Baseball’s best rivalry became a one-sided beating last year. The Yankees’ humbling at the hands of Boston — make that World Series-champion Boston — reached historic levels. And as they prepare to play host to their archrivals this week, they admit they have much to prove — and a long way to go to get where the Red Sox are.
“It’s always going to be a good rivalry. The fans enjoy it, and it’s going to be a pretty good weekend,’’ outfielder Brett Gardner said of the upcoming four-game series in The Bronx starting Thursday night. “They won the World Series last year, they were the best team in baseball. It’s a new year. Hopefully we can prove we can do that this year.’’
A series that usually is competitive turned shockingly lopsided last season, the Yankees finishing a dozen games behind the Red Sox (97-65) and out of the playoffs altogether, while watching their rivals win the World Series.
Thursday marks the first of 19 games they will play this season, and had the Bombers been even mediocre in those games, last season could have been different. They were just 6-13 against Boston — the most defeats they have endured in one season vs. the Red Sox since 1974 — and lost six of their final seven meetings.
For perspective, even the last-place Blue Jays and 66-96 Twins put up a better fight. The Yankees even saw the Red Sox take over The Bronx. The Bombers went 3-7 against Boston at the Stadium, losing three home series to Boston for just the fourth time in history — 1975, 1913 and 1912.
“We’ve got to win as many games as possible, because I know the way that we play here is going to decide if we go to postseason,’’ said starter Ivan Nova, who will close out the series Sunday. “[This] game, it didn’t change. Yes, we have new faces, but that doesn’t mean it has to change. It’s the same rivalry.
“It’s early in the season, at the start. We start on the right foot, we start winning games, and we got to prove that we are a so much better team than what we were last year. [It’s] not only because we signed a couple big-time guys, free agents. It’s not that we signed them, but we’ve got to prove it out there that. And we have everything to do it.’’
Both teams will look different, the Red Sox saying goodbye to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Stephen Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury. The latter will be in pinstripes, along with fellow newcomers Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann.
“The fans get into it, the media gets into it, the players get into it, so it’s exciting for all parties. But you’ve got to get up for each and every game,’’ said Ellsbury, who came up with the Red Sox during their 2007 world-championship season. “I’m definitely looking forward to it. I try not to get on an emotional roller coaster each game, but yeah I’m looking forward to it. Obviously I gave that organization everything I had for, gee, from ’05 to 2013, a good amount of time. A good portion of my life I spent in that organization. I gave them everything I had, left it all on the field, and we’ll be playing them.’’
Yankees manager Joe Girardi — who said he expects the series to be “interesting” for Ellsbury — admitted the speedy center fielder gave the Yankees trouble, especially when he got on base. And the Bombers’ staff just couldn’t get the Red Sox out last season, pitching to a bloated 6.19 ERA.
“We know we’ve got to go through them to try and win this division. That’s our ultimate goal, to try and win the division and get into the playoffs,’’ said CC Sabathia, who pitches Friday. “We did as best we could last year with what we had. We had a lot of injuries, and dealt with a lot of adversity, but it’s a new year, and we’re looking to try to take the American League East back.’’