Red Sox, Yankees, here we go again
Written by Chriso, Monday June 08 2009
The Yankees are coming. The Yankees are coming.
And quite honestly, I am... well... tired. I really am. Tired of the hype. The so-called "greatest rivalry" in sports. I hope there is a better rivalry, because this one just is not that great.
I have some vague memories of 1978, and vivid memories of 1986 (wait that was another New York team). But actually that makes a point of how the Yankee rivalry is overrated. I have seen comments designed to bother Red Sox fans that mention "Bucky, Boone, the Babe, and Buckner"... What happened with Bill Buckner has nothing to do with the Yankees. And then comes the "greatest rivalry" comeback line: "Yankees (bleep)". Just great.
So now I need to decide what to do with the Yankees coming to Fenway. And since hiding from all the hype does not seem to be an option, I started looking at pitching matchups. Game 1 features Josh Beckett vs A.J. Burnett. These two former Florida teammates faced off against each other on April 15, and the high scoring match that followed did not meet the hype. Which brings me to another point, how does a pitcher's career record vs. a particular team matter in determining how the next start will go? I don't even think the April 15th start of this year indicates how the June 9th game will develop.
Another case of career record not being relevant is Wednesday's match up, which is Wang and Wakefield (and that's a lot of ws). Wakefield has a 10-17 career record against the Yankees with a 5.03 ERA. But that must include some of Wakefield's starts when he was with the Red Sox in 1995, a team that included Mo Vaughn, Jose Canseco, and Roger Clemens. That Sox team lost in the playoffs to a Cleveland team with a left fielder named Manny Ramirez. The New York teams that Wakefield faced that year included Don Mattingly and Wade Boggs. Close your eyes for a moment and think about where you were in 1995. For me, I have seen career changes and personal life changes that I never dreamed would happen. Now open your eyes and come back to 2009. Now think about a 10-17 career record against the Yankees. It just does not make any difference on this Wednesday.
Thursday's series finale includes C.C. Sabathia vs. Brad Penny. C.C. is the second Yankee starting pitcher in this series that prefers initials to actual names. He also has been pitching much better lately. Penny on the other hand seems to be constantly mentioned as trade bait as June 15th approaches, the first day the Red Sox will be able to trade him due to a clause in Penny's contract.
So here come the Yankees, supposedly looking for some kind of revenge after dropping the first five games in head to head play vs. the Red Sox this season. Of course those games did not have Alex Rodriguez who was on vacation, I mean suspension. Oh wait, I think I mixed up that line with one for Manny Ramirez. Oh well. Don't forget the hype.
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7 comments
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Hey well they tried to do the whole ESPN thing in L.A as of late. I want to see alittle west coast bias from time to time on that network too. I'm not mad at you MC, it would get annoying.
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East Coast bias in all it's glory...
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I wonder would the Four Letter Network consider The Yankees vs Boston College the second biggest rivalry of our time? Or Boston Red Sox vs Syracuse?
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ESPN and its ubiquitous list of "Top Rivalries" in sports makes me wonder every time they show it. Each year the 4-letter network trots out this list and on it at the top is Yankees/Red Sox. I couldn't disagree more. There is no doubting that for many years in the American League (before divisions) the AL pennant often came down to New York or Boston (apologies to Detroit and Cleveland). And in the divisional era, the two teams were at the top of the AL East many, many times (apologies to Baltimore). Now in the wild card era, the Yanks and Sox have played in the ALCS three times. There is simply no arguing the two teams, together, have given us great theatre. But best rivalry? No. Not when players can switch teams for a better contract. Great rivalry between Boston and NY? Absolutely. Best rivalry in sports? That is without a doubt found in the college arena. Between what two schools? That's for another column because anyone can argue one of about 20 great college rivalries. Like you, I am also sick of the Red Sox/Yankees hype from the four-letter network.
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I had put a big post in here but i guess it didn't go thru. Anywho I was saying how I am sick of ESPN becoming Yankeespn every week. Then when its a red sox game its really big time because they will have pre-game for that from like right after PTI. It's just annoying. I bet the rivalry was better back in the day during the 70's-80's but now it's one-sided and boring. It's never equal. I was glad for the Rays to step in and say screw this little monopoly it's our time now. Sad that they aren't looking up to doing it again. Oh well, i guess we have to prepare for more games of the week on sunday being the Yankees vs Anybody (Nationals would be a sad day) for the time being.
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Thanks for the heads up. Now I know to avoid ESPN for the next week or so.
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I went to a Yankees Red Sox game last season. Wang pitched a one hitter. It was pretty boring to say the least. Besides the Yankees fan who got ejected for punching a security guard.