Red Sox vs. Yankees: A rivalry that has been in the makings since the beginning of baseball. The hatred between the two teams has resulted in on-field brawls and off-field skirmishes. Ever since the Red Sox dealt Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919, hatred has been evident; the Curse of the Bambino was in place for 85 years, preventing the Sox from winning the World Series, until they won in 2004. The Yankees may have gotten the better of the Red Sox in the past, but the Sox have had the upper hand recently and are much better set for the future.
The Yankees have 27 World Series wins compared to eight for the Red Sox, but the Sox have also had incredible teams that just failed to get the job done. The Yankees have had a good amount of all-time greats, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and of course Derek Jeter, just to name a few. However, they are countered by Red Sox greats Carl Yastrzemski, a triple crown winner, Wade Boggs, five-time batting champion, Cy Young, who has an award named after him, and of course Ted Williams, the greatest player ever, and the most recent player to have over a .400 batting average over the course of one season (1941).
The Sox especially have the upper hand recently. They have won three World Series since 2004, compared to the Yankees one. The Red Sox have also gotten the better of the Yankees in the playoffs. In the 2004 World Series, the Sox were down three games to zero, and then proceeded to win the next four games and advance to the next round, the first team to ever do so in MLB history. The Red Sox also won the World Series that year, ending the Curse of the Bambino.
Another thing is money. The Red Sox have had access to a lot of money in their own right, but still nothing compared to the Yankees. According to stevetheump.com, the Yankees had a major league high payroll of $229 million dollars in 2013, almost $70 million more than the Red Sox; despite this, the Sox won the World Series that year. The Yankees have been recently known to attempt to buy their success, signing great players like Alex Rodriguez, C.C Sabathia, and Mark Texiera to extremely expensive contracts. Rodriguez’s contract was 10 years, $275 million dollars, which at the time was completely absurd.
The Red Sox are also better prepared for the future. According to bleacherreport.com, the Red Sox have the third best minor league system in all of baseball, compared to the Yankees’ rank of 16th.The Yankees also invested large sums of money into long term deals with players who are aging. Rodriguez is 40 years old, and signed through 2018, Brian McCann is 32 and signed through 2020, and Jacoby Ellsbury is also 32, and signed through 2022. These players, as they get older, begin to lack production, and also take up roster spots and money, preventing the Yankees to sign younger and better talent. The Red Sox, on the other hand, have young talent already on the major league roster, and not nearly as many aging players with long term deals.
The Yankee’s lack of respect for the tradition and culture of baseball is evident in their decision to tear down their old stadium and build a new one. What team with morals would tear down an 87 year old stadium? Tearing down the House that Ruth Built in order to get “bigger and better” is just a disgrace toward history. Fenway Park has been around 104 years and is still going strong. This year, the Red Sox so far have a record of 25-16, and are 4-2 against the Yankees. Meanwhile the Yankees are 17-22, and dead last in the division. Maybe indicating karma is finally beginning to take its course.
—By Davis Palermo
