Historic rivalries develop over time when two teams string together a series of dramatic, close games at the most important times of the season, without necessarily being from the same city. Examples include the duels between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, or the Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The most common rivalries are between teams from the same state.
However, in recent days, a quote from Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. has gone viral, where he rejects a rivalry with the New York Yankees, as if such a statement were true. But what is behind this quote? In context, the Kansas City Royals were swept in three games with almost careless ease. The Bronx Bombers outscored the Royals 1-0, completing a perfect 6-0 sweep in the regular season series. The Royals’ bats, meanwhile, were left in lethargy. Even the mighty Witt Jr. went 0-4.
The phrase to affirm that Royals vs Yankees is a rivalry of yesteryear
An account called The Yankee Report posted a photo of Witt Jr. with the caption:
This is not a rivalry… They always beat us
It was perfect. It was direct. And it was… completely false. That’s right, there’s no evidence that Witt Jr., the Royals’ fierce leader on the field, said any such thing. The quote was a clever forgery, a piece of fanfiction that seemed so real. So who is the original author of this masterpiece of misery? For that, you have to switch sports altogether. The iconic quote actually belongs to Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid.
In 2018, after another beating at the hands of the Boston Celtics, a fed-up Embiid uttered the famous phrase. His stunning frankness was so legendary that it immediately became the gold standard for sporting surrender. For Bobby Witt Jr, his career has a .322 batting average with a phenomenal .918 OPS against them. He is the player who often shines. Adding a quote about surrendering to him is like saying Patrick Mahomes fears a fourth-quarter comeback. And yes, Mahomes is the co-owner of the Royals, by the way.
A phrase that has appeared in other sports
From that moment on, Embiid’s lament became the internet’s favorite white flag. It’s a versatile meme that’s easy to use for any fan suffering at the hands of a relentless opponent. It has been seen in discussions about everything from League of Legends to Major League Soccer. It’s the universal shorthand for “we’re tired of losing to these guys,” and that’s precisely why it was so easy to paste it into a photo of a Royals player.
Let’s be clever and honest: calling the Yankees-Royals matchup a “rivalry” is naive and offensive. The more recent history is hilariously one-sided. In their last 20 series, the Yankees have won 19. The Royals have not won a single series in that span, a level of dominance usually seen in video games on rookie mode.
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