Can Surging Yanks Topple Sox?
by Erik GuntherAug 15, 2007
When we last checked on baseball's hottest rivalry in May, the Boston Red Sox were sitting pretty with a sizable lead over the New York Yankees in the standings. The Sox had also eclipsed the Bombers in buzz and negative vibes were running rampant in the Bronx. However, since that time, the Yankees have mounted a comeback.
The Yanks now are tied for the wild-card spot and within five games of Red Sox in the AL East. The pinstripes have also surpassed the Sawx in buzz by a wide margin. Check out this graph of searches on the two teams over the past 90 days...
Today's big Yankee spike is due to the passing of Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto. Searches on the beloved broadcaster and legendary player soared and caused queries on the Yanks to rise. The Bronx Bombers have also received a buzz boost as of late thanks to pitcher Joba Chamberlin. The highly touted pitching prospect recently made his debut and searches on the youngster are up an astonishing 2,605% over the past month.
Meanwhile, buzz on Red Sox stalwarts is sliding. Searches on clutch slugger David Ortiz are down 14% this month and interest in prized import Daisuke Matsuzaka has dropped a whopping 92%. Can the Beantown squad reverse their fortunes in Search? More importantly, can they avoid a collapse and hold off their hated rivals in the East? Buzz will be watching...