Category Archives: Baseball

Even as the most hated of rivals, Boston and New York have stayed strong together in the wake of April's Marathon attacks.

Welcome guest columnist Brian Danuff as he brings us this great commentary on the Boston/New York rivalry, also remembering the Boston Marathon tragedy one month to the day:

December 26, 1919 is a date not too many people remember. That day, Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold the team’s slugging star pitcher George Herman “Babe” Ruth to the New York Yankees.

Few knew it at the time, but the moment Frazee received $125,000 and New York received the face of Major League Baseball, a rivalry was born.

At first not really transitioning to the field, the Yankees and Red Sox quietly had a battle going on in seeing which team did better after the big “selling” of Babe Ruth. While each club had its share of glory during the remainder of the 20th century, there was a pretty clear winner of this deal.

With the trade of Ruth, the Red Sox still remained an admirable franchise however. Legends like Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, and Roger Clemens all called Fenway Park home and guided the team to five division titles and four A.L. pennants.

Yet, bad luck, inconsistent play, or something called the “Curse of the Bambino” prevented the Sox from winning any World Series titles for 86 consecutive years, dating back to Ruth’s second-to-last season in Boston – 1918.

Meanwhile, things couldn’t have gone better for the Yankees.

After the Babe’s arrival, the team would become the dominant force we know today, winning four World Series and opening a grand new stadium during Ruth’s tenure in New York. Once he was gone, players such as Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle emerged, leading the Yanks to 16 more championships through 1962.

Following a 21st world title in 1977, the Red Sox had a golden chance to dethrone the Yankees in 1978. At one point they led the division by 14 1/2 games in the middle of July. But struggles for Boston and great play by interim manager Bob Lemon’s Yankees ensued, and it resulted in a tie for the division at the end of the season.

A one-game playoff (also known as game 163) at Fenway Park was played for the A.L. East title, and the Red Sox had a 2-0 lead in the 7th inning. With two runners on, Bucky Dent came up and forever embedded his name into the heads of fans and both teams alike. He cranked a three-run home run over the Green Monster and gave the Yankees a lead they would not relinquish.

“The Curse” had gotten the Bo-Sox once again. The Yanks indeed repeated as world champions in 1978, and when the Red Sox finally had an opportunity to win it all with the Bombers out of the picture in 1986, their efforts were squandered by the other New York team – the Mets.

A ground ball through Bill Buckner’s legs cost the Red Sox what would have been a World Series clinching Game 6 victory, and they then lost Game 7 the following night. Saying it was a nightmare for the franchise and its fans was a huge understatement.

To make matters worse, being good, but not good enough during the 80’s and early 90’s caught up to Boston when the Yankees returned to relevance. A mix of battle-tested veterans and solid youngsters would help New York win four of five World Series in the late 90’s. The Sox had a chance to put an end to the dynasty in the two teams’ first ever playoff meet of the 1999 ALCS, but they rolled over and lost in five games.

Two years later, the Red Sox were far off from playoff contention finishing just one game over .500 (82-79). The Yankees on the other hand were steamrolling towards another division title in early September of 2001 when the world stood still.

New York City’s World Trade Center and 3,000 lives were lost on September 11th in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. Two hijacked airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers, and two others crashed into the Pentagon and in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Suddenly, baseball meant nothing. Everyone’s attention turned to the affected areas, as MLB cancelled all games for a whole week. Players all around professional sports admitted to questioning whether or not to go back to playing at all, as it was displayed on TV stations all across America that there was way more important things in life than children’s’ sports being played by men.

However, sports did go on, and when baseball started back up every team kept New York in their thoughts, even the Red Sox. As a classy way of pushing aside the rivalry and paying tribute to the city, Fenway Park played Frank Sinatra’s “Theme from New York, New York” during a game following 9/11.

That’s right. The Yankees’ anthem, known to play whenever the team wins, was being heard echoing through their rival’s ballpark. It wasn’t so much about the song, but the idea that Boston was able to put away their differences with New York and send out their support truly meant a lot to the recovery effort of the city. If the Red Sox were backing New York City, everyone must be.

But as we all know, life went on. Eventually, the Yankees and Red Sox were able to focus on baseball again, and it was the perfect time for it. Fresh off a stinging loss in the 2001 World Series that ended the team’s championship dynasty, the Yanks saw many old faces leave and new ones come in. Meanwhile, the Bo-Sox hired the youngest general manager in baseball history Theo Epstein, and he began building a dominant team.

New York had finally fallen back to Earth, and Boston had taken a step up. It was only a matter of time before the rivalry intensified once again.

The ability to “Cowboy Up” allowed the Red Sox to return the playoffs in 2003 with a 95 win campaign, good enough for the A.L. Wild Card. Boston would then defeat the A’s in the ALDS and advance. The Yankees, at 101 wins, won the division and breezed past the Minnesota Twins in the first round. Therefore, the stage was set – Yankees and Red Sox, the winner going to the World Series.

Everything from that ALCS is mostly a blur, however, except for the final pitch – or should I say “swing”. Aaron Boone launched a home run into the left field seats at the old Yankee Stadium to give New York the pennant and send Boston golfing.
The following year once again looked promising for the Red Sox – until, once again, they met up with the Yankees in the ALCS. This time, 2003 seemed like a distant memory, as the Bo-Sox didn’t even put up a fight in the beginning. Three straight dominating wins by the Yankees seemed to have prove two points – that New York was once again the better team in 2004, and that the Curse of the Bambino would never end.

Keeping the faith, Red Sox outfielder Kevin Millar entered Game 4 with the mindset that New York can’t let Boston win tonight, or they’d be in a heap of trouble.

He wasn’t far from the truth at all.

A 6-4 win in 12 innings, followed by a 5-4 win in 14 innings, led to a 4-2 win in just 9 innings in Game 6. The Red Sox had won three straight, and the Yankees had lost three straight. While some call it a “choke”, New York did lose those three games by very small margins. It was only Game 7 where they really embarrassed themselves.

Losing 6-0 after just 2 innings at home was the kiss of death. The Yankee Stadium crowd fell silent and then ferociously cheered – for the Red Sox, that is, when Pokey Reese threw to Doug Mientkiewicz for the final out of a 10-3 victory. The Red Sox had won the pennant in historic fashion over their arch rivals, and even though the World Series was yet to be played, it was safe to say the Curse had ended right then and there.

A sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals followed and the Red Sox had won it all. As anti-climactic it was, it ended generations of suffering and doubt from sports fans around the world. Three years later, Boston would win the division over the Yankees, and the World Series again in 2007. One championship in 86 years was plenty. But two rings in four seasons? Unfathomable.

Even Boston’s other sports teams joined in on the fun in the 2000s. The New England Patriots won three Super Bowls in four years, the Celtics won the 2008 NBA Finals, and the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2010. It was an unprecedented run, for a city so deprived of national recognition, to suddenly crank out championships faster than Apple releases iPhones.

New York has had two “Giant” Super Bowls and another Yankees’ World Series in 2009, but the past decade without a doubt belongs to Boston when comparing success in sports.

But at the end of the day, as we all know sports can often be just a distraction from the hardships of life. The events at the Boston Marathon last month shook the nation, Red Sox and Yankee fans alike. Yet, in the days following the attack, the most bitter of rivals easily put aside their differences to help cope and mourn with the victims.

As detailed, after 9/11 the Red Sox played “New York, New York” to honor the city in which the Yankees play. So, the Bombers returned the favor on the day after the bombings.

During their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks (the team the Yankees lost to in the 2001 World Series), the first few bars of “Sweet Caroline”, rang through the speakers at the new Yankee Stadium. Neil Diamond’s Red Sox anthem was being played and sung to by the Yankees and their fans. This wasn’t opposite day, nor was it a mockery. This was a true, genuinely kind tribute to a city so strong, and so rooted in its sports traditions.

Yet, as we all know, life moves on. The city of Boston has recovered admirably since the tragedy, and in a few weeks the Red Sox will make the trip back down to the Bronx to play the Yankees. Already defying the odds and putting away the troubles of last season, the Bo-Sox have symbolized the strength of their home town throughout their history. And it will be no different when the rivalry heats up again later this May.

So without further ado, “Play ball!”, as they say. Surely, the Yankees and Red Sox will focus on doing just that. But it can not be ignored, that sometimes, that is the last thing these teams need to do in order to lift the spirits of their fans, and suffering citizens around the country.