Marc Normandin has a fun column up at Sports On Earth today, talking about the rivalries in baseball beyond Yankees-Red Sox. He hits the Cardinals-Reds, Dbacks-Dodgers, Rays-Red Sox and Nationals-Braves. Yours truly is quoted in the Nats-Braves section.
For what it’s worth, my view is that while Nats-Braves is a rivalry now, the Braves have never really had a sustained rival. Partially because the Braves have moved from city to city and then switched divisions in the mid-90s. Partially because there has never been a sustained head-to-head thing between them and other teams. They stunk pretty bad for a long time, then when they were good their challengers were always different. The Dodgers for a bit, the Giants for one awesome year, and aborted Expos thing that could’ve been amazing if the team hadn’t been dismantled. A more recent cycle of Mets-Phillies-Nats. Throw in the notion that, yes, there is some truth to how passionate Braves fans can be and you get a lot of rivalries of opportunity as opposed to rivalries that really run deep.
Anyway, a fun article. I’m sure everyone has their own notion of what a rivalry is and what teams they truly loathe.