Red Sox Insider Reveals Surprising Favorite Moment From Yankees Rivalry
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have been bitter rivals for over a century, producing countless iconic moments along the way. From on-field brawls to epic playoff showdowns, there’s no shortage of special memories for their fans to choose from.
For many Red Sox fans, their favorite moments of the rivalry likely came in 2004. Between Jason Varitek fighting Alex Rodriguez to overcoming a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, it was a good year to be on Boston’s side of the rivalry.
Surprisingly, Alex Speier’s top highlight came from the previous season. The Red Sox beat writer, who’s covered them for The Boston Globe since 2015, singled out the 2003 ALCS during his appearance on Friday’s episode of NESN’s “310 To Left” podcast.
Speier prefers the chaos of the 2003 ALCS, which Boston lost in seven games on Aaron Boone’s walk-off home run. He cited the craziness of Game 3 in particular, which saw a massive fight break out after Manny Ramirez charged Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez threw Don Zimmer to the ground.
“The fights that were going on in 2003 were mind-blowing,” Speier said. “Between the Pedro-Zimmer stuff, Manny kind of losing his mind when Roger Clemens was just throwing an elevated heater that wasn’t even in that much over the plate. So you’re looking at Hall of Fame-caliber guys jawing at each other.”
Speier also noted the fights that broke out between fans and even security personnel, making the 2003 ALCS one of the most charged periods in the rivalry’s history.
While the rivalry has cooled since then, it still produces exciting moments, from Marcelo Mayer getting booed at Yankee Stadium to Hunter Dobbins saying he’d rather retire than pitch for New York.
With the two teams squaring off again at Fenway Park this weekend, a new chapter is about to be written in this storied rivalry.