My Enemy's Enemy is My Friend Weekend

Once again its that time for interleague play and as always for every Royals-Cardinals series, we have a Diamondbacks-A's. That's the biggest problem with interleague play; way too many series that have absolutely no cache in order to fight through and get a Cubs-White Sox or a Mets-Yankees. However, this isn't one of those weekends here in New York.


At Yankee Stadium this weekend, the Yankees invite the World Champion Phillies into town, while the Mets are headed up to Fenway to take on the Red Sox. That's right, it's a bizarro rivalry weekend. Both matchups have history; the Whiz Kid Phillies were swept by the Yankees in the 1950 World Series and the Choke in '64 prevented another Phillies-Yankees matchup. Meanwhile, every baseball fan knows about the 1986 World Series, a story that's rarely told as a Mets victory, but as a Red Sox loss. Everyone seems to forget that the Mets won 108 games that year and were the prohibitive favorites to win the World Series due to the lofty record.


The point of this article wasn't to give a history lesson, but to point out the irony of Mets and Yanks fans rooting for the crosstown teams. I, as a Yankee fan, have no problem rooting for the Mets to beat the Red Sox. However, my father, as a Yankee fan, is pulling for the Red Sox because he can't stomach the thought about rooting for the Mets. This is a man who rooted for the Red Sox in the '86 Series and took the Boston fan approach after the Buckner play in Game 6, he walked out on a wedding party.


Meanwhile, it would seem easy for Mets fans to root for the Yankees because the Phillies are the Phillies. But, according to Gary Cohen, his view of the Yankees-Phillies series is that it doesn't matter who wins. My best friend Rocky falls in that category, going so far as say "I hope a plane crashes into the Stadium." Well then. Still, Subway Squawker Met fan Jon wrote, "Now this bad week is about to get even worse. This weekend, I will find myself rooting for the Yankees and against the Red Sox" in his post explaining why to root for the Yankees this weekend.


It's also a chance for Yanks and Mets fans a chance to do things they wouldn't normally do. When this post is finished, Johan Santana has finished pitching tonight, giving Yankee fans a chance to root for the man that should be wearing pinstripes, marvel without guilt in his brillance and to feel bad when the Mets make it harder on him to succeed, instead of showing amusement. Mets fans get a chance to see A-Rod from the Yankees perspective...well, I guess they can watch Derek Jeter and see how a shortstop is supposed to carry himself on the field. Of course, you can be like me and give both series a quick glimpse and focus on the NBA and NHL playoffs this weekend.


But for those of you who feel they must watch all powerful and almighty baseball, then don't worry about violating NY baseball law and root for both home teams.