Derek Jeter pokes at Big Papi with Yankees-Red Sox rivalry jab

Rivalries know no boundaries. Even when neither team is playing in the game, some rivalries will always find a way. And on Friday night, it was some good ol’ New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry banter thrown around. 

Yankees legends Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter joined David “Big Papi” Ortiz in the MLB on Fox pregame show ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres NLDS elimination game. 

“Both teams have to win for it to be a rivalry, right?” Jeter asked Big Papi on the set. “Absolutely,” Ortiz responded. 

“There’s a rivalry with Boston for a long, long time. You guys never won anything,” Jeter quipped back at Ortiz.

Rodriguez interrupted, changing the topic. Ortiz didn’t get the proper chance to respond, but he did look around, stunned at the shade he was thrown.

How does Dodgers-Padres rivalry compare to Yankees-Red Sox?

The conversation sparked as the trio were discussing how big the rivalry is between the Dodgers and Padres. While it’s certainly ramped up this postseason going to winner-take-all Game 5 for a spot in the NLCS is this as big as the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry?

There’s certainly enough hatred between the Dodgers and Padres. But Jeter isn’t sold on it being in the same conversation. He said during the segment, it might be the best on the west coast, but it’s not quite the same as Yankees-Red Sox because of the history of it. 

Ortiz said Padres-Dodgers is taking the conversation to the next level. He didn’t compare it to the Yankees-Red Sox, but said that the way they’ve been playing each other, it’s building that momentum. It could eventually reach a level of hatred like the Yankees-Red Sox has. 

What makes the Padres vs. the Dodgers fun is the little moments that happen. There may not be the bench clearing brawls the Yankees and Red Sox had, but there’s a lot of fun both teams have with each other during the game. 

It doesn’t need to be the best rivalry, the biggest rivalry or even reach the level of one of baseball’s oldest rivalries.

For now it just has to be fun and a game of this magnitude featuring teams that don’t like each other, is good for baseball and makes MLB postseason that much more fun.