Rivalry with Boston Red Sox

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. 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. 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.

Reader's Guide

Games between the two teams often generate considerable interest and receive extensive media coverage, including being broadcast on national television. National carriers of Major League Baseball coverage, including Fox/FS1, ESPN, and MLB Network carry most of the games in the rivalry across the nation, regardless of team standings or playoff implications. Yankees–Red Sox games are some of the most-watched MLB games each season.

Did You Know?

• The Red Sox comeback in the 2004 ALCS was the only time in American baseball history that a team has come back from a 3–0 deficit to win a series.
• The largest margin of defeat in a postseason game in the Yankees' history was a 16–1 Red Sox win in Game 3 of their ALDS meeting.
• The rivalry is often a heated subject of conversation, especially in the home region of both teams, the Northeastern United States.