2003 ALCS Game 7
The Red Sox–Yankees rivalry is a Major League Baseball (MLB) rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Both teams have competed in MLB's American League (AL) for over 120 seasons, and have developed what is considered by many to be the fiercest rivalry in American sports.
Quick Facts
- Date
- October 16, 2003
- Venue
- Yankee Stadium (New York City)
- Final score
- Red Sox 5, Yankees 6 (11 innings)
- Deciding play
- Aaron Boone walk-off home run
- Series outcome
- Yankees win ALCS 4-3
Lore & Background
Nicknamed 'The Rivalry' by some, the 1919 sale of star Red Sox player Babe Ruth to the Yankees popularized one of the most well-known aspects of the rivalry: a superstition known as the 'Curse of the Bambino', attributed to Boston’s 86-year World Series drought which began upon Ruth’s sale to New York. Coincidentally, when the Red Sox broke the curse by winning the 2004 World Series, they defeated the Yankees in the ALCS after overcoming a 3–0 deficit.
The Red Sox and the Yankees have faced each other three times in the ALCS, with the Yankees winning twice, and the Red Sox winning once. The two teams have also met once in the American League Division Series (ALDS), with Boston winning 3–1, a series which included a 16–1 Red Sox win in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium, the largest margin of defeat in a postseason game in the Yankees' history. The Red Sox beat the Yankees in the 2021 American League Wild Card Game, while most recently the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the 2025 American League Wild Card Series.
Reader's Guide
The rivalry is often a heated subject of conversation, especially in the home region of both teams, the Northeastern United States. Until 2014, every MLB postseason featured one or both teams beginning with the inception of the wild card format and resultant additional Division Series in 1995, when both teams were assigned to the American League’s East Division. In addition, the teams have twice met in the last regular-season series to decide the AL pennant, in (when the Red Sox, then known as the Americans, won) and (when the Yankees won).
The Yankees and the Red Sox finished tied for first in ; subsequently, the Yankees won a high-profile tie-breaker game for the division title. The first-place tie came after the Red Sox had a 14-game lead over the Yankees more than halfway through the season. Similarly, in the 2004 ALCS, the Yankees ultimately lost a best-of-seven series after leading 3–0. The Red Sox comeback was the only time in American baseball history that a team has come back from a 3–0 deficit to win a series. The Red Sox went on to win the World Series, ending the 86-year-old curse.
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