Classless Sawx

Is it just me or does it seem like every player that comes to the Red Sox turns into a big obnoxious jerk when it comes to the Yankees. The rivalry between New York and Boston has become legendary. People talk about it, think about it, and invariably get caught up in it whether they want to or not. There's been the Yankees-Red Sox, Knicks-Celtics, Rangers-Bruins, and believe it or not Giants-New England Patriots. But at the center of it is baseball, there is no more heated rivalry in sports. But there's an issue here that continues to raise its ugly head and that's one of classlessness. Full disclosure compels me to tell you that I am a long time season ticket holder for the Yankees, but this is not about the rivalry, this is about class, style and appropriateness. It's hard to root for other team's players in such an intense environment but over the years the Red Sox have had guys that have demonstrated class and style and made you respect their competitiveness. The original Derek Jeter years ago was probably Carl Yastremski, a great competitor who kept his mouth shut and tried to win on the field not with his mouth. Then there was the quiet Dwight Evans Mr.Cannon himself always gunning guys out at home plate, and made it seem like his job not his destiny. Fred Lynn was the epitome of quiet gracefulness in centerfield. MVP in his first year and hard not to like. Then you have the other side of the coin Pedro Martinez, Bill Lee, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and of course there was Carlton Fisk always taking shots at Thurman Munson the heart of the Yankees. Maybe its just because I bleed Pinstripes but I don't seem to remember Yankees constantly trashing the Red Sox players on a personal level and talking about how bad the organization is. No matter how successful the Red Sox are they can't resist trashing the Yankees. Maybe its the Big Brother Little Brother syndrome that they are constantly trying to overcome. Maybe it's knowing no matter how much they win they will never replace the New York Yankees as the iconic franchise that they are. Coming back from a three-game deficit in the ALCS to make history and going to win the World Series still wasn't good enough for the Red Sox to keep their mouths shut.They spent the entire winter that year trashing Yankees.(inferiority complex anyone), and for those who care the St Louis Cardinals are clearly the next most successful franchise in baseball .The most recent example of Boston's lack of class was last night's game were Napoli called Tanaka an idiot. Do they really need to go there. Yes Tanaka made a mistake, a bad pitch selection, squared it up for Napoli and Napoli was fortunate enough to jack it out to win the game. Sawx win a big game to keep their fading playoff hopes alive. Instead of being gracious, classy and grateful he turned it into a negative trashing of a guy he doesn't even know, a quiet man who has demonstrated nothing but class himself. Most athletes would know better than to mess with the gods and be happy that Tanaka didn't book him and he got away with one to win a big game for his team. But that's not the Red Sox way and it never has been. One of these days they'll realize that the only real idiots in sports and especially baseball are the Boston Red Sox...