Keller: When it comes to Boston and New York, which city has the edge?
It's the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card round - again. We'll leave the Xs and Os to the sports department. But the comparison between the two cities has much more to it.
New York has theater and pizza
Let's concede that New York has a story to tell.
While Boston has a lively theater scene, nothing compares with Broadway.
Edge, New York.
And while Boston has plenty of fine pizza places, New York has more, no question. Check out that Internet video of a rat enjoying a large slice al fresco - or was it a Yankee fan?
But that's as far as the New York win streak goes.
But Boston has everything else
Boston has more than three times as many doctors per 100,000 residents and six percent more high school graduates. Bostonians have 16% more household income than New Yorkers. Health care here is 30% cheaper.
And when it comes to political leaders, whatever you think of Mayor Michelle Wu, surely she's preferable to either Eric Adams, the sketchy outgoing incumbent, or Zohrain Mamdani, the far-left heir apparent.
Edge, Boston.
Who has the edge in baseball?
But just as everyone knows to hold tight to their wallet when in Times Square, it's understood that sports is a battle of athletes, not cities. The Yankees enter this series red hot, and the inferiority of their hometown won't matter.
But confidence will. Who's got the edge there?
As all Bostonians know, we've been the Yankees' daddy all year long, while the normally-cocky New York Post is left to beg slugger Aaron Judge to overcome his dismal postseason record.
The Yankees used to have history in their corner, before the Great Pinstripe Choke of 2004.
Twenty-one years later, history is edge, Boston.
The Yankees have barred New Englanders - except those from Connecticut, which is basically a suburb of New York - from buying tickets to the series in the Bronx, yet another sign of panic and weakness. But that's OK.
Fans can save their money for the Divisional Playoff games at Fenway after the Yankees are disposed of.
