I don't remember the last time this meant less. Maybe 2004 was the crowing moment to get over the Sox vs. Yanks rivalry. Maybe not. Maybe it is the incessant scheduling of 20 plus Sox Yankees series MLB has dumped on us in the past 4 years. Something just doesn't seem right. I think the last time I was fired up for Sox Yanks was in 2006 when my dad got tickets to the return of Johnny Damon to Fenway in pinstripes. You could feel the hatred in the park building prior to the first pitch. Outside the park before the game Sox fans were hounding anyone with a Yankees cap. My dad and I even got quoted in the Herald which ended up on the inside cover the next day. My dad said "Not since Benedict Arnold has there been such a traitor in New England!" I took it a step further and wished Damon would tear his ACL running down to first. To each his own.
Honestly though I think that is the last time I was genuinely fired up to beat the Yanks. Since then the Yankees have become and afterthought to the Sox season. I used to be they were the proverbial mountain each Sox team would try to conquer to get a glimpse of the playoffs. Maybe always being second fiddle was what fired up us Sox fans more. Maybe the Yanks just aren't that competitive since they built a team around aging sluggers and non-winning types like A-Rod. It rest a little more I say on their lack of quality starting pitching, but either way the rivalry is weak right now. It used to be you wanted to beat the Yankees more than you wanted to eat, sleep, or breath. A sweep was a jewel in the crown. Now you just kind of want to take 2 out of 3 and keep the AL Wild card lead over the Twinkies.
Whatever happened to Fisk vs. Munson and Mickey Rivers throwing cheap shots. Doesn't anyone remember the peak of hatred in the 2003 ALCS when Petey tossed Zimmer? Or Tek vs. Gay-Rod in 2004? Since Tek took out A-Rod and the miracle ALCS comeback there hasn't been that fire. The line in the sand was drawn that year and the Sox were not going to take shit from the Yankees anymore. Billy Miller's walk-off is probably one of my top-ten Sox moments. Maybe it is the curse of Big Papi or A-Rob, but it just doesn't feel the same. It shouldn't feel forced.
I miss those days...Who am I kidding I'll be watching just like every other year, but I'll miss the old time rivalry.
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