Monday, June 18th, 2007 by Ben Hohlfelder
Why Red Sox Nation Should Cheer for the Yankees
Red Sox-Yankees. Just the mention of these two teams evokes memories of pure hatred, heartbreak, and violence. In the past 5 years, this rivalry, considered by many to be the greatest in sports, has become even more competitive, largely due to the resurgence of the Red Sox. Recall: The Don Zimmer v. Pedro Martinez scuffle in which a 30 year old pitcher at the top of his game tossed a 300 pound bench coach to the ground with a hand to the back of the head. Recall: The Aaron Boone walk-off home run in the 2003 ALCS. Recall: The Alex Rodriguez, Jason Varitek fight that many people felt made A-Rod a true Yankee and Varitek the captain of the Sox. Recall: The infamous four straight wins for the Sox down 0-3 in the 2004 ALCS. All of these things have contributed to the volitalization of this already violent rivalry.
So as the Yankees have stumbled off to a poor start that left them 14 1/2 games behind the Sox at one point, Red Sox nation has rejoiced at their futility and begun to plan for another deep run into October. However, with the return of Roger Clemens, the Yankees have pulled to within 8 1/2 and Sox fans everywhere continually worry about the state of their team. Message to Red Sox Nation: Start cheering for the Yankees. As that may seem as paradoxical as anything, this is the truth.
While the Yankees resurgence might cause some tension within the Red Sox clubhouse, the consequences of a runaway championship in the AL East would be far worse. At the pace the Red Sox and Yankees were on at the beginning of the season, the Sox would have clinched the division by mid-August. And while those paces cannot be kept up for 162 games, the thought of clinching the AL East by September should evoke the greatest fears in Red Sox fans. Major League Baseball in the 21st Century has proven that being a regular season juggernaut does not translate into being a postseason champion. The days of the 1990s Yankees are over and October baseball is now ruled by a different monster: the monster of momentum. Since 2001, every World Series has been won by a team that was its league’s respective Wild Card or that clinched in the last week of the season.
2001: The infamous Yankees vs. Diamondbacks series. The Diamondbacks staved off a late push from the San Francisco Giants and won the NL West by 2 games. The Yankees, on the other hand, won the AL East by 13.5 games and had had the chance to rest players for nearly the entire month of September. End result: Diamondbacks in 7 on Luis Gonzalez’s famous chopper. Many cite this as the beginning of the end of Yankee dominance in Major League Baseball.
2002: One of the least memorable World Series’ ever. Both the Anaheim Angels (Apparently they hadn’t relocated to Los Angeles of Anaheim yet) and the San Francisco Giants were Wild Card champions and despite Barry Bonds’ heroics, the Angels won behind strong performances from John Lackey and a young Francisco Rodriguez.
2003: Once again, the Yankees met up with a surging NL team. Once again they lost. Behind two outstanding performances from Josh Beckett, the Florida Marlins were able to make it two straight Wild Card Champions.
2004: The most defining World Series moment in the past decade came as the Red Sox won four straight elimination games against their hated rivals, the Yankees to reach the World Series. They them swept the St. Louis Cardinals, who had like the Yankees, clinched a playoff spot early in September
2005: Next to 2002, the most unappealing World Series in recent memory. This series featured two teams, the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros, who had struggled to gain entries into the postseason and then went on to make long playoff runs. The 2005 series will always be remembered for the scandalous dropped 3rd strike and AJ Pierzynski’s head’s up/cheap base running tactics.
2006: Finally, the ultimate in poor regular season’s with good endings turning into postseason glory. As both the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals won games on the last day of the season to gain entry into the playoffs, they continued their late success all the way to the World Series. In the end, St. Louis won with what will be remembered as one of the worst championship teams ever.
As the ultimate goal for the Red Sox is a World Championship, sprinting out to their 14 1/2 game lead may not have been the best thing possible. While their fans fret over the Yankees recent hot streak, it should be a cause for celebration. Their bats will need to remain hot to hold off the surging Yanks and their pitching must stay a constant strong-point. Maybe dropping a few games to let the Yanks back in it wouldn’t be so bad. As history shows, its the only way to reach their goal.
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