Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Mar 06, 2008 
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Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy learned some lessons yesterday.
Shelley Duncan is (Marv Albert voice) On Fire! This notebook also has word on Hideki Matsui taking BP, Chase Wright turning his back at the wrong time, Jason Giambi continuing to be cat-like, a good deed by Johnny Damon and the son of a legend trying to fill in.
Here’s the best news of the day: Bobby Murcer checked out OK.
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Nice piece in the Globe today by Gorden Edes about the relationship between Joe Torre and Terry Francona.
Now that Brian Cashman has been outed as a friend of Theo Epstein, it’s pretty clear that the Yankees and Red Sox don’t hate each other, they just compete. Maybe someday the fans can take the same attitude. Like it or not, the franchises are far more alike than they are different.
Great news about that huckleberry!
http://johnsterling.blogspot.c.....tumor.html
Peter :
It’s never been about the Red Sox as a team. It’s their fans and their silly demeanor.
They simply don’t know how to deal with or accept winning after so many decades of losing. The constantly trying to be recognized has made them into a region not to like.
yeah and someday yanks fans and red sox fans will all hold hands at a “just play fair” rally before each game. we can make smoores together then hold hands and sing kumbaya. Then we can do away with that nasty, divisive scoreboard, EVERYBODY WINS!!! jus like T-Ball!
what does a little nerd from kentucky know about yankees-red sox rivalry. i knew i hated the red sox before i knew who they were. its in our dna, theo and cash are just out-of-towners making millions out of the rivalry. im sure cash has never worn a yankees hat to fenway and im damn sure theo’s never been in the bleachers at YS. those nerds dont know what it is to be a fan.
True Story: I went to the Chiropractor the other day for the first time in over 10 years. This new doctor asked me what bothered me the most. Without hesitation, I said Red Sox fans. We both had a really good laugh.
My hatred for the Red Sox and their fans will never cease.
Kelli through Don Vito…GREAT posts, all four. Funny stuff.
Pete: How old is Bob Sheppard’s son? Gotta be in his 70s, no?
I never understood and will never understand why it’s necessary to hate your opponent to prove your love for your own team. I always want the Yankees to defeat the Red Sox. ALWAYS. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the talent that exists on Boston’s team. In fact, it’s a lot more satisfying to defeat a team of equals, isn’t it? What fun is it to beat up on an inferior opponent?
As far as fans go, it’s like everywhere else in life, there’s some good and some bad in the bunch. I have found that IN GENERAL you will be treated in the same manner in which you treat the other person. Yes, there are exceptions – there are ignorant people on both sides.
Yankee fans will never like Red Sox fans. Never ever!
Hating the red sox and their fans is part of the fun of being a Yankee fan. I don’t hate the person, just the part that is a red sox fan. When I meet one I ask them if they hate the Yankees. If they do, I respect and appreciate that. If they don’t, I consider them posers. It is tradition, like so many other things in baseball.
Doreen, appreciating the talent on the Red Sox ??? That is funny….really funny. It is painfully obvious that you don’t or won’t understand. They are the ENEMY ! We don’t like them. We don’t say….”Hey Ortiz, nice home run you just hit off Joba to win the game”….or “Hey Manny, nice catch you just made” ….. We hope that they stink up the place in every game they play, especially when they play us….and if all of their “talented” players get hurt or come down with a raging stomach virus and we get to play their AAA squad and beat them 27 – nothing,,,,,we LAUGH and LAUGH and LAUGH….
Don Vito -
I said I didn’t understand and will never understand the hate.
Of course I don’t WANT Ortiz to hit a homerun or Manny to make a great catch or Dice-K to pitch a gem – that would be ridiculous. And I said I ALWAYS want the Yankees to win and I ALWAYS want the Red Sox to lose. That’s different from being able to appreciate the fact that they have some good players over there.
But as a person, I just don’t laugh at someone else’s misfortune. I can’t. But if Manny being out for the year means Ortiz doesn’t get pitched to, that’s a good thing in my book – advantage Yankees.
“Hating the red sox and their fans is part of the fun of being a Yankee fan.”
No, it’s not. And I certainly don’t appreciate being told that I’m not a fan, or a bad fan, because I don’t hate someone because of the hat he wears. Fans who are jerks to other fans irritate me, regardless of who they’re rooting for.
the way i look at it, there is nothing wrong with looking at the team the Saux have put together and recognizing that they have talent on the field… but until the day i die, I will hate that awful uniform and those who wear it, and i will take pleasure in any misfortune that may happen to fall upon them. just the way it is.
now thats not to say i dont have friends who are saux fans, cause i do… and i visit them in Boston a couple times a year. i can get along with boston fans, and see no reason any situation should arise among fans of either team should escalate to where people bring physical harm on one another… theres no place in society for that.
but to hate the team, and find happiness in their misfortune… as a yankees fan, thats healthy.
and i cant wait to see what kind of season Shelley can put together… a big RH power threat at the bottom really helps to balance the lineup, and would be a huge luxury for a team that should have scored 900 runs to begin with.
Living here in Boston, some of my best friends are Sox fans.. AND Patriot fans..
We get along great, and we joke around about our teams.. But we almost never get into a serious talk about baseball anymore.. It just doesn’t end well.
RAB has some info on the imminent demolition of the Big Ballyard in the Bronx. In with the new is nice, but out with the old is going to be tough…
Chill out, Don Vito. Guess what? Most everyone here also thinks Johan Santana is a nice guy and a great pitcher. Does that make us bad Yankee fans? I love to have Youkilis at first. Am I disloyal?
We can love the Yankees and loathe the Red Sox and still acknowledge that it’s a very good team with very good players.
I don’t think YOU understand.
That hate part of it started with the “Evil Empire” stuff from Larry Lucchino.
Since that point, going to Fenway Park in Yankee gear is like going to Iraq wearing a George Bush T-Shirt.
Its always been a rivalry. Once Red Sox management decided to turn it into a marketing opportunity with the Evil Empire stuff, it crossed the line. Boston fans got carried away and it became more about war than it did about baseball.
At that point, the punk element of Yankee fans (which there are many) decided to return the “favor” with their behavior toward Red Sox fans at the Stadium.
Before you know it, you have what you have today.
Quite sad, really. I’ve been going to Yankee-Red Sox games for so long, I go back to when the players actually hated each other. That was the case in the 70′s. Some of those guys STILL hate each other today.
These days, I just give my tickets to the game to friends. Its no longer fun to go to Yankee-Red Sox games because the punk elements in both teams’ fan base have taken over the ballparks.
As expected, some inane responses. How can you hate people you don’t know?
I wish sometimes I could bring such people into the clubhouse one by one so they could see how the players really are. It’s a game and they try as hard as they can (most of them) while it’s going on. But do you think they go home later and think “Oooooo, I hate that David Ortiz.”
Give me a break. Grow up.
I also love the guy who said Theo and Cashman were “out of towners.” Theo was born in New York and lived in Boston his entire life. The only job Cashman has ever had since he was 19 is working for the Yankees. Right, real pretenders.
I agree with SJ44. Any opportunity I’ve had in recent years to a New York / Boston game gets a thumbs down.
Too much of a risk spending a night in jail.
pete! lighten up! im just a fan having fun on your blog. I actually love fenway park, and boston, i lived in vermont for years. (because of that i know that anybody born in new york will never really be considered one of us by you new englanders) thus the out-of-towner reference re theo.
you’re a pats fan, dont you like to dump on the bills or dolphins once in a while?
Pete,
Preach to the Red Sox Nation before you start preaching to Yankee fans. They started this war with that “evil empire” garbage.
I’m with you, Doreen.
I even rooted for the Sox in their 1st WS win. It’s partly “root for the team that beat you” (showing you only got beat by the best/hottest team), partly what my wife (who has NO interest in baseball) described as “don’t they deserve a turn?”
By the same token, there is NOTHING more satisfying than seeing the Yanks beat the Red Sox (well, nothing in baseball at least).
” As expected, some inane responses. How can you hate people you don’t know? ”
.
Easy…I hate every member of an Islamic Terrorist Group, Pete….and I don’t KNOW any of them..
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Oh..and Baseball “hate” is nowhere near real “hate” my friend. It is just a recreational “hate” that has no real substance. Would I take pleasure in a Boston Red Sox player enduring a real personal tragedy ? Of course not. Would I enjoy one of them going into a huge slump that hurt the team and got him sent to the minors…..Absolutely….LOVE the Yankees,,,,HATE the Red Sox….is like….Love Ice Cream and Hate Brownies….that kind of hate…..Ok, Pete…???…So settle down and stop being so sensitive !
i love a little teasing between yanks and sox fans. it makes the game fun. but when my brother is denied food at fenway park because he is wearing a yankee shirt, or when my nephew has to see vulgar shirts describing a yankee player involved in sexual acts with his teammate, then i get annoyed. there has to be a level of maturity where one recognizes there are more important things than buying into an ingroup-outgroup complex. i have found that i have no respect to give out to anyone who finds their identity in hating a sports team more than loving their favorite team. if a person does not like seinfeld or puts in their nerdbook about me section: “yankee hater” instead of “i love team x”, then i no longer have any interest in being friends with them.
that being said, as i sat at fenway park one night cheering for the twins to win, and sadly not wearing any yankees gear, i watched david ortiz hit a homerun and set a new DH single season homerun record. i stood up and applauded with everyone else, because ultimately i am a fan of baseball and good guys. plus, the yanks were going on to winning the division and the sox would finish in a dismal third place.
I like the yankees-sox rivalry, as it is today. Anything different, would take the fun out of it.
from my perspective, it is the behavior of Red Sox fans, which perpetuates the ‘hate’. Too many of them, do not have any respect for anyone. To tell the truth, i grew up liking the Red Sox as well, as the yankees. That changed.
“Oh..and Baseball “hate†is nowhere near real “hate†my friend. It is just a recreational “hate†that has no real substance. Would I take pleasure in a Boston Red Sox player enduring a real personal tragedy ? Of course not. Would I enjoy one of them going into a huge slump that hurt the team and got him sent to the minors…..Absolutely….LOVE the Yankees,,,,HATE the Red Sox….is like….Love Ice Cream and Hate Brownies….that kind of hate…..Ok, Pete…???…So settle down and stop being so sensitive”
well said, Vito.
When I moved to Sturbridge, MA in 2001 I was fascinated with the locals’ Yankees obsession (exemplified by the Yankees chant during the Pats Super Bowl parade) — kind of a sports inferiority complex.
I liked describing that the Yanks don’t really give the Sox a second thought, unless they are on the field against them. The Yanks just focus on what it takes to win the WS.
To get respect, you need to give respect. It is mindless and ignorant the way some fans on both sides of the rivalry act. When Sox fans are chanting Jeter S**** when the man is leading the league in hitting is asinine. The same goes for our side saying the it about Ortiz, who is every bit as clutch as the Captain.
I for one enjoy the games more when the Sox are competitive. I think it is the best rivalry in the game and it makes the sport more popular when both teams are doing well.
None of the above means I don’t root with everything I have for the Yanks. I simply think you can root against another team without all the craziness some people exhibit.
i don’t think the world is a poorer or meaner place because Yankee & Red Sox fans have lots of, uh, colorful banter.
The vast majority of the fans keep their “hatred” to a sane level; it’s not like they kill each other the way soccer fans do in some countries. Yeah, occasionally there are fights in the stands or people say stupid things. BFD.
So, I hate the Red Sox. But not in the same way that i hate, say, al Quaeda. the word “hate” has different connotations.
btw, im also as big a fan of the nerd from kentuck, cashman as anyone on this blog. id sign him up for another 3 yrs today if possible. and if i had to replace him and could pick anyone, it’s be theo.
that being said, i HATE the red sox!
“btw, im also as big a fan of the nerd from kentuck, cashman as anyone on this blog. id sign him up for another 3 yrs today if possible. and if i had to replace him and could pick anyone, it’s be theo.”
yup.
I see not reason to hate a team- they’re a bunch of dudes (usually) doing their jobs.
I became a Yankees fan after, strangely, living in New England for several years and being turned off by Boston fans. There are a lot of ridiculous fans for both teams that I don’t care to associate myself with, unfortunately.
Some of you have said it better than I could. It goes both ways, and I think my behavior impacts how some Sox fans see Yankee fans.
For the record, there is a big difference between the Yankees and the Red Sox. Red Sox players show up other teams whenever they’re given the chance and are, in general terms, a pretty classless bunch. That’s what leads to my hatred for them. They are hard to like and even harder to respect. Show me a Yankee that acts like Beckett, Papelbon, Ortiz, Ramirez, Youkilis, etc.
The hate and competitiveness are some of the reasons that make our rivalry so great.
Look at Duke-UNC, Michigan-OSU. Rivalries feed off that kind of energy.
pete, you know someone’s gonna drop a GMEN! on you everytime you mention the pats this summer. i hate the pats and thier fans! and at the same time i can say that i think you’re a great guy and a great pats fan. but when you’re wearing that pats jersey, im hating you!
same for cone and wells, i boo’d them lustilly when they wore the sox uni, and they’re among my all time faves!
Pete, my heart has no space to hate a person. with that said, I managed to make a little nook and cranny in there to HATE THE REDSOX!! I HATE THEM!! now, i don’t hate the people, but I HATE THE TEAM. sorry Pete, i’m just returning the favor. They’re the enemy! Sure, I have friends who are Redsox fans but believe me, WE AVOID BASEBALL TALK AT ALL COST! LET’S GO YANKEES!! LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!!
Think back – this is not a new rivalry (like the Mets are trying to conjure up with the Phillies). This rivalry has been going on for almost a century. You all know the original story with the Sox winning all those World Series games until The Babe chose to come to The Bronx along with many of their best players following, then it just heated up at different times over the years.
Some of the recent good times were the Bucky Dent game and the Aaron Boone game which didn’t do anything to make things smoother. Also, remember Lucchino was part of the Oriole organization that had an ongoing feud with George for years.
It’s not about the separate players or coaches (we’ve certainly shared enough of them – even recently with Joe Kerrigan, Johnny Damon, Wade Boggs, Gary Tuck and on and on. Mikey Lowell is one of the few players and Tuck (which still bother Posada and concerned me because he originally left to be Girardi’s bench coach) is one of the few coaches I can think of that left the Yankees and wound up in Boston; most of the time it’s the Red Sox players/coaches that come to the Yankees. There are probably others – oh, Roger Clemens, need I say more?
Bottom line is Manny and A-Rod are buddies; Mikey Lowell has close friendship with a number of the Yankees from growing up in the Yankee farm system and there is a lot of respect between many of the players on the 2 teams.
Remember last year when Torre was giving his goodbye speech and Francona was late for his news conference because he said he couldn’t leave the TV? Francona’s father and Torre were teammates. I can also recall many times that Torre said he liked and respected some of the All-Star players from the Red Sox after managing them during the All-Star game. This year it’ll be Tito managing some Yankees in Yankee stadium – that will be weird.
It’s life and while I can say I hate the Red Sox and never want them to win (including wishing it were the Rockies who swept the Sox instead of what happened) I don’t hate the players. Well, it is a bit annoying that Manny is from Washington Heights and seems to always get big hits in the Bronx.
And the Red Sox fans that beat up the Yankees fan are sick. Someone asked me if that constituted a hate crime.
The Boston fans are bigger @*#)$^ than us though.
so when was the last time you read an article about yankee fans beating the crap out of a RS fan? defacing someone’s property because of a RS flag flying on someone’s lawn?
i know these are extreme cases. but i see a lot more of these cases with extreme hatred towards the yankees, as opposed to the other way around.
i have a red-sox fan cousin from mass. i think he was 11 or 12 at the time johnny damon signed with the yanks. he tore up all his damon posters and cried about it. my dad called to laugh
and the rivalry definately hit a lull, at least from a yankee fan perspective. a lot of yankee people too young to remember the 70s grew up hating the mets, cause there the one’s we heard about more. i know a few people here have even admitted to rooting for the sox in ’86.
both teams being good is what brought the rivalry back.
The ’70s was about hating the Orioles more than the Sox.
Sheffield hated the Red Sox. He was a TRUE YANKEE.
“i think he was 11 or 12 at the time johnny damon signed with the yanks. he tore up all his damon posters and cried about it. my dad called to laugh”
That’s normal for a 12 year old. Your dad laughing at him sounds like a psychopath however.