The Bitter Rivals Thread

[KenFougere]

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Since July 4, 2002

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Which teams do you feel have the strongest, 'Most Bitter Rivalry' in Major League Baseball today?

What makes your favorite rivalry so special to you and what do you think is needed to make a rivalry stand the test of time?

My Personal Opinion:

"THE" rivalry began over 100 years ago. Ever since it has taken on a life of its own! It starts with the owners, to the front office, coaching staff, players, right down to their fans (past & present). Unlike some other rivalries, these two teams have never relocated to, or from another city since their inception into the league. With the exception of numbers being added to the jersey's back, their basic team uniforms have remained the same since the Titanic sunk!
I feel no other rivalry can match this historic Boston Red Sox - New York Yankee rivalry.

Especially when in 2004, the Red Sox made MLB playoff history as the first team ever to come back from a 0-3 games deficit to win the American League Championship Series. Oh, BTW, their opponent was the New York Yankees. That historic comeback enabled them to go on to win their first World Series in 86 years by sweeping the Cardinals. The Red Sox followed up their 2004 Championship with World Series titles in 2007, 2013 and 2018.
To me, this rivalry is not only the best in MLB but in all American pro sports.

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[cowboy15]

i would have to say its a tie between the mets and braves, they have always been rivalrys of the astros and many of the mets fans that i have met have been complete jackasses, please dont take offense if any of you are fans, but im just talking about the few i have met personally. and then the braves of course because they always seem to bump the stros outta the playoffs whenever we get there

[rockin500]

White Sox n Brewers. I hate the Brewers more than any other team. (well, not hate, as i dont really hate any time. just cant stand the team)

[Steffo]

Yankees. They are the rivals of the Dodgers and I just hate them.

[Baseball Guru]

Re: Your most Bitter Rivalry

Originally posted by KenFougere
Which do you think is "THE" rivalry that is the oldest & strongest?


My thoughts>>>>

For almost 100 years now THE rivalry began. Ever since then it has taken on a life of its own! It starts at the front office exec's to the players, right down to all the Boston & New York baseball fans (past up to present). Unlike other rivalries these two teams never re-located. They have the same address and team uniforms that date back to before the Titanic sunk! No other rivalry can match the Red Sox - Yankee history.

Agreed.....

Nothing compares to that rivalry...

A good current rivalry now is the Mets and Braves....

Mets and Yanks is always a highly anticipated matchup now that they play each other in interleague.....

[yellowdog]

Without a doubt, the Yankees-Red Sox is the mother of all rivalries. But the Dodgers-Giants would have to be the runner up. The Baseball Guru mentioned the Braves-Mets which should heat up this year, especially with Glavine on the other side now. But in recent years, this has been a pretty one sided rivalry with the Braves pretty much dominating it. That may change this year.

The Braves also had a pretty good rivalry going with the Dodgers in the early 90s when both teams were in the NL West but that sort of fizzled out when the Braves moved to the East.

And I`m thinking the Cubs-Cardinals have a pretty good rivalry going also.

[PopTop]

Agreed, Sox-Yanks sits atop the list all-time ... I might go Giants-Dodgers next, maybe Cubs-Cards third ... Guru's Mets-Braves could fit in there, 'specially since the '69 divisional split.

[YankeeMan]

#1 Rivalry -- Red Sox v. Yankees

Originally posted by LouGehrig
The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is a rivalry only to the Red Sox FANS.

A rivalry is a competition for a prize. One team has won the prize 26 times. The other has not won it during that same time frame.

How can that be a rivalry?

I think you need to expand your vision of rivialry. Besides, the BoSox have won a few pennants that the Yanks would have liked to have won themselves. But, unlike the Yanks, the BoSox never capitlized on the opportunities. True, it's bigger for BoSox fans than Yank fans. But hey, what franchise, in any sport, compares with the Yanks?*


*Montreal of the NHL?

[KenFougere]

Your missing the point

Originally posted by LouGehrig
The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is a rivalry only to the Red Sox FANS.

How can that be a rivalry?

Although I've been a hardcore Red Sox fan for over 36 years & I really can't stand the Yankees, I do respect the team. I feel very privileged to have a hometown team that has been and still is involved in this VERY SPECIAL part of baseball...
It's ashame you don't appreciate this unique aspect of the game.
Both teams are lucky to have each other to compete with for so many years!

:grouchy

avatar3_1000.gif

[Sandman]

Yanks-Sox
Yanks-Mets
Mets-Braves

[Baseball Guru]

Originally posted by Markfisher
I think it would be Yankees-Mets if only the Mets were consistently competitive....sorry Mets fans.

Cheers

Since interleague began the Mets have been pretty consistantly competitive...

They have even played the Yanks in the WS....

My thing with listing this as a good rivalry is not only some of the good games they have played but also the fact that it is NY vs NY and all of the sub-plots that come into play when they play each other..

IE. Clemens and Piazza....

Mets are 11-16 vs the Yanks since the beginning of interleague play.....
Not as one sided as one may think...

[NickG]

There's no doubt that the big one is Yankees vs. Red Sox.

What about Atlanta and Florida? This is one that got started in 1997, and the games have always been interesting since then, even when the Marlins have stunk. It's not as "historic" as the others mentioned here, but it deserves a mention, I think.

[LouGehrig]

Re: Your missing the point

Originally posted by KenFougere

It's ashame you don't appreciate this unique aspect of the game.
Both teams are lucky to have each other to compete with for so many years!

:grouchy

I do appreciate the unique aspect of the game which you refer to as an intense rivalry at the highest level.

While you are right that in 2003 most fans would consider the Yankees-Red Sox to have the greatest rivalry, I do not accept that conclusion to be valid for the reason I stated.

I lived through the New York Giants-Brooklyn Dodgers rivalry. Due to the passage of time, most modern fans do not consider it the equal of the Yankees-Red Sox, but that does not change the fact that is was more intense for the fans and, more importantly, for the players.

The Yankees and Red Sox players do NOT have the dislike for each other that the Dodgers and Giants players had for each other. Ask David Cone, Mike Stanton, Sparky Lyle, or Mike Torrez ( I did ask Torrez and he said he considers himself a Yankee but has nothing against the Red Sox).

As punishment, O'Malley traded Robinson to the Giants, and to his credit, Robinson simply retired.

When Sal Maglie walked into the Dodgers clubhouse as a DODGER, it was with trepidation and great wariness.

Another important factor is that the Dodgers won sometimes and the Giants won sometimes. While the Dodgers won only one WS while in Brooklyn, it must be recognized that the two teams competed for the pennant, as do the Yankees with the Red Sox, but that there was not great domination of one team over the other as with the Yankees and Red Sox.

Finally, after the Giants won the WS in 1933, neither team again won it until the Giants won in 1954, so there were 21 seasons in which neither team won it all. And the following year, the Dodgers won it. No Yankee World Championship has been followed by a Red Sox WS victory.

[shlevine42]

Thanks, Lou – for putting this issue in perspective and for citing the dominant characteristic of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry:

HATRED. Blinding, unrepressed hatred.

(YOU felt it, and you rooted for ANOTHER TEAM!!)

In fact, “rivalry” is too tame a word; it was a !@#$%WAR.

And unless you lived through it, you can’t appreciate the tension that surrounded EVERY GAME between the two teams. And you’re right to point out that while it was excruciatingly intense for the FANS of both teams, for the players, it was nothing short of COMBAT, driven by the HATRED they felt for one another.

For those of us who DID live through it, it was the defining rivalry/competition of our baseball youth. And 50 years later, those feelings and memories are as vivid and intense as ever.

You hadda be there!

[KenFougere]

Originally posted by Baseball Guru ..... all of the sub-plots that come into play when teams play each other..

IE. Clemens and Piazza....

Very good point about the "sub-plots" that fester in a rivalry between certain players.

Do you remember when.....
Carlton Fisk met Thurmon Munson at homeplate? :grouchy

Ah.....the good-ole-days!