How much do you hate the Yankees?

[Beomoose]

I like NYC as a place, there are good people past and present who have played for NYY or worked for their organization. Some of their fans are very good people. And while the "Yankees Suck" chant has its place, for example when the Yankees Suck, I'm definitely sick of hearing it in Fenway when we're 10 games behind them and the game on the field is NOT against the Yankees. But I still hate them.

Hate's got little to do with wins and losses. I hate the cleanshaven thing, no names on uniforms, their big ugly park(s), the fans who think they can mug a player and get away with it (and are apparently correct), the way national baseball coverage always seems to treat them as the center of the baseball universe, Steinbrenner's union-busting, the huge Lazy-Z-Boy seats behind home plate, probably more that doesn't come immediately to mind. YED will be a day of celebration forever.

 

[chrisfont9]

It used to really be hate, in the ugly sense of that word. Actual tears, lost sleep, anger, judging real people in my life... then suddenly glorious redemption etc.

Now it's sports-hate for me, something far less meaningful in my life but kind of a positive thing, given that sports are competition and we need meaningful context like the Bos-NY history where we can get it. And by sports-hate, I mean I have replayed Sterling's HR call by Stanton at Fenway in the '21 wild card game like 50 times.

Being out west, I find kinship with Yankee fans compared to others who are into baseball -- Mariner fans are solid -- but don't totally get what we have back east. And I married into a real Yankee family, NY-based and big baseball fans. I couldn't possibly muster that hate anymore, and if the Sox are out, I wouldn't mind seeing them enjoy something. I can live with it.

PLEASE resume the rivalry this season though. Life is more fun with it. Even seeing both fanbases acting ridiculous at games is a positive thing.

 

[WayneHousieHOF]

The Yankees Suck chant at Fenway needs to go the way of the pink hat. It’s dated and lame AF.

 

[LogansDad]

The Yankees Suck chant at Fenway needs to go the way of the pink hat. It’s dated and lame AF.

I agree 100%, and still wouldn't root for the Yankees in a million lifetimes.

 

[simplicio]

I will defend its usage in Mets games but beyond that, I agree.

 

[chrisfont9]

The Yankees Suck chant at Fenway needs to go the way of the pink hat. It’s dated and lame AF.

Yeah but it isn't going to. It's more like nostalgia from another era, which a lot of the people chanting missed. I've made my peace with it.

 

[Skyhawk96]

I was more in the "I don't really care anymore" camp until Judge brought the old "the ghosts were with us tonight" BS in the ALCS. I can't stand that stuff and the Yankees winning ensures they will keep saying it every time they pull out a playoff win at home. So yeah, firmly in the "Not in a 1000 lifetimes" camp

 

[RoDaddy]

My son in law, who lives in my house with my daughter and grandkids, is a big Yankee fan - AND a Trumper, also tough for me to be around as a slightly left leaning Dem. But the Yankees suck, MFY, Skanks days are well behind me. And plz don’t boot me from the site but there’s even some Yankee history I’m okay with – namely, the fun-loving Mantle wild boy gang and their 1990s championship guys who seemed mostly okay (e.g., Marianno, Torre, Williams).

As to the 27 championships, my response when their fans brag about this is yeah, and you only bought 24 of them starting with Babe Ruth

 

[bankshot1]

I saw BFD's wind blown pop fly live and in person in '78, lived in the belly of the beast from 1983-2021, in Brooklyn, Manhattan and then NJ and could do little to escape the mindless Orcs. While '04 eased my pain, the MFY can't lose enough to satisfy my childish emotional needs and shortcomings. If the Dodgers are the vehicle to get me home safely, so be it. Its a price I'll pay and tip well.

But Fuck the Lakers forever.

 

[NextBigThing8184]

The Yankees Suck chant at Fenway needs to go the way of the pink hat. It’s dated and lame AF.

The pink hat has been replaced by camo hats and yellow and baby blue hats

 

[Van Everyman]

I was more in the "I don't really care anymore" camp until Judge brought the old "the ghosts were with us tonight" BS in the ALCS. I can't stand that stuff and the Yankees winning ensures they will keep saying it every time they pull out a playoff win at home. So yeah, firmly in the "Not in a 1000 lifetimes" camp

Wasn’t that Boone in 2003? Judge was the boombox (his only outright Yankee douche moment TBF).

Forgot 2009. 7-4.

I’m 51 and don’t have any recollection personally of the Yankees titles in the 1970s. So it’s 4-1 for me.

I find that I can still summon my rage for the Yankees. Watching that dude rip the ball out of Mookie’s glove. Present company excluded, it’s almost always the fans – and if I have one bone to pick with The Comeback documentary, it’s that they put that Hitler Youth bro chanting “Who’s Your Daddy” in the game 7 “rally” when Tito inexplicably put Pedro in to relieve while talking about Pedro’s game 1 start.

What are everyone’s favorite “Holy shit, I fucking *hated* the Yankees in that moment” moments? For me, it might’ve been when I celebrated like we’d won the WS when Carl Everett broke up Mussina’s perfect game. I was visiting a friend who hates sports in NYC and completely scared the shit out of him when I cheered for Jurassic Carl.

Runner up: Luis Gonzalez hitting that flare piece of shit off of Rivera in 2001. This was only a few weeks after 9/11 and the entire fucking universe wanted me to be cheering for the Yankees. In that moment, I realize exactly how deep my hatred ran.

 

[EddieYost]

I am 56. I have vague memories of '75 and '76. I lived and breathed Red Sox in '77 and '78 and ever since. I loathe the Yankees more than any other sports franchise.

 

[Otis Foster]

I attended and worked at a boys summer camp, heavily baseball oriented and with a significant population of in your face Yankee (and Mets) fans who never hesitated to lacerate you with the skein of MFY successes. While it took many years and came late in (my) life, 2004 empowered me: Jason giving ARod a mitt sandwich, Pedro planting the Gerbil, Papi, with eyes narrowed to tiny pinpoints as he went into his stance.

I'll never stop hating them but that all consuming frustration cum envy is gone for the moment, but like Count Dracula it can always rise again.

 

[Heating up in the bullpen]

F*ck the Yankees, to infinity and beyond.

 

[54thMA]

I get this. If we want to go based on the lifespans of people my age (mid-50s), it's Yankees 6, Red Sox 4.

Yankees: 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000
Red Sox: 2004, 2007, 2013, 2018

Edge: Yankees, of course, but nothing like 27-0 or whatever.

On this note, it's difficult for me to get too amped up about Boston Celtics' banners in the early 60s. Not that they don't count, but I wasn't alive for them so it's like talking about what a great chariot riding champion Gaius Appuleius Diocles was.

This guy gets it.

I could give a shit less what the Yankees did prior to 1965 before the MLB draft started, just like with the Canadiens when all the best Canadian players signed with them.

Championships not won in my lifetime/not ones I remember (The Celtics won many in the 1960's when I was a kid, I recall exactly none of them.) mean nothing to me.

I remember in college a friend of mine had a tee shirt he liked to wear "Boston Red Sox 1918 World Champions" which was funny until he ran into Yaz one day while wearing it; Yaz was not amused.

A lot of my Yankee hate got dialed down after 2004, then the 2018 playoffs, then the 2021 WC game, they are still rivals, but the hate is not as fierce as it used to be.

That said, that WS loss was glorious, the game one loss and especially that meltdown in game five after winning game four and them thinking they had a shot to rip off four wins in a row.

No, they did not.

 

[Winger 03]

Not really being competitive for 5 of the past 6 years has hurt the rivalry for me.

They are one of the haves, we are one of the have nots. It doesn't even feel like we are in their league.

Mike (nice to see you on the board!) Aren't the Sox a have-not by choice? It is not as if Henry & Co. do not have the means to be players in the free agent market.

 

[FisksFinger]

I am 56. I have vague memories of '75 and '76. I lived and breathed Red Sox in '77 and '78 and ever since. I loathe the Yankees more than any other sports franchise.

Same age and the 78 Yankees lit the fire of hatred for that franchise which still burns as strong as ever.

 

[Sille Skrub]

Mike (nice to see you on the board!) Aren't the Sox a have-not by choice? It is not as if Henry & Co. do not have the means to be players in the free agent market.

Oh they have the means. They are one of the most profitable franchises in MLB, pocketing millions each year.

IMHO, since the Mookie trade, there has been a major shift in philosophy from winning to making money. The Sox are 5th out of 5 when it comes to major league sports buzz in this town. Sadly, nobody but the diehards really care. The Sox used to be #1 and you couldn’t go anywhere without striking up a conversation with someone about the ballgame the night before. These days you ask someone if they watched the Sox game and they look at you like you’re from outer space.

Even with that level of disinterest, it really doesn't behoove FSG to spend on the team because between the local lemmings and out-of-towers that fill Fenway each season and pay $30/month for NESN, the dollars continue to pour in no matter where they finish in the AL East. Heck, even with the ineptitude of 5 of the past 6 years, 30% of this board thinks we are signing Juan Soto!!!

It is this ingrained false hope that continues to allow JWH and crew to just do enough to seem interested in big time free agents (and not alienate the majority), but pull the football back right before they actually have to write a check to improve the team.

It stinks and it sucks.

 

[Van Everyman]

I keep wanting to write about how when I see Yankee hat around Europe I react like I would if I saw a swastika ball cap, but I keep my mouth shut because that's insane and offensive.

I will say: while I will always root for the Yankees to go 0-162 every season, there has been something particularly delicious about the combination of their competitiveness these last 7 or so years and repeated inability to get over the hump (if the Astros had to cheat to beat them in '17, I'm willing to live with it).

I suspect the deliciousness of that feeling has something to do with not just wanting them to lose--or even lose painfully--but the arrogance of their fanbase (again, present company excluded) which has always seemed more about being associated with a winner than supporting a team trying to win.

 

[CKDexterHaven]

Sawx fan since ~1977 as a ten-year old in Delaware. Didn't really “hate” the Yankees until the Bucky Dent thing.

There have been certain Yankees players I have been neutral-to-respectful of, and so I don’t always hate the Yankees, but even though I lived in midtown Manhattan for 30 years and most of my NY and Jersey friends were Yankee fans, I have and never will want them to win any particular/single game.

I wouod have to say my ‘second’ team would be the Dodgers. I kinda regard them as Sawx West, with LA and Boston having shared so many players. I was pro-Dodgers. well before I moved to LA in 2012.

Yankees are ‘ick.’ Like Duke basketball. They get whoever they want and are adopted as their team by any know-nothing, casual fan. Ick.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Lock the thread. We all hate the Yankees wicked fucking bad. This isn't news.

 

[JohntheBaptist]

I never really hated hated them--I lived in and dearly loved NY for almost 15 years, have a ton of Yankee fan friends, and I'm not myopic enough to think there aren't awful fans of every single team, particularly (sometimes especially) Red Sox fans. There's always a Yankee player or two that gets on my nerves but that isn't real life and I stopped experiencing sports hate a long long time ago. I generally stay away from sports media outside the games themselves and here, so I don't have to suffer hot takes based on any events on a playing field. But there definitely was a time it really fuckin' got my goat when we'd lose a game in June to them. That is totally gone.

I guess I kind of hate their 'brand.' The clean-shaven rule is astonishingly stupid. The kind of monolithic, 'we're special' thing--there's not a bunch to point to directly I guess, but it feels like its there. I think that's the mechanism that gets me to grin when they lose. The WS was weird--I moved to LA just over ten years ago and the Dodgers are, to me, extremely unobjectionable, have a really pretty stadium, and they're on cable here, so I've grown to love them. Mookie certainly amped that up, as did Shohei. So I don't know if I would have cared much either way if it had been anyone else--I had this sinking feeling earlier this season as LAD piled up pitching injuries that they (NYY) had a great shot at a title and realized... I don't really care. Hopefully not, but I don't really care.

I think these days, the world being what it is, baseball for me is a stress relief. Something placid, even-keeled, quotidian, fun, curious, rewarding in its minutiae. I watch with the sound off. If it isn't fun, I turn it off--and that doesn't mean "if the Sox are losing," although sometimes it does mean that. For me, watching and getting tuned up pissed off and feeding off animosity just isn't my thing (which is why I almost literally never watch the Padres--Machado is the only player I just can't take). But it is fascinating how deep-seated the disdain is culturally for us and that it was something that was there and had to fall away.

edit--I will add this--I do still get this weird judgement for someone that roots for them with no geographical/ family 'reason' to, which is absurd but we're being honest here and I think I can trust you guys.

 

[buttons]

When you are my age (pretty old) you have spent so much of your life
hating the MFYs that there is no way you’re going to forgive and forget.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

I hate them a lot. I don't merely want them to lose. I want them to be an embarrassment to the highest degree. I want the entire franchise to be reshaped and repackaged into something unrecognizable, bereft of any ties to their successes of decades past. A terrible, new team name. Embarrassing uniforms. A complete alienation of their fans. And then I want the franchise to be eliminated in the next round of realignment. Completely defunct. Gone, the way of the Louisville Grays and Indianapolis Blues. Then build a sewage treatment plant right on top of their ballpark, and erect a statue of George Steinbrenner and place it under the crustiest, most pigeon infested overpass in the city.

 

[Margo McCready]

Probably more related to the "how much do you hate the Yankees?" thread, but it is kind of interesting to ponder the minimum bonus it would require for any of us to work for the Yankees instead of the Red Sox. I'm guessing in real life, even the "my cold, dead body would rise up from the dead to piss on the Yankees graves on every YED" crowd (which I'm mostly in) would not require much more than a 20% bonus to join the evil empire. Like, I'm a graphic designer — if the MFY were offering me $400K a year to be their head of design/branding and the Red Sox were offering me $200K for the same job, I'd easily sell my soul for that difference. $300K v $200K and it gets a bit tougher, but I still sell my soul. Starting at around $250K v $200K I might begin to consider the moral / afterlife ramifications of working for the Yankees.

Anyway, none of this really relates to Soto, who was seemingly a happy Yankee, and may or may not still feel any of the Red Sox fandom of his youth. But I do get the sense most athletes are willing to take on the order of 5-10% discount to be in a situation they prefer (whether due to childhood rooting interest, location, teammates, franchise reputation, etc.)

Cross posting from one of the Soto threads:

As the person who wrote the “cold, dead body” post, I’m pretty sure I’d take the money! (Like, 87% sure.) For me as a fan, I feel like my “hatred” of the Yankees is much more about satisfying our primal human tendency toward tribalism in a fun and entertaining way without having it spill over into the reality in which we navigate on a daily basis. “Sports Hate”, if you will. Do I hate the New York Yankees organization and want their fans to suffer the heartache we as Red Sox fans endured (all too often at their expense) for generations? Absolutely yes, with the burning fire of one million Suns! Do I hate Aaron Judge, et el? Absolutely not. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say I enjoy a figure so elite as Aaron Judge playing for the Yankees because that satisfies an inherent affinity for rooting for David against Goliath. This makes sports (and baseball in particular for me because it’s the only one I truly love) so much more infinitely fun! So while I can’t bring myself to hate Aaron Boone as a human being, I very much enjoy the schadenfreude of him having his team criminally unprepared for their face off with the Dodgers. The cherry on top is Judge being the one to make the epic miscue to open the floodgates in their ultimate demise.

As for Soto’s decision, I personally believe being a professional in a field entirely changes your perspective from what it may have been before you entered that universe. My personal experience is admittedly only minimally related to that of an elite athlete, but I’d most liken it to time I’ve spent playing bass in a blue collar, lunch pail-type working regional band. Did I have to play a whole bunch of songs I didn’t particularly enjoy? Absolutely! Did it deeply bother me and was that even all that important in the grand scheme of things? Not all that much compared to the overall joy and fortune of playing music to help put food on the table and keep a roof over my head.

 

[Otis Foster]

I share these malign wishes but with a somewhat different spin, referred to in prior posts: Shutting up the intolerable MFY fans. As it is, we have 2004 gift wrapped and ready for the holidays, in a beautiful wrapper with the phrase - 'worst choke of all times' - embossed on it.

 

[scobie88]

I moved to NYC in 1998. I live in the area to this day. I went to ALCS game 7 2003. When I came into work the next day my monitors were covered with NY post clippings and all the yankee fans at work were yelling "1918" to me etc etc. A huge baseball fan I went to over 20 games a year at yankee stadium from 1998-2002. Well over 100 games at the toilet. Saw some great teams. My point is I'm saying this from a place of knowledge and experience: NYY fans are by far and away the worst fans in any sport and it's not even particularly close. And its hammered home by how they all scattered after 2004 as they are now missing an essential portion of what they considered to be vital to their fandom: a dominance and "you suck hahahahaha" mentality over the Red Sox. Stripped of that they have eroded into loudmouth generally un knowledgeable crummy baseball fans who boo Aaron judge and generally make the game less enjoyable to watch. With a sense of entitlement and lack of baseball knowledge they are obnoxious and generally represent all the things about the Nyc area that I don't like (many things I do like however).

Because of their loathsome fan base I say I hate the MFY with extreme passion and hatred. Their crummy fans will spawn new generations of crummy fans and so on and so forth. Stopping hating the yankees is absolutely unacceptable in any shape or form even if they suck for the next 100 years. They are the sworn enemy and they will forever be. I hate them and so should you. ALWAYS

 

[Gold Dust Twin 19]

In one version of this question or another on this site someone’s answer was essentially “thy could go 0-162 for four straight years, start year five 0-161 and I would still swear at the tv when a winning score for game 162 scrolled by”

so yeah that.

I love this answer.

 

[BillLeesJumpShot]

While my incandescent hate of the Yankees lost its white fire in 2004, I do still relish every Yankee series loss and contract overpay.

 

[ElijahPumpsieGreen]

I grew up with a grandmother Sox fan—a bit improbably, as she immigrated from England as a young girl, got by selling gum on the T, and eventually married an Armenian immigrant. I used to watch games with her on their porch, and I remember her Sox cap and the little dish of candies she always kept filled on the end table by the sofa, where I sat. Her son, my father, became such a rabid fan he once climbed the mast on a sailboat after a few too many and declared he wouldn't come down til the Sox won the penant. Dad was a very sweet man who always told me that hatred was a terrible emotion, so I should never give in to hating anyone...except the Habs and the Yankees. You must hate the Habs and the Yankees, but no one else! I honor his sage wisdom to this day.

 

[zenax]

Actually, there are a couple of things I've liked about the Yankees after Steinbrenner took over---All players, coaches, and male executives are forbidden to display any facial hair other than mustaches (except for religious reasons), and scalp hair may not be grown below the collar. Other than that, although I grew up as an AL fan (back in the days when there actually were two leagues), I rooted for the NL to win the World Series every time the Yankees were participating.

 

[canyoubelieveit]

Leading up to and during the World Series, I was truly trying to reflect on my longstanding tribal animosity towards the Yankees and all their fans, comparing it to my feelings about politics during such polarized times. I thought about how likely it was that many of these fans were likely to have the same political leanings as I do, and how that should far eclipse any silly sports-based ill-will I might have against their team. I imagined a scenario where I could push a magic button and get the political outcomes I wanted but it would mean that the Yankees would win the World Series, and I would have pushed that button quickly and without regret.

Still, after game 5 of the WS, I rewatched the 5th inning many times on every available broadcast to savor the schadenfreude. I will never not feel that way about Yankees losses, especially epic nut-punches like that one.

A story that still makes me laugh was after the 2004 ALCS, when a friend of mine told me that his dad, a Mets fan, and one of the sweetest most mild-mannered people you could hope to meet, was watching the camera pan from one dejected Yankees fan to another and he stood up shaking his fist at the screen shouting "SUFFER!!! SUFFER!!!"

 

[cantor44]

Well, the Dodgers have essentially become what the Yankees used to be, so, I'm not sure, beyond the history, I take much solace in THAT team beating the Yankees. Though I certainly look forward to YED every year, and don't want the Yankees, or their fans, to ever celebrate championships.
Though I agree with Baseball Jones: the sport's better when they are good (was anything better than 2003-2004?)

 

[loneredseat]

I grew up with a grandmother Sox fan—a bit improbably, as she immigrated from England as a young girl, got by selling gum on the T, and eventually married an Armenian immigrant. I used to watch games with her on their porch, and I remember her Sox cap and the little dish of candies she always kept filled on the end table by the sofa, where I sat. Her son, my father, became such a rabid fan he once climbed the mast on a sailboat after a few too many and declared he wouldn't come down til the Sox won the penant. Dad was a very sweet man who always told me that hatred was a terrible emotion, so I should never give in to hating anyone...except the Habs and the Yankees. You must hate the Habs and the Yankees, but no one else! I honor his sage wisdom to this day.

Such a great story. I laughed out loud!

 

[LeoCarrillo]

I moved to NYC in 1998. I live in the area to this day. I went to ALCS game 7 2003. When I came into work the next day my monitors were covered with NY post clippings and all the yankee fans at work were yelling "1918" to me etc etc. A huge baseball fan I went to over 20 games a year at yankee stadium from 1998-2002. Well over 100 games at the toilet. Saw some great teams. My point is I'm saying this from a place of knowledge and experience: NYY fans are by far and away the worst fans in any sport and it's not even particularly close. And its hammered home by how they all scattered after 2004 as they are now missing an essential portion of what they considered to be vital to their fandom: a dominance and "you suck hahahahaha" mentality over the Red Sox. Stripped of that they have eroded into loudmouth generally un knowledgeable crummy baseball fans who boo Aaron judge and generally make the game less enjoyable to watch. With a sense of entitlement and lack of baseball knowledge they are obnoxious and generally represent all the things about the Nyc area that I don't like (many things I do like however).

Because of their loathsome fan base I say I hate the MFY with extreme passion and hatred. Their crummy fans will spawn new generations of crummy fans and so on and so forth. Stopping hating the yankees is absolutely unacceptable in any shape or form even if they suck for the next 100 years. They are the sworn enemy and they will forever be. I hate them and so should you. ALWAYS

Perfection. No notes.

 

[Bosoxian]

Baseball as a sport probably is better when the Yankees are good. But the only correct answer here is "Not in 1000 lifetimes".

Don’t agree with this. How much fun are people having with the Cowboys, the NFL version of the MFY, recent lack of success?

 

[cantor44]

Back in the day when the rivalry was intense, and I was younger, I definitely "hated" them. That said, I will never cheer for them under any circumstance. In fact, one reason I want Soto in Boston is because I think NY is going to boo him hard, and maybe that will re-kindle the rivalry. Baseball needs that rivalry back.

I really hate the team, and the culture around the team. But I will admit on exception I made:

I was living in NYC at the time of 9/11. That's the only year I rooted for the Yankees in the post season. They're come-from-behind playoff wins TRULY felt like they were realization of the resilience of the city itself. I got invested, only to see them lose exactly like the Red Sox might to manufactured franchise in the 2001 WS.

 

[Otis Foster]

Actually, there are a couple of things I've liked about the Yankees after Steinbrenner took over---All players, coaches, and male executives are forbidden to display any facial hair other than mustaches (except for religious reasons), and scalp hair may not be grown below the collar. Other than that, although I grew up as an AL fan (back in the days when there actually were two leagues), I rooted for the NL to win the World Series every time the Yankees were participating.

Are you serious?

 

[zenax]

Are you serious?

Are you serious? /s

 

[Van Everyman]

I really hate the team, and the culture around the team. But I will admit on exception I made:

I was living in NYC at the time of 9/11. That's the only year I rooted for the Yankees in the post season. They're come-from-behind playoff wins TRULY felt like they were realization of the resilience of the city itself. I got invested, only to see them lose exactly like the Red Sox might to manufactured franchise in the 2001 WS.

See, like I said above, when Luis Gonzalez hit that shitty flare to beat Rivera, I thought “There is a god” – because I knew that if the Yankees had won that game and series it would have been broadly interpreted as some divine intervention that would have taken the mystique of the Yankees to completely insufferable and possibly irreversible levels.

 

[Otis Foster]

Are you serious? /s

If you weren't, I missed it. My bad. If you were, my question stands.

 

[lexrageorge]

I started following the Red Sox around 1971. Didn't real know or care much about the Yankees at the time, as the Orioles and Tigers were the AL teams to beat at that time. The 1975 team secured my lifelong fandom, but the third place Yankees were not really on the radar that season (the Orioles were the team that were the biggest threat in the division that season). I neither liked or hated the Yankees; I was just ambivalent.

The only resentment I had for the Yankees at the time was the fact that they acquired Sparky Lyle from the Red Sox for one Danny Cater. I never understood that trade (still don't, as I never heard a rational explanation for it), but blamed the Sox front office instead. I remember the Yankees signing Catfish Hunter at the end of 1974, and I didn't quite understand why the Yankees were able to get such a good pitcher and the Red Sox did not. Of course, Steinbrenner was quietly building a solid roster via some trades and drafting, but I was too young to pay attention to that.

It all changed on May 20, 1976. There was a ton of hope for the 1976 Red Sox after the team had come so close to beating the Big Red Machine the prior October. For the first time in like forever, the Red Sox acted as a big market team and traded for Fergie Jenkins just a couple of short weeks after the World Series, who would join a rotation of Luis Tiant, Bill Lee, and Rick Wise to anchor what was hoped to be one of the stronger pitching staffs in the AL. The same lineup that led the AL in runs scored in 1975 was returning intact, led of course by the gold dust twins of Jim Rice and RoY/MVP Fred Lynn.

Instead, the Sox stumbled badly to a 6-15 start, which included a horrific 10 game losing streak that began late April. Jenkins started at 1-5, seriously victimized by a total lack of run support. Rick Wise had an unsightly 6.62 ERA. Bill Lee was even worse, going 0-3 with a 9.27 ERA. Tiant was his usual excellent self, going 5-2 with a 2.57 ERA, and almost single handedly kept the Sox from falling deep into the abyss. And the lineup unexpectedly regressed at the plate.

However, the Sox started to appear they could turn things around. Going into the series against NY, they had won 7 of their previous 8 games to pull within 6 games of the AL East leading Yankees (who were off to a scorchingly hot start). Bill Lee was cruising, scattering 7 mostly harmless hits over the first 6 innings as the Sox had a 2-1 lead. A collision at the plate between Carlton Fisk and Lou Piniella was followed by a bench clearing brawl, during which Graig Nettles and Mickey Rivers teamed up against Bill Lee and threw him violently to the ground, dislocating his left (pitching) shoulder in the process. Lee was expected to miss the rest of the season as a result, and the league did nothing. And while Lee did return that season, he never was able to regain the form that won him 17 games each in 3 consecutive seasons. From that point on, the Yankees were public enemy #1 in my eyes.

The Yankees signed Reggie Jackson in the subsequent offseason, and then 1978 happened. I don't hate them as much as I used to (2004 cleansed a lot of sins), but I'll always smile when the Yankees lose.

 

[cantor44]

See, like I said above, when Luis Gonzalez hit that shitty flare to beat Rivera, I thought “There is a god” – because I knew that if the Yankees had won that game and series it would have been broadly interpreted as some divine intervention that would have taken the mystique of the Yankees to completely insufferable and possibly irreversible levels.

Yes, you're probably right. You're right - it would have! In the moment, I wasn't thinking that far. New York was now my home, and the experience of the city in the face of that massive trauma meant something to me.

 

[8slim]

Two thoughts…

1) “Yankees suck” is a great chant. It’s perfect. And people who dislike it hate fun. What would you hate fun? “Well acktually… [insert some psychobabble here]…”. Nonsense.

2) Your reaction to the one game wild card game in 2021 should be your answer to this question. My stomach was in knots for that entire game. I could stand losing it to any other team in the AL, but not the NYY. Because I hate that pompous organization and its insufferable fans.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

I’m openly rooting for Aaron Judge’s age 33+ career to mimic Richie Sexson’s age 33+ career - while he continues to collect $40M per year.

 

[Al Zarilla]

I started following the Red Sox around 1971. Didn't real know or care much about the Yankees at the time, as the Orioles and Tigers were the AL teams to beat at that time. The 1975 team secured my lifelong fandom, but the third place Yankees were not really on the radar that season (the Orioles were the team that were the biggest threat in the division that season). I neither liked or hated the Yankees; I was just ambivalent.

The only resentment I had for the Yankees at the time was the fact that they acquired Sparky Lyle from the Red Sox for one Danny Cater. I never understood that trade (still don't, as I never heard a rational explanation for it), but blamed the Sox front office instead. I remember the Yankees signing Catfish Hunter at the end of 1974, and I didn't quite understand why the Yankees were able to get such a good pitcher and the Red Sox did not. Of course, Steinbrenner was quietly building a solid roster via some trades and drafting, but I was too young to pay attention to that.

It all changed on May 20, 1976. There was a ton of hope for the 1976 Red Sox after the team had come so close to beating the Big Red Machine the prior October. For the first time in like forever, the Red Sox acted as a big market team and traded for Fergie Jenkins just a couple of short weeks after the World Series, who would join a rotation of Luis Tiant, Bill Lee, and Rick Wise to anchor what was hoped to be one of the stronger pitching staffs in the AL. The same lineup that led the AL in runs scored in 1975 was returning intact, led of course by the gold dust twins of Jim Rice and RoY/MVP Fred Lynn.

Instead, the Sox stumbled badly to a 6-15 start, which included a horrific 10 game losing streak that began late April. Jenkins started at 1-5, seriously victimized by a total lack of run support. Rick Wise had an unsightly 6.62 ERA. Bill Lee was even worse, going 0-3 with a 9.27 ERA. Tiant was his usual excellent self, going 5-2 with a 2.57 ERA, and almost single handedly kept the Sox from falling deep into the abyss. And the lineup unexpectedly regressed at the plate.

However, the Sox started to appear they could turn things around. Going into the series against NY, they had won 7 of their previous 8 games to pull within 6 games of the AL East leading Yankees (who were off to a scorchingly hot start). Bill Lee was cruising, scattering 7 mostly harmless hits over the first 6 innings as the Sox had a 2-1 lead. A collision at the plate between Carlton Fisk and Lou Piniella was followed by a bench clearing brawl, during which Graig Nettles and Mickey Rivers teamed up against Bill Lee and threw him violently to the ground, dislocating his left (pitching) shoulder in the process. Lee was expected to miss the rest of the season as a result, and the league did nothing. And while Lee did return that season, he never was able to regain the form that won him 17 games each in 3 consecutive seasons. From that point on, the Yankees were public enemy #1 in my eyes.

The Yankees signed Reggie Jackson in the subsequent offseason, and then 1978 happened. I don't hate them as much as I used to (2004 cleansed a lot of sins), but I'll always smile when the Yankees lose.

One question about your post: the Yankees had won 20 World Series titles since 1918 and the Red Sox none. So, how do you not know or care much about the Yankees in 1971?

 

[lexrageorge]

One question about your post: the Yankees had won 20 World Series titles since 1918 and the Red Sox none. So, how do you not know or care much about the Yankees in 1971?

All of those were before my time. The Yankees previous World Series appearance happened months before I was born. I knew about the Yankees, sure, but they were no different to me than any other opponent the Sox faced. The Orioles, A's, and Tigers (to a lesser extent) were the behemoths of the AL at that time.

 

[Devizier]

I’ve come around on the Yankees’ facial hair policy having seen the mountain man beard become normalized in society. Sometimes you have to draw a line. We just draw it in different places.

 

[Otis Foster]

The policy itself is a matter of taste. It does reinforce the vibe that the MFY are soulless and robotic.

 

[8slim]

All of those were before my time. The Yankees previous World Series appearance happened months before I was born. I knew about the Yankees, sure, but they were no different to me than any other opponent the Sox faced. The Orioles, A's, and Tigers (to a lesser extent) were the behemoths of the AL at that time.

This may also have something to do with one’s family history of Sox fandom. I started really following the Sox in the early 80s when I was 8 or 9.

The Yankees had some good seasons in the 80s but they certainly weren’t The YANKEES as they had been in the 70s.

But my family were all lifelong Sox fans going back decades, so they instilled Yankees hate into my very being. If I hadn’t been raised that way then I could have seen thinking of them like I did the Jays during that decade.