Major League Baseball Is Having A "Rivalry Week" Next Season But The Matchups Are A Little Questionable

So Major League Baseball announced yesterday that there will be a Rivalry Weekend next season. And I want to be on record that I think this is very good idea, and it's kinda appalling that it wasn't already a thing? I mean these teams play 162 games each season at minimum....you gotta find a way to spice it up when you can. So I love the idea of matching up rivals for a weekend, even if it's only for the fans these days. Because let's be clear: it's a damn shame that there's not really any bad blood in professional sports anymore between the athletes. But it still gives the fans something to care about. So while I'm a huge proponent of the idea, my only problem with it is as follows: these aren't the teams biggest rivals. Or am I wrong?

I just asked one Hank Lockwood who the Red Sox rival was and looked at me like I was stupid or trying to troll. When I explained it was for a blog he said it could only be the Yankees. So why are they playing the Braves......? And why the Cubs not playing the Cardinals? Those two examples alone means this is not Rivalry Week. What about Dodgers and Giants? Phillies and Mets? This is not a Rivalry Week....it's a Proximity Week. It's nothing more than a Regional Turf War. We're gonna have Mayors of Cities making quirky little bets offering up the best donuts from the hottest bakeries in town, but this is a big swing and a miss on something that could be a nice way to spice up the middle of May.

And I get it, it's probably easier to do this way and I'm sure the first draft of the event had the Yankees playing the Red Sox (or else the entire committee should be fired), but it kinda sucks to hype up something like this and have it be blatantly wrong. This would be like doing a College Football Rivalry Week and having Michigan play Michigan State. Yes they're technically rivals and yes they're in the same state, but it ruins the entire premise when the most storied and hyped up matchup in the entire sport isn't even being included. I mean, there was a time where I would say Red Sox vs. Yankees was the biggest rivalry in not just baseball but in all of sports!

I'm not even a Red Sox fan but this gets the hair on my arms standing up a little bit. I miss the days when (it at least seemed like) the professional athletes hated each other. Now they're all best friends before, during, and after games. But the media and television programming try and hype everything up like it's the good old days. Except Rivalry Week. They won't have to hype this up at all. When the Braves come to Boston in the middle of May, expect PURE HATRED.