Yankees troll Red Sox after eliminating their rivals from AL East division race

The New York Yankees claim they didn’t even realize they had knocked the Boston Red Sox out of the division race but their actions confirm that’s not true.

A third straight loss to the New York Yankees dropped the Boston Red Sox 18.5 games back in the division race, officially eliminating them from contention for the AL East crown.

We saw this coming for months with the Red Sox trailing in the division by at least 10 games since the end of July. Their elimination was merely a formality yet it couldn’t have come in more humiliating fashion – getting shut out on their home field, at the hands of their arch-rival, the day after they fired their president of baseball operations.

According to ESPN’s Marly Rivera, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and several players feigned ignorance when asked about eliminating the Red Sox, claiming they didn’t even realize they had squashed Boston’s hopes of winning their fourth consecutive division title. It sounded as though the Yankees were taking the high road, insisting that their goal is to win the division rather than take satisfaction from Boston’s failure.

We know that’s a load of crap.

Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch tweeted after the game that Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” was blasting from the visitor’s clubhouse.

The music selection was no coincidence. You may recall that Aaron Judge made waves last October when he strolled past the Red Sox clubhouse with a boombox playing the same song after the Yankees won Game 2 of the ALDS.

Or course the Yankees knew the had eliminated the Red Sox! It’s hard to deny it when their taunting was so obvious. Yankees players were clearly reveling in the misfortune of their rivals.

The Yankees better hope that karma doesn’t come back to bite them. It certainly did last time. The Red Sox responded to Judge’s stunt in the ALDS with a 16-1 shellacking in Game 3. They won the series the next night on their way to a World Series championship. Judge ended up looking foolish for his antics after the enemy he trolled ended up throttling his team.

The Red Sox returned the favor by singing “New York, New York” while celebrating their World Series victory. You can taunt your foes while spraying champagne but beware of trolling them before the job is done.

Boston and New York won’t meet again this season but the players won’t forget this disrespectful act. The Yankees got the last laugh this year but the Red Sox will eventually get their chance at revenge. A bit of payback will be on the minds of the Red Sox when these teams meet next season. Start spreading that news.