I once wrote a book called , and for that I interviewed close to 150 ex-ballplayers and managers and executives. Heres what struck me most: Almost all of those players had played for teams other than the Yankees and the Red Sox. More than not, they identified with other teams beside the two teams. Yet all of them, when talking about Sox-Yanks games, spoke with as much fervor and often anger as when you get a bunch of old high school football heroes talking at the 40-year reunion about their heated cro stown rivals. Its like this tattoo in your soul, is how the late Tim Wakefield described it. I know when I pitched for the Pirates, we had intense feelings about the Mets or the Cardinals or the Braves. But that was different. Red Sox-Yankees was on another level. George Brett is pictured in October 1980 after hitting a home run against the Yankees in the playoffs. AP Reggie Jackson gets tagged out by George Brett during the Yankees playoff series against the Royals in 1978. AP Heres the thing, though: All of those interviews with all of those players, as much vitriol as theyd spill about each other trust me, ask Bill Lee about Billy Martin, watch a mans neck veins bulge it all paled in comparison to three unforgettable hours I spent on a steamy Kansas City summer night in 1998. I was sitting in the front row of a luxury box. A few minutes before first pitch I clicked my tape recorder on. I said, So tell me about the Yankees. And for three straight hours, George Brett talked and I never not once had to ask another question. More From Mike Vaccaro He filled up four tapes. Only one of them survives. But its probably my favorite one, because after about 90 minutes of warming up and perhaps an a sist or two from a cold beer or two Brett had already pa sed from the man, we respected them and they respected us, it was an honor to compete against those guys phase of his di sertation to the tell-us-how-you-really feel part. Who am I kidding? he said, his face flushed, his hand pounding the table in front of him. We hated those [granddaddy curse of them all]s, and they hated us. They thought we were a bunch of [second-greatest granddaddy curse of them all]s, and I dont blame em for that. Those games were beyond baseball. It was something else. It was something different. I often think of that night, because though its true that Yankees-Red Sox is a rivalry like no other, it is also true that, for a brief, shining baseball moment Yankees-Royals may well have been the fiercest rivalry of all. Maybe when the Giants and the Dodgers shared New York. Maybe certain specific pockets of Yankees-Sox, or Cardinals-Cubs. Follow The Posts coverage of the Yankees in the postseason: But from 1976-80, the Yankees and the Royals detested each other, meeting four times in five years in the ALCS, and though the Yankees were thick with stars, it was Brett who was the central figure in all of it. Brett: who hit one three-run homer in Game 5 in 1976 that tied it in the eighth and another upper-deck blast in Game 3 in 80 that clinched that series. Brett: who in 1978, Game 3, hit three home runs off Catfish Hunter, and in 1977 got into a fight at third base with Graig Nettles after a hard slide Ashton Goudeau Jersey in the first inning of Game 5. George Brett hits a home run during the Royals playoff game against the Yankees in 1978. AP Brett, speaking in the summer of 1998: Im telling you, there were moments where I thought someone was gonna get seriously hurt. Hal McRae once threw a body block into Willie Randolph, sending poor Willie halfway toward left field, in order to ruin a double play and allow a runner to score. In the very next game, Nettles returned the favor to Frank White. And then Brett went in spikes-high. It was glorious, man, Brett said. Glorious. George Brett slides into Willie Randolph during a Yankees-Royals playoff game in 1977. AP Its different now, sure. The Royals mostly went into witne s protection for 30 years after winning the 1985 World Series, and when they played the Mets in the 15 Fall Cla sic, they were an impo sible team to dislike, filled with gamers and high-IQ grinders. That group was not di similar to the one that . And so, in large measure, are these Yankees. Besides, if anyone pulls a McRae or a Nettles, or a Brett theyll get booted out of the game, maybe the series. Not back then. Rub some dirt on it. Get back out there. The uniforms are mostly the same, but little else is. A different time. A different game. Glorious, George Brett said. George Brett is pictured during a Royals workout on Oct. 4. AP Vacs whacks In one extraordinary broadcasting lifetime Howie Rose Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!; This one has a chance!; He did it! He did it! that sports fans around here will be repeating out loud for decades to come. The second-best thing the Mets did Thursday was . Very cool. Here's Howie Rose with the Mets radio call of Pete Alonso's go-ahead home run. (via ) Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) When I was a kid, I wanted nothing more than to play guitar like Kris Kristofferson, write a song like Kris Kristofferson, and be as effortle sly cool as Kris Kristofferson. Just because I kept going 0-for-3 didnt mean I ever stopped trying. Godspeed to a giant. Good teams lose games theyre not supposed to lose every year. The Jets can go a long way toward including themselves in that category by on Sunday morning and taking a 3-2 record back acro s the pond with them. Then all might be (mostly) forgiven for last week. The Jets will face Sam Darnold and the Vikings in London on Sunday. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con Baseball poets get a hard time from the non-believers among us, but then baseball goes and gives us the Pete Alonso home run exactly 73 years to the day after the Bobby Thomson home run, and maybe you tell me thats just a coincidence, and maybe youre a heretic. Whack back at Vac Stan Helfeld: Of course we mi sed Howard Komives and Walt Bellamy when the Dave DeBu schere Christmas gift arrived in 1968, but busine s is busine s. Vac: And the rest, as they say John Santello: I always felt the Hall of Fame was not to be] taken seriously because of Pete Roses exclusion. Was he a choir boy? Of course not. But his on-field accomplishments are unparalleled. I believe he wasnt contrite enough for MLB, not genuflecting to its hypocrisy, especially now in light of how gambling permeates MLB and sports in general. Vac: Ill say what Ive always said: I think he absolutely deserved a punishment. But its criminal that it lasted until the day he died. Pete Rose, pictured in 2022, died Monday. AP Matthew E. Miranda: Time to update those ! Where does Pete Alonsos fit in. @MikeVacc: My new list: 1. Knight 86; 2. Alonzo on Thursday; 3. Lindor on Monday; 4. Pratt 99; 5. Ventura 99; 6. Piazza 01; 7. Agbayani 00; 8. Weis 69; 9. Dykstra 86; 10a. Murphy 15; 10b. Strawberry 86. Kenneth Meltsner: The best part of the Mets victory? We no longer have to look at Front Row Amy and her gratuitous dcolletage. Vac: I was surprised Jomboy went with Devin Williams rather than Williams perhaps being distracted when he spun that changeup. Geoff Hartlieb Jersey