Red Sox owner discovers Mark Teixeira curse, Red Sox still pound Yankees in historic streak

Logan on 06 14, 2009

The Yankees are in the midst of making history against their longtime nemesis the Boston Red Sox…for all the wrong reasons. New York dropped it’s eighth straight game of the season to the AL East leading Red Sox Thursday night at Fenway, the third time they’ve been swept at the hands of Boston in 2009 in as many chances.

Some interesting facts regarding the historic streak:

The last time the Red Sox won its first eight meetings against New York occurred in 1912, a year in which Boston would go on to win a championship.
Boston has now swept three series in one season against the Yankees for the first time since 1974, a span of over three decades.
Boston, going back to last September 28th, have now made it nine consecutive victories at the expense of New York (eight wins shy of the club record seventeen straight wins).

The aftermath of the latest Red Sox victory brought a lot of frustration, accusations, bad blood, and a few choice words to the surface. It seems the two clubs are getting back to classic Yankee/Red Sox interactions.

Joe Girardi clearly doesn’t yet understand how to manage in the city of New York. Aside from the results against his club’s arch rival the Boston Red Sox on the field, Girardi continues to take steps backwards off the diamond. Following the finale of the recent three game series in Boston, Joe Girardi proceeded to cause a stir in the media as he accused Red Sox starter Brad Penny of intentionally placing a fastball directly between the numbers of star slugger Alex Rodriguez. The bean-ball generated an instant mutual team warning from the home plate umpire (who had been spoken to by league officials prior to the game regarding a potential retaliation to Jason Bay being plunked).

Instead of taking the proper approach like Red Sox manager Terry Francona who dismissed the hit by pitch, Girardi decided to stir the pot a little bit saying, “I thought it was on purpose. That is all part of baseball.” Way to be mature about the situation Joe. Why on earth would Penny put Alex Rodriguez on base with such a potent lineup behind him during such a close battle for the division lead during a tie ball game? More importantly, Joe seems to completely dismiss the fact that through the first seven games of this season series nine Boston hitters had been drilled by Yankee pitchers (compared to the two Yankees hit)…including Jason Bay twice, a man who has tortured New York pitching all year. Did Jason Bay or Terry Francona ever whine in the media after those bean-balls? No.

The verbal assaults didn’t end there. Red Sox owner John Henry, in a pretty questionable decision on his part, used his Twitter account to suggest that the Yankees are cursed after signing prized off-season free agent Mark Teixeira. The “tweet” read, “the MT Curse?” Henry did attempt to make light of the situation saying, “But seriously, that’s all theater. He is certainly one of the best players in the game. Tremendous hitter, great first baseman. A great sign for the Yankees. And he has a great sense of humor.” Apparently that last part isn’t so true. Teixeira was not amused by the suggestion made by Henry saying, “How old is Mr. Henry? There is no reason for me to get into any war of words with some 70-something-year-old man. It doesn’t make sense.” What doesn’t make sense is pointing out how pointless it is to get into a verbal attack with Henry, and then proceeded to do so.

And by the way, Henry is actually only 59 years old Mark. Teixeira added that the “MT Curse” was “silly,” and reiterated that he signed with the Yankees because they offered him more money (typical Yankee response if you ask me). The bad blood between Teixeira and the Red Sox dates back to 1998 when the Red Sox failed to sign the Yankee first basemen out of high school, and it continued when the Sox went from favorites to land his services this off-season only to be outbid by the rival Yankees. Teixeira finished addressing the Henry situation by asking who’s reputation looks better following the exchange of words. Well Mark, to be honest, you look like the fool. Henry simply made a light, amusing suggestion, and you look like an contradicting egomaniac who can’t take a joke. You even played the childish ‘Yeah? Well you’re old!’ card, real mature big guy.

Although most of it seems petty, this is exactly what baseball needs…some good old Yankee/Red Sox ribbing. We will most likely see more of this during the course of the rest of the season, especially if the Yankees continue to struggle against the Sox. Things may not escalate to the level of the 2004 Varitek/A-Rod scuffle, but sparks are inevitable nonetheless. With characters like the clueless Girardi, the egotistical Rodriguez and Teixeira, and head hunting pitchers like Chamberlain, Papelbon, and Beckett…this could get interesting quickly.