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Meaningless hype. Boring games. Inane off-field shenanigans. With every meeting, it looks more and more like the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry has jumped the shark. Old Boss/New Boss is FanHouse's look at some baseball rivalry alternatives.
As competitive as the AL Central has been over the years, it hasn't featured many rivalries that have garnered national attention. Sure, some over-eager fan may have deemed the White Sox and Twins' rivalry worthy of a Wikipedia entry for their back and forth earlier this decade, and there was no love lost in the late 90's when the Sox were perennial runner-ups to the Indians, but for the most part there hasn't been a trademark feud. Expect this to change by the end of the season.
Early-season anomalies aside (they currently occupy the bottom two spots in the division), the Indians and Tigers each think they're the best team in the division. And why not? They finished 1-2 in the Central last year and each got stronger over the offseason.
Plus, and this cannot be understated, Michigan residents simply loathe their neighbors to the south. (As someone who's lived in the Great Lakes State most of my life, I'll personally attest that Ohio has no redeeming qualities beyond the Toledo Mud Hens and Cedar Pointe.) Conversely, citizens of Ohio are so blinded by their hatred of all things Michigan that they've been known to inexplicably break out in song at the most inappropriate times.
Toss in college football's storied Michigan/Ohio State battles, the recent Pistons/Cavs clashes in the NBA playoffs and even your standard-issue blue state/red state political differences and it's clear that these fan-bases simply loath each other, which ensures that every game will be played in front of a blood-thirsty home crowd.
So what's taken so long for this rivalry to take hold? For one, it's been roughly forever since these two teams have been good at the same time, something which is no longer a problem. Not only that, but these two teams are built to contend for the long haul, which should really give this rivalry a chance to flourish over the next several years. So tune in now, because things are about to get really interesting.
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