Yankees' Ben Rice, Cam Schlittler grew up in Red Sox country - ESPN

If being mired in last place while the visiting New York Yankees are in first weren't infuriating enough for Boston Red Sox fans, consider this: The two youngsters whose breakout seasons are lighting up the Bronx were born and raised minutes from Fenway Park.

On the mound, Walpole, Massachusetts' own Cam Schlittler is the early American League Cy Young favorite in his first full major league season. In the lineup, Ben Rice — from Cohasset — is posting MVP-level production in his third big league campaign. Both grew up attending games in the shadow of the Green Monster, though with different rooting interests: Schlittler was a Red Sox fan while Rice braved cheering for their archnemesis.

Years later, they both love trying to beat the Red Sox.

«It's unspoken for the most part, but whenever we're playing Boston we're like, 'Hey, let's go!'» Rice said before his team's four-game weekend series against the Red Sox. «We joke about it every now and then.»

Schlittler, 25, grew up idolizing the Red Sox during their turnaround from cursed operation to four-time World Series champions. He loved David Ortiz, Mookie Betts, Chris Sale, Dustin Pedroia, Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. He wore Jonathan Papelbon, Clay Buchholz and Xander Bogaerts jerseys. He walked the five minutes from campus to Fenway for games while in college. But that fandom vanished the second the Yankees took him with the 220th pick in 2022.

«I mean, you grow up and you're taught to just hate the Yankees,» Schlittler said. «You don't really have a reason why. It's just like what you're supposed to do.

»I'm a big sports guy, but it wasn't really the end of the world for me. When it came to [being drafted by the Yankees], I really didn't care about being a Sox fan. I