With baseball’s best rivalry set to resume this weekend in Fenway, it’s time to rank and relive the times that have made this intense showdown so heated.
Even though this rivalry started some 100 years ago when the Yankees were known as the “Highlanders” (a reference to their home field of Hilltop Park) and the Boston “Americans” were winning World Series after World Series (five of them before 1918), I’m going to preface this by saying that we’re only going to include moments from the ’90s up to the present time, since I didn’t actually witness things like Bucky Dent’s homerun in ’78 or the sale of Ruth to New York in 1919. That said, on to the list:
10. Yankee fans start chanting “1918”—Yankee fans start taunting the Red Sox players with their famous “1918” chant during a September series between the two at Yankee Stadium in 1990, soon after the release of author Dan Shaughnessy’s “Curse of the Bambino.” The Yankees would soon finish the season with the worst record in the league (67–95), while Boston (88–74) would win their third division title in five years.
9. Yankees beat Sox in ’99 ALCS—Though not quite as heated as their future postseason meetings, the lopsided affair (NYY won in five) featured an in-his-prime Pedro mowing down the Yankees lineup, in Game 3, to the tune of 12 Ks in seven innings in a much-anticipated Fenway showdown against former Red Sox Roger Clemens, who was shelled in a 13–1 loss—the only loss of the postseason for the defending champion Yankees that year.
8. Luchino calls Yankees ‘Evil Empire’—In February 2003, and after failing to beat out the Yankees in an effort to sign Cuba’s prized free-agent Jose Contreras, an apparently frustrated Red Sox President Larry Luchino famously referred to the Yankees as the “Evil Empire.” Incidentally, Contreras played just a year-and-a-half in the Bronx before being traded to the White Sox.
Even though this rivalry started some 100 years ago when the Yankees were known as the “Highlanders” (a reference to their home field of Hilltop Park) and the Boston “Americans” were winning World Series after World Series (five of them before 1918), I’m going to preface this by saying that we’re only going to include moments from the ’90s up to the present time, since I didn’t actually witness things like Bucky Dent’s homerun in ’78 or the sale of Ruth to New York in 1919. That said, on to the list:
10. Yankee fans start chanting “1918”—Yankee fans start taunting the Red Sox players with their famous “1918” chant during a September series between the two at Yankee Stadium in 1990, soon after the release of author Dan Shaughnessy’s “Curse of the Bambino.” The Yankees would soon finish the season with the worst record in the league (67–95), while Boston (88–74) would win their third division title in five years.
9. Yankees beat Sox in ’99 ALCS—Though not quite as heated as their future postseason meetings, the lopsided affair (NYY won in five) featured an in-his-prime Pedro mowing down the Yankees lineup, in Game 3, to the tune of 12 Ks in seven innings in a much-anticipated Fenway showdown against former Red Sox Roger Clemens, who was shelled in a 13–1 loss—the only loss of the postseason for the defending champion Yankees that year.
8. Luchino calls Yankees ‘Evil Empire’—In February 2003, and after failing to beat out the Yankees in an effort to sign Cuba’s prized free-agent Jose Contreras, an apparently frustrated Red Sox President Larry Luchino famously referred to the Yankees as the “Evil Empire.” Incidentally, Contreras played just a year-and-a-half in the Bronx before being traded to the White Sox.
7. Yankees sweep five-game series at Boston—In an unusual five-game set between the two clubs in August of 2006, the visiting Yankees took all five games—outscoring the Sox 49–26 in the process—to push their lead to six-and-a-half games and effectively end Boston’s postseason hopes.
6. Wade Boggs signs with Yankees—Legendary Sox third-baseman Wade Boggs shocked his former fans when, after 11 seasons and a combined .338 batting average in Boston, switched over to Yankee pinstripes following the 1992 season. The five-time batting champ would play five seasons in New York, highlighted by his helping the club to win the 1996 World Series.
5. Johnny Damon switches allegiance to Yankees—Former Red Sox “idiot” Johnny Damon signed with New York following the 2005 season, after four years and one World Series title with Boston. One of the top leadoff hitters in the game, Damon’s now beard-less presence in Steinbrenner’s lineup gave them (along with Jeter) one of the more enviable 1–2 combos in the game.
4. Yankees get A-Rod after Boston’s attempt fails—Following the teams’ 2003 October classic, the Red Sox tried to upgrade their shortstop position by dangling all-star Nomar Garciaparra in an attempt to land mega-star Alex Rodriguez. After ultimately deciding against reworking his contract (and thus voiding the trade), Rodriguez was later dealt to the Yankees when ALCS-hero Aaron Boone was injured during the off-season. The trade seemed to be yet another dagger to the hearts of Red Sox fans, who were currently enduring an 85-year World Series drought.
6. Wade Boggs signs with Yankees—Legendary Sox third-baseman Wade Boggs shocked his former fans when, after 11 seasons and a combined .338 batting average in Boston, switched over to Yankee pinstripes following the 1992 season. The five-time batting champ would play five seasons in New York, highlighted by his helping the club to win the 1996 World Series.
5. Johnny Damon switches allegiance to Yankees—Former Red Sox “idiot” Johnny Damon signed with New York following the 2005 season, after four years and one World Series title with Boston. One of the top leadoff hitters in the game, Damon’s now beard-less presence in Steinbrenner’s lineup gave them (along with Jeter) one of the more enviable 1–2 combos in the game.
4. Yankees get A-Rod after Boston’s attempt fails—Following the teams’ 2003 October classic, the Red Sox tried to upgrade their shortstop position by dangling all-star Nomar Garciaparra in an attempt to land mega-star Alex Rodriguez. After ultimately deciding against reworking his contract (and thus voiding the trade), Rodriguez was later dealt to the Yankees when ALCS-hero Aaron Boone was injured during the off-season. The trade seemed to be yet another dagger to the hearts of Red Sox fans, who were currently enduring an 85-year World Series drought.
3. Varitek punches A-Rod—July 24, 2004, is officially known as the day the Red Sox turned around their season on their way to their first World Series title in 86 years and somehow Boston Captain Jason Varitek’s punch to A-Rod—who was just beaned and glaring at pitcher Bronson Arroyo—seemed to be the culprit. Bill Meuller’s walk-off homerun against Rivera later in the game capped the Sox comeback and the rest is history.
2. Boone’s homer highlights intense ’03 ALCS—The instant-classic seven-game series featured several top moments of its own with Yankee bench coach (and former Boston manager) Don Zimmer charging at Pedro following his beaning of Karim Garcia in Game 3, Boston manager Grady Little leaving Pedro in too long, after seemingly the whole stadium knew he was done, while clinging to a late-inning 5–2 Game 7 lead, and finally after another epic Yankee comeback, Aaron Boone ending the do-or-die game (and series) with a walk-off home run in the 11th inning.
1. Boston’s 3–0 comeback stuns Yankees in ’04 ALCS—The sequel to one of the greatest postseason series ever, lived up to its hype as the Yankees squandered a seemingly dominant 3–0 lead, David Ortiz became a postseason hero, and the Curse of the Bambino was officially lifted as their seven-game series victory catapulted them to a World Series sweep over St. Louis.
