FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – For New Englanders the mere mention of Yankee Stadium is enough to make the blood boil.
The iconic Bronx stadium, in all of its incarnations, has been home to what many argue is the greatest rivalry in American sports, between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball.
This Sunday, a new rivalry between the two regions will kick off on the very same turf (5 pm ET, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes) and for some New England Revolution players, getting the chance to help New York City FC christen the coliseum with MLS soccer brings an added bonus.
“It’s really exciting for me personally,” said Revolution defender Chris Tierney, a diehard Red Sox fan who grew up less than 15 miles from Fenway Park. “It’ll be interesting to see how a soccer field fits.”
“It’s going to be a pretty cool experience,” said New England midfielder Scott Caldwell, another Sox fan who grew up just outside of Boston. “I’m very excited about it, especially with a new club coming into the league.”
Caldwell has experienced Sox-Yankees first-hand at Fenway, but Sunday will mark his first visit to the Bronx.
Although the new Yankee stadium (opened in 2009) has yet to accrue the history of the old building that once stood across the street, the Revs defensive midfielder was looking forward to the experience nonetheless.
“I’ve only been to games at Fenway,” Caldwell told MLSsoccer.com. “It will definitely be really cool. The old stadium is a historical stadium, but this will still be a cool experience.”
In the days before soccer became a career and booked his summers up, Tierney would occasionally make the voyage to the northernmost New York City borough to see the rivalry from the other side.
“Growing up, being a Red Sox fan, I’ve watched many games at [the old] Yankee Stadium,” he said. “The history is definitely not lost on me in a place like that. It’ll be really cool and I think they’re expecting a big crowd too, so that should add to the atmosphere.”
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In fact, a big crowd is expected for the game, with the entire stadium open for the game and nearly 40,000 tickets having been sold as of Saturday.
While the Revs are looking forward to the pomp and pride that will come with Sunday’s match, they know that it is also a great opportunity to quickly dust themselves off after their 3-0 loss to Seattle in the season opener and grab some important points in-conference.
“At the end of the day we’re going there to win the game, so all that stuff will be put aside and we’ll be focusing on trying to win,” Tierney said. “The conference games are obviously the most important. It’s going to be a difficult game for us, being on the road, they have the momentum in terms of opening of a new season for them at home. A lot of factors against us, but if we play up to our standard, we’ll have a good chance to win.”
Craig Forde covers the New England Revolution for MLSsoccer.com.
