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Are the Yankees, according to Red Sox owners, "The Evil Empire?" Is "Red Sox Nation" just the creation of the Red Sox and ESPN as Yankee owner Hank Steinbrenner believes, asserting that with the Yankees on top there is order to the universe? It is 2009 and the Yankees have won the World Series, so the "Yankee Universe" appears at ease. For countless years, Red Sox fans have felt cursed while Yankees fans feel it is only normal to win.
Yet, for a short while, things were in disarray as on opening day of 2005 the Red Sox receive their rings to commemorate their first World Series win since 1918 having swept the Cardinals after overcoming a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. Naturally, they played the Yankees. The Yankees show class, respect, and good sportsmanship by standing on the top step of the visitors' third base dugout to acknowledge the Red Sox celebration. However, at the same time, the YES Network (Yankees' broadcast home) turns their cameras away. Then even worse, for the Yankees, in 2007 Red Sox fans celebrate again as their team sweeps the Rockies in the World Series.
The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry has lasted over a century; so I will try to be brief, glossing over a decade here and there, in relating the history of this rivalry. For those be-deviled Red Sox fans, it began auspiciously in 1903 with the very first New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game for the upstart American League (ignore the fact the teams were then known as the Boston Americans and New York Highlanders). Just to start the rivalry off on the right note, there is a brawl between the teams before Boston wins the game and eventually wins the very first World Series, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In April of 1912, Boston opens their new Fenway Park with a game against the Yankees. Tris Speaker's RBI single in the eleventh gives Boston a victory and the Red Sox continue on to win their second World Series title, this time over the Giants. The most success the Yankees achieve in those years is finishing second in 1904 by losing the deciding game of the season to Boston.
Perhaps as a result, the Yankee owners sell the team to Colonel Jacob Ruppert for $1.25 million. Ruppert, having inherited a brewery, provides the Yankees their first owner with deep pockets and a desire to win. Yet, there is one last shot for the Red Sox in 1918 as they capture their fifth title.
Unfortunately, at least for Boston fans, the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry would take a drastic turn for the worse when Red Sox owner Harry Frazee, to finance a Broadway musical, sells Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920. Thus begins the "Curse of the Bambino," ensuing mediocrity for the Red Sox, and a Yankee dynasty. Eventually, Ruth's home runs prove so popular that the Yankees begin out-drawing their landlords, the Giants, who tell them to get out of the Polo Grounds.
As fate would have it, in April of 1923, a fan-packed, new stadium sees the Yankees defeat Boston, 4-1, to open the "House that Ruth Built." Babe Ruth hits the first home run and, at the end of the season, the Yankees play the Giants in the World Series to win their first World Championship.
In the 1927, the Yankee "Murderers' Row" with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig would set records with Ruth's home run total of 60 and Lou Gehrig's .373 average, 47 home runs, and 175 RBIs. After Ruth's retirement and Gehrig's tragic illness, a new titan appears in New York. His name is Joe DiMaggio, better known as "Jolting Joe" or the "Yankee Clipper" and his teams would win four titles from 1936 to 1939.
In 1941, America watches as Ted Williams, the "Splendid Splinter" of the Red Sox, hunts for the, elusive, .400 batting average and Joe DiMaggio attempts to break the consecutive-game hitting streak. Ted Williams bats .406, but in this episode of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, he looses the MVP award to DiMaggio and his 56 game-streak.
In 1946, the Yankee-Boston rivalry takes an odd turn as Boston reaches the World Series but loose to the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1948, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cleveland Indians become involved in a pennant race that lasts until the final weekend. The Red Sox win the final series with the Yankees but loose to the Indians in a playoff. For the Red Sox, worse was still to come. To reach the World Series, in 1949, all the Red Sox need is one win at Yankee Stadium. Boston loses the final two games and the Yankees go on to win five consecutive titles.
Mantle and Maris then take over and the Yankees rule the early sixties. Red Sox fans wait with frustration until the so-called "Impossible Year" of 1967. Although the previously cellar-dwelling Red Sox win the pennant, they loose to the Cardinals in the World Series.
In September of 1978, the Yankees complete a four-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park, tying them in the AL East after an improbable 14 game comeback. New York outscores Boston 42-9 during the series, now remembered as the "Boston Massacre." The Red Sox and Yankees then have a winner take-all playoff at Fenway Park. An unlikely hero for New York, Bucky Dent, hits a three-run home run just barely fair over the "Green Monster" for a Yankees' seventh inning lead and eventual win.
Then, on Oct. 25, 1986, the Red Sox appear on the very brink of ending the curse. Boston stands one out away from its first Series win since 1918 with a two-run lead, two outs and no one on base in the 10th inning of Game 6. Three consecutive singles, a wild pitch, and a Bill Buckner error later; Red Sox fans are stunned as Ray Knight scores giving the Mets a 6-5 victory and the inevitable series win in game 7. Apparently, the curse extends to the city, not just the Yankees.
Do the owners/fans hate each other? Do the teams hate each other? Is the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry the greatest in professional sports? One thing you cannot dispute; even if you love one, hate one or hate them both, when the Yankees-Red Sox meet it is always worth the price of admission.
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