Yankees vs. Red Sox: Who Needs the World Series?

The morning after the Yankees moved within a game and a half of Boston for the AL East division lead, I excitedly asked my fellow baseball aficionado, "So you think the Yanks can catch the Sox?"

He said, "It doesn't really matter, does it? They're both going to get into the playoffs regardless. I'm sure Joe Torre and Terry Francona won't be managing to win the division once they've clinched a playoff spot."

I agreed. "You're right. I guess I'm just thinking about bragging rights for the fans."

My friend gave a snort. "How much is it worth to you if Chien-Ming Wang goes down with a strained oblique in the last two weeks of the season in pursuit of so-called bragging rights?"

I thought about it. And, to my surprise as well as his, I said, "If it means beating the Red Sox, I'd be willing to trade off. Truth be told, I'd rather see the Yanks torment Boston than win a World Series."

I'm guessing I'm not alone in that sentiment. Every season, the Yankees and Red Sox make the pursuit of the championship of the major leagues secondary to the championship of each other. Going all the way is great, but it means that much more if we have to go through our arch-rivals to get there.

I remember the epic New York/Boston battles far better than most World Series contests. 2003? Aaron Boone's 7th game, 11th inning home run in the ALCS to send the Sox home for the winter. Sure, we lost the World Series to the Marlins, but nobody really cared -- I even saw a sign outside one bar that said "Hey, at least we beat Boston!" 2006? We may have exited the playoffs in the first round, but I prefer to remember that long August weekend at Fenway where the Yanks thumped the Bosox for five straight glorious games to knock them out of playoff contention.

And, of course, there's 2004. Not even the thrill of the 13-inning Greek drama that was the game of July 1, where Derek Jeter plunged into the stands going after a foul ball and landed face-first -- WITH BALL STILL IN GLOVE -- can erase the pain of The Choke. Yanks up three games to nil in the ALCS, another AL pennant all but in hand, when the unthinkable happened. A week later, the Yankees were playing golf and the Sox were on their way to their first world championship in 86 years. I've heard a lot of Boston fans call that Series triumph over the Cards "the icing on the cake." You wanna know what the cake was? Beating the Yankees, of course. Even if Boston had lost that World Series, I'll bet there would have been a lot of smiling faces in New England that winter.

The players themselves will occasionally tell you that Yankees-Red Sox affairs are just another series on the schedule, but the intensity they bring to the games belies that myth. It's little wonder that, after the Bombers have finished tangling with the Bostons, they'll usually drop the next couple of games simply because they're so spent, mentally if not physically. Yankees-Red Sox games are the baseball equivalent of an Ali-Frazier fight -- and we get to see the carnage 19 times a year, not including the postseason.

My friend doesn't understand this obsession, and I feel bad for him for two reasons. One, he grew up a Phillies fan, and their biggest rivals are usually themselves. It doesn't matter who the Phils are playing -- come September, they'll crumble like a stale Oreo. I, on the other hand, came of age, Yankees-wise, at the same time "Boston Sucks" T-shirts came into vogue in and around the Bronx on game days. I was a baseball-mad nine-year-old during that 1978 division race, which climaxed with Bucky F-in' Dent lofting one over the Green Monster and into baseball legend. How could I not be hooked? If you haven't grown up immersed in the rivalry, perhaps it's impossible to understand.

Second, my friend is a self-professed sabermetrician. In case you've never heard of such an animal, they follow baseball by the numbers, dutifully keeping track of stats so arcane that most bleacher creatures don't even know what the initials stand for. Such expertise has its uses -- for instance, my friend singlehandedly convinced me that, gee, A-Rod actually doesn't suck!

But sabermetricians also value logic over passion. And logic holds that winning a World Series trumps winning the AL East. Which, in theory, makes sense. But this is the YANKEES AND RED SOX we're talking about, not the Orioles and the Blue Jays. Logic can't explain why I've wasted countless thousands of hours over the last 30 years watching grown men trying to hit a ball with a stick, so why should it explain why the Red Sox Nation is holding its collective breath and Yankee fans are giddy with excitement, even though they're both going to make the playoffs no matter what happens?

Of course, the season's not going to end when one team or the other clinches the division. I'll be thrilled if the Yankees do make it to the World Series, whether or not they have to go through the Red Sox to get there. But even if they do go all the way, the day after that last game means no more baseball, and five long months of having to watch ... the Knicks.

Wake me when it's spring training.

Comments

[Aunt Shecky]

Whenever I watch a NYY game, I have a hard time staying awake. To me, the players seem to move according to a robotic program, and the entire franchise follows the corporate line religiously. For instance, we are supposed to believe that A-Rod and Derek Jeter are BFF. And this so-called rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yanks? Considering that Damon, Mientkiewicz, and Clemens are all former Red Sox, I'm a bit skeptical. They probably meet for drinks after the games. On off days, the families probably get together for barbecues. Anyway, here's a parody to the tune of an old, old song: “Mutual Admiration Society.”

They belong to a virtual , media-hyped-up rivalry–
(The Yanks and the Sox)
They belong to a virtual, media-hyped-up rivalry.
They're all fast friends on the sly
But watch the tv ratings fly
If they pretend to hate each other’s guts--
But the only fighting that they do
Is who buys the next round or two
And that’s why
The media tell a lie.
Cause they belong to a virtual media hyped-up rivalry.

[Shake-A-Spear]

Aw, don't be such a spoilsport. The Yankees/Sox rivalry is as real as Dick Tracy, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Uncle Sam, Betty Boop.

[argentino]

aunt shecky is obviuosly NOT a baseball fan!

[Shake-A-Spear]

How 'bout what's-his-name's great catch in the 19?? World Series against you-tell-me. Wait, wait! It's coming back. Graig Nettles. Anyone?
And who out there remembers when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn (where they STILL belong as we all know) and baseball guys would talk about the "Woild Serious"? Ah dem days, dem bums. Whatever are they doin' out in fairyland???

[jungpatawan]

Yet another example of New York unable to GET OVER ITSELF!

JP

(go cubs)

[seditious]

It was great to see Mo get "Big Papi" a few nights ago when he hit a fly ball to Jeter to end the 9th inning and the Yankees won the game. Guess Big Papi turned into the Big Poopi. LOL!!!

Red Sox Sux!

[JimR]

Fall is in the air here in New England. You can see signs of it all around. The leaves are changing color. Birds are migrating south. And the Red Sox are tanking.

[Kundera]

ah, everyone says they hate the Yankees because of payroll and Steinbrenner.
Bull!!
The Yankees have been hated way before Steinbrenner, way before free agency.
The show Damn Yankees was before big payrolls.
They are the greatest team in history and the best are always hated and envied.
Just like the USA.

The nucleus of the Yankees are home grown, not bought. Jeter, Mariano, Posada, Pettite, Cano, Cabrerra.

[argentino]

and now you can add: chamberlain, hughes, kennedy, duncan, phillips, karstens and last but not least - wang!

you're right on point kundera...alot of unsuccessful people resent successful people

same goes for baseball teams, same goes for countries...

[Tony Sachs]

Steinbrenner may have been a boorish lout, but he took all the millions that the Yanks raked in and put it right back on the field. I never understood why trying to give Yankee fans the best possible team was regarded as a bad thing. If only every owner tried so hard!

Ironically, he never learned that you couldn't buy a great team. The '90s dynasty had a core of homegrown players who were recruited and nurtured during George's forced absence from day-to-day activities. And the only reason we've stopped buying overpriced, broken-down free agents over the last couple of years is because of his declining health, both mental and physical.

[Aunt Shecky]

Have you noticed that every rookie the Yanks bring up gets the same sobriquet: "Future Hall of Famer"?
Some pitchers (Riviera, Joba "Rules" Chamberlain)are treated like fine china, which when taken out of the orange crate, still have
strings of excelsior attached. Other relievers are used up and then spit out when
no longer deemed useful. A few weeks ago Tim McCarver made a similar remark regarding Scott Proctor, who was shipped to the Dodgers.

[Packerfan]

The Yankees and Red Sox could fall into the ocean and we would not care. You see there is more to this country than New York and Boston. Go Brewers!!!!!

[Tony Sachs]

More to this country than New York and Boston? Surely you jest! (I may hate the Sox, but I dig the city.)

[Andydp]

Having been a Yankees fan since Yogi was their starting catcher, I make no apologies for my allegiance.

GO YANKEES !!!

[argentino]

and why should you apologize?!...other team's fans are jealous of the yankees unmatched record of excellence - and - they do it in a classy way! the red sox fans bring the bad karma on themselves with their boorish behavior...the difference is this: red sox fans expect their team to lose while yankee fans expect their team to win...IT'S A CULTURAL THING!

[Nommo]

Nothing is sport is so enjoyable as watching the Red Sox do their typical and expected end of the season collapse.

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

Go Red Sox!!!!

[usna73]

Ah the sweet air of autumn. One of the greatest days of my life was courtesy of Bucky Dent. Better than sex!

[geekkid101]

You have to turn off the TV once a while. Better than sex? Wow!!
Yankees and Red Sox games is what baseball is all about, I think you have to be in any of the two states to understand that. Soccer? Please, not even Beckman can help that sport in the US.

[usna73]

I'm probably older than you! Memories start to count more!!!! LOL

[argentino]

usna73: how about jeter's home run off of schilling last week?

[Nedsdag]

Even better: A-Rod's two out homer off Papelbon in the ninth inning to break a 1-1 tie in May.

As for soccer making it in this country, if you can't sell soccer in predominately African American inner cities, then you can forget about it. Latinos and suburban whites alone can't hold down the fort.

[usna73]

Not as good as Bucky. I go way back, being born and bred in the Bronx. Can't way to make 'em cry in Beantown in a few weeks!

[Quaoar]

Watching the Yankees against the Red Sox is like watching Microsoft battle General Motors. Both teams routinely have payrolls far greater than the rest of the league. It's far more interesting when a team with a low payroll manages to overcome the odds and put together a winning team.

[Tony Sachs]

I think I've been hearing words to that effect since the mid '70s, when the New York Cosmos -- ah, remember the NASL? -- were regularly selling out the 70,000-plus seat Giants Stadium. Yet somehow, it never happens. Personally, I find watching soccer about as thrilling as watching my toenails grow. But hey, to each his (or her) own.

[Democrab]

You're absolutely right. I didn't care a hoot if Boston lost to St Louis.

It was only beating the "Damn Yankees" that counted.

They're loaded with the best players from each team, like an all star team, thanks to George's purse strings.

They've always been the most hated team in sports because of it, unless of course, you're a die hard Yankee fan like yourself, then you love it.

My favorite Yankee line was when Beckett shut 'em down in the series and all the Yankee fans were saying "When's his contract run out?"

That's a Yankee fans consciousness, that's what they do.

And the Red Sox too, but not on as grand a scale. After the four straight in '04, all is forgiven and nothing more expected.

Now it's on to the new rivalry, Colts, Patriots, since New York has terrible football teams.

[LeoMarvin]

"My favorite Yankee line was when Beckett shut 'em down in the series and all the Yankee fans were saying "When's his contract run out?"

That's a Yankee fans consciousness, that's what they do."

You think it's a coincidence that our guys play in pinstripes?

I lived in Boston for four years (1977-1981). My recollections from that period have mostly succumbed to the ravages of time, but I remember the Boston Massacre as vividly as yesterday's box score. As vividly and as pleasantly.

[flatus]

Enjoy! Just a few more years before soccer swamps this snoozer of a sport. So, enjoy!

[Kundera]

If you have nothing nice to say, why interject?
why not be happy other people enjoy baseball and the great rivalry.
Are you that bitte and unhappy in life that you have to stick your negative 2 cents in?