Red Sox-Rays: Best Rivalry in The AL East

For the first time since I can remember the AL East is not turning into a two man race between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, and it is a good thing for baseball fans.

First of all ESPN has something else to cover besides the Yankees-Sox series, which is a God-send.  The last eight years have been full of so much Yankees-Sox build up that you wouldn't even know that there were 28 other teams in Major League Baseball. 

After all, if they weren't playing each other on TV, they were playing someone else on TV.  Some kids under the age of ten probably think these were warm up games just so the two could face off again later.

Secondly with the Yankees currently seven games out and struggling to stay above .500, the Sox and Rays are duking it out 2.5 games apart for the AL East.  And when I say duking it out, I literally mean clearing the benches and throwing some blows. 

Just look at the incidents from June 4th and 5th, in which Coco Crisp takes some hard slides on the base path one day, and then takes one off the hip the next day, just like baseball of old.  Benches clear, fighting ensues, and two days later a few suspensions are handed out.  That's how a rivalry is supposed to go.

Next, both teams continue to pound each other in the media. The Ray's Manager Joe Maddon, just two days after the suspensions are handed down, comes out and says he's proud of the way his guys handled the situation, and he defends everything his guys did. 

Then on this past Wednesday, Red Sox Closer Jonathan Papelbon comes right back and says he doesn't think this is over and that payback is a b****.

This kind of mudslinging is what made the Yankee-Sox Rivalry over the early decade actually somewhat enjoyable, but it deteriorated in to just some ESPN build up over the last few years.

Little do most people know that this rivalry has been brewing since August 29th, 2000, when Pedro Martinez hit Gerald Williams and Williams charged the mound.

The Rays retaliated by hitting two different players (Daubach Twice, Garciaparra once), and having three pitchers, three Managers/Acting-Managers, and two outfielders (eight players in all) ejected in the game. Since then there have been a number of brush back pitches and bench clearing brawls that have occurred.

Finally, although the Red Sox currently lead the season series 6-3, neither team has lost at home, with the Rays sweeping the Sox April 25-27, and the Sox returning the favor May 2-4 and June 3-5. 

With both teams looking strong and their continued build up in the media, look to their two series in September, in Boston the 8th-10th and in Tampa a week later the 15th to the 17th, to possibly decide the AL East.

Its good to see someone else near the top of the AL East other than the Yankees and Red Sox, and its even better that what was once just a bully versus a kid has turned into a budding rivalry.