The significance of the Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry is unique.
This is evident from today's attendance at George Steinbrenner Field:
Previous preseason gas against the Phillies, Blue Jays, and Orioles usually attracted only four to five thousand people, and at best six to seven thousand on weekends. Today, the playoff ga against the Red Sox drew over ten thousand fans, filling Steinbrenner Field to capacity.
Apart from this, the number of dia and reporters on the sidelines doubled. A large number of dia crowded the dia seats on the sidelines, their cara lenses flashing constantly.
They co here today not only drawn by the classic Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry but also for another important reason:
This ga marks the Major League debut of Lin Guanglai, who has been hyped up all offseason by professional evaluators. The Red Sox countered with their farm system's talented hitter Andrew Benintendi as the lead-off batter.
The top two hundred rookies, Asia's super talent versus North Arica's powerful hitter—this hype naturally whetted the reporters' appetite for big news;
Many of them also want to see for themselves whether the rookie ranking has made an error or if Lin Guanglai is truly as formidable as the scouting reports suggest, formidable enough to be MVP-level like Ichiro Suzuki once he entered the Major League.
As one of the official broadcasters of MLB, Fox Sports TV also sent a professional team to live broadcast today's ga, led by their star comntator Kevin Burkhardt. Today, they invited two very special guests, both recently retired players:
On the left, David Ortiz, who played 14 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, achieved three World Series championships, ten All-Star appearances, and seven Silver Slugger awards, known as "Big Papi".
On the right, Derek Jeter, who dedicated 20 seasons to the New York Yankees, achieved five World Series championships, fourteen All-Star appearances, five Gold Gloves, and five Silver Slugger awards, the Yankees' eternal captain.
Even though officially retired, Ortiz and Jeter, who played for rival teams, still presented a confrontational stance on the show, singing opposing tunes during the pre-ga analysis.
As the Yankees' forr captain, Jeter naturally wants to see a talented player like Lin Guanglai join the Yankees. Even if Lin hasn't pitched in MLB yet, he expressed support for his player:
"Kevin, trust , I've been teammates with Ichiro for a while—the Nippon Professional Baseball, although sowhat weaker than the Major League, those honors aren't as easy to achieve as we imagined, let alone monopolizing them for three consecutive years. Besides, even without those awards, consecutive 300K seasons and an ERA below 1 are enough to prove he's extraordinary!"
"As a lifelong Yankees fan, I'm very satisfied with the managent's actions this ti—we snagged a young talent amidst intense competition that could anchor the Bronx pitcher's mound for 15 years!" Here, Jeter once again flashed his trademark charming smile at the cara, "Perhaps I should invite him to publish an article on The Players' Tribune?"
Just as Jeter finished speaking, Ortiz snorted from the other side, imdiately expressing his opposition: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink—making such judgnts without seeing him pitch a single ball, Derek, it seems your Yankees bias has made you lose even the most basic judgnt as a player..."
Jeter quickly retorted, "Don't be ridiculous, David. You know, if your Red Sox hadn't joined this competition, maybe you'd have so credibility in saying this; but saying it now as the loser feels like black humor... Anyway, in Lin's competition, he ultimately chose Yankees over Red Sox—that's a fact—so, can I understand this as jealousy on your part?"
Ortiz's face visibly flushed but he didn't back down, "Let's see once the ga starts, today our Andrew Benintendi will start as lead-off the batter, and when the two young players face off, our Red Sox will be the winners!"
"Then we'll see about that, shall we?" Jeter shrugged casually, unfazed by Ortiz's words. Suddenly, when soone passed by the temporary comntary booth built on the sidelines, Derek Jeter's eyes lit up and he quickly went over and pulled the person over.
The newcor was Lin Guanglai, at this point with several dozen minutes before the ga began. He had just finished the outfield catch practice and was preparing to head back to the bullpen for final pitch warm-ups; who would've thought that halfway through, he'd be pulled to the cara by Jeter.
"Lin, say hello to the Arican audience!"
Lin gave a simple greeting to the cara and exchanged pleasantries with the team's famous alumni Jeter. He then indicated he needed to leave to head to the bullpen for warm-up; before leaving, the main comntator Kevin Burkhardt asked Lin Guanglai a question:
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