My thoughts on the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry and whether Rob Refsnyder has soul (Seoul)

Do you ever find that people you couldn't stand when you first met you end up really liking? That's how I feel about the folks at Monstah Mash. They are a Red Sox fan site who discovered me a few months ago, back when I wrote an article fact-checking David Ortiz that got some traffic in the blogosphere -- and in the Boston Globe.

Anyhow, Nick Piccione, one of the writers on their site, saw the piece and the followup, wrote something slamming me, and sent it to me on Twitter. I read it, thought it went way too far in personal attacks against me, so I ended up blocking him and the Monstah Mash Twitter account. Then, after Squawker Jon encouraged me to, I read Nick's article again. And I realized that despite his cheap shots at me, he was actually both pretty funny, and a good writer as well. (Believe me, I don't give those compliments out lightly -- especially to a member of Red Sox Nation!)

Also, dare I say it? There was a little bit of a Subway Squawkers tone to the Monstah Mash site! So how could I be against them?

Anyhow, I ended up unblocking them on Twitter, and started talking. Long story short, this weekend, we did a little good-natured trash talk on Twitter this weekend about the Yankees-Red Sox series. It was fun. We each got in some good digs, but still kept the tone (mostly) light. (Edited to add that they are bitter and cranky today over their team losing the series!)

But it reminded me what such a conversation would have looked like 12-13 years ago. It would have been a lot more intense and angry! Heck, I ended up missing parts of the games this weekend, which would never have happened circa 2004. (Squawker Jon is still bitter that I showed up late to his birthday party that year because I was watching the end of the A-Rod/Varitek fight game!)

Also, the writers at Monstah Mash are in their early 20s, which means they were kids when The Curse was broken. So they don't have the history of Red Sox angst and heartbreak that, say, my pal Sully at Sully Baseball does. They more remember the three rings in a decade for their team (and oy, you don't know how much angst I feel writing those words!) So they are, gulp, used to having their team win World Series championships!

It's a whole new world, folks! I'm just glad the Yankees won two out of three, giving me bragging rights -- for now, at least!

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In other news, Rob Refsnyder got called up this weekend, even though Brian Cashman has made it clear he doesn't want to keep him up here. But Refsnyder got his first MLB hit -- and also his first homer -- yesterday. (John Sterling's call was Rob Refsnyder's got Seoul, a play on his heritage.)

I think Refsnyder should be given a chance at second. It's not like Stephen Drew is the second coming of Robinson Cano. He is hitting .182, for goodness sake!