From Mike Puma:
Love is in the air between the Yankees and Red Sox.
Maybe "love" is a little strong, but Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis don't mind saying they have formed a bond with Derek Jeter as members of Team USA for the World Baseball Classic.
You only need to spend a few minutes around the batting cage to hear the good-natured bantering and wagering of side bets - payable in pushups - to realize many of these U.S. players have built a rapport. Jeter and Pedroia are among the ringleaders.
Pedroia recently set the tone when he posted a deodorant ad in his locker. In the ad, Jeter is standing outside Fenway Park, and the message says, "Every day is a walk in the park. Even this park."
Jeter couldn't help but laugh at Pedroia's posting.
"You get to know guys playing against them, as players," Jeter said. "But one of the good things about something like this is you get an opportunity to put personalities with the players."
Youkilis said he has always respected Jeter, but spending the past week with him has taken that admiration to another level.
"[Jeter] has been unbelievable, and you see why he's the captain of the Yankees," Youkilis said.
And some more from Anthony McCarron:
They go at it constantly," Chipper Jones said of Jeter and Pedroia. "It's fun when Yankees and Red Sox go at each other, because you know they're going to hate each other in a month."
Jeter's burgeoning relationship with Pedroia adds a different dynamic to the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry. The two met at last year's All-Star Game when Pedroia and Youkilis were among the Sox All-Stars who dressed in enemy territory - the Yankee clubhouse.
Jeter says he admires the way both Pedroia and Youkilis play "every game like it's the last game they're going to play. You appreciate that."
"It's awesome to play with him, especially because we play against him so much during the season and he's always getting hits and doing things, so you respect him so much," added Pedroia. "We don't hate them and I don't think they hate us. It's great competition. That's what makes it fun - playing against great players and trying to win."
Jeter has seen former teammates go to Boston, such as David Cone, Ramiro Mendoza and David Wells, and noted that feelings about opposing players are somewhat different than they once were because of all the player movement in baseball. Still, he noted, "Even though you have relationships with guys and you respect them and admire them, it's still a rivalry."
OK, I'll admit—it's nice to see that the players on Team USA are getting along, and I'm glad that a lot of players around the league look up to Jeter.
But at the same time, I really miss the days of the rivalry when the players on both teams really hated each other. You don't even have to go back to the days of Thurman and Fisk, and Nettles and Bill Lee. Even as recently as 2003-04, the players on the two teams really didn't like each other. But ever since the Red Sox won the World Series, the rivalry has become a bit watered down.
Maybe Joba can put another pitch in Youkilis' ear and change all that.
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