Red Sox's Rivalry

Transition: Heading into the World Series the White Sox were heavy favorites, and people in both cities believed they would make quick work of the Reds.

“And the Rays are in the postseason. David Price goes the distance. A complete game for Price and Tampa Bay is back in the post season.” Those were the words of Brian Anderson, the play-by-play announcer when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the American League Wild Card tiebreaker game, beating the Texas Rangers 5-2. It was also the last time the Rays have been in the playoffs. In 2014 and 2015, they finished second to last in the AL East. Fans get tired of watching their teams lose. We can’t control the outcome of the game, but we can control the experience that they have while at the ballpark.

New York, New York, New York, The sport of baseball has been through many things, wars, depression, even strikes and moving form one side of our great nation of the United States to the other. The Major League Baseball (MLB) even has teams in Canada. New York is the city we are talking about, though, some might not know it the home of MLB, and some even call it “the Capital of Baseball.” (Burns, 1994) I can believe it, the city was where most of the history started for the sport of baseball. I wont even mention all of the other major league sports that currently reside there.

There is no arguing that the 2004 Red Sox were a good team that played excellent baseball throughout the season. The team was led not by talent cultivated through the Red Sox’ farm system but by high-priced, free-agent acquisitions such as Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Keith Foulke, Curt Shilling and David Ortiz. The average age for a Red Sox team member was 31.1 years, the oldest team average in the league. Additionally, the cumulative payroll for the 2004 Red Sox was the

They also acquired Jarrod Dyson, base stealer extraordinaire, as well as utility man Danny Valencia and backup catcher Carlos Ruiz through free agency. These additions will aid Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, and Kyle Seager to create one of the most dangerously potent lineups in the MLB. The M’s also added Yovani Gallardo and Drew Smyly to a weakened rotation, but Smyly got injured during Spring Training and is supposed to be out for the first few months. These additions will hopefully stabilize an injury-prone rotation. Ace Felix Hernandez saw a massive drop-off in production from back when he was a perennial Cy Young Candidate. Hisashi Iwakuma has the potential to be a star, but didn’t show it last year when he pitched to a mediocre 4.12 ERA. When James Paxton isn’t injured he pitches great, but it seems like he’s injured more often than not. Their bullpen is led by Edwin Diaz, who as a rookie last year struck out 40% of the batters he faced—a tremendous feat. As long as he isn’t overused as he was last year down the stretch, when he pitched way worse than when carrying an average workload, he could turn out to be a top five closer. If this team plays anywhere close to their potential they should make the playoffs, and they have a very solid chance to win the division.

An elite starting pitcher will call Fenway Park his home next season for the first time since Jon Lester was traded to Oakland at the deadline in 2014. The Red Sox signed 30 year old lefty David Price to a 7-year, $217 million contract this past Tuesday. Price is one of the top starting pitchers in baseball. He won the 2012 American League Cy Young award after going 20-5 in the regular season. Boston won the David Price sweepstakes after months of talk about where he would land. Besides Boston, it is reported that Price was very interested in signing with either the Cubs, Cardinals, or the team he played for during part of the 2015 season, the Blue Jays.

The 2016 MLB season has seen a lot of great teams rise to the occasion and shine like champions, but only one team will be crowned the champion. We have made it to the final quarter of the season and some teams are nowhere to be found and other teams seem almost ready for the postseason. At the half way mark of the season, teams like the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs, were the favorites, but that has changed. There are new teams in the race like the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Not to mention teams like the Toronto Blue Jays and Washington Nationals that might not be getting as much attention, but are definitely in the conversation for favorites to win the World Series. Unfortunately, a lot of teams have started to decline, maybe because of injuries or simply they haven’t been playing as well as they did in the first half. Teams like the Kansas City Royals were supposed to defend their title, but inevitability fell short of that and are now in 3rd place in the AL Central with 9.5 GB of the Cleveland Indians. There have been many storylines and there will probably be more regarding the rise and fall of teams until we reach the postseason.

The beginning of baseball is entirely different from baseball today. More electronics, advanced teams and players. There are more upgraded fields, equipment, and stadiums. With all of the years that have passed with the upgrades and better advances, baseball is the fifth top rated sport. Baseball is what people love to watch and even play. The baseball player's job is to satisfied their fans. Today, that's stills happening in the baseball business.

It was just another dry, hot, boiling summer day. The morning was chilly as it was breezy as I went through the preparations for the baseball doubleheader we had that night. Both games were against our rival Brandon Valley whom we had gone back in fourth with winning as well as losing. The first game is always a must win as that goes towards your record to acquire a place higher up in the region tournament just weeks away. The start of the game seemed normal, but we always kept it close. Finally the last inning, it was the top of the seventh since we only play seven innings in a game. Exhausted from playing the first six as hard as I could I came in to pitch in a tie game.

The New York Yankees are a very good team with 10,100 games that they have won and they hold the most World Series wins with 26 wins under their franchise!

A season ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers put together a dominating regular season, winning the National League West. At the 2015 All-Star break, the Giants were the closest competitor to the division-leading Dodgers, trailing Los Angeles by 3.5 games. By the end of the season, however, the Dodgers won the division by eight games over second place San Francisco.

Four teams have the potential to make the playoffs from the strongest division in baseball, which sent three last year. The Red Sox acquired Chris Sale, a perennial All-Star pitcher, in a blockbuster deal with the White Sox that saw the

However, there is one big concern for the Red Sox is the inconsistency of the pitching staff. The team ranks 22nd in baseball with a 4.37 collective ERA, which will not get the job done over an entire season. They must address the pitching staff if they want to reach their ultimate goal of a World Series

The Harvard vs Yale sports rivalry has been going on for many years. Both colleges are located in New England as Yale is located in Connecticut and Harvard in Massachusetts and are known for their ivy league prestige. As some people may or may not know, there is a huge rivalry between Yale and Harvard, both in academics and sports. The teams have competed in championships for a long time, both before and during the 20th century; so why did this feud start and what sports are they most competitive in?

When people think of Boston, they usually think of the Red Sox. Their fan base is so passionate and loyal no matter how poorly the team performs. Every Patriot’s Day, the Red Sox play on their home field at 11 A.M which than leads to all of the Bostonians watching the Boston Marathon.