A Different World

I was reading the Sporting News the other night. A Yankees fan was quoted as saying that Red Sox fans base their entire existence on what the Yankees do. I must say, one of the most enjoyable aspects of winning two World Series in the last four years, is watching Yankee fans pathetic attempts to cling to some past dominance. I will admit that the Red Sox / Yankees rivalry has been one of the best in sports over the past decade. However, the comment made by this bitter Yankee fan could in reality be turned in the opposite direction. Who’s existence is based on who?

Up until the moment the Red Sox celebrated on the field at Yankee Stadium in 2004, Yankee fans celebrated in the Sox fans misfortunes. One could say that 1918 and the Curse of the Bambino meant more to the Yankee fans than it did to the Red Sox fans. Numerous signs were plastered all over Yankee Stadium reminding everyone, as if anyone had forgotten, that the Red Sox hadn’t won a championship in 86 years. Tee-shirts were made asking Sox fans to “Kiss the Rings.” It didn’t matter that the Yankees ended up losing to the Diamondbacks and the Marlins in their last two World Series appearances. As long as they beat the Red Sox, all was right with the world. They had fun and did so at the expense of Red Sox fans.

The baseball world changed forever in a matter of five days in October of 2004. The Red Sox, trailing 3-0 in the ALCS to the Yankees, proceeded to win the next four games, the final two of which were in Yankee Stadium. It didn’t matter how the Red Sox had lost in 2003, 1986, or even 1978, because the Yankees had just pulled the greatest choke in baseball history. For Yankee fans, the fun stopped immediately. The voicemails and emails that had cluttered my in-boxes after game three suddenly stopped. When I left my own voicemails and emails, I was told to stop gloating, although it wasn’t gloating when the Yankee fans had done it all throughout the last decade.

In reality, I didn’t send many emails or make many phone calls and “gloat” after the great Red Sox comeback. The people I called were my dad, by brothers, and my good friends Eric and Brett, all of them diehard Red Sox fans. We celebrated the Red Sox success, not necessarily the fact that it had come against the Yankees. This is the point. Red Sox fans care about baseball and their team, not necessarily about the Yankees. This is not to say that the rivalry is not real or does not contain passion, but rather that Red Sox fans want to win regardless of the opponent. Do I enjoy when the Yankees lose? Absolutely! However, I don’t care more about the Yankees losing than the Red Sox winning. 1918 and the Curse of the Bambino had, in reality, more to do with the 1986 World Series than it did with the Yankees. The most painful loss in Red Sox history came in that series against the other team from New York, not the Yankees. I hate the Yankees as much as ever, but my existence as a Red Sox fan has nothing to do with them.