Yankees-Red Sox rivalry

The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is one of the longest and most bitter rivalries in American professional sports. For nearly 90 years, baseball's New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox of the American League have been chief rivals, compounded by their geographic proximity and the relative success of the Yankees in comparison to the relative frustration of the Red Sox. The Yankees have the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 1,060-879 (.547) through the 2005 season. The Yankees also hold lopsided advantages in World Series Championships (26 to 6) and World Series appearances (39 to 10). Since the inception of the wild card team and an added Division Series, the American League East rivals have squared off in the American League Championship Series three times, the Yanks winning twice in 1999 and 2003, and the Sox winning once in 2004. In addition, the teams have met in the last regular season series of a season to decide the title, in 1904 (where the Red Sox won), and 1949 and 2005 (where the Yankees won). In 1978, the teams finished tied for first, and the Yankees won a one-game playoff that most Red Sox fans who were alive then vividly remember to this day.

History

Since before the start of the American Revolution, Boston and New York had shared a rivalry. When the Sons of Liberty stirred up the flames of revolution in Boston, Tories (loyalists) in New York argued that America should stay loyal to the crown. When Boston was liberated from the English the citizens of Boston celebrated widly. When George Washington faced defeat in New York, the people there welcomed the British troops with open arms.

For more than a century afterwards, Boston was arguably the educational, cultural, artistic, and economic power in the United States. Its location as the closest American port to Europe and its conentration of elite schools and manufacturing hubs helped maintain this image for several decades. During this time period, New York was often looked down upon as the upstart, over-populated, dirty cousin to aristocratic and clean Boston.

At the start of the 20th Century this dynamic was shifting as New York became more industrialized and became the focus of American capital (especially on Wall Street), and the change was reflected in the new national pastime. The Red Sox were one of the most successful teams in baseball at the turn of the 20th Century and through the first two decades. The team won the inaugural World Series in 1903 and four more between 1912 and 1918. During this period, the Yankees were called the Highlanders, in reference to playing their games in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, and routinely finished near the bottom of the standings. The one exception was 1904 when the Highlanders, led by pitcher Jack Chesbro who won a record 41 games, met the Red Sox on the final game of the season to decide the pennant. Chesbro threw a wild pitch and the Sox won the pennant, but there was no World Series that year as the Giants refused to play. That would be the last time the Red Sox would defeat the Yankees franchise in game to decide a title for 100 years.

In 1916, the Red Sox were purchased by Harry Frazee on credit for $500,000. Though the team won the World Series in 1918, Frazee was hard-pressed to pay off the loans he accrued by purchasing the team and by producing Broadway shows. After the Red Sox finished sixth in the American League in 1919, Frazee sold several Red Sox players, including pitcher-turned-outfielder Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Frazee received $125,000 and a loan of $300,000 - secured on Fenway Park, the Red Sox' home stadium - for Ruth.

Ruth's arrival in New York simultaneously launched the Yankee dynasty while ravaging the Red Sox. While the Red Sox' five World Series titles were a record at the time, 1918 would be the team's last championship for 86 years. Meanwhile, Ruth's home run hitting prowess anchored the Yankee line-up, which became known as "Murderer's Row" in the mid-1920s. After his trade to the Yankees, Ruth's new team reached the World Series seven times during his career in New York, winning four. This abrupt reversal of fortunes for the Boston Red Sox marked the beginning of the supposed "Curse of the Bambino."

Between 1920 and 2003, the New York Yankees won 26 World Series championships and 39 American League pennants, compared to only 4 American League pennants and no World Series titles for the Boston Red Sox. During this time, the Red Sox finished second in the standings to the Yankees on 12 occasions - in 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1949, 1978, and every year from 1998 to 2003. During the 84 year period, the Yankees finished with a better regular-season record than the Red Sox 66 times, leading to an oft-heard analogy in New York that the rivalry with the Red Sox was much like the rivalry "between a hammer and a nail." In 1949, the Red Sox were up by one game with two games left against the Yankees, and the Yankees won both of them to capture the pennant and then the 1949 World Series, which started a record run of five straight World Series for the Yankees. New York also won a one-game playoff to decide the 1978 AL East title following the teams ending up in a tie for first after the end of the regular season. Since the advent of the wild card and the Division Series in 1995, which enabled both teams to make the playoffs simultaneously, they have faced each other three times in the American League Championship Series - in 1999, 2003, and 2004, the first two won by the Yankees.

In 2004, the Red Sox won the season series against the Yankees, but still finished second to their rivals in the AL East for the seventh straight season. Both teams would advance to the ALCS for the second straight year.

The Yankees, who had home field advantage for the second year in a row, started out strong, winning the first three games, putting an exclamation point on their Game 3 victory with an eleven run win. Most observers believed that "the Curse of the Bambino" was still going strong, as no team had ever come from being three games down to win any series in the history of baseball. Everything seemed to be going the Yankees' way entering the ninth inning of Game 4 at Fenway, when Mariano Rivera came in to seal the victory with his team up by a run, three outs away from a sweep. However, he walked leadoff batter Kevin Millar. Pinch-runner Dave Roberts stole second and came around to score on an RBI single by Bill Mueller, tying the game. The Red Sox would go on to win the game in the bottom of the 12th inning with a home run by David Ortiz.

From there, the Red Sox went on to win three more games in a row, winning Game 7 at Yankee Stadium by seven runs. This is the only time a baseball team has come back from a 0-3 deficit in a best of seven series. After having finally achieved a major victory over the Yankees, the World Series seemed almost pedestrian and anticlimactic, with the Red Sox over-powering the St. Louis Cardinals in four games for their first World Series crown in 86 years.

With the World Series triumph by the Red Sox, many have pronounced the "Curse of the Bambino" to be dead and buried. Some have remarked that the "curse" may even have been transferred to the Yankees, having been within only a few outs of winning the 2001 World Series and the 2004 ALCS, both in instances slightly reminiscent of the Red Sox' heart-breaking collapse in the 1986 World Series.

It remains to be seen whether the 2004 triumph of the Red Sox has permanently altered the face of the rivalry. In the 2005 season, the Yankees again won the American League East crown, for the eighth straight time, while the Red Sox finished second to them for the eighth straight year. (Both teams finished with identical records and the Yankees won by virtue of a tiebreak: a 10-9 season record vs. the Sox.) Though the teams were poised to face off in a third straight ALCS, both were eliminated in the ALDS.

Fan involvement

Generally speaking, Red Sox fans, known collectively as "Red Sox Nation", tend to have a more intense dislike of the Yankees than Yankees fans have for the Red Sox. This is likely a function of the Yankees' historical success at the Red Sox expense; in other words, Yankee fans have generally disliked the Red Sox less simply because the Red Sox were not the thorn in the Yankees' side that the Yankees were for Red Sox fans. It was not uncommon to hear the "Yankees Suck" chant at Fenway Park even when the Yankees were not in town. This phenomenon also occurred in other ballparks. However, following the Red Sox's World Series championship in 2004 this practice has become less common. Yankees fans similarly chant "Boston Sucks" when the teams play each other, and most Yankee fans will admit that the Red Sox are easily their biggest rivals.

In 2005, Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield was involved in an altercation with a Red Sox fan at Fenway Park. The fan was ejected and was stripped of his season tickets, while Sheffield was not punished, as MLB ruled that the fan instigated the altercation. This was the most recent of several player-fan incidents during Boston-New York games at either venue over the years.

Key moments

1900 - 1920

October 10, 1904: The Red Sox beat the then-New York Highlanders in the first game of a doubleheader to clinch the American League pennant after Highlanders' pitcher Jack Chesbro threw a wild pitch, allowing the winning run to score from third base.
April 20, 1912: The Red Sox open Fenway Park with a game against the Highlanders. Tris Speaker hits an RBI single in the bottom of the eleventh to give the Red Sox a 7-6 victory. In October, the team would win their second World Series title.
September 11, 1918: The Boston Red Sox win their fifth World Series title, defeating the Chicago Cubs four games to two.
January 3, 1920: Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sells Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for cash.

1920 - 1940

April 18, 1923: 74,200 watch the Yankees defeat the Red Sox 4-1 in the first game played at Yankee Stadium. Babe Ruth hits the new stadium's first home run.
October 15, 1923: The Yankees defeat the New York Giants 6-4 at the Polo Grounds in Game 6 of the World Series, winning their first World Championship. It was the third straight year that the two New York teams faced off in the World Series.
October 2, 1932: The Yankees win their fourth World Series title, sweeping the Chicago Cubs. Meanwhile, the Red Sox finished in last place in the American League for the seventh time in eight years.
May 30, 1938: Before a Yankee Stadium record crowd of 83,533, Yankees outfielder Jake Powell and Red Sox player-manager Joe Cronin fight on the field and beneath the stands. Both players were fined and suspended for 10 games.

1940 - 1960

October 6, 1946: The Red Sox play in their first World Series game since 1918, having finished ahead of the Yankees in the American League for the first time since trading Babe Ruth. Since their last pennant in 1918, the Yankees had won 14 pennants and 10 World Series. Boston would eventually lose the Series four games to three.
October 2, 1949: The Red Sox, having entered the final series of the season at Yankee Stadium needing only one win over the Yankees to advance to the World Series, lose 5-3 on the last day of the season after falling 5-4 the previous day, giving the Yankees their 16th American League pennant on their way to their 12th World Series title.
May 24, 1952: Red Sox outfielder Jimmy Piersall and Yankees second baseman Billy Martin exchange insults before a game in Boston, and end up fighting in the tunnel under the stands. The fight is broken up by Yankees coaches Bill Dickey and Oscar Melillo, and Boston starter Ellis Kinder. Piersall changes out of his bloody shirt and promptly fights with teammate Maury McDermott. The Red Sox win 5-2 with Piersall sitting the game out.

1960 - 1980

October 1, 1961: On the last day of the season, Roger Maris hits his 61st home run of the year against Red Sox rookie pitcher Tracy Stallard at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees win the game 1-0 and win their 26th American League pennant on their way to their 19th World Series title.
April 14, 1967: Rookie Red Sox pitcher Billy Rohr comes within a single strike of a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium before Elston Howard hit a two-out, two-strike single in the ninth. Rohr would complete the one-hitter, but ultimately finished his career with only three wins, two coming against the Yankees.
April 6, 1973: Opening the season at Fenway Park, Ron Blomberg of the Yankees becomes the first designated hitter in Major League history. Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant walks Blomberg in his first plate appearance of the game.
August 1, 1973: In a game at Fenway Park, with the score tied 2–2 in the top of the 9th, Yankees catcher Thurman Munson attempts to score from third base on a missed bunt by Gene Michael. He crashes into Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk, and a fight erupts with Munson punching Fisk in the face.
September 1974: In a game at Fenway Park, Yankees first baseman Chris Chambliss is struck in the right arm with a dart thrown from the stands after hitting a triple.
May 20, 1976: Yankee outfielder Lou Piniella crashes into Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk feet first in an attempt to score in the sixth inning of a game at Yankee Stadium. The two players brawled at home plate while the benches cleared.
October 2, 1978: The Red Sox and Yankees play a one-game playoff at Fenway Park for the American League East title. Bucky Dent hits a three-run home run over the Green Monster to give the Yankees the lead for good in the seventh inning, and after having trailed the Red Sox by 14 games in mid-July, the Yankees eliminated the Red Sox and would later go on to win their 32nd American League pennant and 22nd World Series title.

1980 - 2000

July 4, 1983: Yankee left-hander Dave Righetti throws a no-hitter against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. One of the game's greatest hitters, Wade Boggs, strikes out to end the game.
December 15, 1992: Long-time Red Sox fan favorite Wade Boggs defects to the Yankees after ten seasons with Boston. In 1996, he would win the World Series title that had eluded him in Boston.
February 18, 1999: The Yankees trade with the Toronto Blue Jays to acquire Roger Clemens, who was a fan favorite with the Red Sox between 1984 and 1996 and led the team to the 1986 World Series. He would go on to win two World Series with the Yankees.
September 10, 1999: Chili Davis' 2nd inning home run is the only hit by the Yankees against Pedro Martinez, who strikes out 17 Yankees - the most strikeouts against a Yankee team ever.
October 18, 1999: The Yankees defeat the Red Sox 6-1 at Fenway Park to win the 1999 American League Championship Series four games to one, ending the first post-season series between the two rivals. The win gave the Yankees their 36th American League pennant, and the team would go on to win their 25th World Series title

2000 - Present

June 19, 2000: At Fenway Park, the Yankees beat the Red Sox 22-1, handing Boston its most lopsided home loss ever. The Yankees score 16 runs in the 8th and 9th innings.
September 2, 2001: Mike Mussina comes within one strike of pitching a perfect game against the Red Sox. Carl Everett's 9th inning two-out, two-strike single was the only baserunner allowed by Mussina in a 1-0 Yankee win.
September, 2001: Following the events of September 11, 2001, Boston displays a sign saying "Boston Loves New York".
December 26, 2002: Red Sox President Larry Lucchino labels the Yankees the "Evil Empire" after Cuban free agent Jose Contreras opts to sign with the Yankees instead of the Red Sox.
October 11, 2003: In the top of the fourth inning of Game 3 of the ALCS at Fenway Park, Red Sox starting pitcher Pedro Martinez hits Yankee batter Karim Garcia, prompting an argument between the two players, which ends with both teams exiting the dugouts. In the bottom half on the inning, a pitch from Roger Clemens to Manny Ramirez is high and inside, and the benches clear with both sides brawling. Martinez shoves Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer, who falls to the ground. Later, midway through the ninth inning, Yankee pitcher Jeff Nelson fights with a Fenway Park groundskeeper in the bullpen, shortly joined by Garcia, who jumps over the outfield wall.
October 16, 2003: Holding a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning of Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, Red Sox manager Grady Little elects to leave starter Pedro Martinez on the mound. Martinez proceeds to give up four hits and three runs in the inning, allowing the Yankees to tie the game. In the bottom of the eleventh inning, leadoff hitter Aaron Boone hits a solo home run off of Tim Wakefield to left field, ending the game and the series, giving the Yankees their 39th American League pennant.
February 15, 2004: Reigning American League MVP Alex Rodriguez, who had been courted by the Red Sox for nearly three months, is traded from the Texas Rangers to the Yankees.
July 24, 2004: Alex Rodriguez and Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek initiate a bench clearing brawl after Rodriguez is hit by a pitch from Bronson Arroyo. Both players are ejected from the game. Later in the game, Red Sox third baseman Bill Mueller hits a walk-off home run off Yankee reliever Mariano Rivera.
October 15, 2004: The Yankees defeat the Red Sox 19-8 at Fenway Park in Game 3 of the ALCS, taking a 3-0 lead in the series.
October 16, 2004: David Ortiz keeps the Red Sox alive with a two run walk-off home run in the bottom of the twelfth inning of Game 4, completing a comeback in which the Yankees entered the ninth inning only three outs away from their 40th American League pennant. The next night, Ortiz would end the longest game in ALCS history with a walk-off single in the bottom of the fourteenth inning.
October 20, 2004: The Red Sox defeat the Yankees 10-3 in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, becoming the first team in baseball history to win a seven-game series after losing the first three games, and giving the team its 11th American League pennant. The Red Sox go on to win their first World Championship in 86 years with a 4-0 sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series.
April 14, 2005: Yankee right fielder Gary Sheffield is hit in the head by a Red Sox fan while trying to pick up a fair ball in right field at Fenway Park. In response, Sheffield pushes the fan. The conflict is quickly stopped by security guards. The fan was ejected from the game and stripped of his season tickets.
December 20, 2005: Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon signs a four-year, $52 million contract with the Yankees, joining Boggs and Clemens among the most high-profile defections from Boston to New York in recent years.

External links

Baseball rivalries | Boston Red Sox | New York Yankees

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