Sounding Off

I know that the Sox have another game to play with the Atlanta Braves. As of right now, they are on a rain delay coming off playing two in a row yesterday. They traded heavyweight shots with Boston winning the first contest 13-3 with Dice-K throwing an eight inning gem. Last night was the complete opposite. Remember when I said that the AAA boys starting this weekend might get shelled? Yeah, it happened. The Sox got shut out, losing 14-0, their biggest of the season.

I want to move on to another topic, one that obviously looms a little larger in Red Sox Nation than an interleague series with the Braves. If Boston happens to drop two of three this weekend it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Obviously manager Terry Francona is using the fat of his pitching rotation for early this week when the Sox travel down to the Bronx to face the struggling Yankees.

Ah yes, the series against the Yankees. Ever since the new regime of principle owner John Henry, team President Larry Lucchino, and GM Theo Epstein took over the rivalry hit a new high. Adding players like David Ortiz, Curt Schilling, and Keith Foulke while the Yanks acquired Alex Rodriquez, Randy Johnson, and Jason Giambi positioned this to be the best rivalry with some of the best talent in any sport. That being said, I've always been a little uneasy with labeling this the greatest rivalry ever. The claim is not without merit, however subjective. The 2003 Red Sox squad was a far cry from the hodge podge squads of the Dan Duquette era. I'm not taking anything away from Pedro, Nomar, Mo, or even Carl, just sayin'. This team was assembled and grown to not only compete, but win.

After the '03 and '04 ALCS's it's hard to imagine any baseball series getting as much attention as these two did. Just look at the playoffs from '05 and '06 and tell me that anything matched the excitement that those two series generated. Like I said though, I struggle to admit that these two teams makes the baseball world go round. Being a fan of one of the teams involved I obviously can't get as much out of say Dodgers vs. Giants, or Cubs vs. Cardinals, but I still love watching them anyway. To a Cardinals fan saying that my rivalry is more important than their's is very pretentious slap in the face and something I personally steer clear of. The Yankees and Red Sox have the biggest payrolls, biggest fan base, and generally biggest market share when it comes to television ratings when they play. That much is fact. It all depends on how much you buy into the hype. You can tell me that it's just another 18 games on the schedule. Just like Baltimore, just like Toronto, and even just like Tampa. However, you can't tell me that the game against the Yankees on Saturday, July 24 2004 didn't turn the heat up under the Sox just enough. Just enough to nab a Wild Card berth and use that momentum and mentality when down 3-0 to the Yanks in the 2004 ALCS providing footage for the best comeback in sports history.

So, maybe this could be the Yankee's weekend to do the same thing. It's considerably earlier in the season than when the Sox did it in '04, however you can't pick your points in the season when you turn it around. Because it's always today. If not today, then when? I'm looking for the Yankees to try and use this series as a turning point before Clemens comes to town. I'm also looking for Boston to kick the Yanks while they're down to stretch that lead over them beyond 10 games. This is why I like baseball, because those twists and turns are always just around the corner. Teams have the ability to make up for earlier sins, much more so than say football. This is why I love watching this sport. Not just because of this particular storyline, but because there are these types of situations all across the league. I choose to focus on this particular one of course, but there are others out there as well. Maybe I'm just trying to separate myself from people that think this is the ONLY show in town. Maybe I'm just smart enough to realize that the game of baseball is bigger than these two teams. I wish everyone else was too, to some degree.