New York Yankees – Boston Red Sox Rivalry – Part 1
Every sport on the face of this earth is synonymous with rivalry. It’s what keeps the players and the team going, keeping them thriving to perform better, if not for themselves, then for the fans who cheer and chant for them.
One of the oldest rivalries in Major League Baseball has to be the rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. It is perhaps as old as the two teams are and has continued throughout the years. Their rivalry is considered one of the biggest
and best in all of sports history. The teams are part of the same division, which is the American League East. They have had three face offs in the American League Championship Series, with the Yankees taking the lead twice, once in 1999 and the other in 2003,
whereas, the Red Sox won in 2004.
The Red Sox were without argument one of the best teams in the early 1900. They were the most successful from 1901 to 1918. They won the very first World Series in 1903 and then four more over the passage of 1912 till 1918. The first time the two teams met
they had a fight on the field when Boston pitcher George Winter was knocked out, but at the end the Red Sox ended up winning the division title as well as the World Series.
The real rivalry started with the selling of the legendary Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Harry Frazee, the owner of the Red Sox could not give Babe the kind of money he was asking for and had to as a result, sell off Babe and a few other players. This selling
of Babe Ruth to the Yankees is what started the famous Curse of the Bambino. From the time that Babe was sold, the long period of average performances by the Red Sox and record breaking performances by the Yankees started.
It was after the Yankees acquired Babe Ruth that their dynasty began.
The Curse of the Bambino is known as the time period of 86 years, after the selling of Babe Ruth, when the Red Sox did not manage to win any World Series. Prior to the selling of Babe Ruth, the Red Sox had five World Series trophies under their belt which
was in itself a record but that all changed as soon as Babe joined the Yankees. The selling off of Babe and other very talented players like Wally Schang, Joe Bush, Carl Mays and Sam Jones from the Red Sox to the Yankees further deteriorated Boston and the
Yankees were now becoming more powerful than what the Red Sox used to be in their prime years.
During the time period from 1920 through 2003, the Yankees have managed to win a jaw dropping 26 World Series Championships and 39 pennants where the once-mighty Boston Red Sox never managed to win any World Series and only four pennants. The worst part
was that even in the years that the Red Sox miraculously won the pennants they were left with no World Series title because they lost four games to three. To further add shame to their once mighty history, the Red Sox finished second to the Yankees twelve
times! If that’s not humiliating, then what is?
The Yankees were on fire and the 1920s and the 1930s saw the tables turning in favour of the Yankees. Two years since he joined the Yankees, Ruth had his record setting season which was the best in MLB history for any batter. They managed to capture their
first pennant in 1921 and appeared in their very first World Series game, but when Ruth got hurt mid-way, the Yankees started struggling and the San Francisco Giants took home the title. This shows the difference of having Babe Ruth on the team had made. First
the Red Sox suffered miserably after selling him, and just because he did not play in three games due to injuries, the Yankees started struggling without him as well.
Continued in Part 2
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