Is Boston/New York Still A Rivalry?

By Gary Ceder
Love of Sports Correspondent

As of the morning of Wednesday, May 28, the AL East standings in MLB are as follows:

TEAM — W — L — % — GB

Tampa Bay - 31 - 21 - .596 --
Boston - 32 - 22 - .593 --
Toronto - 28 - 25 - .528 - 3.5
Baltimore - 25 - 25 - .500 - 5.0
New York - 25 - 26 - .490 - 5.5

At first glance, a casual observer who might not follow the AL East regularly could easily think there has to be a misprint.

It isn’t surprising to see the Boston Red Sox in first place (tied), particularly given their level of play in recent years, although historically the Red Sox are competitive but more middle-of-the-pack.

The Tampa Bay Rays are easily the biggest shock of the entire league. Led by pitchers James Shields, Edwin Jackson and recent returnee from the DL, Scott Kasmir, as well as hitters B.J. Upton, Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford and others, they actually have the Red Sox by percentage points going into Thursday’s play.

The Orioles and Blue Jays were both expected to be competitive this year (and may very well be later in the season), but each team’s been set back by a plethora of injuries and trades/free agents that haven’t panned out in some cases.

Then we’re left with the New York Yankees. The last place Yankees that is.

Given the current state of the Red Sox and Yankees, a question occurred to me: At what point does something that’s supposed to be a rivalry cease to be one? Or perhaps the more appropriate question is: At what point do the respective fan bases cease to maintain the same hatred or ire for the opposing group?

In my opinion, there are many reasons why two teams inevitably become rivals to begin with:

1. The teams play in the same conference, division, etc.
2. The cities are geographically close to one another
3. There is a high level of play and intensity
4. The games are more often than not very competitive
5. There are superstars (loved or hated) on both teams fans can’t help but talk about

Let’s talk a look at each point above relative to the Red Sox and Yankees now:

1. Same division – YES
2. Cities geographically close – YES
3. High level of play – YES and NO (depends on who’s pitching, who’s hitting well, etc.)
4. Games are competitive - YES and NO (ditto as point No. 3)
5. Superstars on both teams – YES (but dwindling on the Yankees)

The Yankee fortunes seemed to turn for the worse off the playing field earlier this year when it unearthed a buried #34 David Ortiz jersey at the new, yet-to-be-completed Yankees Stadium.

In retrospect, I suppose anyone would’ve done the same as the Yankees in that situation. You hear rumors of a construction worker who’s a Red Sox fan bragging about having buried an Ortiz jersey in an attempt to “curse” the new Yankees home. Of course, you want to unearth the jersey if you’re the Yankees.

But the level of media attention the unearthing received (which I believe took six hours if I’m not mistaken) was somewhat comical to Red Sox fans. I state that as a Red Sox fan living and breathing in New York City, so I think I can fairly judge both viewpoints and put them to words.

Now rumors are swirling that other Red Sox items and memorabilia are buried at the new Yankees home. What will happen next? I honestly have no idea.

On the field, the Yankees’ level of success has been hit or miss.

Some nights, they look like the Yankees of old. Mike Mussina is putting in a rare, but impressive, starting pitching performance, while Alex Rodriguez is feasting on the opportunity to pound the opposing team’s pitchers into oblivion.

On other nights, the Yankees look very lost. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy haven’t pitched to their potential and have dealt with injuries. Kei Igawa’s spent most of the season in Triple-A, and the team no longer has the confidence in him they once did. Hitters such as Robinson Cano, Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu aren’t playing to their potential, and as a result the Yankees have had some hard-to-swallow low-scoring losses this season because the offense hasn’t been able to come through in the clutch.

A recent walk-off game-winning single against the Orioles in the bottom of the ninth by Cano to score Hideki Matsui was a rare, dramatic win in a young season of many highs and lows.

On the flip side, the Red Sox are starting to show once again some of their swagger of recent years.

Their early season trip to Japan for two games with the A’s, while it might sound like a crutch or excuse for failure, probably did take a little bit of a toll on the players and coaching staff early on.

Later in April, the Sox were swept in commanding fashion by the Rays in Tampa Bay, and it began to look like the Rays had finally turned the corner into being truly competitive. Their success against the Sox also made some observers wonder if Boston could put together the same kind of regular season and postseason as 2007.

However, ever so slowly the Red Sox are beginning to show that winner’s mentality. Over the last week alone, they’ve won seven games straight, we’ve seen a miraculous no-hitter thrown by Jon Lester less than one year removed from cancer treatment, and Dice-K is now 8-0 thanks to the team’s two-grand slam offensive onslaught against the Royals last Thursday.

So, I’m now taken back to my original question: Is this still a rivalry? Red Sox and Yankees fans will never like one another, that’s for sure. We’re both too set in our ways and too confident in our respective team’s abilities that no one will ever change our minds.

Is this “dislike” for the other team’s fan base “hatred?” At this juncture, I’d say hardly. We dislike each other, we root against each other even when we’re not playing against one another, but something seems to be missing.

Perhaps if more of the games we played against one another were closer and more competitive. Too often one team is blowing out the other because of either poor pitching or great hitting (or a combination of both).

On the plus side, the presence of superstars ought to keep the rivalry going strong for years to come. Joba Chamberlain will continue to get under the skin of Sox fans and players, and Manny Ramirez will continue “to be Manny” doing irrational, nonsensical things in the field or in the batter’s box in ways only he can explain.

The Yankees also have the benefit of being in the largest market in the country, and therefore have access to the funds to make deadline deals and bring in top-notch talent to make a run for the playoffs in any season and overtake the Red Sox in the AL East.

I think the rivalry is still very much alive, just in a different form than past years. The Sox are no longer the perennial underdogs and the Yankees the perennial winners. It’s very much an even playing field today.

And for that, I give some love to the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry! No reason to jump off that Bandwagon quite yet.