WHY THE YANKEES-RED SOX RIVALRY IS OVERRATED

by WCT, The Ship of Fools

As I sit and watch yet another four-plus-hour, nationally televised New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox affair -- the 2nd in 72 hours, 3rd in 5 days if you consider most of the nation saw them on FOX Saturday baseball -- I am left to ponder the following: Is this rivalry really as big, as intense, and as important as these teams fans (and ESPN) would lead you to believe?

Possibly, at one time, but at this point I think that the Yanks-Sox rivalry isn't what it once was, nor is it "the greatest rivalry in sports" as many a talking head proclaims it.

Consider the following:

- Every year, on the first Saturday in December, the Army and Navy football teams renew their rivalry. Each team's season is centered around preparing for that game and the outcome of the game directly affects the 51 weeks that follow. The Yanks and the Sox, depending on the year, play either 18 or 19 times per regular season. It is impossible for 18 or 19 games, even between division rivals, to have the same intensity as a single game. If Army goes 1-11, but beats Navy, they consider that a successful season. Do you think that if the Yankees lost 100 games, but went 19-0 against the Sox, they would consider the season a success?

- Have you ever seen a Yankees-Sox game live? I have seen several. Do you know what happens about 45 minutes to an hour before the first pitch? Yankee players and Red Sox players gather in the outfield, go through their stretches and warm-ups, and shoot the shit with each other. Do you know what used to happen during warm-ups at Steelers-Browns games? The players would gather around midfield, talking trash, and on some occasions, punches were thrown. Former Browns RB William Green was once even disqualified for the actual game because of his involvement in a pre-game brawl. Those guys hated each other, and it fueled the intensity of the game. Do you think that Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez hate each other? They don't. I saw them cracking jokes before a game last season.

- Do you know why Jackie Robinson's career ended? It ended because he was traded from the Dodgers to the Giants, and he decided that he would rather retire than put on the dreaded uniform of the New York Giants. Contrast that with guys like Johnny Damon, who are more than willing to leave the Red Sox and go right to the Yankees. Granted, Robinson's actions occurred 50 years ago, but that was a rivalry. You were either a Dodger or a Giant, you couldn't be both. I ask you, baseball fan, what is Roger Clemens?

I don't deny that the Sox and the Yanks rivalry wasn't, at one time among the most heated in sports. But this isn't the 1970s. Carlton Fisk and Thurmon Munson no longer play for these teams. This rivalry was fueled by an inferiority complex that Red Sox fans felt with Yankee fans (and more broadly, Bostonians felt with New Yorkers) and since the Sox have won two titles, that feeling has subsided. In addition, a Major League Baseball rivalry, in this day and age, cannot compare to a football rivalry, or a baseball rivalry from decades ago. The players are too transient, the teams are too corporate, and there just isn't the hatred amongst the competitors. Don't believe the hype that ESPN forces down your throat as a baseball fan, because this rivalry just isn't that important anymore.