The Greatest Rivalry In All Of Sports!

jtedesco — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:54:12 +0000

Thurman Munson chugged toward home plate, trying to score from third after teammate Gene Michael had failed to bunt him home on what is called a suicide squeeze. Boston Redsox catcher, Carlton Fisk held the ball, waiting for the hapless Munson, who was for all intents and purposes “a dead duck.” Thurman Munson disliked Fisk very intensely, he was jealous of the press and glory his young counterpart was getting from the national commentators on T.V, and he was about to show this upstart a thing or two about toughness. For his part, Fisk just wasn’t going to let Munson score, plain and simple; he had the plate completely blocked. Munson bore down on him like a small version of a locomotive and hit Fisk with like force, knocking him to the ground, trying to dislodge the ball. When the dust cleared, Fisk held the ball and Munson was out, but he was also lying atop Fisk, preventing him from getting up to make a play. Carlton Fisk, at 6’ 2” and 220 pounds kicked the other man off of him and quickly received a punch in the face for his troubles.
A full-blown fistfight was the next thing spectators were watching as the two catchers squared off at home plate. Having failed at his legitimate duty, Gene Michael joined the fray trying to redeem him self in some way. Though outnumbered two to one, Carlton Fisk was doing a solid job against the two men.
This incident, which occurred on May 20, 1973, was my initiation into what was, and is, and always will be the Redsox/Yankees Rivalry, THE GREATEST RIVALRY IN ALL OF SPORTS!
Though I didn’t see the fight live, and I don’t even remember where or when I saw it, the scratchy, color, color video remains etched and vivid in my mind. Because of this incident I instantly became a Yankee hater. Though I do remember feeling bad when Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash in 1977. I mean, come on, I’m still human! Still and all, as time went on, and my passion and love for the Redsox and baseball grew, so did my hatred of the Yankee organization grow to encompass any player who donned the pinstripes, at least until the mid 90′s, when Jeter came on board… And I found I was not alone in this. As I got older and branched out socially, I found that every Redsox fan I talked to felt the same way. Listening to WEEI and other radio sports talk shows you hear the same thing every single day during the season, in New England. Now that I live in upstate New York, I hear the same vitriolic talk coming from their baseball show hosts too. But I have to admit, there are quite a few Red Sox fans over this way, and yes , we hear it from Yankee fans, but for once we have the upper hand, as the Sox have won two World Series in four years.
As we grew up, the insults and victories for the Yankees got bigger and bigger, or maybe it was the time since a Redsox World Series victory had gotten longer and longer, either way it was painful and embarrassing, and there was nothing we could do about it. Though, there was always the Tobin Bridge!
Great Rivalries aren’t always just about sports. Oh no, when you have a great rivalry between two cities it goes deeper than just the two teams that play on the diamond, or the grid iron, or the court, or even the ice. The rivalry between Boston and New York goes back much further than baseball does. In fact this rivalry goes back before the United States was…well The United States! You see, during the revolution, Boston had the Sons Of Liberty, that name needs no introduction, and New York had the Tories, a group who believed that Americans should remain loyal to the crown. So you see, the two groups have been at odds since the beginning. Boston has New England clam chowder; New York has Manhattan clam chowder. Boston has The Boston Marathon; New York has The New York Marathon. What ever New York has, Boston feels it absolutely must do better. And it really doesn’t matter what it might be, even if it might be hospitals or museums. Boston must be better. At least when it comes to hospitals and clam chowder, Boston might actually have the upper hand. As for performing arts and Broadway shows, no one does it like New York!
So this is where the beginning of this great rivalry is lodged, and it will never be dislodged. Even if the cities of New York and Boston were to actually work out their regional disputes, the Redsox and Yankees have had too much dirty water destroy too many bridges for those two franchises to make nice.
The incidents, or waters that have destroyed bridges over the years have been many, and need to be categorized correctly.
The aforementioned incident between Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson was not the first, though it may have been one of the more explosive. The first one listed below is better known as The Curse Of The Bambino, first uttered (though not in those words) in writing by George Vecsey, a New York Times sportswriter after the 1986 World Series. After what was arguably the Redsox worst World Series loss in its team’s history. Vince Scully’s voice still rings in my head, “behind the bag.” As the ball went trickling through Bill Buckner’s legs, and the Mets won game 6 and went on to win game 7 and the World Series. Though this does not argue for the rivalry, it supports the curse caused by the sale of Babe Ruth to the hated Yankees, thus all the bad things that subsequently happened after the sale of Ruth (in a Redsox fans mind) are all the fault of the New York Yankees, and of course Harry Frazze.
1918-The RedSox win their last World Series until 2004.
1920-The year after he set the home run record of 29, Babe Ruth is sold to the Yankees for $125,000 and a loan of $300,000 on Fenway Park, the home of the Redsox. This move was done so that Sox owner could finance the other interests that struck his fancy and brought the Redsox franchise down so low that the then lowly Yankees (Highlanders) would overtake them in stature and in the standings year in and year out. All this Harry Frazee did for Broadway musicals. In this one particular case it was “No, No Nanette”. The Yankees went on to unprecedented greatness winning 26 world series titles. Disgusting isn’t it?
1941-The rivalry takes on a new life when, even though the Yankees win the World Series Ted Williams bats an incredible .406 (the last man to do so), but Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees wins the Most Valuable Player (MVP) because of his in season 56 game hitting streak, which also still stands to this day.
1949-One of the worst events, from a Redsox standpoint was written about by David Halberstam in ”Summer of 49″ and sprung the Yankees on a tear of five consecutive World Series wins from 1949-1953. What was so bad about this was the Sox needed only one win in the final weekend series at Yankee Stadium in the1949 season to advance to the World Series (no league championship at this time). The Yankees swept them.

RECENT ADDITIONS TO CURSE LORE
All Sox and Yankee fans worth the title will remember all of these events. Some will recall them with smiles, others with tears and maybe a slight tick in one side of the face or the other. The first two events have become lore in the rivalry and will only be remembered by those alive long enough to have seen them, obviously. The reason I have included them here is because each of these entries were an “event”, in the history of this rivalry. Of course there were other happenings in the course of time between the two teams, but do you really want to know a whole lot of stuff that happened in 1905? I didn’t think so.
September 10, 1978- he Yankees complete a four game sweep of the Redsox at Fenway to bring them tied with the Sox atop the American League after being behind the Redsox by 14 games two months prior. New York outscores Boston 42-9 in the series, which has become known as “The Boston Massacre.”
October 2, 1978-The Redsox and Yankees have a one game playoff at Fenway Park for the American League East Title. This whole pennant race was bad enough, but what happens on this day will live forever in Redsox fans hearts and minds. A little known player, named Bucky #$@%& Dent, who plays shortstop, will join the likes of Chris Chambliss, and Reggie Jackson as October heroes for New York, and will forever be hated and cursed by Sox fans, as he came to the plate in the 7th inning and hit a 3-run homerun that would give the Yankees the lead for good. What makes this one so bad was that the Yankees went on to win their 22nd World Series.
September 2001-Following the events of Sep 11, Boston fans display signs saying “Boston Loves New York” in a rare moment of peace between the two sides of the rivalry.
2002-Redsox President Larry Lucchino labels the Yankees “The Evil Empire”.
2003-Game 3 of the ALCS: Pedro Martinez throws Yankee Bench Don Zimmer to the ground after the latter charges after him.
2003-Game 3 of the ALCS: Grady Little leaves Pedro in too long and Pedro allows the Yankees to tie the game. The Yankees win on a walk off home run by little known Aaron Boone and go on to lose the world series.
July 2004-In a game at Yankee Stadium (or was it Fenway?) Derek Jeter epitomizes the type of determination the two teams have to beat each other about the neck and shoulders every time they play; as he dives three rows into the stands for…a foul ball. The Yankees win 5-4 in 13 innings… amazing.
July 24, 2004-This game turned the Redsox season around. Starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo hits Alex Rodriguez with a pitch, who then threatens to go after him. Jason Varitek takes umbrage with that and decides to take matters into his own glove, by putting it upside the head of Alex Rodriguez. As the two go at it the benches clear and several players are tossed from the game, including Arod, Varitek, and Big Papi Ortiz. But the Redsox win on a Bill Mueller walk-off home run off of closer Mariano Rivera.
Oct, 2004- Yankees defeat the Redsox 19-8 in game 3 of the ALCS and it appears the Sox are going down to the Yankees again.
Oct, 2004- What seems like a formality of a game begins (with me refusing to watch any more blood shed). Redsox take a quick 2-0 lead but lose it, and the Yankees go ahead by a score of 4-3 in the late innings. Big Papi Ortiz (who has become another Mr. October, and Mr. Clutch Hitter all rolled into one man) comes to bat and smashes the game tying home run in the 7th inning. The Redsox tack on two more and win 6-4, they live another night. And another, and another and yes it was David “Big Papi” Ortiz who did it again… both nights! Once with a base hit and in game 5 by blasting a home run past the Redsox bullpen and sending the Sox to New York for a momentous Game 6 and 7.

For the first time in SPORTS history, a team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat another team to go for the championship. The Redsox didn’t just beat any old team; they took down the winningest team in American sports, the New York Yankees, our hated Yankees. The Yankees pulled the ultimate choke that year and it was fun to watch, and way, way over due.

After that, the World Series was almost a foot note and anti climactic. The Red Sox swept through the St Louis Cardinals like they weren’t even there and 86 years of anguish were over. Old men prepared to die, young men decided not to jump off the Tobin Bridge after all. Even people who didn’t follow baseball, or even like the Redsox (except Yankee fans) were happy for the Bean Town Nine. In New York, pandemonium reined, it was a beautiful thing. Newspapers declared either a day of mourning, or screamed for Joe Tories’ head, or both. One even dared to utter (truthfully) the word usually attached to Red Sox inglorious season endings; the word “choke.” I myself bought ten of those newspapers and passed them out to my dearest friends.
Where else do you see passion like this in a sports rivalry? I will tell you exactly… nowhere! I’ve done my homework here; the closest I’ve come is the Kansas Jayhawks and Missouri Tigers. Their rivalry also transcends the field of play, and time. It dates back to the civil war, during the border war actually, when each side would take trips across state lines and kill and pillage each other and then race back to their own territory. That is quite a rivalry, but not close enough folks. They are off by about 92 years and a whole field of other issues, as I mentioned earlier.
It is great that there is more then one sports rivalry. It gives real sports fans something else to do in the baseball off-season. Speaking of which, the Redsox went into the 2007 off-season as World Series Champs for the second time in four years, where as the Yankees just went home.
In more recent months the owner and long time “evil empire” prognosticator George Steinbrenner retired, handing the reins to his son Hank. Well, Hank wasted no time getting under the skin of Sox fans everywhere. When asked about the Yankee leadership transition Redsox owner John Henry said, “I’m a big Hank fan,” Henry said on Saturday. “Just to ensure he knows how cool Red Sox Nation is, today we officially inducted him as a member of Red Sox Nation and we are sending him his membership card, giving him access to an array of options, including our newsletter, bumper stickers, pins, Green Monster seats and a hat personally autographed by David Ortiz.”
(http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080302&content_id=2400121&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb)
Hank Steinbrenner returned in the Steinbrenner acerbic way, “I’m not gonna join Red Sox Nation — honorary or not. I’ll respond to that later. Trust me, I’m never gonna join Red Sox Nation,” Steinbrenner told the Globe. “Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets,” Steinbrenner said. “This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.”
Steinbrenner made his original comments about Red Sox Nation to the New York Times Play Magazine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankees-Red_Sox_rivalry – Source for dates of events and incidents.

As time has gone by, I have to tell you I see many Red Sox hats right here in what is suppose to be, as Hank puts it, “Yankee country.”

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jtedesco — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 07:03:52 +0000

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The Greatest Rivalry In All Of Sports!

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