Baseball Is Right Around The Corner

Major League Baseball is right around the corner. In fact, regular season baseball is starting earlier than ever before, on March 28. This year will also hold an interesting matchup abroad, with MLB taking a cue from the NFL and playing a game in London. The oldest, most bitter rivalry in baseball, if not American sports in general, will be taken across the pond as the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees square off in a short series on January 29 and 30, at London Stadium. When I first heard this, I thought this was an unusual choice to showcase the MLB product. While generally the atmosphere around baseball games is pretty relaxed and family friendly, compared to a football game, that is not the case when it comes to the Boston-New York rivalry. Then again, most of this incivility comes from the fans, not the players. Londoners with no investment in either team are unlikely to start chanting obscenities at the other team and other fans, or just straight up fighting in the stands or outside the stadium like you might see at Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium. While it is certainly not unheard of for the players to brawl (in fact, it often seems to happen with these two teams) they are likely going to be on their best behavior for this international showcase. They will also be away from the intensity of the crowds at their home stadiums, which will likely reduce the heat.{{more}}

If you’re a fan of the Yankees, you’d better hope that they win it all this year. If you hate the Yankees, this is your chance for the ultimate Yankee schadenfreude. Since the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth in 1919 (starting the Curse of the Bambino) the Yankees have not gone a full decade without a World Series appearance. The last time they went was in 2009, and since the millennium technically started in 2001, this is their only appearance of the 21st century. If the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the playoffs en route to another World Series title, Boston will probably melt down.

But will Boston reach the World Series again this year? Probably not unfortunately. They will likely make the playoffs, but the karma from a fan breaking the world series trophy by chucking a can of beer will likely haunt them. That, or they will be victimized by their weak bullpen.