There’s a tradition at Boston Red Sox games, where at one point between innings, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” plays over the stadium speakers as the crowd sings along with the song’s classic chorus. Last night, as the Yankees faced off with the Diamondbacks in Yankee Stadium something very unusual happened. The home of the New York Yankees—the bitter rivals of the Boston Red Sox—played the song, and thousands of Yankee fans sang along as a show of consolidarity with a city dealing with its own hardships. As the song played, the scoreboard showed the two teams’ logos, with the words: “New York Stands With Boston” and “Pray For Boston.” It was preceded by a moment of silence.
It’s hard to underplay the intensity of the rivalry, but New Yorkers know something about coming together after tragedy. In 2001, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the Red Sox played Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” during a home game. The two teams even had a friendly twitter exchange during last night’s game. When the Yankees tweeted a photo of the two team’s logos with the words “United We Stand”, the Red Sox replied back, “Bigger than the game. Thank you!” …
