina is coming off two strong starts and looks finally to be the pitcher many thought would finally have his 20-win season this year.

On paper, the prudent thing for Torre to do here would be to rest Quantrill, Gordon, and Rivera as much as possible, even if it costs the Yankees a game or two in this series. The club is assured of its postseason spot; even if they were swept this weekend, they would have another three games with Boston in which to bring everything out to cement the division lead. Right now, all effort should be focused on October.

Of course, this won’t happen. The rivalry here is too fierce, and the pressure from the fans, the press, and management too intense for Torre to manage this series the same way he would against Anaheim, Oakland, or Minnesota.

That’s the real story here. The Yankees built a dynasty on acquiring not simply the best players, but those who best fit their team, and on never letting anything come above winning baseball. A few bad hops in the last inning of the 2001 World Series seem to have changed that, and the franchise hasn’t been the same since. When Joe Torre manages these games like a playoff series, it will serve as just another example of how hype gets in the way of winning baseball in the Bronx.