Yanks-Sox a Great Way to Open Season

Five years ago, when the Yankees were scheduled to open the MLB season vs. Boston, I thought it was overkill.  Opening Day was enough, I reasoned, it didn’t have to be against Boston with all the craziness that the rivalry brings.  Plus it was coming off not only the Red Sox’s first title in 86 years, but their improbable escape from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS the last time the teams had met.

But as the day grew closer, there was a definite buzz about the game that I think had been missing from the past few openers, especially from the Yankees’ perspective.  The Sunday night opener on ESPN had been going for a few years, after the more than 100-year tradition of having the Cincinnati Reds, recognized as the first official major league franchise, host the season opener, had been broken.

The year before, 2004, the Yanks had opened the season by splitting a pair of games with Tampa Bay in Tokyo, but the “real” opener was the Sox and Orioles a week later.  Matchups like the Angels-Rangers in ‘03 and Angels-Indians in ‘02 just didn’t generate the same excitement that the renewal of one of the biggest rivalries in the game did in ‘05 at Yankee Stadium.

MLB Network Radio (formerly XM Home Plate) had a discussion going this morning about Yanks-Sox and Opening Day in general.  I understand that listeners to this station, like myself, are mostly die-hard fans, and “tradition” means more to them than the casual fan.  Many called in or wrote on Facebook that they prefer the “tradition” of the Reds opening the season with a Monday day game.  I like ties to the past and some traditions too, but it’s been 20 years since the Reds opened the MLB season at home, and I believe that using a platform like a prime time Sunday to showcase the World Champions vs. their most hated rivals to start the year is a much better option.