Yankees Vs. Red Sox

The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is one of the longest and most bitter rivalries in professional sports. For over 100 years, baseball's New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox of the American League have been chief rivals, compounded by their geographic proximity.

Since the inception of the wild card team and an added Division Series, the American League East rivals have squared off in the American League Championship Series three times, the Yankees winning twice in 1999 and 2003, and the Sox winning once in 2004. In addition, the teams have met in the last regular season series of a season to decide the title, in 1904 (where the Red Sox won), 1949 (where the Yankees won). The teams also finished tied for first in 1978, when the Yankees won a high-profile one-game playoff for the division title.

Since the Red Sox' defeat of the Yankees in seven games in the 2004 American League Championship Series, the rivalry has become more intense than ever before USA Today has dubbed it "the fiercest rivalry in sports."