This weekend the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees are getting together for another of their classic matches. (Having lived 8 miles west of Boston for 95% of my life, I fall heavily in that Red Sox fan club.) Though the Tampa Bay Devils (they choose to drop the Devil name, I choose to drop Rays) will probably take a playoff spot this year, it still feels like old times with the rivalry between Boston and New York as strong as ever.

Fans (including myself) often take the rivalry too seriously. You go to a game where the opposing team’s uniform and you are setting yourself for a rough day. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. This ugliness taints what should be a good-natured rivalry.

There are pockets of good coming from the rivalry though:

• Earlier this year a Red Sox fan buried a Red Sox shirt in the new Yankee Stadium. When word got out the Yankees dug it up…. and promptly put gave it to the Red Sox to auction of for their official charity. The Jimmy Fund is now more than $175K richer… enough to make a difference in more than a few lives.
• Perhaps not quite as touching the Red Sox made a similar move last month. The Hartford Courant reports, “Last month, the Red Sox scored points in West Haven when they brought a group of seventh-graders from Carrigan Middle School to Boston for a tour of Fenway Park. This came two months after the Carrigan students were denied a tour of Yankee Stadium because their bus arrived two hours late.” I’m sure the Yankees had a clear logistical reason for the issue, but it struck me as a good thing to do (even if it is a little self-serving of the Red Sox).

I’m sure most baseball fans have had enough Red Sox-Yankees talk for a lifetime. That being the case, let’s get to the personal finance links. From inside The Money Writers:

• You’re not the only one feeling the bite of gas prices. Gas credit cards and normal credit cards, Money Smart Life explains, charge the merchant a higher percentage as the purchase total goes up.
• Million Dollar Journey asks what is the longterm cost of higher management expense ratios (MER’s) ?
• My Dollar Plan’s readers provide 7 ways to payoff credit card debt. These tips are smart, helpful, and useful. Check them out.
• Digerati Life presents 7 ways to handle unexpected expenses and financial emergencies this week for those little emotional and financial burdens that pop up out of nowhere.
• It’s that time again. Mid-year financial checkup – review your goals and progress over at Generation X Finance.
• Does your portfolio have Chinese ADRs? The Sun’s Financial Diary provides an excellent list of performance quotes in Chinese ADRs monthly update for June 2008 .
• Brip Blap explores this week on the question will the government raid Roth IRAs?

And from outside The Money Writers:

• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity tells us don’t let fear make decisions . Sometimes it’s not about the gut.
• Free Money Finance goes into how the government lies about inflation this week. What do you think?
• In the meantime, Mighty Bargain Hunter reminds us that inflation and rising prices aren’t the same thing.