For the New York Yankees, theirs involved an apology from maligned veteran Jorge Posada to manager Joe Girardi, a Posada-less lineup against Jon Lester and the Red Sox, and reaction from both sides of the rivalry, which is rife with veterans who will face their final days as an effective player at one time or another.
For the Yankees, that day has not come for Posada. Not yet.
"Yeah, he's gotten off to a real slow start, but I don't think that's how the chapter has to end for him. I believe that he's going to turn it around," said Girardi, who went into the details of his closed-door meeting with his former teammate, one-time catcher and now struggling designated hitter.
"We had a nice conversation," Girardi added. "We talked about being emotional and going through struggles and what defines who you are, just a lot of things. He apologized and said he had a bad day. I said, 'You know what, Jorge? I've had bad days, too, and I've done stupid things too,' and I'm not saying what he did was stupid, things that I wouldn't have done. You have to live with it, but it's what you do after and you move forward. You have a passion for this game and a love for this game. You want to win and you want to play forever. The reality is we don't play forever and it's important that you enjoy your career in the midst of it."
Posada had said moments earlier that he wished he could take everything back. He regretted removing himself from the lineup Saturday night. He wished he had never gotten upset. Pride, often a virtue, became too much of a force for the longtime Yankee great.
It's a slippery slope that had ramifications down the hall in the Red Sox clubhouse. There sat David Ortiz, who went through a similar situation last April when he struggled mightily and found himself suddenly in a platoon situation, and Jason Varitek, a prideful backstop in his own right, who has seen his role altered in recent years.
Terry Francona, like Girardi, was able to look past some of Ortiz's expressions of frustration.
"In our situation, last year, we went through a tough April," Francona said. "It doesn't always work out the way you want. You try to balance the team, personal, you want everything to mesh, and it doesn't always do that. But I think what's important is not that you're not going to run into problems, but what you do when you get through them, go from there.
"David and I had to slug it out a little bit last April. There's no getting around it. But we did, and came through."
That's what the Yankees are hoping is the result of their current charade. Varitek knows it will be difficult.
Posada has been a fixture behind the plate for so many years in New York. Even if he was hitting .400 and leading the league in home runs, going from the key position on the team to one in which he only hits is hard to imagine. At least for Varitek, it is.
"You're part of that responsibility for so long. It is different, I'm sure," Varitek said.
The Red Sox captain went from a longtime starter behind the plate to a backup once Victor Martinez arrived midway through the 2009 season. That, Varitek said, was easier to swallow because Martinez was such a great player and Varitek was still a huge part of the operation, meshing with Martinez to comprise a formidable tandem.
Posada is still around to talk to Russell Martin and Francisco Cervelli, but he is strictly a DH between the lines. Varitek will never undergo that transition. He wonders how much it is weighing on Posada.
"I know that man over there has been through the grind behind the plate for a lot of years, and it's a big grind, it's a big responsibility," he said of Posada. "I'm sure that [change] alone is difficult for our position."
