The feud of Yankees and the Red Sox, historically, is the biggest rivalry in all of sports. From all the way back when Boston sold Babe Ruth to go to New York, to the 2003 ALCS brawl that ended with Don Zimmer on the ground when Pedro Martinez threw him to the ground, the two teams have an intense history.
For the past decade, this rivalry hasn’t been the same. No bench clearing brawls, no petty arguments, no hatred towards each other, there just hasn’t been the same fire.
This past Red Sox-Yankees battle was one to remember. Each game had the vibe of an intense playoff game. The Yankees and Red Sox split the first two games, then the Yankees swept the latter half bringing it home with a 3-1 series victory.
It started with C.C. Sabathia’s mouth. He called out the Sox for bunting on him (C.C. has a bad knee.) calling them “weak. Sox’ legend Jim Rice, fired back saying that “it’s apart of the game”, and that Sabathia needs to “lay off the hamburger weight.” Then C.C. clapped back: “I don’t want to be as bitter as [Rice] when I get older.”
The breaking point was Tuesday, September 5th, when reports surfaced claiming that the Red Sox stole signs from the Yankees, with the help of an Apple Watch. Apparently a worker on the video crew had been relaying messages to John Farrell’s Apple Watch, then relaying those signals to his players. Cashman claims to have video evidence of such actions and MLB investigated the issue. Shortly after, The Red Sox front office took responsibility, which will likely end up in a more lenient penalty for them.
Now Saturday, September 9th, and he incident still remains prominent throughout baseball. The Red Sox claim to have video proof of the Yankees using the YES network for live video, and stealing signs.
Could this series of events fuel a new rivalry between the two teams? Both ball clubs are young, with tons of fire and potential. At the moment, all we can really ask is if these are the types of rivalries that will arise with the new technological advancements. Will “fighting” (arguing) happen in the stadium or elsewhere?
Will this just end up being a petty minuscule argument?
Only time will tell.