TAMPA — It will never be 2003-04 again. What can’t be replicated is the intensity of the Yankees trying to keep The Curse intact and the Red Sox’s fanaticism to end it. And, thus, the meaning that brought to the astounding 52 games the Rivals played between the regular and postseasons those two years and the hatred — no hyperbole or hype — that peaked between the fan bases.
Aaron Boone is the manager of the Yankees because — like Bucky Dent before him — he hit one of the most important homers in franchise history to eliminate the Red Sox, this one in Game 7 of a 2003 ALCS that felt like it should have taken place in the Roman Colosseum as much as Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park; such was the ferocity and fighting that took place on the field, in the Yankee bullpen (when was the last time you thought about Karim García?) and throughout the stands.
Then Boone blew out his knee playing pickup basketball that offseason. And the Red Sox, after failing to complete a drawn-out process to acquire Alex Rodriguez, watched the Yankees trade for him. A-Rod willingly moved off shortstop to play third, though he was better at the position than the homegrown beloved player Derek Jeter — why cause unease and controversy? This only elevated the Rivalry heat, with A-Rod now at the epicenter of the Boston animosity.
Red Sox president Larry Lucchino had dubbed the Yankees “The Evil Empire” the previous year when they beat his team to Cuban pitching star José Contreras, a transaction that motivated a frustrated then-Boston GM Theo Epstein to smash a hotel room chair. Now, A-Rod felt like Babe Ruth II — the great slugger escaping Boston’s clutches to bring New England misery and Yankee superiority. Except the season ended with the Red Sox coming from 0-3 down in the ALCS to beat the Yankees en route to their first championship since 1918, slaying The Curse and with it the lifeblood that most fueled The Rivalry.
