FanPost

The 2018 Season Is A Definitive Yankee-Red Sox Rivalry Moment


**want to be considered for writer's position**

Baseball is America’s sport for a reason- or rather many reasons. From the on-field action and the seventh inning stretches, to the die-hard ball fans and Cooperstown Hall of Fame, baseball is never dull. One of most prominent and exciting parts of Major League Baseball is without a doubt the team rivalries; whether the Marlins versus the Rays in the Citrus Series or Battle of Ohio between the Reds and Indians, rivalries make the game all the more exciting. Considering the various rivals, without a doubt, the most intense is that between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

The Yankee-Red Sox rivalry has been ongoing since that first defining game in 1903; The then-Americans versus Highlanders game resulted in a brawl after Boston’s Winter was knocked down. At the time it seemed Boston was the dominant team, having won the first World Series and four more after that. To their dismay, over the course of the century the Yankees would come to prevail as they both built a team and a rivalry. Since that first meeting on May 7th, there have been a number of exciting, rivalrous meetings between the two teams. The Yankees acquiring Babe Ruth from the Red Sox is one of the major points between them; Joe Dimaggio beating Ted Williams out for AL MVP is certainly another. Although there are a seemingly endless number of important rivalry moments throughout the history of the Yankees versus Red Sox paradox, the most prominent overall would have to be the 2018 season switch-up. The season began with the Yankees not playing to par at all; consistently almost even with win-loss records for the first two weeks of the season, and having lost the first series against Boston 1-2. Meanwhile the Red Sox had been dominating the MLB as they trudged on with new and old talents playing together and clicking almost perfectly, with a 17-2 record, winning relentlessly up until April 20th. As the Yankees seemed to have finally found their rhythm and begun to work as a team instead of talented individuals, the Red Sox began a decline in season success. Although Sox like Mookie Betts, Chris Sale and Hanley Ramirez continue to show dominance in their positions and sportsmanship, their teamwork is not compared to the togetherness of the Yankees. The Yankees work as a team, perfectly put together. When one man has a slump, the other takes over and makes it work. The switch-up in success sums up the rivalry as perfectly as anything else; the Yankees starting out poorly only to take first place in Atlantic League East from the Red Sox.

The Yankees beating the Sox out 4-3 to go on to the 1949 World Series and the many many brawls between players have been definitive in their own ways, but this 2018 season is the most dominating moment as a whole. The switch in success and the sneak-up of the Yankees to steal first place from the Red Sox almost defines the rivalry on its own; a constant battle to be the better team, fighting for the Pennant until the end. The first rivalry series consisted of the Red Sox taking it with a 2-1 record. As the teams lived up to their successes and the Yankees snuck up on the Sox, the second rivalry series ended with the Yankees taking it 2-1, and taking first place. The 2018 season switch-up is the best rivalry moment because of its importance.

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