Who knew the Boston Red Sox are in town to play the Yankees this weekend at Yankee Stadium?
I literally had no clue about this until I read the New York Post on Thursday. Yankees fans surely haven’t paid much attention - their tongues would’ve been wagging about this weekend rivalry on Monday. By then, you would’ve heard about the buzz in the papers and on sports radio, too.
New Englanders and Red Sox Nation also don’t seem worked up about this weekend, either.
This tells you one thing: the rivalry is dead, and it most likely peaked for good.
Basically, it’s just another series on the calendar. That’s the way it goes when the Yankees and Red Sox are no longer the teams they used to be. The Yankees are good, but they are not to be feared anymore like they used to be when winning championships was a priority. The Red Sox are in last place at 31-32, and they look like a team that could finish the season in last place in the tough AL East.
Don’t just take my word for it. Nestor Cortes said it is best that the Red Sox don’t bring out the hatred the way the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays do. He pretty much echoes the same thoughts his teammates feel about the Red Sox. Friday night’s Yankee starter Gerrit Cole admitted the Yankees don’t hate the Red Sox.
Ever since the Red Sox beat the Yankees by coming from a 3-0 deficit to win the 2004 American League Championship Series, the rivalry has never been the same. Sure, there have been good games, but the hatred is not there anymore.
The Red Sox accomplished their goal of finally winning the World Series in 2004 after an 86-year drought. Since then, they have won three more championships. From the ownership’s perspective, there is no motivation to beat the Yankees or contend for championships anymore. Red Sox owner John Henry seems more focused on other business ventures such as owning the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and English Premier League club Liverpool FC. This probably explains why the Red Sox are in last place.
Henry had the motivation to beat Yankees owner George Steinbrenner back then. Since Steinbrenner passed away, he simply lost his passion for conquering the Yankees.
All you need to know about the death of the rivalry is right there.
The Yankees don’t have the motivation to beat the Red Sox. Steinbrenner’s son Hal is not focused on the Red Sox. He merely wants to make money and have his team competitive year in and year out. He is not even a baseball fan, or he would understand how important this rivalry is for Yankees fans and the city.
It also does not help that the Yankees are not really all that committed to winning a championship. Hal does not have the drive his father once had where winning was second to breathing. He does not live vicariously through wins and losses.
The Red Sox and Yankees don’t have characters on their roster that inspire hatred like the old days when Bucky Dent, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Sparky Lyle, Goose Gossage, Jason Varitek, Pedro Martinez, Bill Lee, Graig Nettles, Thurman Munson, Carlton Fisk and Reggie Jackson played for their respective teams.
Today’s players don’t hate each other, even when they’re going head-to-head on the diamond, because they share the same agents. It’s a different generation now. Players fraternize like family unlike the heyday of the Yankees and Red Sox in the 70s.
For today’s players, it’s just another game on the schedule and nothing more. It does not help that both teams are really playing for nothing based on ownership’s expectations.
Red Sox fans have mellowed ever since their team won many championships. There is really no motivation for them to have any hatred toward any team. It sure seems like they have let up altogether to the point where now, Yankees fans feel welcome at Fenway.
Yankees fans have also mellowed. Most of them go to the games at Yankee Stadium as a day or night at the ballpark rather than paying actual attention to the game. In other words, Yankees fans are there to be seen. When was the last time Yankee Stadium instilled fear in the other teams? The Rays and Houston Astros feel very comfortable when they play there. That’s all you need to know.
For me, the rivalry was at its peak in 2003 and 2004 when the Yankees and Red Sox fought for AL East supremacy, AL supremacy and baseball supremacy.
Those days are now over. The Yankees and Red Sox rivalry is as irrelevant as the Mets and Atlanta Braves rivalry. Basically, the rivalry between two AL East teams is in name only, and we might as well use the word loosely.
Blame ownership of both teams for creating a stale rivalry between two historic teams. The Yankees lost their championship drive, and the Red Sox seem content by being mediocre based on them trading homegrown product Mookie Betts for spare parts and letting Xander Bogaerts go as a free agent while not improving the team in the process.
One has to wonder if this rivalry has peaked altogether. Unless both owners take the rivalry and winning seriously again, it has likely peaked for good.
You can read Leslie's Jersey Sporting News columns on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
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