"No one is expecting us to win because of history," Johnny Damon said. "But we feel like we've had the best team since Day 1. We just need to show up and play well. If we can play defense and hit a little bit, we're going to win."
A year after the Sox and Yankees clashed in one of the most memorable series in playoff history, Curt Schilling will renew the ancient rivalry when he faces Mike Mussina in the Bronx. The teams have played 45 times over the last two years, with the Sox going 23-22 but losing the most important showdown, Game 7 of last year's Championship Series on Aaron Boone's 11th-inning homer.
Almost every game since then, it seems, has further stoked the rivalry.
"This is what rivalries are about," Kevin Millar said. "This is two cities that don't like each other and two of the best teams in the American League going at each other. This is exactly the way it should be."
The Sox fell three victories shy of catching the Yankees in the American League East and gaining home-field advantage in the series. Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 are scheduled for the Bronx, with Games 3, 4, and 5 in the Fens.
"I just don't know how much more there is to say about it," Sox principal owner John W. Henry said. "We all know. We played them even for 26 games last year and another 19 this year. It's hard to imagine two more evenly matched teams. We can't ask for more than that in the playoffs."
Some of the Sox welcome the series as an opportunity to overcome the franchise's 86-year championship drought.
"We enjoy the fact that we're going up against history," Damon said. "Nobody is scared of it. Everyone wants to take it. We like the challenge."
The Sox have gone winless in four Championship Series since they lost to the Mets in the 1986 World Series, bowing to the A's in 1988 and '90, and the Yankees in 1999 and 2003. But the franchise's past futility mattered little to the current players.
"We're a good team, they're a good team," Doug Mientkiewicz said. "The past has absolutely nothing to do with it."
Even Sox players who considered the team's history were quick to discount it.
"If you sit there and dwell on it, you're going to worry about the past," Jason Varitek said. "You have to worry about what you can do today."
