Are the Blue Jays our rivals?

[TonySoprano]

I consider every team in our division to be a rival.

Agreed. If I were to rank them: 1A. NYY, 1B BOS, 3. TOR, 4 TBR

[Machado13]

I would not say rival...more like cheap, annoying and losers.

Tampa Bay, Yankees and Red Sox are rivals. They play baseball, not some theatrics prima Donna side show like the jays.

[allquixotic]

I dislike them intently because of the current group of players that are hitting Yankee - levels of douchiness, but I wouldn't call them a main rival. They are almost always a .500ish team that we're usually able to navigate through, and in three or four seasons their team will have different personnel who can't possibly be as obnoxious.

Strangely the only team in our division that doesn't annoy me is TB, even though they could be our main competition this year if their pitching stays healthy. Mainly it's because they play the game the way we do, hard-nosed but respectful. It's one of the things I like about our team, and I respect any team that plays the game that way.

We are in the same division, but I think of them more as PITA than true rivals. I'd like to have some respect for our rivals.

Both good points. I think any rival worthy of the name needs to have some degree of respectability. If they don't respect you and they don't respect the game, they are just scum that needs to be culled. So we have:

Non-rivals: teams that don't cheat, who respect the game, but don't instill any particular drive to beat them above and beyond your team's normal drive to win. You don't need to beat them *in particular*; it may as well be any other nameless team. E.g. the Twins, or players like Jeff Francouer.

Rivals: teams that don't cheat, who respect the game, but your history gives your team special motivation to want to beat them. E.g. the Yankees, except for A-Roid; or players like Mariano Rivera.

Scum: teams that cheat and/or disrepect the game, regardless of whether you have history with them that motivates you to beat them. What ought to be done with them is to remove them from the sport, but if you can't do that, you try to beat them anyway. E.g. the Jays; Eric Hosmer; Joey Bats; etc.

[Bird Dog]

Of course, I have great disdain for the Cowgirls, oops, I mean Cowboys.

I love the Orioles and I'm also a lifetime Redskin fan.....I hate the Cowboys more than any sorts team.

[Creamsicle]

It's the off-season meddling with Duquette, and the petulance of Bautista. That's it. So it's not deep-seated. Without those two things nobody would even care, because they're an utterly forgettable team.

Some of us remember 1993.

But having said that, no. Not our rival. I *do* love to yell "O!!" during "O, Canada" though.

[Creamsicle]

Orioles-Blue Jays ought to be considered equivalent to Yankees-Red Sox. If it's not widely seen that way now, I hope that changes soon. They are simply the worst.

"equivalent"? no way. I'll give you "analogous".

Saying "equivalent" is like saying Terps-WVU is "equivalent" to Michigan-Ohio State.

[InsideCoroner]

Some of us remember 1993.

But having said that, no. Not our rival. I *do* love to yell "O!!" during "O, Canada" though.

Yeah, Cito sucks, but Cito always sucked. But the Jays as a team? That's like worrying about the Washington Generals.

[clapdiddy]

Yeah, Cito sucks, but Cito always sucked. But the Jays as a team? That's like worrying about the Washington Wizards.

At least the Wiz has had some recent post-season experience!

[weams]

At least the Wiz has had some recent post-season experience!

The Blue Jays are like the Cubs or the Qualifying Offer or the Unicorn. Until they are one, no need to talk about them as anything but a fantasy.

[sfosfan]

I think O's/BJs is the hottest rivalry in the division right now. It's obviously not Yankees/Red Sox, but it's much more heated now than anything else in the AL East.

Yes it's intense. I happen to like the O's/Rays "rivalry"- to me, that one is very underrated.

[Palmoripken]

Yes it's intense. I happen to like the O's/Rays "rivalry"- to me, that one is very underrated.

I think there's mutual respect there. I always saw the Rays as a model, a team to emulate when they became contenders and we were in the bad years. I of course still enjoy beating them but I don't have a dislike to them. It is a good rivalry though.

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[Scrat1]

I hope each game of the Jays Rays series goes 20 innings.

[Uli2001]

They look a bigger rival now because the Red Sox is down and the Yankees have not been the Yankees for a few years. But when those two are up, there is no question in my mind they are much bigger rivals. You measure rivalry by the big games you have had in the past. The O's have had many more big games agains the NYY and BOS in their history.

[Moshagge3]

They look a bigger rival now because the Red Sox is down and the Yankees have not been the Yankees for a few years. But when those two are up, there is no question in my mind they are much bigger rivals. You measure rivalry by the big games you have had in the past. The O's have had many more big games agains the NYY and BOS in their history.

Have they had that many big games against BOS? Obviously the Andino game, and I guess Opening Day 1989 (although I doubt many Red Sox fans care about that one very much). Maybe there were some big games in 1977. Mostly though the teams have not been very good at the same time, whereas the Orioles have lost two playoff series to NYY and have the showdown in 1989 with TOR.

[weams]

Have they had that many big games against BOS? Obviously the Andino game, and I guess Opening Day 1989 (although I doubt many Red Sox fans care about that one very much). Maybe there were some big games in 1977. Mostly though the teams have not been very good at the same time, whereas the Orioles have lost two playoff series to NYY and have the showdown in 1989 with TOR.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290630101