Time to lock my doors and hire a bodyguard because this will certainly cause some turmoil, and possibly the occasional loving death threat.
The history of the Yankee and Red Sox rivalry is epic. It is glorified beyond all reasonable measure. From Alex Rodriquez brawling with Jason Varitek to the countless meetings in the American League Championship Series, the Yankees and Red Sox have created quite a legacy. Many, and maybe more like most, consider the Yankees, Red Sox rivalry the greatest in all of sports. Ha. I never could understand or grasp this concept. This rivalry is without a doubt THE most one-sided rivalry ever. Period.
I must say I have always wanted to scream to the heavens my view on this supposed “Bigger than life” feud. Yet, I feared for certain a Red Sox fan would hear and beat me down or something as I’m not a very big individual. Now, I’ve decided to just take my chances. The Yankees own the Red Sox. I repeat: THE YANKEES OWWNN THE RED SOX. I am not biased, I am not a Yankees fan, nor do I have a particular burning hatred for the Red Sox (ok, actually I do). I dislike them equally, yet I have become tired of listening to the endless dribble spewing from the mouths of the people who believe this rivalry is so fantastic, amazing, great, unbelievable, blah, blah, and blah.
A Yankees and Red Sox fan could go hours smack talking each other to no end about who is better. The argument most likely will result in a few black eyes, several, bruises, and at least one cop. Frankly, there are but three facts which prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Red Sox are unquestionably unfit to even carry the Yankees’ jock straps. Here are a few:
1. Championships. Now, I shall give the Red Sox some credit. They have won two World Series Championships in the past four years. Good for them. So if I take those and add them with their other championships in the past 86 years, I come to a grand total of two. That is right, two. The Yankees, on the other hand, have 13 times as many championships in those same 86 years. That is 26 rings. That is 26 to 2. That is the most in baseball by 16 to an insignificant two. The Yankees win this one.
2. History. This is a big one here. I’ll give it to the Red Sox; they have a lot of great and memorable players and moments. After scanning the Hall of Fame Inductees list, I counted eight notable Red Sox Hall of Famers, including the likes of Cy Young, Carl Yastrzemski, Ted Williams, and Wade Boggs. I counted double Yankees’ inductees, 16, including Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, the “Ironman” Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson, and the late Phil Rizzuto. This Yankees’ list is just overwhelming. Babe Ruth single handedly ended the Dead Ball era, Lou Gehrig played in over 2,000 consecutive games, Reggie Jackson and Mickey Mantle both hit over 500 home-runs, and Joe DiMaggio was married to Marilyn Monroe. As for Red Sox moments, Bill Buckner is enough said. It stands today as probably the most infamous play in sports’ history. I mean, they do have that Carlton Fisk home-run going for them, but they lost the next game anyways to lose the World Series. As for the Yankees, the 1927 Murderers Row team is arguably the best ever, along with their 1977 team and 1998 team. The Yankees appear to be going for a sweep.
3. This one is my own personal opinion. What is a team without fans? Fans are everything. There would be no baseball, and no everlasting feud between the two teams being discussed, if not for fans. And from personal opinion, Red Sox and Yankee fans are worlds apart. In one of Bill Simmons’ articles, he writes, “We’re all [Boston fans] in this together.” I agree. You all are drunk together, you all scream racial and derogatory terms at the opposing players together, and you all are blissfully ignorant together. Wherever sat an opposing team’s fan, 25 brute Sox fans tried to start a slugfest. It kind of reminded me of an Irish pub. As for Yankees’ fans, there still was the large amount of alcohol, but they were under control and fun to talk with. Polar opposites really, and it is quite a shame.
So I’ll ask, what makes this rivalry so fantastic, amazing, great, and unbelievable? The Red Sox are a history of losers and the Yankees a history of champions. Two times have the Yankees three-peated. Never have the Red Sox gone back-to-back in 86 years. Twenty-six to two, way to go Red Sox, you guys are almost there.
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