Red Sox vs. Yankees: The Best Sports Rivalry, Always and Forever

As the first month on the Major League Baseball season is just about in the books, the first Yankees vs. Red Sox series got underway yesterday in Boston, marking the 100th anniversary of the legendary Fenway Park, and the first chapter in the annual narrative that is the quintessential sports rivalry.  I will be the first to admit, that although I very much enjoy taking in a good ballgame, the regular season in Major League Baseball is so long that it is difficult to get excited about any one single game.  The playoffs are a whole different story (possibly as exciting as sports can get in my opinion), but the 162 game marathon season provides a stark contrast to, for example the NFL regular season which is 16 games, once a week.  Every game matters and every game is exciting. The downside is, you only get to watch football once a week.

But the Red Sox/Yankees match-up really revs my engine.  It provides me with nostalgia every year, as I can remember watching with my friends back in the good old days, bickering about who was better Nomar (Garciaparra) or Jeter (with Jeter at 37 years old starting this season hitting nearly .400 while hitting for power as well, and Nomar sitting at a desk at ESPN, it seems that debate is settled).  Nevertheless, good childhood memories are abound when I watch these two teams play.  Pedro Martinez dominating on the mound, throwing senior citizen Don Zimmer's bald head to the ground in a classic scuffle.  Mike Mussina blowing a perfect game in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, unable to get #27, Aaron Boone's game winning home run in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, in the bottom of the 11th inning to send the Sox home once again, I could go on for days.  Its all part of the most storied rivalry in sports history, going all the way back to the early 1900s when the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees and following that decision proceeded to not win a world series for 86 years or so (during which time the Yankees won about fifty of them; not actually fifty, but twenty or so) until they finally broke through in 2004 and broke "the curse of the bambino."

Sums up how these team's feel about eachother

To shift focus to the season at hand, the Red Sox have quite frankly had a horrible start to the season, mired by injuries and unrest in the clubhouse.  Jacoby Ellsbury, the Red Sox' Center Fielder and one of the best all-around players in Baseball, dislocated his shoulder in the first week of the season, something I know a thing or two about.  A recent report suggests he will not require surgery, being that it was a partial dislocation.  Hopefully he's back soon, and hopefully he doesn't dislocate it another 30 times like this guy.  Carl Crawford is also out due to injury, so the Red Sox outfield is severely hampered.  Yesterday they lost to the Yanks 6-2 as Clay Bucholz continued his rough start to the season, giving up 5 home runs in 6 innings pitched.  The Red Son pitching has been atrocious thus far, but they have a talented pitching staff and hopefully they will get on track.  Today's game is an afternoon affair, starting at 4:05 pm eastern time.  Junk-baller Freddy Garcia will be on the mound for the Yankees.  Some guy named Felix Doubrount will start for the Sox, to be perfectly honest I'm not quite sure who he is, but the best of luck guy!  Looks like he will need it the way the Yankees are swinging the bats.  I will leave you with some video highlights of the greatest Red Sox vs. Yankees moments of my childhood, or at least the best video I can find on youtube.  I encourage anyone who finds Baseball boring, to watch the game today with someone who knows the sport and can let you in on some of the nuisances.  It has a slow but steady flow, unlike the fragmented pacing of Football which I am not crazy about.  A few cold American beers is sure to enhance the experience as well.

Apparently Major League Baseball locks down their footage quite well because I am struggling to find any good youtube videos of a classic Red Sox vs. Yankees moment, aside from handheld camera footage of people in the stands.  But here is an long montage of Red Sox brawls with a particularly good one with the Yankees right at the beginning.  Best I could do, apparently youtube occasionally disappoints.  Don Zimmer getting tossed to the ground by Pedro should be in there somewhere.