For 86 years, the New York Yankees always had the final say against the Boston Red Sox. Not anymore.
On April 11 at Fenway Park, with their conquered foe looking on, the Red Sox will hand out World Series rings, celebrating the title that had eluded them since 1918.
"I'm sure I'm not going to help them hand them out," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said to laughter. "But they deserve it. I'm sure they've been looking forward to this for a long time. So let them do it."
As the rings are distributed, memories will return of major league baseball's greatest postseason comeback. The Red Sox were 3-0 down against the Yankees in the best-of-seven American League championship series, then reeled off eight straight games to stun New York and sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
Outfielder Trot Nixon hopes it keeps going. He wants as many rings as the Olympic flag.
"I'm a greedy person. I want as many as I possibly can get," he said. "I want to be one of those guys also that has an opportunity to take a picture and have four or five rings on my finger with this team."
In 2003, Aaron Boone was the star of the American League championship showdown with his 11th-inning homer to win Game 7 for the Yankees. Last season, pitcher Curt Schilling headlined the ALCS comeback with his bravado and sock bleeding from an ankle injury.
All winter long, for every action by one team, there was a reaction from the other, be it in Beantown and the Big Apple or Fort Myers and Tampa during their spring stays in Florida. On Sunday, it starts anew, with Randy Johnson throwing the first pitch of the major league season, and former Yankee David Wells pitching for Boston.
The Yankees traded for Johnson and signed Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright as free agents to fix their starting rotation. They brought in Tony Womack to play second, and brought back Tino Martinez to play first while trying to find out if Jason Giambi will recover from injuries and illness and rebound from an offseason filled with steroid controversy.
"I miss playing here. This is where I want to be," said Martinez, who helped the Yankees win four World Series titles from 1996-2000. "Playing in Yankee Stadium in front of those fans every day, a sold out stadium, playoff atmosphere every night, you don't get that anywhere else."
New York already has sold 3.1 million tickets at an average price of more than US$40, a big reason it can afford MLB's first US$200 million payroll. The Yankees are 200,000 tickets ahead of the pace they set last year, when they drew 3.78 million, and 620,000 ahead of 2003. As of Friday, New York had sold 29,976 season tickets or partial-plan equivalents.
Up in Boston, where the Red Sox have sold 2.5 million tickets for tiny Fenway Park (leaving only 300,000 available), Pedro Martinez departed for the New York Mets and Derek Lowe for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wells and Matt Clement were brought in, and Edgar Renteria was lured from the Cardinals to replace Orlando Cabrera at shortstop.
"I don't want for one minute to get lost what we need to do in '05," Boston manager Terry Francona said, "because if we lose sight of that, what we did in '04 isn't going to mean much for very long."
Boston hopes Schilling's ankle, still recovering from surgery, will allow him to pitch by mid-April. The Red Sox count on big seasons again from Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Johnny Damon, Jason Varitek and Kevin Millar, more consistency from starters Tim Wakefield and Bronson Arroyo, and more outstanding closing by Keith Foulke.
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