Tonight marks another chapter in baseball’s fiercest rivalry. The New York Yankees will host the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 6:08 p.m. ET on ESPN. What’s at stake? Everything. For the Yankees, it’s a chance to finally recapture championship glory after falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year’s World Series. For the Red Sox, returning to the postseason for the first time since 2021, it’s an opportunity to shock the baseball world once again.
This isn’t your typical playoff matchup. This is blood rivalry, decades-deep animosity, and October baseball at its most electric.
The Yankees, finishing with a 94-68 record, secured the No. 4 seed and home-field advantage throughout the best-of-three series. The Red Sox, at 89-73, claimed the No. 5 seed. But those regular season numbers tell only part of the story. Boston dominated the season series 9-4, including a commanding 5-2 record at Yankee Stadium. The psychological edge? Decidedly Boston’s—at least coming into this series.
The Rivalry Reignites: Yankees and Red Sox Meet in Must-Win October Showdown
Ask any sports fan to name the greatest rivalry in professional sports, and most will land on Yankees-Red Sox. The rivalry has spanned over 120 seasons in Major League Baseball’s American League, producing moments that have become cultural touchstones: Babe Ruth’s sale, Bucky Dent’s unlikely home run, Aaron Boone’s walk-off blast, and the 2004 Red Sox miracle comeback.
The two teams have faced each other a combined 2,312 times in regular season and postseason games, with the Yankees holding a 1,246-1,028-14 advantage through the 2025 season. But statistics alone can’t capture the visceral hatred, the generational trauma, or the pure passion that defines this matchup.
The rivalry’s modern era truly ignited in the 1970s. The 1973 brawl between Yankees catcher Thurman Munson and Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk set in motion the contemporary rivalry, with both emerging stars bringing intensity and competitiveness that would define their franchises.
The Curse, The Comeback, and Everything Between
No discussion of this rivalry is complete without addressing the mythology surrounding it. The sale of Babe Ruth from Boston to New York in 1919 launched what became known as the “Curse of the Bambino,” blamed for the Red Sox’s 86-year championship drought. What followed was decades of Yankees dominance and Red Sox heartbreak.
From 1920 through 2003, the Yankees captured 26 World Series championships and 39 pennants, while the Red Sox managed just four pennants—and lost the World Series each time.
But then came October 2004, the series that changed everything
The Yankees held a commanding 3-0 series lead in the 2004 ALCS, but Boston mounted the first and only comeback from such a deficit in baseball history, winning four consecutive games to advance to the World Series. David Ortiz delivered back-to-back walk-off hits in Games 4 and 5, while Dave Roberts’ steal of second base in Game 4 became one of the rivalry’s defining moments.
That comeback didn’t just win Boston a championship—it fundamentally altered the power dynamics of the rivalry. The Red Sox were no longer baseball’s lovable losers; they were champions who had slain their demons at Yankee Stadium, no less.
The 2003 Heartbreak That Made 2004 Possible
To understand 2004, you must relive 2003’s agony for Red Sox fans. The 2003 ALCS reached Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, with tensions running extraordinarily high after a benches-clearing brawl in Game 3 that saw Pedro Martinez toss Yankees coach Don Zimmer to the ground.
Red Sox manager Grady Little controversially left Martinez in the game despite his pitch count, and the Yankees rallied to tie. Then Aaron Boone launched a walk-off home run in the 11th inning against Tim Wakefield to send New York to the World Series. Little was fired shortly after. The wound was deep, but it prepared Boston for their 2004 redemption.
Bucky Dent and the 1978 Playoff Game That Still Stings
Before 2003 and 2004, there was 1978—perhaps the rivalry’s most painful chapter for Red Sox Nation. The Yankees trailed Boston by 14 games on July 19, 1978, but surged past them after a four-game sweep at Fenway Park known as the “Boston Massacre”.
The teams finished tied at 99-63, forcing a one-game playoff at Fenway Park. Light-hitting Yankees shortstop Bucky Dent, who had hit just four home runs all season, launched a three-run shot over the Green Monster in the seventh inning, leading New York to a 5-4 victory. In Boston, his name became profane shorthand for decades of disappointment.
What’s at Stake in 2025
Both teams enter this series with unfinished business and championship aspirations. Aaron Judge finished the regular season with a .331 batting average and 53 home runs, winning the AL batting title. For Judge, postseason success remains elusive—his October struggles have become a narrative he’s desperate to rewrite.
The Yankees possess one of baseball’s most dangerous offenses, with 221 home runs (excluding Judge’s 53) that would rank seventh in MLB. Their philosophy is simple: hit home runs, win games.
For Boston, the story centers on ace left-hander Garrett Crochet. Crochet went 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA and led MLB with 255 strikeouts during the regular season. Against the Yankees specifically, he dominated with a 3-0 record, holding New York hitters to a .200 batting average across 27.1 innings pitched.
However, the Red Sox face a significant challenge with star rookie Roman Anthony sidelined by an oblique injury. Boston posted a 44-27 record when Anthony played compared to 45-46 without him.
Game 1 features a clash of left-handed aces: Max Fried (19-5, 2.86 ERA) for the Yankees against Garrett Crochet. Fried, in his first season with New York after signing in the offseason, has been everything the Yankees hoped for—a legitimate ace capable of dominating in October.
Game 2 will see Brayan Bello take the mound for Boston, expected to face Carlos Rodón. Bello went 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in three starts against the Yankees this season.
If it reaches Game 3 on Thursday night, all bets are off. The intensity, the desperation, the sheer will to advance—it’s when this rivalry reaches its apex.
Playoff History: A Rivalry Within the Rivalry
This marks just the sixth time these teams will meet in the postseason, with each side holding 12 wins in their 24 playoff games against each other.
The postseason meetings have been consequential:
- 1999 ALCS: Yankees won 4-1, advancing to their World Series championship
- 2003 ALCS: Yankees won 4-3 on Boone’s legendary home run
- 2004 ALCS: Red Sox won 4-3 after the historic 0-3 comeback
- 2018 ALDS: Red Sox won 3-1, including a devastating 16-1 victory at Yankee Stadium
- 2021 AL Wild Card: Red Sox won 6-2 at Fenway Park
Boston has won the last three postseason matchups, and the winner of Yankees-Red Sox playoff series went to the World Series in four of the five previous meetings, winning the championship three times.
The Atmosphere: Yankee Stadium Will Be Electric!
All three games will be played at Yankee Stadium, with the 48,000-seat ballpark expected to be raucous for each contest. Judge acknowledged the significance: “We’ve got a rowdy crowd out there, a rowdy group that’s been behind us all year long. They’re definitely going to be excited for a Yankees-Red Sox postseason matchup, that’s for sure”.
The Yankees enter on an eight-game winning streak, while the Red Sox won four of their final six games. Momentum matters, but in October, especially in this rivalry, history and heart often trump everything else!
If this rivalry has taught us anything over 120-plus years, it’s that the improbable becomes probable when these two teams meet in October. The curse-breaking comeback. The light-hitting shortstop becoming a villain. The stolen base that changes history.
Tonight, at 6:08 p.m. ET, it begins again. Two teams. Three games. One advances. The other goes home, haunted by what might have been.
In the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, there are no moral victories—only winners who advance and losers who spend the winter replaying every pitch, every swing, every decision that cost them everything.
That’s what makes it the greatest rivalry in sports.
For more information on the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry:
- ESPN’s coverage of the 2025 MLB Playoffs
- MLB’s official playoff coverage
- Historical analysis of the rivalry on FOX Sports
The 2025 AL Wild Card Series between the Yankees and Red Sox represents more than just baseball—it’s a clash of cultures, histories, and championship dreams that has captivated fans for generations.