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Wednesday, October 13
A few questions for Sox-Yanks
By Jim Caple
Special to ESPN.com

And so after we mourned Joe DiMaggio's death in the spring and celebrated Ted Williams' life in the summer, the season fittingly comes down to this in the fall: The Yankees against the Red Sox for the American League pennant. New York vs. Boston. The only rivalries in baseball that surpass it for sheer history, passion and hostility are the Dodgers and Giants or Pete Rose and the commissioner's office.

Two years ago Diamondbacks fraud Jerry Colangelo forced his team into the National League, whining about the supposed natural rivalries Arizona fans felt for NL West teams. But you can't simply declare a rivalry. A rivalry's roots must grow over decades in bitter soil. Ill feelings must fester with repeated meetings, storied victories and stinging defeats. An occasional beanball doesn't hurt, either.

The Boston-New York rivalry is older than Yankee Stadium, effectively beginning in 1920 when then-Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold the best player in history to the Yankees for $100,000. Before the Babe Ruth sale, the Red Sox won five World Series, the Yankees none. Since the sale, the Red Sox have won none and the Yankees 24.

And now the two meet in the postseason for the first time. To the lore of Vic Raschi and Bucky Dent, we can now add Roger Clemens taking the Fenway Park mound against Pedro Martinez in Game 3, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra dueling at shortstop and Don Zimmer trying to avoid foul balls and Fenway jeers.

Before this week's series begins, warm up with this quick quiz on the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.

1. When the Red Sox and Yankees played a one-game playoff for the AL East title in 1978, current New York starter Orlando Hernandez was:
    a) 9 years old
    b) 13 years old
    c) rooting for the Red Sox and his former teammate, Luis Tiant

2. Diehard Boston fans know that the full, proper name of New York's shortstop in that 1978 playoff game is:
    a) Russell Earl (O'Dey) Dent
    b) Bucky @$#%ing Dent

3. The surest way for a New Yorker to curdle a Boston fan's blood is to whisper:
    a) "Pedro's back is acting up again."
    b) "Pedro's alarm clock is malfunctioning again."

4. The most dangerous way to watch a game at Yankee Stadium is to:
    a) Sit in the bleachers wearing red face paint, a Red Sox cap and a "New York sucks" T-shirt
    b) Stand on the subway tracks angling for a view into the park
    c) Sit behind first base directly in Chuck Knoblauch's line of fire

5. The Red Sox play in 87-year-old Fenway Park, which opened the same week:
    a) the Titanic sank
    b) Tiger Stadium opened
    c) concessionaires bought their current supply of Fenway Franks

6. New York plays in 76-year-old Yankee Stadium, where a game was postponed last year due to damage from:
    a) a 400-pound steel beam falling from the grandstand
    b) an obese David Wells passing out after finishing a case of Heineken

7. Which inspires more gloom among Red Sox fans?

8) Stephen King wrote a book prominently featuring the Red Sox. Its title is:

9. Now that Roger Clemens is with the Yankees, rabid Red Sox fans think their old favorite pitcher finally belongs:
    a) in a World Series championship parade
    b) in Cooperstown
    c) at the bottom of the Charles River

And finally . . .

9. The surest way to start a fight during this series is to say:
    a) "Derek Jeter is twice the shortstop Nomar Garciaparra is."
    b) "Nomar Garciaparra is twice the shortstop Derek Jeter is."
    c) "Excuse me, Mr. Steinbrenner, but you'll have to take the next elevator."

Box score line of the week
There were some astounding lines from the first round of the playoffs, including two seven RBI games (John Valentin and Troy O'Leary), a five-run game (Jason Varitek), some awful starting efforts (Charles Nagy and Bartolo Colon) and eye-popping relief appearances by starters Orel Hershiser, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Kevin Millwood. Millwood threw a complete-game one-hitter in Game 2 of the Houston-Atlanta series, then earned a save the next game by pitching a scoreless inning. Martinez won Game 5 of the Boston-Cleveland series, throwing six no-hit innings of relief.

Millwood is a Cy Young candidate, which means there could have been four Cy Young-winning starters used in relief in the first round. And they did a great job, as their combined line reveals:

8 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 10 K

Lies, damn lies and statistics
The Red Sox scored more runs in Game 4 against Cleveland than Texas has scored in 10 games and 93 innings against the Yankees in the Rangers' three postseason appearances. ... In becoming the first player to score five runs in a postseason game, Jason Varitek scored two more runs in Game 4 than Philadelphia scored in the 1905 World Series (three). ... Want an indication of Atlanta's sustained excellence? It has played seven different opponents in its past seven league championship series (Mets this year, Padres last year, Marlins in 1997, Cardinals in 1996, Reds in 1995, Phillies in 1993 and Pirates in 1992. Atlanta and Pittsburgh also played in 1991). It has played 14 different teams in the postseason overall (add the Rockies, Dodgers, Twins, Blue Jays, Cleveland and Yankees). ... As Cleveland's opening-round loss to the Red Sox proved, winning the ghetto that is the AL Central doesn't mean much. How bad was the AL Central? Even with Cleveland, its combined record was 368-437. The five other divisions all had winning records, which hardly seems possible.

From left field
An auction house announced plans this week to sell off Bill Veeck's old wooden leg, surely the lowest moment in the sports memorabilia business since Carlos Baerga paid $89 for an autographed photo of himself at the Mall of America.

How much could the leg bring? Consider that when Sotheby's put Barry Halper's famed baseball collection up for bid recently, fans paid more than $2 million for 133 items, ranging from Ty Cobb's dentures to Lou Gehrig's final glove. In fact, one person paid more to buy Cobb's 1928 Athletics jersey ($332,500) than the 1999 Athletics paid Ben Grieve to hit 28 home runs ($300,000). Some of the more interesting purchases:

ITEM PRICE
Ball autographed by Al Travers (allowed 26 hits in only game) $750
Ty Cobb's dentures $7,475
Babe Ruth's wallet $7,500
1903 World Series ticket $23,000
Joe DiMaggio's rookie glove $40,250
Cy Young's glove $71,250
Babe Ruth's farewell bat $107,000
Doubleday ball (possible first baseball) $129,000
Babe Ruth Red Sox-Yankees sale document $189,000
Mickey Mantle's 1956 triple crown $211,500
Lou Gehrig's last glove $387,500

Bar room Jeopardy
Q. When Dominican Republic natives Pedro Martinez and Bartolo Colon faced each other in Game 1 of the Boston-Cleveland series, it was a rare matchup of pitchers born outside the U.S. starting against each other in a postseason game. Who did it before them in the 1987 World Series?

A. In Games 2 and 5, Minnesota's Bert Blyleven, who was born in Zeist, Netherlands, started against St. Louis' Danny Cox, who was born in Northampton, England.

Jim Caple's Off Base column appears each Wednesday during the season.

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