Is the Boston Red Sox – New York Yankees rivalry back?
By Tyler Mason
During the Red Sox-Yankee game last night, the benches cleared after a small altercation, leaving fans to wonder if the legendary rivalry is back.
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees rivalry was once as famous as it could get.
Whether is was Thurman Munson trucking over catcher Carlton Fisk at home plate in 1973, or Lou Piniella running over Fisk three years later causing yet another brawl, the two teams clearly weren’t friends to say the least.
Then 30 years after the first fight, Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez rolled Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer to the ground during the 2003 ALCS. And, of course, then came the famous punch to the face from catcher Jason Varitek to Alex Rodriguez one year later.
Ever since the fight in 2004, there hasn’t been any spark between the two storied franchises. But after a long 12 year wait, pitcher Rick Porcello had a few words to share with third baseman Chase Headley.
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After Headley tried stretching a double into a triple, only to be tagged out at third, Porcello called out Headley for supposedly looking back at the catcher’s signs. Headley, as expected, didn’t seem very happy when he was called out as he starting walking toward Porcello. The benches cleared and Fenway erupted because Red Sox Nation was expecting something special, the rivalry being reborn.
After the quick altercation was settled, both teams went back to their dugouts without any punches thrown.
"“I actually kind of enjoyed it, to be honest,” Headley said. “We haven’t had one of those dustups with the Red Sox in a while, so it got me going a little bit.”"
Drellich also asked Headley for his thoughts on Porcello thinking he was looking back at the catcher’s signs.
"“Honestly, I had no idea. I was shocked. I had no idea what he was talking about when he said what he said, and that’s what I told him,” Headley said. “Not used to somebody yelling at me, especially over something I didn’t think he should be yelling at me about. I’m competing too.”"
And as expected, Porcello seemed to think the exact opposite of Headley.
"“First and foremost, you focus on your job and doing your job and winning ballgames,” Porcello said. “But I think there’s also times where you need to say some stuff that you have to say. That’s really it. That’s one of those moments where I felt like I needed to say something, and I did.”"
Drellich also noted that the last two players to leave the dugout for the Yankees were former Red Sox players Jacoby Ellsbury and Tommy Layne.
So is the rivalry back to the way things were? Not quite, because of the fact that we haven’t seen these two teams fight for the division crown since 2007. Whenever one of these teams are successful, the other one is mediocre.
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So with that being said, I don’t believe the beloved rivalry is necessarily back, but it’s always nice to see the two teams disagree with one another every once and awhile.