Could anybody else have started the 2010 MLB season? Florida against Atlanta, or Oakland versus Seattle just wouldn’t have been the same as last night’s Boston and New York matchup. These two teams have created the greatest sporting rivalry of the 21st century, what with the Yankees’ World Series wins in 2000 and 2009, Boston’s in 2004 and 2007, not to mention the “breaking of the curse”. There’s also the seemingly limitless supply of money backing these two giants in a duel to perhaps not outspend each other, but certainly outspend everybody else.

The Yankees/Red Sox is not the greatest rivalry in the history of sports, but it does make a strong case as rivalry of the decade. Within baseball, the schedulers have tried to create tensions between the Chicagos, New Yorks, any Californian teams, etc., but such few games in a season doesn’t lend weight to that argument against the AL East rivals. These two big spenders can’t face each other in the World Series, so MLB does the next best thing and puts them in the Openingiest of Opening Days.

In the last permutation of the rivalry, the Red Sox got the best of the Yankees, but just barely. It took a seventh-inning bomb by 2008 MVP Dustin Pedroia to help lift Boston over the Yankees and into a temporary stranglehold on first place in the AL East. But it won’t last long. The Yankees will be back fresh off their first loss since Nov. 2, 2009, and will be hungry for vengeance. Game two in the three-game series goes Tuesday.

What’s almost funny is that a day after the two teams began the 2010 season; they’re rewarded with a day off for their efforts. They’ll finish the three-game set on Wednesday, at which point both teams will get another off-day on Thursday. The rivalry will be put on pause until May 17. By then, it’s anyone’s guess where each will place in the standings, but if they’re anything near what most have predicted, they’ll not only be near each other, but be far above everybody else.