2003 ALCS Game 6: Yankees vs Red Sox (Aaron Boone Walk-off)

Lore & Background

The team was founded in 1903 when Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchased the franchise rights to the defunct Baltimore Orioles and used them to establish the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders were renamed the Yankees in 1913. The team is owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, a limited liability company that is controlled by the family of the late George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner purchased the team from CBS in 1973. As of 2025, Brian Cashman is the team's general manager, Aaron Boone is the team's field manager, and Aaron Judge is the team captain.

In Their Own Story

The air inside Yankee Stadium felt heavier than usual, charged with the static of eight innings of heart-stopping tension. The scoreboard read 5-5, a stalemate that threatened to drag into extra innings or end in defeat. Down in the dugout, the Yankees' stars watched anxiously as Boone jogged toward the plate. He took his stance, eyes locked on Wakefield's rubbery hand. As the knuckleball drifted upward, time seemed to suspend itself. The crack of the bat was sharp, a singular sound that cut through the roar of the crowd before it even began. The ball climbed, arcing against the night sky, and then vanished into the darkness beyond the left-field wall. For a split second, silence reigned, followed immediately by an explosion of noise that shook the foundations of the stadium. Boone rounded the bases, not as a star, but as the man who had stolen a moment from history.

Reader's Guide

The Yankees have won 21 American League East Division titles, 41 American League pennants, and 27 World Series championships. The team's home games were played at the original Yankee Stadium in the Bronx from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. In 1974 and 1975, the Yankees shared Shea Stadium with the Mets, the New York Jets, and the New York Giants. In 2009, they moved into a new Yankee Stadium, built next to the old one.

Did You Know?

• The Yankees have had 52 players and 11 managers inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
• The team's rivalry with the Boston Red Sox is one of the best-known in North American sports.
• According to Forbes, the Yankees are the most valuable MLB franchise, with an estimated value of $8.2 billion in 2025.