Round 15

People everywhere who feel even the least bit connected to this crazy Red Sox-Yankees feud constantly refer to the rivalry as a heavyweight title match between two veteran boxers. For years the Yankees were Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali and Mke Tyson all rolled into one, steam rolling the scrappy yet inferior Red Sox, usually in an early round TKO. The Yanks had the championships, the Hall-of-Famer's and the money -- the Red Sox had a cozy ballpark and some close calls but no success. And then came 2004. The Sox finally landed a punch, right on the chin of the Bronx Bombers. They came back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS to beat the Yankees and then went on to win their first World Series in 86 years. Over night the Red Sox went from Glass Joe to Jimmy Braddock. But defending the crown has been tougher than most Sox followers wanted to believe. Many members of Red Sox Nation thought that one knock-out would send their longtime rivals reeling into obscurity. This belief actually gained some credibility when Boston took a 5.5-game lead in the A.L. East in August. But New York came back and now, with three games remaining at Fenway Park this weekend between the two heavyweights, the Evil Empire has a 1-game lead over the BoSox. Keeping with the boxing metaphor, the two biggest punchers this weekend -- David "Big Papi" Ortiz of the Red Sox and Alex "A-Fraud" Rodriguez of the Yankees -- are also in a dead heat for the A.L. MVP award. While the division lead is obviously more important, the MVP will most likely go to the player who ends up wearing an A.L. East Champions t-shirt on Sunday afternoon. Can't you just picture Big Papi (hitting .344 with runners in scoring position and 20 of his 47 home runs have either given the Sox a tie or the lead) coming through this weekend while A-Fraud (.292 with runners in scoring position) writes another chapter in his new book, "Why I Am Baseball's Most Overpaid Player!" Get ready for the final bell to be rung, starting at 7:00 p.m. tonight, with David Wells going head-to-head with Chieech An-Chong (or whatever his name is). On Saturday the Sox have Wake -- the most underappreciated Red Sox in team history, going up against Randy Johnson and on Sunday Curt "Time To Earn My '05 Paycheck" Schilling going against one of baseball's more overrated pitchers, Mike Mussina. (Go ahead Yankee fans, dispute that. For all the hype and money heaped on Moose, he has never won 20 games or a World Series. Admit you probably should have signed Manny instead of him after the 2000 season.) It's going to be an all-out brawl -- literally. Red Sox v. Yankees. Final weekend. Everything on the line. The eyes of the sports world transfixed on Fenway Park. See you there.