Few rivalries, at least historically, compare to the one between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
These two teams have both existed for more than 100 years and have played against each other in so many memorable regular season and playoff games. And it's not just a baseball rivalry, there's a New York vs. Boston component to it as well.
Unfortunately for fans of these teams, and baseball in general, the rivalry has lost a lot of its luster of late.
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The Red Sox will begin their first series of the season against the Yankees on Friday night at Yankee Stadium, and there's almost no buzz surrounding it.
Since the awesome back-to-back American League Championship Series matchups in 2003 and 2004 that both went to a Game 7 and produced so many iconic moments -- including the Red Sox' historic comeback in '04 -- these rivals have played just one playoff series (excluding the 2021 Wild Card Game). It was a 2018 American League Division Series, and the Red Sox won 3-1 en route to a World Series title.
How many memorable moments has the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry created since 2004? You can count the number on one hand.
Why does the rivalry feel so lackluster right now? Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes attributes the Red Sox not being as formidable as they once were as one reason.
The Red Sox certainly haven't done their part of late. They have missed the playoffs in three of the last four years, and they are currently on pace to finish last in the AL East for the third time in the last five seasons. The Yankees have reached the playoffs in six consecutive seasons, although they haven't advanced to the World Series since their last title in 2009.
It's much easier for the rivalry to have juice when both teams are contenders at the same time, and for whatever reason, that hasn't been the case for much of the last decade.