Warring Nations

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While the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is currently the biggest in sports, this was not always the case—especially in New York, where the Yankees’ crosstown National League foes the Dodgers, Giants, and Mets have traditionally loomed as large as, if not larger, than the Red Sox. But in Boston, no other enemy is as despised as the Yankees, and in recent years New Yorkers have fed off that virulent negative energy from their northern neighbors to turn Yankee battles with the Red Sox into the baseball equivalent of Ali vs. Frazier, the Beatles vs. the Stones, or Bush vs. Gore. And although the Yankees have traditionally dominated the rivalry—going into the 2005 season, the all-time series record favored New York 1,060-879—the Red Sox's success over the last several years, and the fact that they are the more recent World Champions, weighs heavily on the minds of Yankee Nation.

A brief timeline of this storied rivalry

1903: The Yankees, originally known as the Highlanders, begin playing in New York (after a brief stint in Baltimore). The Red Sox finish in first place in the American League, and win the inaugeral World Series. The Highlanders finish in fourth place, 17 games behind Boston.

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’s wild pitch allows 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.

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 and theatre impresario Harry Frazee sells Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000. Thus begins the Curse of the Bambino.

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. The Giants had defeated the Yankees in each of the previous two World Series.

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.

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 loses the Series four games to three to the St. Louis Cardinals.

October 1-2, 1949: The Red Sox, needing one win to capture the American League Pennant, are swept by the Yankees, who go on to win the World Series.

September 26, 1960: The Red Sox’ greatest player, 42-year-old Ted Williams, once nicknamed “The Kid,” retires without a World Series title. He hits a home run in his final at-bat.

October 1, 1961: On the last day of the season, Roger Maris hits his 61st home run of the year, breaking Babe Ruth’s 34 year old record, 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 hits a two-out, two-strike single in the ninth. The Red Sox go on to win the American League pennant, but lose the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1972: Rookies Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk duke it out, this feud between 2 of the best catchers of this era will last until Munson's untimely death in 1979.

1975: The Yankees, led by new skipper Billy Martin, finish in third place, 12 games behind the Red Sox. The Red Sox lose the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.


1976: In Martin’s second season, the Yankees unseat the Red Sox as American League champs, but also fall to the Reds in the World Series. Also Lou Pinellian and Carlton Fisk brawl when Pinellia slides in hard into Fisk. Bill Lee injures his shoulder when he tangles with Graig Nettles.

1977: The Yankees once again top the Red Sox in the American League East, and go on to win their first World Series title in 15 years. Manager Billy Martin removes slugger Reggie Jackson in the middle of a game in Boston and goes wild and tries to assault Jackson in front of a National TV audience.

October 2, 1978: After having trailed the Red Sox by 14 games in mid-July, the Yankees claw their way back to a tie in the division standings. A one-game playoff at Fenway Park is decided by Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent’s three-run home run, giving the Yankees the American League East title on their way to another World Series championship.

July 4, 1983: Yankee left-hander Dave Righetti throws a no-hitter against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Red Sox third baseman and perennial batting champ 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 former Red Sox great Roger Clemens, who goes 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.

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 they go on to win their 25th World Series title

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 is the only hit allowed by Mussina in a 1-0 Yankee win.

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 one of baseball’s most historic brawls, Pedro Martinez beans Yankee Karim Garcia. When Roger Clemens retaliates with a high and tight fastball to Manny Ramirez, both benches clear, and Martinez ends up pushing ancient Yankee bench coach (and former Red Sox manager) Don Zimmer to the ground. Later, Yankee reliever Jeff Nelson fights with a Fenway Park groundskeeper who cheers for the Sox in the Yankee bullpen; Garcia jumps over the right field wall and joins in, and both players are later arrested for assault.

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 fading starter Pedro Martinez on the mound, and the Yankees tie the game. In the bottom of the eleventh inning, leadoff hitter Aaron Boone hits a walk-off home run off knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, 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 are ejected after starting a bench clearing brawl when Rodriguez is hit by a pitch from Bronson Arroyo. Later in the game, Yankee reliever surrenders a game-winning, walk-off home run by Red Sox third baseman Bill Mueller.

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 ends the longest game in ALCS history with a home run 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.

October 27, 2004: The Red Sox complete a World Series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, ending the Curse of the Bambino with their first World Championship in the 86 years since they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Over that span, the Yankees had won 26 World Series titles.

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.

August 21, 2006: The Yankees defeat the Red Sox 2-1 at Fenway Park, completing a five-game sweep of the Red Sox in the first five game series between the teams in 33 years, evoking memories of 1978's "Boston Massacre." The Yankees outscore the Red Sox 49-26 and push their division lead to 6.5 games over the second place Red Sox.

Rivalry Week 2007: The New York Yankees led Red Sox 5-1 in the Rivalry Week of 2007. Alex Rodriguez, on the other hand, finally passed his record to more then 500 home runs! Click EasyEdit to help edit Rivalry Week 2007.






What's next? Keep the timeline up-to-date! Click EasyEdit to add the latest installments in the ongoing rivalry.



See also:

• Why I Love the Yankees

• Why I Hate the Red Sox

• Current Lineup
• The Quotable Yankee
• The Yankee Eras
• Yankee All-Time Team

• Yankee Almanac
• Yankee Stadium
• Yankees Farm System
• Yankees Library
• Yankees Trivia