| | This has been a year to remember for Boston sports fans. The city has played host to a series of marquee events, ranging from the Davis Cup to the Ryder Cup and the All-Star Game.
|  | | Fans in Boston braved the cold to get a chance to see the Red Sox play the Yankees. |
But as the city braces for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday between the Red Sox and New York Yankees, it's evident that Justin Leonard and Ted Williams were only the warm-up act for what's to come.
Welcome to Armageddon.
Were this merely the first Red Sox-Yankee postseason game to be played in Boston this century, the atmosphere would be electric. But there's more.
Factor in that it will mark the first time Pedro Martinez has set foot back in Fenway since his Miracle on the Mound performance in Game 5 in Cleveland. And finally, stir in his pitching opponent, former Red Sox ace Roger Clemens.
Add it up and Fenway will be a tinderbox of emotions, set to explode from the first pitch.
It's been said that the three main preoccupations to Bostonians are politics, sports and revenge, and this Red Sox-Yankees meeting manages to touch on all three.
Boston has long struggled to escape from the shadows of New York, shamed a bit by its status as a tryout town for Broadway shows. The first true seeds of resentment, however, date back to 1920, when the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to their rivals to the south for $125,000.
It was only the most catastrophic business miscalculation of the century, easily outdistancing the introduction of the Edsel and the creation of New Coke. Ruth went on to become the game's greatest hitter and the Yankees its most storied franchises, capturing 24 World Championships.
By stark contrast, the Red Sox haven't made it to the World Series since 1986 and haven't won baseball's top prize since 1918 -- a string of futility that has led their most ardent fans to question the existence of a higher being.
In an era when players change teams nearly as often as they change socks and expansion limits the number of times two teams can play one another, many sports have difficulty maintaining rivalries.
Not so with the Red Sox and Yankees, who continue like the Hatfields and McCoys.
"There is no speech that I could make that could get (my players) excited more, knowing they're going to Fenway Park and that the Red Sox are coming here," said New York manager Joe Torre. "It's been a rivalry before me and before them."
Some rivalries seem like pre-fabricated furniture -- cheap and poorly constructed. But the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry is real. Other bitter rivalries exist elsewhere. But none so dominate the lives of the fans, who pass on a hatred for one team or another like it's a family heirloom.
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This is so much more deep-seated, such stronger at the root. Unless you're from either city, or played on either team and had an opportunity to see what it means, you can't really imagine what it's like.
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Current Red Sox and former Yankee Mike Stanley
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"This is so much more deep-seated," said Red Sox first baseman Mike Stanley, who has played for both teams, "such stronger at the root. Unless you're from either city, or played on either team and had an opportunity to see what it means, you can't really imagine what it's like."
When the city of New York introduced its successful "I Love New York" promotional campaign some years ago, Boston was ready with a retort of its own. A popular T-shirts from that era countered: "I Love New York, Too -- It's the Yankees I Hate!"
The Yankees arrive with a 2-0 lead in the series, having won two one-run games in the Bronx which somehow managed to live up to the considerable pre-series hype. Typically for the Red Sox, the first two games were chock-full of the kind of bad luck and cruel twists of fate that have marked their half of the rivalry.
Game 1 on Wednesday night featured a blown call by an umpire that helped wipe out a 10th-inning Boston rally, followed by a game-winning homer by Bernie Williams, who, natrually, was minutes away from signing with the Red Sox last November before re-signing with the Yanks.
In Game 2, Jason Varitek and Troy O'Leary both came within inches of hitting homers to right field. Each settled for extra-base hits; neither scored as the Sox were a woeful 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
The matchup of Red Sox aces past (Clemens) and present (Martinez) makes Game 3 fascinating.
Martinez has been embraced by Red Sox fans like no pitcher since Luis Tiant. Beyond his pitching artistry and excellence, they love his flair, his competitive zeal and playfulness.
Clemens, meanwhile, seldom opened up to the fans and for his all greatness -- the Cy Young Awards, two 20-strikeout games -- pitched with all the emotion of a robot.
On Saturday, the Fenway faithful will get a chance to remind Clemens of his spotty postseason track record -- two wins in 10 career starts -- the one blight on his otherwise sublime career.
The pitching matchup is one reason why four box seats to Saturday's game were sold over an on-line auction web site this week for $12,100.
For the next few days, the Yankees-Red Sox will offer enough ill-will and grudges to make the World Wrestling Federation blush.
"If both clubs were battling for fourth or fifth place," said Torre, "that would still be a rivalry. There's no question that you feel that this going to be something special."
No question at all.
Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal is a regular contributor to ESPN.com | |
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