Until the 70's there was no "rivalry." Until the late 60's, the Yankees just won. Red Sox, White Sox, Indians, Tigers...who cared? Their fate was to battle for second place! We (Yankee fans) only learned to despise Boston in the 70's when Red Sox nerds were naive enough to come into The Stadium wearing Boston colors and then had the gall to complain when someone poured beer on their heads.
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Maybe no rivalry on the Yankee fans part, but there has always been hatred of the Yankees by Boston fans going back to the destruction of the ball club by Harry "No, No Nanette" Frazee in the 20's.
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.."intense mini-dramas that were so common in the previous decade.." How right you are, and they were so common that it seemed as if MLB's Game of the Week" always carried a Sox-Yankees lengthy slugfest that produced monster ratings. Even the so-called fair weather fan knew when these to teams played.
As a division one athlete living in Boston, it is clear the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees exists less on the diamond and more in the hearts of fans. It is apparent in my life that rivalry drives both teams to be better, and I think this will become clear with a decrease of success if the fans of both of these teams do not continue the rivalry with the new players leading these the Red Sox and Yamkees.
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As a Red Sox fan, born and bred to hate the Yankees, I think the rivalry is alive and well.
Yankee fans have consistently downplayed the rivalry with the Red Sox, but if you've been to Yankee Stadium during a Red Sox game, you know it's not the case.
And lest we forget, the greatest choke in sports history belonged to the Yankees in 2004, when they blew a 3 - 0 game lead in the ALCS, and the Red Sox finally ended the curse of the Bambino.
Well greatest choke in sports history until the Atlanta Falcons met the Patriots in the Super Bowl and figured out how to blow a 25 point lead with 17 minutes left in the game.
Maybe the Falcons and Yankees can get together and debate who choked the most. I'd buy a ticket to that event.
Yankee fans have consistently downplayed the rivalry with the Red Sox, but if you've been to Yankee Stadium during a Red Sox game, you know it's not the case.
And lest we forget, the greatest choke in sports history belonged to the Yankees in 2004, when they blew a 3 - 0 game lead in the ALCS, and the Red Sox finally ended the curse of the Bambino.
Well greatest choke in sports history until the Atlanta Falcons met the Patriots in the Super Bowl and figured out how to blow a 25 point lead with 17 minutes left in the game.
Maybe the Falcons and Yankees can get together and debate who choked the most. I'd buy a ticket to that event.
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I’ve lived in both New York and Boston, and believe that historically the “great rivalry” between the Rex Sox and Yankees was much more in the minds of Boston fans than in the minds or Yankee fans, since until 2004 when the Red Sox finally won the World Series the Yankees had 23 Titles and the Rex Sox had not won one in 83 years.
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> much more in the minds of Boston fans ... until 2004
I hope you've recovered from the coma you were in in 1978.
I hope you've recovered from the coma you were in in 1978.
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hmcnally .... Good reply.
Have to disagree. I was at games in the early 90s when neither team was any good and Yankee Stadium would be 2/3 empty for Red Sox games but the fans who were there hated the Red Sox. And were belligerent about it. A Red Sox hat or Jersey was an open invitation for harassment. There were cheers in the right field bleachers that include "Red Sox suck" even when the Yankees were playing someone else.
With the aging of the baseball audience, these tensions between clubs may seem childish. Just get out there and play your hearts out.
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The rivalry was all about the Yankees prevailing over the Red Sox, whether in taking the pennant - and watching Ted Williams lose his third Triple Crown - on the last day of the 1949 season or the playoff game to decide the 1978 Eastern Division champions in the American League. It seemed that when it counted most, the Yankees came out on top.
Then came 2004. In the year after the Yanks won the AL championship series in the 11th inning of Game 7, the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 game deficit to win four straight and go on to win the World Series for the first time since 1918.
When the Red Sox won again in 2007 and 2013, the Yankees weren't a factor as the Red Sox weren't when the Yanks won the Series in 2009. The rivalry's been dead for years; that upon which is was built is gone.
Then came 2004. In the year after the Yanks won the AL championship series in the 11th inning of Game 7, the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 game deficit to win four straight and go on to win the World Series for the first time since 1918.
When the Red Sox won again in 2007 and 2013, the Yankees weren't a factor as the Red Sox weren't when the Yanks won the Series in 2009. The rivalry's been dead for years; that upon which is was built is gone.
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All your facts are correct, but your conclusion is wrong. The rivalry still exists. Its origins were with Babe Ruth being sold to NY by Boston and then fueled by unprecedented success by any baseball franchise and arguably matched only by the Boston Celtics in sports itself. When Boston did finally win in 2004, things changed but more because Boston had won the World Seies than by their having come from behind against NY in the ALCS after having choked in extremis the previous year against NY. The real difference is in its current intensity which I attrribute to free agency. Everything changed after 1975. Th eplayers for each team genuinely hated each other. Are you old enough to remember Fisk and Munson going at it full tilt one game? That wasn't just about violating some unwritten rule of the game. That was about hatred. Now to be honest, I do not venerate hatred and I despise violence, but I was a lot younger then and it was easier to think that stuff was important. In an odd almost embarrassing way, it was fun. I still think that the rivalry is fun; it's just not important anymore.
And PS: I love the Upper West Side.
And PS: I love the Upper West Side.
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Actually, I'm old enough to remember Yogi Berra's watching Bill Mazeroski's home run sail over the wall at Forbes Field in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the 1960 Series.
As much as I love the Yankees, I'm in love with the game. Not only do I remember the Munson-Fisk incident, I remember more fondly when during an exhibition against the White Sox, Deion Sanders (in his rookie season with the Yanks) hit a high pop that could've gone fair or foul, but everyone watching pretty much took it for granted that Fisk would make the catch.
When Sanders pretty much stood there - and after the catch was made - Fisk ripped into Sanders about not running out the ball. He hounded the kid all the way back to the dugout and when Sanders was looking for some kind of comfort from his teammates, he received none.
And, should the Yanks and Sox find themselves fighting for a division championship or LCS, only then will I consider it a rivalry once again.
As much as I love the Yankees, I'm in love with the game. Not only do I remember the Munson-Fisk incident, I remember more fondly when during an exhibition against the White Sox, Deion Sanders (in his rookie season with the Yanks) hit a high pop that could've gone fair or foul, but everyone watching pretty much took it for granted that Fisk would make the catch.
When Sanders pretty much stood there - and after the catch was made - Fisk ripped into Sanders about not running out the ball. He hounded the kid all the way back to the dugout and when Sanders was looking for some kind of comfort from his teammates, he received none.
And, should the Yanks and Sox find themselves fighting for a division championship or LCS, only then will I consider it a rivalry once again.
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The Red Sox - Yankees have such a colorful history going back over 100 years that it is hard to ignore even when neither team is good. This year both teams may be good enough. More important, MLB is better off as a whole when they are both good. For those who regularly watch the standings no matter where they may live, it's a reason to peek at the AL East each day. And the rivalry does run deep with odd tributaries. By example, Boston fans hate Orioles' manager Buck Showalter not so much because he is obnoxious, which he is, but because he formerly managed the Yankees.
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