10. The Players Don't Care About The Rivalry That Much
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNsYgJw394w Theres a saying about sports fandom thats called root for laundry. The fans loyalty is primarily to the team whose name appears on the jerseys, and the loyalty for the player only extends as far as the players tenure on that team. The players couldnt really care less about which team they play for. Although they respect the rivalry, theyre professional athletes who get paid millions of dollars to play the game. Jacoby Ellsbury, who won two World Series with the Red Sox in 2007 and 2013, had no trouble at all accepting the Yankeess money when he signed with New York last offseason. Like Johnny Damon, Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens before him, Ellsburys loyalty is primarily to who signs his paychecks. Gone are players like Curt Schilling who openly hated the Yankees and wasnt shy about admitting it in the media. David Ortiz, one of the most beloved Red Sox players still on the current roster, cares so little about the rivalry with the Yankees that he spoofed the rivalry in an ESPN
Sportscenter commercial where he put on a Yankees hat to curve the brim for Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. With the players respectful of, yet ambivalent to the rivalry, the games have lacked and will continue to lack the juice they had during the prime years of the rivalry.