Has The Rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox lost a little bit of its juice?
Bucky Dent, one of the central figures in the long history of the rivalry between the two teams, thinks so.
“I don’t think this (Yankees-Red Sox rivalry) is as intense as it was back then,” Dent said. “Those teams (in Dent’s era) really didn’t like each other.”
Speaking during a promotional appearance at the Yankees Clubhouse Store on Fifth Avenue, Dent reiterated his point that players today are too cordial to build classic rivalries.
“There weren’t many guys who had changed teams when I played,” he said. “Where now, guys change teams so much that you don’t really grow to dislike the other team as much.”
Dent is probably right on that score. There is also still some fan hatred, but with the current generation of Red Sox fans having experienced championships even that isn’t what it used to be.
There is also the fact that the Red Sox are six games out in the AL East right now and not really looking like contenders. Of course, that can change over the course of the next four games.