Love is in the air between the Yankees and Red Sox.
Maybe "love" is a little strong, but Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis don't mind saying they have formed a bond with Derek Jeter as members of Team USA for the World Baseball Classic.
You only need to spend a few minutes around the batting cage to hear the good-natured bantering and wagering of side bets - payable in pushups - to realize many of these U.S. players have built a rapport. Jeter and Pedroia are among the ringleaders.
Pedroia recently set the tone when he posted a deodorant ad in his locker. In the ad, Jeter is standing outside Fenway Park, and the message says, "Every day is a walk in the park. Even this park."
Jeter couldn't help but laugh at Pedroia's posting.
"You get to know guys playing against them, as players," Jeter said. "But one of the good things about something like this is you get an opportunity to put personalities with the players."
And some more from Anthony McCarron:Youkilis said he has always respected Jeter, but spending the past week with him has taken that admiration to another level.
"[Jeter] has been unbelievable, and you see why he's the captain of the Yankees," Youkilis said.
OK, I'll admit it's nice too see that the players on Team US are getting along. And I'm glad that a lot of players around the league look up to Jeter. But at the same time I really miss the days of the rivalry when the players on both teams really hated each other, and you don't even have to go back to the days of Thurman and Fisk, and Nettles and Bill Lee. Even as recently as 2003-04 the players on the two teams really didn't like each other. But ever since the Sox won, the rivalry has become a bit watered down. Maybe Joba can put another pitch in Youkilis' ear and change all that.They go at it constantly," Chipper Jones said of Jeter and Pedroia. "It's fun when Yankees and Red Sox go at each other, because you know they're going to hate each other in a month."
Jeter's burgeoning relationship with Pedroia adds a different dynamic to the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry. The two met at last year's All-Star Game when Pedroia and Youkilis were among the Sox All-Stars who dressed in enemy territory - the Yankee clubhouse.
Jeter says he admires the way both Pedroia and Youkilis play "every game like it's the last game they're going to play. You appreciate that."
"It's awesome to play with him, especially because we play against him so much during the season and he's always getting hits and doing things, so you respect him so much," added Pedroia. "We don't hate them and I don't think they hate us. It's great competition. That's what makes it fun - playing against great players and trying to win."
Jeter has seen former teammates go to Boston, such as David Cone, Ramiro Mendoza and David Wells, and noted that feelings about opposing players are somewhat different than they once were because of all the player movement in baseball. Still, he noted, "Even though you have relationships with guys and you respect them and admire them, it's still a rivalry."
24 Comments:
No, I prefer it this way. Leave it to use in the blogosphere to crap all over one another.
Yankees suck. ; )
"It's awesome to play with him, especially because we play against him so much during the season and he's always getting hits and doing things, so you respect him so much," added Pedroia.
OMG, did Pedroia say he would love Jeter on the Yankees? Does that mean he doesn't like their current short stop??!!
Wonder if Peter Abraham is all over this one yet.
keep your friends close, and your enemies closer
yankees forever!
AND he gets the hot chicks too -more than can be said for any red suck player. this guy can do no wrong really
Youkilis' wife is pretty cute.
i bet Jeter would rather have Youk and Pedroia on the Yankees rather than Arod and Cano... ( having Youk at 3rd, b/c Tex). They're winners, I hate them, but I wish they were Yankees.
Dan you are sooo right...youk and pedroia play the game the right way we would be lucky to have two great players like them
Thats fine if they are friendly off the field. The only thing that annoys me about Jeter is during the game he is way to friendly with the Red Sox. When he gets to third base he would hug Lowell that bothers me.
What do you expect? He's around players that play the way he plays, who remind him of Yankees that he come up playing on champion teams with. Real team players, not the sorry excuse for a clubhouse he's been stuck in for the past five years.
It takes a special kind of person as well as athlete to be able to remain as competitive as Jeter can and at the same time, try and crush them on the field as an opponent. How Jeter hasn't earned the trust of some Yankee fans boggles my mind. He's a human being just like the rest of the players and he relaizes that baseball is bigger than yankees vs red sox. They're on the same team, what do you expect?
So you put a picture of him giving Youkilis a pound during player intros and you imply that he's doing something wrong.
Reality is, it's not the old days anymore, Athletes meet each other and cooperate events, commercial shootings, parties etc...and they become friends...just like regular humans do. Other than the their regular season jersey, what's not to like about those two? They are a pleasant breeze of the types of players the Yankees USED to have.
It's not the 80's when the Celtics made the lakers hold an NBA finals practice in a carpeted hotel banquet room, cuz they closed them out of the Boston Garden. Or even when the Celtics used to turn the visitors locker room heat all the way up to make them uncomfortable. I can go on and on, bottom line; this article is tabloid material and even though u copy and pasted most of this post, even putting it up is suspect.
Miller,
All I'm saying is I wish it was like it used to be, and you really don't have to go that far back. In 2003 these teams hated each other.
I don't think Jeter is doing anything wrong, nor did I say he was.
As for Youkilis and Pedroia, as players I like them both and wish they were Yankees.
And that picture is just the one that was used by the Daily News in the article I quoted.
Jeter and Nomar have been friends since 96'....The rivalry has been mostly about the fans sicne as long as you or I can remember. There were a few battles and words here and there, but hate? Not really. Jeter hasnt changed at all...
Yep, I know he was. Like I said, I'm not saying Jeter is doing anything wrong, and I also didn't say that he changed. Chad Curtis had problems with Jeter for this reason back in 2000 because he was laughing with A-Rod on the sidelines during a Yankees-Mariners brawl. That's why Curtis was eventually traded. So no, Jeter has not changed at all.
However, there was a true hatred between these two teams in the early 2000's - at least that what the players involved say - up until about the time the Sox won . That completely changed the dynamic of the rivalry.
I think once Pedro and Zimmer left, a lot settled down between the two teams. Also, Schilling hasn't been around for a little bit too.
Still nice to have Joba throwing at Youkilis though. ;) I really can't stand Youkilis, don't know why.
I love Pedroia for Team USA and the way he plays the game but during the season it'll be back to the same old, same old. I won't be rooting for him anytime soon between April & October.
So blog about THOSE players and what THEY said as opposed to Jeter.
Yea you're right David, Pedro leaving changed a lot. The Yankees hated him. One of the reasons - and I didn't know this until I read the Torre book - is because he used to yell at the Yankees from the dugout all the time. The Yankees hated that. He'd make fun of players who were hitting (when he wasn't pitching), or when the Sox were batting he's make fun of Posada behind the plate all the time.
Miller, this was in the papers this morning, that's why I posted something about it. THOSE players were not in the paper this morning.
Yeah I know, the 'tabloid' papers. thats why I wrote:
"bottom line; this article is tabloid material and even though u copy and pasted most of this post, even putting it up is suspect."
In my first comment.
Suspect how?
Suspect that a real Yankee fan would agree with that type of non sense. Isn't this YOUR blog?
Mike Puma is paid by the Daily News, are you?
Anything on here reflects YOUR opinion, it's not a newsreel, its a blog.
Actually you're wrong. I post the news and whatever was written in the news is the opinion of the writer of the story, and that person alone. I thne then add my opinion after. My opinion of this story is that Jeter didn't do anything wrong, but I still wish the rivalry was like it was in the old days.
I know your opinion from your comments, not from your blog post.
Well then you're reading into this far too much.
Here's some fun facts you need to know about Youk the Troll.
I know our Captain is getting along well with both trolls and house elfs, but I still love to see Joba throw a high fastball over Youk's sweaty bald head.
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