Bitter rivalry - baseball style

This is what you get when two teams absolutely hate each other - and have done for more than 90 years. Think Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner.

In this case it's baseball and the rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

Well, the Yankees are moving out of their home for the past 85 years and there is a new stadium being built just down the street. One of the construction workers on the new stadium just happened to be a Red Sox fan. A chance for a little fun and games perhaps? Certainly if your name is Gino Castignoli.

The rumour went round that someone had buried a Red Sox jersey in the foundations of the new stadium. The Yanks of course denied this. But there was a nagging doubt. And in baseball that's enough. After all, the Red Sox went for 86 years without winning anything - a losing streak blamed on selling the game's best ever player, Babe Ruth, to the Yankees. This became known as 'the curse of the Bambino'. Could the buried shirt put a curse on the Yankees?

So, despite denying that a jersey could have been buried, the Yankees undertook a little investigation and the evidence pointed to Mr Castignoli. And then they dug. And they dug. And they dug. And eventually they came up with a very battered and torn Red Sox jersey which they pulled out of the ground in front of the cameras and will now auction for charity.

Has the potential curse been lifted? Only possibly. The rumours are circulating in Yankee fan circles (no doubt fuelled by Red Sox fans) that the 'find' was orchestrated by the club simply to appease fans. That the jersey is still buried and its curse will hang over the club for so long as they occupy the stadium.

Now why didn't some enterprising Spurs fans think of this while the Emirates was being built?

For more see here.