Boston Red Sox

What they’re saying about Sox-Yanks

By Chad Finn

3 minutes to read

There’s a perception around these parts that the Sox-Yankees rivalry has lost some of its luster and contentiousness in recent years — particularly during a three-game series in April — but George Costanza’s favorite author tells us this morning that he doesn’t believe that’s the case.

In column titled “Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry Remains as Strong as Ever, Mike Lupica in the Daily News writes:

Red Sox vs. Yankees never seems to fluctuate, no matter what month it is. It was the Red Sox who didn’t make the playoffs in 2006, the Yankees last year. But the modern imagining of the rivalry, the one that began when Henry/Werner/Lucchino got the team and stopped trying to win the past from the Yankees, the one that has seen the Red Sox win two World Series since 2004 and the Yankees not win any, has been something to see.

Maybe. But while Red Sox fans have to be satisfied that the tables have turned since October 2004, the truth is that the rivalry doesn’t quite have the buzz it had a few years. Of course, one perfectly placed purpose pitch could change that.

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Which brings us to our next link . . .

  • The New York Post’s excellent columnist, Mike Vaccaro, notes that there is one player capable of putting the word “heated” back in front of “rivalry” — Joba Chamberlain.

    Writes Vaccaro of the young Yankee fireballer and well-established Kevin Youkilis nemesis:

    There is Joba, who came into Fenway last year and outpitched and outdueled Josh Beckett, serving notice that he would not be cowed by the most hostile environment a young Yankee can face. There is Joba, who has spent much of the last few years making Kevin Youkilis dance the way Joe Pesci made poor Spider dance in “Goodfellas,” inspiring a recent warning from David Ortiz that sounded as much like a plea as a perilous threat:

    “Just play the game the way it’s supposed to be,” Big Papi suggested.

    Yes, there is Joba, and so there is a renewed vigor and a fresh rancor attached to the coming three games.

    It will be fascinating — and perhaps telling about Chamberlain’s character — to see how he pitches to the red-hot Youkilis, whom he has buzzed four times since 2007.

  • ESPN’s Steve Phillips writes about the pitching matchups in the series — which he says, with a healthy dose of hyperbole, will have the feel of “a midsummer classic.” Anyway, the starting pitchers are as follows:

    Tonight: Jon Lester vs. Joba Chamberlain
    Saturday: Josh Beckett vs. A.J. Burnett
    Sunday: Andy Pettitte vs. Justin Masterson

    The most intriguing matchup is the middle one. Beckett and Burnett, teammates with the Marlins (along with Brad Penny) several years ago, both own an ace’s repertoire. Beckett has looked like his old self so far this season after an uneven 2008, while the enigmatic Burnett, who signed a five-year, $82.5 million deal with New York in the offseason, has been the Yankees’ best starter so far. He also had the Red Sox’ number in his career, going 5-0 with a 2.56 ERA in eight starts.

  • The New York Times’s Tyler Kepner notes that with Alex Rodriguez away rehabilitating his hip injury, the brunt of the venom will be aimed at Mark Teixeira, who chose the Yankees over the Red Sox in free agency.

    In the first series of the season, in Baltimore, Teixeira was heavily booed each at-bat for rejecting his hometown Orioles to sign with the Yankees for eight years and $180 million. But the Red Sox were much more serious contenders for Teixeira, and their fans are renowned for expressing themselves.

    “I would expect nothing less than tons of boos and tons of energy in the stadium,” Teixeira said. “This is a great rivalry and it’s going to be a fun weekend.”

    That might depend on what your definition of fun is, Tex.

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