Column: Nothing like Yanks-Sox

By Max J. Dickstein, amNewYork Sports Editor | mdickstein@am-ny.com

8:37 PM EDT, July 24, 2008

It seems unthinkable that there would ever be a season when the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is not the playground of two elite squads with immediate postseason destinies.

Sport's greatest rivalry, after all, is self-perpetuating; baseball's two biggest spenders bulk up each season in a ceaseless quest to outdo the other, and in doing so they outbuild every other competitor.

These Yankees are rocketing out of the All-Star break with a six-game win streak and a penchant for driving in runners in scoring position (.333 average). Boston is three games ahead of them.

But I'd venture that this weekend's three-game series in Boston would still draw supreme interest if both teams were the bloated messes the rivals were at times before the mid-to-late 1990s.

Their 18 regular-season meetings are much more than games that simply tilt the AL East standings back and forth like an Orioles-Blue Jays matchup (oddly enough, those two teams are scheduled meet 20 times this year.)

Like the radio waves that send them outward, Yankees-Red Sox contests infuse the lives of two cities and the land between with energy and significance, anxiety and triumph.

This weekend's story begins with Joba Chamberlain (2-3), making his first start at Fenway Park on Friday against Boston ace Josh Beckett (9-6). Time for the first pitch.