Yankees–Red Sox rivalry

The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is one of the longest and most bitter rivalries in professional sports. For over 100 years, baseball's New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox of the American League have been chief rivals, compounded by their geographic proximity.

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), 1949 (where the Yankees won), and in 2005 (when they tied, although the Yankees owned the tiebreaker). The teams also finished tied for first in 1978, when the Yankees won a high-profile one-game playoff for the division title.

Since the Red Sox' defeat of the Yankees in seven games in the 2004 American League Championship Series, the rivalry has become more intense than ever before. Both USA Today and Sports Illustrated have dubbed it "the fiercest rivalry in sports".

History

Since before the start of the American Revolution, Boston and New York have 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 the Siege of Boston ended, the citizens of Boston celebrated wildly (and still celebrate Evacuation Day to this day). 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 concentration 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 following 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 AL 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 in a hundred years that the Red Sox would defeat the Yankees in a title-deciding game.

Babe Ruth, prior to his trade to the Yankees

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 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 "Murderers' 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 Red Sox marked the beginning of the supposed "Curse of the Bambino".

From 1920 through 2003, the Yankees won 26 World Series championships and 39 pennants, compared to only four pennants for the Red Sox. To make matters worse, in every year that the Red Sox won the pennant — 1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986 — they lost the World Series four games to three, leaving them with no World Series titles. During this time, the Red Sox finished second in the standings to the Yankees on twelve 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 World Series, starting a record run of five straight World Series titles for the Yankees.

In 1978, the Red Sox, led by Jim Rice, Carl Yastremski, Fred Lynn and catcher Carlton Fisk, seemed as if they were destined for a trip to the Fall Classic for the second time in the 70s. They led the Yankees in the standings by 14 1/2 games by mid-July, less than three months to go in the regular season. The Yankees turned their season around just as the Red Sox seemed to collapse. By September 7, the Yankees had closed the once seemingly insurmountable 14 1/2 game deficit to only 4 games just in time for a four-game series at Fenway Park in Boston. The Yankees won all four games in the series by the scores of 15-3, 13-2, 7-0 and 7-4 for a combined score of 42-9. This series became knows as the "Boston Massacre". The Yankees then took control of the AL East until the final week of the season when Boston managed to win their final eight games and finish in a first place tie with the Yankees with identical 99-63 records. A one-game playoff was scheduled in Boston to determine who would win the AL East Pennant for 1978.

Boston placed former Yankee Mike Torrez on the mound, while the Yankees countered with the Cy Young Award-winner from that year, Ron Guidry, who took at 24-3 record into the game. The Sox led 2-0 going into the top of the 7th, when Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent hit a two-out, three-run home run over Fenway's Green Monster to take a 3-2 lead. The Yankees added another run that inning and in the eighth, Reggie Jackson made the score 5-2 with a solo home run to dead center. The Sox rallied, only to come up short when Yastremski popped out to third baseman Craig Nettles with two men on base, ending the game. The Yankees won 5-4 and went on to defeat Kansas City in the ALCS and Los Angeles in the World Series for their second straight World Series title.

In 1999, the Yankees and Red Sox faced each other for the first time in the ALCS. The Yankees were the defending World Series Champions and in the midst of a run of three consecutive World Championships, while Boston had not appeared in the ALCS since 1990. Despite the build-up to this historic, first-ever post-season meeting between the two long-time rivals, the series proved to be somewhat anti-climatic, with New York winning four games to one. The lone bright spot for the Red Sox came in Game 3 at Boston's Fenway Park, in what had been a much anticipated pitching match-up of former Red Sox star Roger Clemens, who was now pitching for the Yankees, and current Boston ace Pedro Martinez. Martinez did not allow any runs and struck out twelve through seven innings of work; Clemens gave up five earned runs and only lasted into the third inning of a 13-1 Red Sox victory. However, the Yankees rebounded to win games 4 and 5, clinching the American League pennant and advancing to the Series, where they swept the Atlanta Braves.

In 2003, the two teams faced off in the ALCS for the second time. Tied at three wins apiece after the first six grueling and intense games, including a bench-clearing brawl between the rivals in the third game, Boston held a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning of Game 7 at Yankee Stadium in New York, with their ace Martinez on the mound. After the first out of the inning, the Yankees began a rally with three straight hits that cut the deficit to 5-3 and left runners on second and third base. It seemed that Martinez had tired, but Boston manager Grady Little decided to leave him in the game. This decision would come back to haunt Little when the next batter, New York catcher Jorge Posada, blooped a single into center field that scored both runners and tied the game. The game moved on into extra innings. In the bottom of the eleventh inning, third baseman Aaron Boone, who had only two hits the entire series up to that point, hit the first pitch of the inning for a home run into the left field stands, winning the Yankees their 39th American League pennant.

File:Yankeesredsox.jpg

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez fighting Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek

The tone for 2004 was set early when new Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who confounded the Yankees in the 2001 World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, showed up at an ice hockey game in Boston wearing a "Yankee hater" hat. That year, the Red Sox won the season series against the Yankees, punctuated by an 11-10 Red Sox win on July 24. During that game, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek started an epic bench-clearing brawl where Schilling attacked several Yankees players, and Gabe Kapler and Tanyon Sturtze broke off of the fight, giving Sturtze a bloody ear. Despite their success in the rivalry series, the Red Sox still finished second to the Yankees 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, and 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 was the first time in baseball that a team had come back from a 0-3 deficit in a best of seven series, though it has been accomplished twice in the National Hockey League. After having finally achieved a major and historic victory over the Yankees, the 2004 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 times with Mariano Rivera on the mound and both instances being slightly reminiscent of the Red Sox' heart-breaking collapse in the 1986 World Series.

In 2005 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, but the Yankees won by virtue of their edge in the season series against Boston.) Though the teams were poised to face off in a third straight ALCS, both were eliminated in the ALDS.

In 2006, the Yankees won the AL East for the ninth time in a row, while the Red Sox finished behind the Toronto Blue Jays for third place the Yankees again won the season series against the Redsox more notably they revisited the Boston massacre of 1978 this time with a 5 game sweep to put the Redsox 6.5 games behind the Yankees eliminating Bostons hopes of winning the division and dethroning the Yankees for another season. The Yankees went on to the playoffs and were eliminated in the ALDS, by the Detroit Tigers in four games.

Fan involvement

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.

"Yankees Suck" and "2000" chant

"Yankees Suck" is a chant commonly used by Red Sox fans against the Yankees. It is frequently noticeable at Fenway Park and can often be heard during radio and TV broadcasts. The chant has become so popular that is has been used by fans in other cities against the Yankees, and by Red Sox fans at seemingly random locations and events.

In addition to Red Sox fans, "Yankees Suck" has been used by New York Mets fans in New York City, Toronto Blue Jays fans in Toronto, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim fans in Orange County, California, and, at least for one playoff game, Detroit Tigers fans in Detroit-Windsor area.. Los Angeles Dodgers fans also chanted the phrase during an interleague series in June 2004.

Some fans will now chant "Yankees Suck" against a team other than the Yankees and during events unrelated to baseball, a notable example being a "Yankees Suck" chant started by linebacker Larry Izzo during the 2002 New England Patriots' Super Bowl victory parade. [10] This phenomenon was parodied by a blurb in The Onion, which said that "the chant also occurred at a Dave Matthews concert and a Noam Chomsky lecture at MIT".

The phrase "Yankees Suck" has been extensively merchandised by street vendors and web sites in the form of blue and white T-shirts, bumper stickers and flags. Variations of the phrase have also been created specifically for certain players like Derek Jeter ("Jeter Swallows"). Trying to create a more family-friendly atmosphere, any merchandise bearing "Yankees Suck" (or a similar message) has been banned by Fenway officials. Those wearing offending t-shirts are frequently threatened with ejection and possible arrest if they refuse to turn the offending shirt inside-out. Additionally, chanting or shouting "Yankees Suck" at Fenway Park can also warrant ejection and/or arrest. In 2002, the merchandise sparked legal and civil rights debates when fans were barred from wearing "Yankees Suck" t-shirts at Safeco Field in Seattle. In Yankees Stadium, the "Yankees Suck" t-shirts were banned in the stadium for some Mets or Red Sox fans who were wearing them.

The exact origin of the chant is hard to pin down. In a 1993 Boston Globe article, Nick Cafardo said it had been "revived" and referred to it as "the chant that had been missing here for so long".

The phrase "Year 2000" can now be heard at Red Sox Yankee games by Red Sox fans, in reference to the last championship won by the New York Yankees; and retaliation for the "1918" chanted by Yankee fans.

"1918" and "Boston Sucks" chants

For many years, Yankees fans often teased Red Sox fans with chants and signs referencing "1918", the last year the Red Sox had won the World Series. Since that season, the Yankees had won 26 World Championships while the Red Sox won none. Since the Red Sox twin victories in the 2004 American League Championship Series and succeeding 2004 World Series, the 1918 reference has become moot and has virtually disappeared. [11][12][13]

The chant "Boston Sucks" is now most commonly used by Yankees fans.

Key moments

1901 - 1920

• May 7, 1903: In the first game between the then New York Highlanders in their first year in New York, and the then Boston Americans at Huntington Avenue Grounds, a New York runner knocks into Boston pitcher George Winter, prompting a fight and first incident between those two teams. Boston won the game 6-2. The Americans go on to win the very first World Series, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• October 10, 1904: The Americans beat the Highlanders in the first game of a doubleheader on the last day of the season to clinch the American League pennant after Highlanders' pitcher Jack Chesbro, who won a record 41 games that year, threw a wild pitch, allowing the winning run to score from third base. However, the New York Giants, who had won the National League pennant, had already refused to play in the 1904 World Series because they did not want to play the Highlanders. Thus, there was no World Series that year.
• April 20, 1912: Boston, now known as 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. The team would win a team record 105 games and their second World Series title.
• September 9, 1918: The Chicago Cubs score two runs off of Babe Ruth in game 4 of the Series, snapping his then record World Series scoreless inning streak at 29 & 2/3 innings. However, the Red Sox win the game 3-2, and go on to capture their fifth Series title, their third in the past four years, and fourth in the past seven years.
• January 3, 1920: Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sells Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for cash and a loan on Fenway Park, despite that Ruth had set the record for home runs with 29 in 1919.

1921 - 1940

• October 5, 1921: Following Babe Ruth's record setting season - statistically, one of the greatest in major league history for a batter - the Yankees appear in and win their very first World Series game. However, Ruth gets hurt during the Series, and the Yankees eventually drop the last three games, losing the Series five games to three to the New York Giants in the last ever best-of-nine Series.
• 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, and finishes the year with a .393 batting average, while being walked a then record 170 times. The Yankees meet up with the New York Giants in the World Series for the third straight year, but this time they finally come out on top, winning their first World Championship.
• 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. The Red Sox finish second to the Yankees, who go on to sweep the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.
• October 8, 1939: The Yankees sweep the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series, winning a then record four consecutive World Series. It is the Yankees' eighth title overall. The Red Sox again finished second to the Yankees in the A.L.

1941 - 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 to the St. Louis Cardinals.
• October 1948: Both teams would be in a tight pennant race with the Cleveland Indians until the final weekend. The Red Sox would eliminate the Yankees in the final series at Fenway Park, and overcame four Joe DiMaggio hits in the final game to tie with Cleveland for the pennant. It forced the first one-game playoff in AL history, which the Indians won 8-3 at Fenway Park. The city of Boston missed out on its first all-Boston World Series as the Indians went on to defeat the Boston Braves in the Series, the last one the Indians have won.
• 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 and it starts a run of five consecutive World Series title from 1949-1953.
• 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.

1961 - 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. Later in the year, Carl Yastrzemski becomes the last player to win the batting triple crown leading the Red Sox to the pennant. However, they lose the Series to the St. Louis Cardinals four games to three.
• 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.
• September 10, 1978: The Yankees complete a four-game sweep at Fenway Park to tie the Red Sox atop the AL East, completing a 14-game comeback over the course of two months. New York outscores Boston 42-9 during the series, which becomes known as the "Boston Massacre."
• 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. The Yankees go on to win their 32nd American League pennant and 22nd World Series title.

1981 - 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.
• September 22, 1991: With the Red Sox within one game of first place Toronto, Boston takes a 5-4 lead into the top of the 9th inning at Fenway. Facing Sox closer Jeff Reardon, Yankee outfielder Roberto Kelly homers with 2 outs, tying the game. In the 10th, the Red Sox bullpen imploaded, giving the Yankees a 7-5 win. The loss started a tailspin, with the Red Sox losing 11 of their last 14 games, knocking them out of the pennant race.
• 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.
• September 18, 1993: The Yankees defeat Boston at Yankee Stadium via a last-moment reprieve. Trailing 3-1, Mike Stanley's apparent fly out with 2 outs in the 9th was nullified by a fan running on to the field prior to the pitch being thrown. The umpire had called time and when play resumed, Stanley singled. The Yankees would rally to score 3 runs and win on a Don Mattingly single.
• November 1997: The Red Sox trade pitchers Carl Pavano and Tony Armas, Jr. for Montreal Expos pitcher and 1997 NL Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez. Martinez would go on to have one of the most dominant runs of any pitcher ever in a Boston uniform from 1998-2004 and due to his aggressive demeanor and penchant for hitting batters as well as for speaking his mind, he played a key role in the rivalry and often stirred up animosity amongst the Yankees and their fans with his actions.
• February 18, 1999: The Yankees trade fan favorite David Wells, who had pitched a perfect game in 1998, to the Toronto Blue Jays for Roger Clemens, a fan favorite with the Red Sox between 1984 and 1996. Clemens was coming off two consecutive season with the Blue Jays where he had won both the pitching triple crown and the Cy Young Award in both 1997 and 1998. He would go on to win two World Series with the Yankees in 1999 and 2000.
• May 18, 1999:Yankees manager Joe Torre returns from a battle with Prostate Cancer with his first game being at Fenway Park. When exchanging lineup cards the Boston crowd gives Torre a long standing ovation to which he tips his cap.
• 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 13, 1999: The Yankees win game 1 of their ALCS against the Red Sox on a 10th inning walk-off homerun by Bernie Williams off Boston reliever Rod Beck. The game is the first actual postseason meeting between the two teams because the 1-game playoff in 1978 technically counted as a regular season game.
• October 16, 1999: The Red Sox rout Roger Clemens and the Yankees 13-1 in what had been a highly anticipated pitching match up between Clemens and Pedro Martinez, who had won the pitching triple crown that year.
• October 18, 1999: The Yankees defeat the Red Sox 6-1 two days later to win the A.L.C.S. 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.
• 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. The Yankees go on to win their 3rd consecutive World Series and 26th overall.

2001 - 2004

• September 2, 2001: Mike Mussina comes within one strike of pitching a perfect game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. 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 fans display signs saying "Boston Loves New York" in a rare moment of peace between the two sides of the rivalry.
• 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 the benches clear with both sides brawling. Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer charges at Martinez who then shoves him to the ground. Later, midway through the ninth inning, Garcia and Yankee pitcher Jeff Nelson fight with a Fenway Park groundskeeper in the bullpen.
• 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.
• April 16, 2004: Alex Rodriguez makes his Yankee debut at Fenway Park and goes 0 for 4 and gets booed every time he makes an appearance.
• July 1, 2004: The Yankees defeat the Red Sox 5-4 in a 13-inning contest at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees victory capped a devastating 3-game sweep of the Red Sox which appeared to be the low-point of Boston's season. The game was won by a John Flaherty single in the bottom of the 13th, however the game's lasting image was Derek Jeter catching a fly ball at top speed with 2 outs and runners on base before crashing three rows into the left-field stands in foul territory and emerging with a gash on his face.
• July 24, 2004: Alex Rodríguez and Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek initiate a bench clearing brawl after Rodríguez 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 closer Mariano Rivera.
• September 25, 2004: The Yankees win 6-4 at Fenway Park in a game in which Pedro Martinez was left in to pitch the 8th inning with a 4-3 lead. He gave up a solo homerun to Hideki Matsui to tie the game and an RBI single to Ruben Sierra to surrender the lead in a moment eerily similar to game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. After the game, a frustrated Martinez said in an interview "What can I say? Just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy." Yankee fans took note and gave birth to the chant of "Who's your da-ddy" whenever Pedro Martinez pitched in New York.
• October 12, 2004: The Yankees win Game 1 10-7 in a game which Boston starter Curt Schilling gave up 2 runs in the first inning and aggravated an ankle injury from earlier in the postseason. This would lead to speculation that Schilling who had been Boston's best pitcher against New York, would be unable to play for the rest of the postseason.
• October 13, 2004: The Yankees win Game 2, 3-1 over Boston at Yankee Stadium, defeating Pedro Martinez. Notable in this game was the Yankee fans overwhelming Boston's starting pitcher with constant chants of "Who's your da-ddy?" referring to Pedro's comments after a late-season loss in which he said he must "tip his cap to them and call the Yankees my daddy."
• October 16, 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. This was the longest nine-inning postseason game in history.
• October 17, 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 that gave the Red Sox a 6-4 win, completing a comeback in which the Yankees entered the ninth inning only three outs away from their 40th American League pennant.
• October 18, 2004: David Ortiz ends the longest game in ALCS history with a walk-off single in the bottom of the fourteenth inning in Game 5. The Red Sox overcame a two-run deficit in the 8th inning, one coming from a David Ortiz homerun off Tom Gordon, the other from a sacrifice fly by Jason Varitek off Rivera, who recorded his second blown save in as many games.
• October 19, 2004: Curt Schilling pitches seven innings for the Red Sox in Yankee Stadium and wins, 4-2, after having sutures put into his right ankle, blood was visibly soaking into Schilling's sock yet it did not seem to affect his performance. Also featured in this game were two umpire reversals of pivotal calls in the game, both against the Yankees. Both reversals were correct, though Yankee fans protested by littering the field as armed guards with riot gear took positions near the foul lines preparing for the worst. Notable was the second reversal when Alex Rodriguez hit a dribbler back to pitcher Bronson Arroyo and swatted at the pitcher's glovehand while the tag was being applied, knocking the ball loose. Derek Jeter scored from first base while Rodriguez reached second base before umpires called Rodriguez out and sent Jeter back to first. Swatting the ball from a fielder to avoid a tag is an illegal play. Ire at Rodriguez's swatting attempt prompted Red Sox fans to give him the nickname "Slappy".
• October 20, 2004: The Red Sox defeat the Yankees 10-3 in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, becoming the first team in baseball history (and only the third team in major league sports — the previous two times both having been in the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 and the New York Islanders in 1975) to win a seven-game series after losing the first three games, and giving the team its 11th American League pennant.
• October 27,2004: The Red Sox win their first World Series championship in 86 years, completing a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Series.

2005 - present

• April 11, 2005: The Red Sox receive their World Series rings in front of the Yankees at Fenway Park. In an act of class, the Yankees all go to the top step and applaud the Red Sox for their accomplishment. On a humorous note, the only Yankee to be cheered during player introductions is Mariano Rivera, who blew 2 saves against the Sox the week before and 2 during the 2004 ALCS. Rivera laughed and tipped his cap. The Yankees won the game that day 8-1.
• 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.
• May 28, 2005: The Red Sox massacre the Yankees 17-1 at Yankee Stadium. They would beat the Yankees by the same score again on July 15 at Fenway Park.
• October 1, 2005: With both teams tied with only 1 game remaining, the Yankees win in Boston 8-4 with homeruns from Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, and eventual MVP Alex Rodriguez. The win, coupled with a Cleveland Indians loss, clinches the AL East for the Yankees, who had won the season series with Boston for the tiebreaker (and the Red Sox were assured of either winning the wild card outright or playing the Indians in a one-game playoff for the wildcard). Both teams look forward to a third consecutive ALCS, but both are eliminated in the ALDS.
• December 20, 2005: Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon, a fan-favorite during his four years in Boston, signs a four-year, $52 million contract with the Yankees, joining Boggs and Roger Clemens as the most high-profile players who left Boston and eventually ended up playing with New York in recent years.
• May 1, 2006 : A clean shaven Johnny Damon returns to Fenway Park for the first time as a New York Yankee. Leading off the game, Damon receives a mix of cheers and boos and he tipped his helmet to the fans in Boston. Some fans threw real dollar bills at him in center field. The Red Sox won the game 7-3. Damon went 0 for 4.
• 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 pushed their division lead to 6.5 games over the second place Red Sox; Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy dubs it the "Son of Massacre". The second game of the series, the back end of a day-night doubleheader that the Yankees won 14-11, took four hours and 45 minutes to complete making it the longest 9-inning game in major league baseball history. The Yankees go on to win their ninth consecutive AL East title and the Red Sox finish third, marking the first time since 1997 that they did not finish second.

External links

• Fan perspectives from both sides of the rivalry
• Birth of a rivalry
• RedSoxVersusYankees- A site dedicated to the Red Sox Yankees rivalry