Remember when people felt the Red Sox vs Yankees was THE rivalry? It's amazing how things have changed, the Red Sox Yankees rivalary is all but dead, sure we may still not like Yankees fans, but there isn't a hate for them like there was in the early to mid 2000's. Nowadays it's like, "meh the Yankees are in town. Whatever". Want to know where that hatred is now? The Baltimore Orioles. That's right, the team you used to beat up on so much before is now your biggest rival and this past series shows.
How did this rivalry become what it is now? It all started during a weekend series with the Orioles and there was a ground ball up the middle for a double play and Bogarts threw the ball to Pedroia but Manny Machado slid into Pedroia spiking him to what some are calling a dirty slide (you decide). The next day in the unwritten rules of baseball, Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes threw at Machado because that's what you do if someone injures your player. One teeny tiny problem with this though, Barnes messed up and threw at his head. Not a great look and it didn't even hit him either so now you left the door open for one of your guys to get hit. Barnes had one job, and that was to go out there and just plunk him on his backside or leg and then we wouldn't be talking about any of this. Fast forward to this recent series at Fenway, on Monday, Orioles pitched Dylan Bundy threw at Mookie Betts and hit his hip and casually strolled to first. You'd think this would end things, but nope. The next day, Chris Sale threw nice and inside to Manny Machado and Sale is known for his accuracy so we know this most likely was on purpose. Why'd he do it, I'm still not entirely sure but I like Sale and his attitude so it is what it is. However, Machado was not too happy about the incident. Yikes, sounds like someone is pretty angry there and I love it. This bad blood between the two teams is exactly what baseball needs I feel like.
From what you may hear, people think baseball isn't as exciting or it's too slow. With this rivlary, it adds an edge to the game and some attitude it has been lacking. Fans have responded too, this has become must watch baseball. The ratings for first 3 games in this series went up each game and that's great for baseball because we all know they need ratings. Granted, yes it's been out of hand you can say with all the beaming that's been going on along with the commissioner calling both teams and telling them to stop. That's how you know you have a real great rivalry and while the Orioles left Fenway, this hatred is far from gone and we all cannot wait to the next time these two teams meet.
