The Yankees and Purple Sox will add one other chapter to their storied rivalry starting Tuesday.
The Bombers welcomed the Sox to Yankee Stadium for the American League Wild Card sequence in one more battle between the 2 historic franchises. Nevertheless, issues might not be as they as soon as had been.
Purple Sox supervisor Alex Cora admitted the rivalry could have misplaced slightly luster all through the previous a number of common seasons.
“I feel it’s intense in October [but] through the common season, there’s others which can be extra intense. The one within the West Coast is silly, you already know, the Padres and the Dodgers. That’s intense from the get-go.
“It’s not that intense during the regular season, but it has toned down throughout the years. We played in [the postseason] ’18, it was intense. ’21, that one is crazy. I bet this one will be the same way.”
There are a number of components that play into the watered-down rivalry and maybe the largest is the latest irrelevancy of the Purple Sox. That is the primary time Boston finds itself again within the postseason since 2021 — after they defeated the Yankees within the then single-elimination Wild Card sport en path to an ALCS look.
Now Cora’s squad is again in October, however with a a lot completely different look. These aren’t Mookie Betts and even Rafael Devers’ Purple Sox. These guys had been each traded to the West Coast. There are many names in Boston’s lineup which have but to make their mark on the rivalry, apart from Alex Bregman from his years with the Astros.
The shortage of continuity within the Purple Sox roster all through the years definitely performs an element within the lack of real hatred that the baseball world is accustomed to seeing between the 2 sides. Nevertheless, Cora remains to be the person in cost, and that must be sufficient for the Yankees to get spooked.
For so long as the 49-year-old has led the Purple Sox, the Bombers have been despatched dwelling packing in all three of their postseason matchups. And this crew on the rise that’s stuffed with younger expertise — went 9-4 towards the Bombers in 2025 — has Cora’s handprints throughout it.
“As I said yesterday, they always do a good job of the game within the game,” stated Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone. “You bought to ensure you are buttoned up. They will exploit and discover each little small benefit they’ll. I feel [Cora] can be an amazing chief they usually sort of tackle his character, and I feel they play onerous for him and play lots for them. That’s a tribute of who he’s and the way he runs issues. However, you already know, you bought to ensure you are buttoned up if you go up towards them, and that’s largely attributable to his management. …
“I think there’s an intensity they play the game with, an edge, an intelligence that they play the game with. Like Alex has a good way about him as far as just having a really good energy and control of things. I think his players follow that.”
Whereas the faces could also be completely different and the vitality of the rivalry isn’t precisely harking back to the early 2000’s, the 2025 Purple Sox have the entire makings to start out off this new chapter of the rivalry with a bang.
