Red Sox Vs. Yankees...*yawn*

Starting tomorrow, one of the most storied rivalries in all of sports will have its latest installment as the Boston Red Sox travel to Yankees Stadium for a three game series that will mark the final visit by the Sox to that historic venue.  ESPN will make the second game their Wednesday nighter (unless YES means it will be blacked out in the Yankees region), and the pitching match ups include some very recognizable names, including Wakefield, Byrd, and Lester for the Red Sox and Pettitte, Ponson, and Mussina for the Yanks.  And as the first of the last Red Sox/Yankees battles in the stadium commences, the waves of emotion and loyalty surge and the nation, as a whole, whispers, "Who cares?"

Much of the excitement that is usually evident when these two teams meet seems missing and it's no mystery why.  First of all, some key personnel are missing.  There will be noJoba Chaimberlain to throw at Kevin Youkilis's head.  There will be no Manny Ramirez for the Bronx crowd to yell things like

"overrated" at just before he launches a Mussina fastball into orbit.  Let's face it...Varitek will be lucky enough to hit the baseball without worrying about hitting A-Rod in the face with his mitt.

The two teams are not much like the versions of the Yankees and Red Sox that have met in historic fashion since the turn of the century.  Though they certainly have it within themselves to rally in September and make a last run for a play-off spot, the Yankees have been stinking up an already (reportedly) smelly Yankee Stadium with their inconsistent play over recent time.  Due in part to injuries and the fact that their team consists of aging over-payed vets and yet to develop youngsters, the Yankees find themselves 9 1/2 games out of first in the division and 5 games behind the Red Sox for the wild-card lead.  While they are coming home from a sweep of the lowly Orioles, the Yankees are exactly .500 so far in August (11-11), not the type of play that one would expect to result in making up 5 games in a little over a month.  The Red Sox, whose veterans and youngsters garnish a bit more respect that those of the Yankees (and rightly so), are also dealing with injuries (Beckett, Wakefield, Drew, Lowell) and have been showing marked inconsistency as of late.  They lost two to the Blue Jays at Fenway, then took two of three from the Orioles, getting shelled 11-6 in the third game.  They then headed to Toronto, where they sandwiched two wins around a 11-0 drubbing to leave with the series win.  Their pitching has been wholly inconsistent, with the possible exception of Matsuzaka.  While the Red Sox are visiting the "House that Ruth Built" for the last time, they will most likely spend more time looking at the scores of teams like the WhiteSox, Twins, and of course the Rays, than they will staring at the monuments.

Which brings up the real reason why this week's series is lack luster: The Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  At a whopping 29 games over .500, the team that had the cellar of the AL East remodeled so as to make their usually spot there more comfortable, now finds itself firmly ensconced at the top  Tampa Bay continues to be the biggest story in baseball as they manage to keep their wins up, even though facing (in recent days) the likes of AL West leading Anaheim, AL Central leading Chicago, taking five of six in those two key series.  Most realist Red Sox fans have now become more in tune with the Wild-Card race because catching the raging Rays seems like a very iffy thing at best.  The bottom line is that with neither Boston nor New York in immediate reach of the division crown, their next set of games start off as second tier.

But the Rays' seeming talent on the field is not the only way they have juxtaposed things in the AL East.  They have also taken a good bit of the animosity that surrounds the Sox and Yanks (which way that flows depends on your loyalties.)  With brawls against the Yanks before the games even counted, then the big brawl with the Red Sox started by Coco Crisp, the Rays are now experiencing a little bit of the hate the can so quickly come from fans of the two usual contenders.  Add to that the Rays' apparent struggles for identity as a division leader (i.e. fans who still don't really show up unless the Yankees or Red Sox are in town but yet manage to be obnoxious when they do, and their larcenous use of "Sweet Caroline" when Boston lost in Tampa) and you begin to understand why the Rays garnish interest that was reserved in the past for others.

Assuming that the Eastern seaboard can actually see the Wednesday game on ESPN, I'll be watching it.  And perhaps, just because of who is playing and the potential that any rivalry holds, the games will be exciting.  But there is bound to be a nagging feeling of dislocation, kind of like sitting at the kids table at Thanksgiving, because the games may end up being only that...games.