Great Yankees-Red Sox Regular Season Series
A Few of the Best Matchups From the Boston-New York Baseball Rivalry
Aug 26, 2008
The Boston Massacre: September 7-10, 1978
Any Red Sox fan who is over 40 years old surely remembers this one, and remembers it with great pain. In 1978, the Boston faithful had watched their team's lead over the Yankees shrink from fourteen games in July to just four by the time New York arrived in Boston on September 7th for a four game stand against the Sox at Fenway Park. A Boston sweep would finish the Yankees once and for all. Even a split would preserve a comfortable four game lead with less than 20 to play.
The Yankees, however, had different plans. They won the first two games in blowout fashion, 15-3 and 13-2. With their lead now down to two games, the Sox started Dennis Eckersely, who was 16-6 at the time and on his way to a 20-win season. But the Yankees had Ron Guidry, who was 21-2 and putting the finishing touches on an historic season. The game was a mismatch. The Yankees pounded Eckersley, driving him from the game after just 3 and 2/3 innings and six earned runs. Guidry threw a complete game two-hitter. The Yankees won 7-0.
On Sunday, the Yankees delivered the coup de grace, beating the Red Sox 7-4 to complete the sweep and pull into a tie for first place. The two teams finished the season with identical 99-63 records, and had to play a one game playoff to decide the division winner. The Yankees won that game too, 5-4.
The Boston Massacre II: August 18-21, 2006
The Yankees went into Boston in late August nursing a tight 1-1/2 game lead over the Sox. But they swept them in five straight, outscoring Boston 47-25 along the way, and extending their division lead to 6 1/2 games. Boston never recovered from the devastation and missed the postseason for the first time in five years. The series is now often referred to as "the Boston Massacre II" by Yankees and Red Sox fans alike.
The Highlanders vs. The Americans: October 7-10, 1904
The Red Sox held a lead of just one-half of a game when they came to Bronx to meet the Highlanders (who didn't change their name to the Yankees until 1913) for a five game series.
The series had an unusual schedule, however. Because of earlier cancellations, the teams would play Friday's game in New York, then trek to Boston by train to play a doubleheader to make up for two games they had missed during the season. Finally, the teams would regroup and meet back in New York City for a season-ending doubleheader on Monday.
The Highlanders won the first game at home, 3-2, and briefly took a half-game lead in the pennant race. But the Americans (who didn't become the Red Sox until 1908) hammered the Highlanders in their Saturday Boston doubleheader, winning 13-2 in the first game, and 1-0 in the second. Their lead was up to 1-1/2 games; a win in either game of Monday's doubleheader would bring a second straight American League pennant to Boston.
41-game winner Jack Chesbro took the hill in the first game for the Yankees. With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth inning, Chesbro threw a wild pitch that sailed over the catcher's head, and Boston took a 3-2 lead. The Yankess were held scoreless in the bottom half of the inning and the Red Sox were once again American League champs. It was the last time the Sox would beat the Yankees in a League Championship-deciding game for 100 years.
There are others. There are many others of course. The two consecutive end-of-season series in 1948 and 1949 that featured Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio were historic and thrilling. The brawls during the 1970s and 2003 were other memorable highlights. Of course, nothing can stop their postseason battles, but that is another story altogether.
