The Red Sox and Yankees square off in the Bronx this weekend, set to renew the storied rivalry between the two legendary franchises. From the Curse of the Bambino to Aaron *bleeping* Boone, to chants of “Who’s Your Daddy” raining down on Pedro Martinez in Yankee Stadium, no rivalry in professional sports can come close to the passion and hatred these clubs and fan bases have historically had for each other. On the eve of the next chapter of the rivalry, here’s a list of 5 of the most memorable matchups between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.
Honestly, this game could have been featured anywhere on this list. Pro sports history is full of underdogs fighting off elimination in Game 4, only to be eliminated in Game 5. That was not to be the fate of the 2004 Boston Red Sox however, thanks in large part to the clutch heroics of David Ortiz. After a 19-8 drubbing the night before, the Sox stood on the precipice of shame and embarrassment with Mariano Rivera on the hill to close out the ALCS in four games. Kevin Millar led off the inning with a walk, and Dave Roberts was promptly inserted as a pinch runner. After being nearly picked off leaning at first base, Roberts swiped second base with Bill Mueller at the plate. Moments later Meuller would single up the middle bringing Roberts home to tie and extend the ball game. At 1:15 am, 4 and 1/2 hours after first pitch, David Ortiz launched the game winning homerun into right field, over Gary Sheffield’s head, and into the bullpen. Joe Bucks call said it best, “We will see you later tonight.”
On a crisp cool night in Fenway on September 2, 2001, Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina had one of the most dominant pitching performances ever witnessed. Mussina retired the first 26 Red Sox batters he would face, 13 by way of the strikeout, and was one out away from not only his first no hitter but perfection. Down 1-0 with two outs and no one on, the Sox turned to Carl Everett as a pinch hitter to spark a two-out rally. He would chase a pitch out of the zone, cleanly dropping a single in between Bernie Sanders and Derek Jeter spoiling Mussina’s bid for perfection. The Hall of Famer, and 270 game winner would never throw a no hitter in his career, but his excellence was on full display that night in Fenway.
The 2004 ALCS is packed full of iconic moments. But perhaps none are more famous, or disturbing than the bloody sock. In Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS against the Angels, Schilling sustained an injury to his ankle fielding a ball off the mound. The injury, a torn tendon sheath, had rendered him ineffective, and immobile. He would try to play through the injury in Game 1 of the ALCS but was a liability out there giving up six runs in three innings. It was assumed he was done for the postseason. But after Game 5 of the ALCS, the Sox had found magic, and Schilling was determined to be a part of it. So, team doctors performed an emergency procedure prior to Game 6, suturing the skin to the tissue, to stabilize the ruptured tendon sheath so he could pitch. The procedure caused blood to soak through his sock all game, getting progressively more gross with each inning. His legendary status was cemented in that game after pitching 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and striking out 4. The win would set up a historic game 7 matchup in a series that the Red Sox had been down 3-0 in.
Throughout the 2003 season, it had become widely recognized that Pedro Martinez’s arm seemed to be gassed at about 100 pitches. So, when Pedro finished the seventh inning in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS with exactly 100 pitches thrown, it was assumed he would be lifted to make way for the bullpen to close it out and send the Red Sox to the World Series. However, with a 5-2 lead, Pedro took the mound in the top of the 8th inning looking to continue his strong outing. After retiring the first batter, Pedro would then allow the next three batters to reach base on three consecutive hits, cutting the lead to 5-3. Grady Little walked out to the mound with the whole world knowing he was about to lift Pedro in favor of a reliever. After a short conversation however, Little inexplicably elected to leave Pedro in the game. Martinez promptly gave up a double to Hideki Matsui, and a bloop single to Jorge Posada knotting the game up at 5-5. The game would go into extra innings, and with the game tied at 5 in the top bottom of the 11th inning, Aaron Boone would crush the first pitch he saw from Tim Wakefield sending the Red Sox home, and the Yankees to the World Series.
The biggest reason this game takes the top spot is because it completed the most unlikely comeback in not just the history of Major League Baseball, but perhaps in all of professional sports. Thanks to Johnny Damon’s second inning grand slam off Javier Vazquez, the Sox took a 6-0 lead and never looked back. Pedro Martinez even came out in the seventh as what could only be described as a redemption outing but promptly allowed two runs before he was pulled from the game. No team had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series, in any of the major professional sports leagues. But on that evening, the Red Sox achieved the impossible. The Red Sox would go on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series. Incredibly it took 8 straight wins against two of the best teams is baseball in ’04 to finally lift the Curse of the Bambino.
The Red Sox and Yankees renew the rivalry Friday at 7:10pm in Yankee Stadium. Will they add more moments to this list? Fans can only hope.
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