Boston Fans Have No Right to Gloat About Yankees' Defeat After Weakest Title Defense in MLB History

For a group of malcontents and neckbeards who've had a stunningly successful past two decades, Yankee Haters really never stop, do they?

We can't blame Mets fans for frolicking in this latest ALCS defeat, of course. The biggest highlights of their past 30 years of fandom include being hammered into the ground by Luis Sojo in the Subway Series, and Terry Collins letting Matt Harvey, famously the dumbest man in baseball, convince him to abandon his rational decision.

But fresh off the most embarrassing title defense in modern baseball history (or, perhaps, second only to 2014?), there's no reason any of us should be hearing from Boston fans right about now, who have plenty of their own sporting success to worry about.

Though Boston fans will gleefully claim they're living "rent free" in the heads of New Yorkers, it really seems to be the other way around. Plus, most of them are *actually* living rent free above their parents' garage in Saugus, leaving unpaid work in the Barstool comments section.

This year, of all years, these folks have zero right to chirp. The 2018 Red Sox were on the verge of a dynasty. 108 wins, a romp to the World Series, and a young core of stars all peaking at 25 and under, with brighter days ahead of them. There was zero reason they wouldn't contend, be favored to beat the Astros, and extend their dominance in '19.

Now, one year later, their MVP Mookie Betts has somehow talked his way nearly out of town, a downright inexplicable development. Andrew Benintendi regressed. Jackie Bradley Jr. chose not to bring a bat this year. David Price, Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi (excellent re-signing!) have all wound up dinged with injury concerns. Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts took leaps forward, the offense improved, and Boston ended up 19 games out of first place in the East, with a below .500 record at HOME. It's so easy for the Sox to win at Fenway, with its 280-foot right field and loud-mouthed locals parked inches from the field in all directions. They managed to get pantsed on their own turf so often I could've sworn Grady Sizemore and Felix Doubront were out there. Bobby Valentine was a better motivator than adversity-blind Alex Cora.

CHRIS DAVIS homered at Fenway this year.

This was supposed to be the season Boston cemented themselves as the favorites in the AL for the next five years. Instead, there's a question mark at every turn, and you cannot name a big game that they ended victoriously. You simply can't.

Now, the Red Sox generally play their best seasons after they've just been in disarray. They could easily come back and be a force for absolutely no reason in 2020, powered by (throws a dart at a dartboard) Ian Kennedy and (chucks another dart) Socrates Brito.

But for now, there are far too many problems in Boston's own backyard to care about a financially-flexible Yankees core that just won 103 games and came within a stone's throw of upsetting the 'Stros while not hitting whatsoever in October.