The Red Sox lost, but is the Sox-Yankees rivalry inching back toward center stage?

Prior to this season — and maybe including it — I've felt that that the Red Sox/Yankees first-round playoff serieses haven't been all that consequential or compelling, because the teams are so obviously limited. I mean sure, playoff baseball widens the aperture of what's possible for good teams, but I thought neither team was likely to truly contend in 2021 or 2025, even with baseball's chaotic-by-design playoff system. This year is different. While the AL competition was so soft, like it was for last year's Patriots, both teams were plenty good enough to make the World Series, which is all you can ever ask.

The lack of Garrett Crochet and Aaron Judge left the series with a distinctly large cast of new main characters, personified by the starters, beloved Red Sox Nation blue-collar immigrant Payton Toll, despised Red Sox Nation white-collar emigrant elite Cam Schlittler and (sigh) Ben Rice. Central casting did its job for giving each fanbase its broadly-dreamt personification in a SP1, whether or not the personification has a representation in reality. we got what we wanted. The Yankees, with Rice and former MVP Cody Bellinger, got a little more, and their season continues.

But the broader question is: are we back? And not in a short-term sense? In the sense that the misery of the Yankees will return to the forefront of our minds on a daily basis? I hope so, because it's so much better that way. I think we are, after a needed cooling off period, and not just for the fans but for the owners and the league. Sometimes you need a moment alone . I live in suburban NY and they've hated the Astros since before COVID despite the multiple postseason matchups with the Sox, and I think older Red Sox and Yankees fans as a whole are happy for the interregnum on a broader horizon. Or maybe I'm just projecting, and it's certainly something I have enjoyed. I've had a break, and I'm ready to hate again.