By: Dan Podheiser, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
The Red Sox and Phillies are definitely not the biggest rivalry in baseball.
Since interleague play started in 1997, the two clubs get together to play a three-game series once, maybe twice a year. The stadiums are always packed, but in the end, it’s just like any other series between two competitive ball clubs.
But as the Sox get ready to welcome the Phils’ to Fenway for a three-game set this weekend, I couldn’t help but notice the recent cosmic connection between these two historic franchises.
In 2004, Boston welcomed a new manager to town by the name of Terry Francona.
Tito, a moniker that Francona assumed long before arriving in Beantown, had only managed for one other big league team before the Red Sox. That team was the Phillies, and he led them to a lackluster 285-363 record from 1997 to 2000. (Take a look at the picture above. Weird right? And Francona looks SO YOUNG!)
Before the “bloody sock” became part of Boston sports folklore, Curt Schilling made a name for himself in the City of Brotherly Love.
In 1993, the 27-year-old Schilling pitched a five-hit shutout in Game 5 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
In [...]

This World Series was supposed to have it all, but baseball is going to have to wait another year for that dramatic game seven.
It had the names: Rodriguez, Rollins, Jeter, Howard, Utley, Teixeira – oh, it certainly had the stars. It had the storylines: Cliff Lee vs. the Bombers, A-Rod vs. The Playoffs, Pedro vs. the Yankees, a potential dynasty vs. the definition of the word. Believe me, it was nothing short of Shakespearian.
But in the end, the Yankees were just too good, and the Phillies were just too Chase Utley, and not much else. And even then, if you take away the two games Cliff Lee won for the Phillies, you have a 4-0 sweep and yet another throw away ‘World Series,’ if you can even call it that.
The problem was, for all the big named stars that were hyped, only the ones on the Yankee side actually showed up for the World Series. Aside from Chase Utley and Cliff Lee for one of his two starts, the Phillies were completely strapped of their firepower.
Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies’ vaunted leadoff man and 2007 MVP, posted a meager .217 average through the six game series, with only three stolen bases [...]

This video was taken by a Sox fan, Jake Duhaime, who went to game one of the World Series. A fake Phillies player ruins Yankees fan’s party:

By Jess Lander, YawkeyTalkies Editor.
We’re out of the playoffs. But we might as well choose someone else to root for, or just someone to boo. Here’s my Sox fan’s guide to picking a secondary team to win the World Series.
There are four teams left. The New York Yankees, The LA Dodgers, the LA Angels, and the Phillies. So far, the Dodgers and Phillies are tied 1-1 in their ALCS series, and the Yankees lead the Angels 1-0. So, it’s still anyones game.
Lets start with the obvious: The Yanks. Absolutely not, is it okay to root for them. I don’t care if you think they are the best team and will win the World Series (because there is a very good chance they are and will) but it is like breaking the code of Red Sox Nation to root for the Yankees. You should all know this however, I don’t think I need to expand.

By: Dan Massar, YawkeyTalkies Correspondent
To slump or not to slump? That is the question.
Is it better to go into the postseason on a roll? Or is it better to limp in racking up the losses?
The Red Sox are certainly limping into the playoffs.  Their win last night came after losing  six straight games. They’ve lost eight of the last eleven. Ouch.
But some recent history shows going into the playoffs on a sour note is not necessarily a bad thing.  The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals a prime example of a slump gone right.  The Cardinals nearly blew a 7 game division lead in September.  They won the NL Central with only 83 wins after a horrible September in which they lost seven straight games at one point.  But then with no expectations that went into the playoffs and won the World Series.
The 2006 Detroit Tigers who had been leading the AL Central for most of the season before late season struggles coughed the division up to the Twins, after losing their last five games all at home. With the Wildcard, the Tigers put the late season collapse behind them and beat the Yankees in the ALDS.  They then swept the A’s [...]