Tale of two cities that continues to divide a nation

DERBY DAYS - MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL:The resurgence in 2004 of Boston Red Sox has reignited the fiercest rivalry in baseball New York Yankees Boston Red Sox Friday, April 11th Fenway Park, Boston.

CAN YOU say two teams have a huge rivalry if, for most of their history, one has been kicking the stuffing out of the other? Can you even call it a rivalry at all if one side has completely dominated the meetings for decades at a time?

First, though, the basics.

Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues - American and National - and both are sub-divided into another three divisions: East, Central and West.

Claim a division title and a team wins a pennant, but it's being the king of both leagues by claiming the best-of-seven World Series (though by "world" Americans just mean everything between Los Angeles and New York) that is really the only prize in baseball.

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees play in the Eastern division of the American League, which explains why next Friday's will be their 1,745th meeting.

Both were founded at the start of the 20th century, and the Red Sox were first out of the blocks, quickly establishing themselves as one of the most successful teams in baseball and winning the inaugural World Series in 1903.

The Yankees, on the other hand, struggled, and even when, in 1904, they managed a great run of success, they lost on the final day of the season in a title decider to a team they were already beginning to hate.

No one at the time could possibly have thought, however, that the Yankees would not lose another title-deciding game to the Red Sox for the next 100 years.

The disastrous run of failure is blamed on one controversial transaction - known as the "Curse of the Bambino".

By 1919 the Red Sox were in deep financial difficulty and to get some quick money they sold the great Babe Ruth - to the Yankees of all opponents. Ruth's departure signalled the end of the Red Sox as a major force and was the spark that launched the Yankees, his legendary batting taking his new side to seven World Series, and four victories.

In fact, in the 83 years after Ruth was sold, the Red Sox failed to win a World Series and claimed only four pennants. In the same 83 years, the Yankees were World Series champions 26 times and won 39 pennants.

Which brings us back to questioning the merits of calling the relationship between the teams a big rivalry. It sounds more like the rivalry a cat has with a goldfish.

One of the defining moments of the barren years for the Boston outfit came in 1949, a season that launched 1,000 books. The Red Sox, tipped to sweep all before them, arrived at Yankee Stadium up by one with two games left. The home side won both, claimed the pennant, and went on to win not only that World Series but the next four as well.

Boston retreated and it was not until 1978 that they stood up square to the Yankees again - this time finishing the regular season in superb form to lie in a first-place tie with the Yankees.

It was decided to hold a one-game winner-takes-all tie in Boston. The visitors won 5-4, and to rub salt into the wound went on to claim the World Series Championship again.

But if anyone needed convincing of the fierce rivalry between the sides it came in the meeting and the aftermath of the 2004 American League Championship Series.

The Yankees swept the first three games. No team in professional baseball had lost a best-of-seven series after winning the first three games. Until now.

The Red Sox staged a sensational comeback against their bitter rivals and then swept aside the St Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series in 86 years.

The Curse of the Bambino was dead, but the hatred between the cities was alive and kicking and USA Today were quick to dub it "the fiercest rivalry in sports".

It is big enough to have even penetrated the 2008 US presidential race, the former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani controversially saying last October he would cheer for the Red Sox in the World Series. The same month the former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said all Americans were united in hatred of the Yankees. Both comments were front-page news throughout the USA.

Boston host New York at Fenway Park on Friday as the reigning AL East Championship title holders (last year halting the Yankees' 10-in-a-row bid) and they're also the World Series champions.

The rivalry may have been one-sided for much of the 20th century, but it survived and is thriving again. A new chapter begins this weekend.