The Bitter Rivals Thread

[Solair Wright]

What's the matter, Yankee fans? Your team can't win series that well this year?

Seems like the Twins are telling them who's boss, and their 3-game winning streak is about to be snapped. Give me the box score of the Joba game - he's going against a good pitcher. I forgot his name, but it had a Halladay in the name, and the first name could be Roy.

[19isback]

Roy Halladay vs. tubby Star Wars character. Who do you think wins?

[Solair Wright]

Hey, could a Yanks fan please give me an update on how Joba's start tonight went? I saw how his start went. Looks like someone was rushed to start.

Have fun with the 9-3 deficit against Toronto, Yanks. You have quite a bit to catch up against Toronto. Will Mt. Steinbrenner finally erupt this week? Find out.

[Solair Wright]

Anyway, what happened to Mariano Rivera yesterday afternoon at a game "on the line?"

[SDL]

I couldn'[t help but note that a certain jackass Knick fan was wearing his Yankee gear at The Staples Center tonight.

Didn't help. did it you Boston hater!

Oh, and your movies suck, too, Spike!

[Solair Wright]

We get Cincinnati this weekend, and the Yankees get a tougher opponent in Houston. The wanna-be starter (Chamerlain) vs. the Ex-Yank (Chacon) is tonight for New York, and Boston gets Masterson against the surprisingly struggling Aaron Harang. Let's see A-Rod try to hit a home run in the Crawford boxes in Minute Maid Park tonight. Odds are, Carlos Lee catches all of his "going yard" attempts.

Cincinnati has to deal with a Boston team that blew out Baltimore - and it's a real launching pad there in Great American Ball Park, if you know what I mean.

[Mattingly]

We get Cincinnati this weekend, and the Yankees get a tougher opponent in Houston. The wanna-be starter (Chamerlain) vs. the Ex-Yank (Chacon) is tonight for New York, and Boston gets Masterson against the surprisingly struggling Aaron Harang. Let's see A-Rod try to hit a home run in the Crawford boxes in Minute Maid Park tonight. Odds are, Carlos Lee catches all of his "going yard" attempts.

Cincinnati has to deal with a Boston team that blew out Baltimore - and it's a real launching pad there in Great American Ball Park, if you know what I mean.

If that's the case, then how'd those games turn out? Gee, I even hear that the Phillies *PITCHER* got 2 hits on Friday nite.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=280613124

Don't worry, the Yanks also scored 2 runs. However, *JOBA* the Great managed to do a much better job, and the GWH wasn't delivered in the first inning, unlike the St Lou team.

Boston can't beat Cincy. Yanks beat Houston, so how's the tougher opponent thing going? Would you prefer to face weaklings for easy wins? That's the loserboy mentality.

[Mattingly]

I couldn'[t help but note that a certain jackass Knick fan was wearing his Yankee gear at The Staples Center tonight.

Didn't help. did it you Boston hater!

Oh, and your movies suck, too, Spike!

Hey, at least somebody on the court loves you folks. Considering that nobody else does!

Kobe Bryant to Curt Schilling: 'Go Yankees'

Much has been made about Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling sitting courtside at Game 2 of the Celtics-Lakers series in Boston and then blogging afterwards about how he thought that Lakers captain Kobe Bryant is too harsh on his teammates. In fact, the exact words "bitch at his teammates" were used in Schilling's post about Bryant.

Well, after Wednesday's practice in L.A., Bryant responded to Schilling's claims. And while KB24's response was just two words, it was certainly MVP-worthy. When asked what he thought about Schilling's blog, Kobe simply replied:

"Go Yankees."

[SDL]

Hey, at least somebody on the court loves you folks. Considering that nobody else does!

Kobe Bryant to Curt Schilling: 'Go Yankees'

Oh, did I mention, I post there as well? I responded to that thread and let's just say I won't be sending any Xmas cards to Kobe anytime soon

[Williamsburg2599]

Hey, at least somebody on the court loves you folks. Considering that nobody else does!

Kobe Bryant to Curt Schilling: 'Go Yankees'

As much as I groan when Schill opens his mouth, his reply should be:

"3-1"

or maybe:

"24"


Anyways, great news Yankee fans! You're only 4.5 games out....of the wild card...

[Solair Wright]

They're only a decent third place, but not far behind is Toronto, threatening to overtake them at any moment, when they do well. Oakland's second in the Wild Card, so you have to root for the Giants. Now, which would you like to prefer? Then again, this thread's all fun and no fighting. Except for place finishes, then that's a different story.

[KenFougere]

Yet another one for the city of Champions . . .

[SDL]

Excellent

Hope Spike Lee got nauseous.

[PF#9]

Ah yes, rivalries. It's the main thing that keeps baseball going for years and years.

Geography is one of the key components of a rivalry. So it is my pride that I present a full list of geographic rivalries in the modern era that have seen regular season play in the modern era.

AL:

Boston-NY Yankees:
While Geography has not played as important of a role, they are both located in large east coast markets. And it has seen many shining moments over the years to add fuel. Let's look at some of them:

1920: The Sale of Ruth
By the time the World Series had finished celebrating its 15th birthday, the Red Sox had won five of them. More than any other team at the time. And the Yankees had not even won a pennant. This all changed when the Sox sold Ruth to the Yankees. He would turn them into a powerhouse. And by the time the Sox won their next pennant (1946), the Yankees had won 10 World Series! Double the Red Sox! And as time went by, the Yanks went to 26 titles, while many believed Boston to be suffering from the "Curse of the Bambino"...

1978: The Sox' collapse and Dent's homer
The Red Sox started out strong that year, and led the AL East by as many as 10 games, and were as many as 14 ahead of the Yankees. And while the Yankees started to catch up, the Sox led by 7 as late as August 30. Then the Sox went on a 3-14 slide, and had fallen 3.5 games out of first. But they would not give up, going on a 12-2 tear to tie the Yankees at the end of the season. In the ensuing 1-game playoff, the Red Sox took a 2-0 lead into the 7th inning. Then Bucky Dent, not really known for hitting home runs, blasted a 3-run shot to shift the momentum the Yankees' way. They would win 5-4 and would repeat as World Series champs.

2003: Aaron Boone and the tiring Martinez
The Sox and Yankees played a hard fought ALCS that year, going to game 7 where Boston had led by as many as 4 runs and were leading 5-2 in the 8th inning. Grady Little controversially decided to keep Pedro Martinez in the game, despite being known for giving out in such prolonged appearances. Many thought the best course would have been to bring in a reliever, though that year the bullpen had stretches of ineffectiveness. Martinez would allow 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th. The 9th, 10th and top of the 11th innings came and went without any scoring. Then, Tim Wakefield, Boston's pitcher in the 10th, allowed a walk-off homer to Aaron Boone, and the Yankees would win the AL pennant (but lose to the Marlins in the World Series). Grady Little ended up losing his job. But as detailed below, this would be the last time the Curse of the Bambino struck.

2004: It's Finally Broken: Comeback from 0-3
The 2 teams would meet in the ALCS again in 2004. The Yankees looked to get an easy sweep as they took a 3 games to none lead in the series. Indeed, they took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning. But Mariano Rivera, last year's ALCS MVP, couldn't hold on as he allowed a single to Bill Muller (tieing the game in the process). This would be the turning point in the series. David Ortiz's 2-run homer in the bottom of the 12th kept the Red Sox alive. The Yankees failed to hold on to a 4-2 lead in game 5 as well, with the Red Sox coming back to win in 14 innings, and would win games 6 and 7 easily before sweeping St. Louis in the World Series to break the Curse of the Bambino.

Other geographic rivalries in the AL (key moments for these will be added in later posts):
Detroit-Toronto
Cleveland-Detroit

Historic:
ChiSox-1901 Milwaukee Brewers, and subsequently with the St. Louis Browns
The Baltimore-Washington rivalries: Early Orioles-Original Senators, Modern O's-Original Sens, Modern O's-Expansion Sens
Philadelphia A's-Both Orioles teams
Milwaukee-ChiSox and Minnesota (now interleague rivalries)

NL:
Atlanta-Florida
Dodgers-Giants (covers both locations)
Cubs-Cards
Brewers-Cubs
Mets-Phillies
Phillies-Pirates
Padres-Giants
Padres-Dodgers
D Backs-Rockies

Historic:
Mil Braves-Cubs

Interleague:
Mets-Yanks
Brewers-Twins
Cubs-White Sox
Indians-Reds
A's-Giants
Dodgers-Angeles
O's-Nats
Rangers-Astros
Rays-Marlins
Cards-Royals
Blue Jays-Expos (historic)

[Mattingly]

Excellent

Hope Spike Lee got nauseous.

Sometime ago, Spike said he didn't like Larry Bird. In fact, if you've ever watched "Do the Right Thing", there is a guy wearing a Celtics jersey (unsure if it's #33 or not) who steps on a guy's feet on a doorstep, leading to an argument.

I'm still wondering what Lee has to say about Ray Allen, since when he was on the Milwaukee Bucs, he starred in Spike's film "He Got Game", after the NBA players insisted he use a real player instead of an actor in the title role.

Oh well. At least we still have one certain 18-1 team, and the Bruins were ruined last postseason.

Now then, it's time for you folks to start losing sometime soon. Anytime about now would be fine.