The biggest rivalry in baseball and perhaps the biggest rivalry in American sports is the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry.
The two teams have played together in the American League for well over a century, and because they are together in the AL East, are guaranteed to meet on a regular basis every season. Anytime the two teams play, the games generate a great deal of interest from fans, viewers, and bettors.
Many years, the Yankees and Red Sox are among the top teams in the American League, and that should be the case again in 2022. Entering the 2022 MLB season, the Yankees are +650 to win the AL pennant and +1300 to win the World Series, while the Red Sox are +1200 to win the AL pennant and +2500 to win the World Series.
We will get to see the Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry to start the 2022 MLB season, as the two teams will meet in a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
April 7, 9 & 10 (Three-Game Series): at Yankee Stadium (New York)
July 7-10 (Four-Game Series) at Fenway Park (Boston)
July 15-17 (Three-Game Series): at Yankee Stadium (New York)
August 12-14 (Three-Game Series): at Fenway Park (Boston)
September 13 & 14 (Two-Game Series): at Fenway Park (Boston)
September 22-25 (Four-Game Series): at Yankee Stadium (New York)
Yankees vs. Red Sox Rivalry History
In the early years of the American League, the Red Sox were frequently one of the best teams in the league. Between 1903 and 1918, the Red Sox won the AL pennant six times and the World Series five times. Things changed, and so did the course of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry when Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees following the 1919 season.
After winning their fifth World Series title in 1918, the Red Sox would not win another one until 2004, as the “Curse of the Bambino” haunted the Red Sox throughout the years. In that same period, the Yankees won the World Series 26 times and the AL pennant 39 times, while the Red Sox won the pennant only four times. And each year that the Red Sox did make the World Series, they lost 4–3.
Worse yet, out of all of their barren seasons for the Red Sox, the Yankees finished ahead of them in the standings 66 times. After losing to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series in both 1999 and 2003, the Red Sox staged a historic comeback in the 2004 ALCS, becoming the first team in MLB history to overturn a 3-0 series deficit.
That year, the curse was finally lifted, as the Red Sox went on to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series. In recent years, the Red Sox have experienced more success on the playoff stage than the Yankees, following up their World Series win in 2004 with three more titles in 2007, 2013, and 2018. The Yankees, meanwhile, have only one World Series win in the same period, in 2009.
Memorable Yankees vs. Red Sox Moments
1978
In the 1978 season, the Red Sox held a 14-game lead over the Yankees in July, but New York came all the way back to force a one-game playoff at Fenway Park to decide the AL East title. The Yankees trailed 2-0 in the top of the seventh inning when outfielder Bucky Dent hit a three-run homer over the Green Monster, and New York went on to win 5-4.
2003
The Yankees and Red Sox went the distance in the 2003 ALCS, and for much of Game 7, it looked like the Red Sox would claim the AL pennant at Yankee Stadium. But after trailing 5-2 in the eighth inning, New York rallied and walked it off with an 11th-inning homer by now-manager Aaron Boone.
2004
In the 2004 ALCS, the Red Sox turned the tables in epic fashion. After losing the first three games of the series, the Red Sox were down to their final three outs in Game 4. But they tied it in the bottom of the ninth, then won the game on a walk-off home run by David Ortiz.
Ortiz would deliver another walk-off hit to win Game 5 and send the series back to New York, where the Red Sox would win the final two games to cap their remarkable comeback.
Players Who Have Played for the Yankees and Red Sox
Many players over the years have played for both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Two of the most notable are Babe Ruth and Roger Clemens.