There are a lot of problems in sports. There's the size of Barry Bonds' ginormous head. There's the awe I get when I see a Williams sister serve up another ace (someday I want biceps that big). There's the general sympathy I feel for fans of the Los Angeles Clippers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. But the thing that really infuriates me lately is the pomposity and self-righteousness of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
Now I know what you're going to say. Who in their right mind comes to Boston and vilifies the best thing there is about Boston sports? But there are 28 other baseball teams (including the Fightin' Phils) who are almost ignored by the national sports media in favor of these two teams.
I understand the Yankees and Red Sox provide some classic baseball theater. The last two seven-game series' between the rivals was great sports drama. Whether it's Zimmer being pancaked in a brawl, Aaron "bleeping" Boone, Dave Roberts's incredible swipe, or Big Papi being downright huge, the games played between these teams are epic.
Even the regular season games are classics. Derek Jeter's dive last season into the stands was electrifying while 'Tek shoving A-Rod was a pivotal turning point for the future champs. This season you have the dogfight for AL MVP between Rodriguez (.321, 48 homers, 130 RBI) and Ortiz (47 homers, 20 of which gave Boston a tie or the lead) and a division race that came down to the final weekend.
I realize the two organizations have perhaps the largest fan bases nationwide. According to Bill Simmons' Now I Can Die in Peace, the Red Sox have a self-perpetuating fan base as more and more students from across the country study in Boston. Perennial success has built up the Yankees to the hated status of "America's team," a platform shared by the likes of the L.A. Lakers, Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Braves, where jumping on the bandwagon is commonplace (excuse me while I go throw up).
It's just a little disconcerting that the tiebreaking rules for the Yankees winning the AL East were a bigger story than the NL Wild Card struggle to the wire (a title won by a tie is meaningless). People can name the starting lineup for these two teams with ease, but struggle mightily when asked to name the MVP or Cy Young candidates in the National League.
There are so many stories in baseball that just get buried under the Yankees-Red Sox media colossus. The NL East was the toughest division in baseball this season, as no team finished below .500. The Cardinals won 100 games again, this time without Scott Rolen, and Houston's aces pitched them into the playoffs. Barry Bonds returned to hit five home runs in 14 games as he slugged his way closer to the Babe.
Even the AL had more interesting stories than the Red Sox and Yankees this year. The Oakland A's recovered from a 17-32 start to win 58 of their next 82 games (.707 winning percentage) despite losing Miguel Tejada and aces Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson in the same offseason. Nick Swisher, Joe Blanton and the pesky Moneyball contingent will be storming back next season to contend with the baseball behemoths.
What do the names Eric Wedge, Casey Blake and Grady Sizemore mean to you? The Cleveland Indians only sit in your recent baseball knowledge because they were swept this weekend, allowing the Red Sox into the playoffs. But most people didn't notice this team winning 40 of 53 games (a ridiculous .754 winning percentage) at one point before being bounced from playoff contention in the final week of the season.
The Yanks and Sox get coverage just for being East Coast teams. The White Sox, Cubs, Pirates, Reds, Phillies and Cardinals are just as storied with history as the Yankees and Red Sox, but are denied similar attention.
My twin brother (we'll nickname him "Butterfingers," or perhaps "Happy Hands" - see last week's column for full details) wants a market for a shirt that reads "Yankees Suck" on the front... "and so do the Red Sox" on the back. He hates that both teams have such ego-driven players like Manny, A-Rod, Schilling and Damon. And where else besides Boston and New York would mediocre players like Millar, Posada and Bellhorn get such national attention?
Now I'm not going to lie. I plan on watching every game of a possible Boston-New York ALCS. And I don't want to hear any complaining about how the Yankees go out and buy titles and the Red Sox are still the perennial underdog deserving of infinite praise and pity. It's overkill and just plain false. The teams are one and the same with MLB-leading payrolls of $205 million for the Yankees and $121 million for the Red Sox.
I'm going to take the Red Sox. I even consider myself a Red Sox fan. But can we please acknowledge for once that there's more to the sport of baseball than the Red Sox and the Yankees? Is that too much to ask?
Quote of the Week: Eagles middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter on Philly's comeback win over Kansas City -- "Chiefs came out early and they shot their load."
