Last season I was fortunate enough to attend game seven of the American League Championship Series in Yankee Stadium, witnessing the finale of the greatest
comeback in playoff history. Following the game, I took a cab from the Bronx to my midtown hotel.?The city seemed to be in mourning over their loss. On the radio, the post-game show was just coming to a close.?The Yankee announcer finished the season with a countdown until opening day 2005, against the Red Sox.?At the time it seemed like an amazing idea, opening the season with the best rivalry in sports. After further review, it may be a little bit of overkill.
To open the season, the Sox have played six of their first nine games against their biggest rival.?Randy Johnson has started the opener against former Yankee David Wells in a game some referred to as game eight. Game eight? ?Please, if this game were that important Curt Schilling would have forced himself into the lineup.?The Yankees won the opener, sending the home fans home happy, but do you think they wanted “game eight” as bad as last year’s game seven?
The second game at The Stadium saw Jason Varitek hit a game-tying home run in the ninth off closer Mariano Rivera, giving Rivera his fourth straight blown save
against Boston. Derek Jeter followed Varitek’s homer with one of his own in the bottom of the inning to send the home fans home happy again.?This was hardly vindication for George Steinbrenner and the Yankee faithful.?Rivera went on to blow a fifth straight against Boston the following day allowing five runs in the ninth, giving the defending champs their first victory of the season.
Following a terrible trip to Toronto, where the Sox lost two of three last weekend, the team returned to Fenway to start their home schedule against again, the Yankees. The team members were presented with their World Series rings as the team they defeated sat in their dugout politely recognizing their opponent’s achievement. Sentiment exists that this was painful for the Yankees to see their hated rivals be recognized, but this concept seems ridiculous to me. The Yankee organization has won 26 World Series titles in their history. Watching a ring ceremony seems as routine as batting practice to this coddled organization.?As almost an afterthought, the Sox went on to win the opener, 8-1.
The second home game saw the return of Curt Schilling from off-season surgery. Schilling looked sharp for most of his outing, despite giving up five runs in 5 2/3 innings and receiving the loss.?
The third game added another chapter to the storied rivalry for at least one rabid member of Red Sox Nation.?In the bottom of the eighth inning as Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield attempted to retrieve a ball along the right field foul line an unidentified fan took a swipe at Sheffield, hitting him in the face.?Before throwing the ball to the infield, Sheffield confronted the fan, allowing Jason Varitek to get to third.?After throwing the ball to the infield, Sheffield went back toward the stands. The situation did not escalate any further as a Fenway Park security intervened.?The fan was ejected from the stadium and Sheffield was surprisingly composed, preventing a Ron Artest-like incident from exploding in the stands.
A Red Sox-Yankees series would not be complete without some drama surrounding the games that’s not related to the play on the field. However, the return of our champions overshadowed the rivalry between the two teams. For the first time I can remember, something was more anticipated than a series with the Yankees.
While the games were great, and the rivalry hasn’t lost a thing, April is not the time to fight tooth and nail for the pennant. The two teams will meet again in 43 days. Maybe then we will be able to truly embrace the rivalry, rather than simply embracing our champions.