The year is 1918. The League of Nations has convened for the first time, the 19th Amendment for women's suffrage is passed and prohibition is in full swing.
Dwarfing all of these events in importance, George Herman "Babe" Ruth is traded from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees in exchange for $300,000 to fund a play. The Ruth deal changes the fates of these two ball clubs irrevocably: the Sox, having won five of the first 15 World Series, are cursed, never to win another title. The Yanks, meanwhile, proceed to capture 26 world championships and establish one of professional sports' most infamous dynasties.
The bitter rivalry between Boston and New York has grown ever more intense over the past 84 years, achieving an almost mythological quality. With the two clubs now engaged in a playoff series for the American League pennant, the epic struggle has reached an emotional apex.
At Penn, despite being removed from the hostile territory to the north, one can still see a plethora of Red Sox and Yankees attire sported by students on Locust Walk. Throughout the long corridors of the Quadrangle, the battle between the Fenway faithful and the "Evil Empire" is waged by die-hard freshman fans.
On the fourth floor of Butcher in Ware College House, residents watch the two teams on a nightly basis, and the raucous cheering of Red Sox and Yankees fans can be heard all the way down the hall.
College freshman Brad Dulay lives outside Philadelphia but supports Boston in the heated rivalry.
"As the Red Sox have gotten back to being a winning team, a lot of people want to see them break the curse," Dulay said about the perennial underdog Boston club.
A few doors down, Engineering freshman and Red Sox fanatic Neil Tenenholtz, along with College freshmen and Yankees supporters Eric Schwartz and Adam Fachler comically dispute their teams chances.
"You can smell the Red Sox fans ... they stink of losing," Fachler joked.
Tenenholtz, exemplifying Boston's hatred for the Yankees, retorted, "I'd rather see the Sox defeat the Yankees and lose in the World Series than not face New York and win it all."
Discussing last night's Game One, the three of them all agree, "It could easily escalate to punches tonight."
Later that evening, as the denizens of fourth floor Butcher pile into the lounge to watch the game, the typical arguments arise between rival fans.
The Boston crowd applauds the talent of pitcher Curt Schilling and left fielder Manny Ramirez.
"This is the year," Sox fans assert.
The Yankees fans sit back smugly, noting that the Red Sox make the same claim every season. As Fachler stated confidently earlier, "history speaks for itself."
The next few days will write another chapter in this legendary conflict. Either Red Sox Nation will rejoice for its team's first appearance in the World Series since 1986, or New York will once again dash the hopes of desolate Sox devotees, as the Yankees stride toward yet another championship.
As the cheers and curses stream forth from students crowded around dormitory televisions, even the most disinterested baseball fan should be hard-pressed to miss some sign of the rivalry being waged on Penn's campus. As College sophomore and lifelong Red Sox fan Sam Assad puts it, "There's nothing more important in life right now."
