From a distance, the obvious take from Wednesday's outbreak of WrestleMania on the Fenway lawn is: The Rivalry is back!
Red Sox and Yankees players duking it out (shades of Varitek-ARod). A Yankee coach being restrained by a small army of players, coaches and umpires (the ghost of Don Zimmer). And the looming threat of this ill-will carrying over for the next 17 regular season games and beyond.
Have you heard? These two teams just don't like each other.
But that's not that the takeaway from the extracurriculars of the Sox' 10-7 loss Wednesday night.
No, the real news is this: these Red Sox do like each other. At least enough to fight together, and to do it the right way.
Compare this beanball and subsequent brawl to the mess which took place last April in Baltimore. The set-up is almost exactly the same, but the resolution is completely different.
Then, as now, a questionable takeout slide involved some spikes and accusations of dirty play. Then, as now, the Red Sox took it upon themselves to respond.
After that, however, the similarities end. Last year, it took the Red Sox two games to exact their revenge. And even then, it was sloppily executed, with numerous failed attempts topped by an ugly pitch from Matt Barnes near Manny Machado's head. It devolved from there, with Dustin Pedroia seemingly siding with Machado instead of his teammates ("It's not me; it's them,'' he was famously seen saying to Machado from the top step of the dugout).
What a fascinating exchange between Dustin Pedroia and Manny Machado. pic.twitter.com/37thWTjziK
— Mike Cole (@MikeColeNESN) April 23, 2017
Benches clear, punches thrown in Yankees-Red Sox after Tyler Austin is hit by a pitch from Joe Kelly. pic.twitter.com/wvqoak8QMV
— MLB (@MLB) April 12, 2018
Joe Kelly saying "let's go" is my new spirit animal pic.twitter.com/KKXVXqxUHj
— Red (@SurvivingGrady) April 12, 2018