Editing Boston Red Sox (section)

==Rivalries==
===New York Yankees===
{{main|Yankees–Red Sox rivalry}}
The Red Sox and [[New York Yankees]] have been rivals for more than 100 years.<ref name="Enemies">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/playoffs/2004-10-11-cover-rivalry_x.htm|title=Here they go again&nbsp;... ; Red Sox vs. Yankees: Bitter enemies clash with Series on line|date=October 12, 2004|access-date=January 27, 2011|first=Mike|last=Dodd|newspaper=USA Today|page=1C}}</ref> [[Yankees–Red Sox rivalry|The rivalry]] is often considered one of the oldest, fiercest and most famous [[List of sports rivalries|rivalries in professional sport]]s.<ref name="FierceRivalry"/><ref name="StrongestRivalry"/><ref name=UltimateRivalry/>

The rivalry is often a heated subject of conversation in the [[Northeastern United States]].<ref>{{harvnb|Shaughnessy|2005|p=19}}</ref> Since the {{mlby|1995}} inception of the [[Major League Baseball wild card|wild card]] team and an added [[Division Series]], every postseason except for [[2014 Major League Baseball season#Postseason|2014]] and [[2023 Major League Baseball season#Postseason|2023]] has featured one or both of the [[American League East]] rivals. The two teams have squared off in the [[American League Championship Series]] (ALCS) three times, with the Yankees winning in [[1999 American League Championship Series|1999]] and [[2003 American League Championship Series|2003]] and the Sox winning in [[2004 American League Championship Series|2004]].<ref name="ALCS">{{cite news|title=They Love to Hate Each Other; Red Sox and Yankees carry bitter rivalry into championship series that starts tonight|date=October 12, 2004|first=Mike|last=DiGiovanna|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|page=D1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=A World Series ticket; Sox complete comeback, oust Yankees for AL title|date=October 21, 2004|first=Dan|last=Shaughnessy|newspaper=The Boston Globe|page=A1|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/10/21/a_world_series_party/?page=full}}</ref> The teams have faced off in one [[American League Division Series]] (ALDS); [[2018 American League Division Series|2018]], won by the Red Sox in four games. The teams have played one [[American League Wild Card Game]] on October 5, 2021, which the Red Sox won as well.

The teams have twice met in the last regular-season series to decide the league title, in 1904 (which the Red Sox won) and 1949 (which the Yankees won).<ref name="ALCS"/> The teams also finished tied for first in 1978, when the Yankees won a high-profile [[1978 American League East tie-breaker game|one-game playoff]] for the division title.<ref>{{harvnb|Frommer|Frommer|2004|pp=177–179}}</ref> The 1978 division race is memorable for the Red Sox having held a 14-game lead over the Yankees more than halfway through the season.<ref>{{harvnb|Frommer|Frommer|2004|p=175}}</ref> In 2003, The Red Sox lost in Game 7 of the ALCS on [[Aaron Boone]]'s [[walk-off home run]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCarron |first1=Anthony |title=It's the curse of Boonebino! Aaron Boone homers in the 11th to beat the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS – NY Daily News |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/curse-boonebinoshot-11th-history-sox-article-1.518448 |website=New York Daily News|date=October 16, 2015 }}</ref> Similarly, the 2004 ALCS is notable for the Yankees leading 3 games to 0 and ultimately losing the best-of-seven series.<ref>{{cite news|title=Back From Dead, Red Sox Bury Yanks and Go to Series|first=Tyler|last=Kepner|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 21, 2004|page=A1}}</ref> The Red Sox comeback was the first time in major league history that a team came back from an 0–3 deficit to win a series.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bruins' fall brings back memories of 2004|last=Rieber|first=Anthony|newspaper=Newsday|date=May 16, 2010|page=68|quote=The 2004 Yankees&nbsp;... are the only baseball team in history to lead a postseason series 3–0 and not win it.}}</ref>

The rivalry is often termed "the best"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nesn.com/2011/01/cubs-cardinals-must-emulate-yankees-red-sox-to-rekindle-rivalry.html|title=Cubs, Cardinals Must Emulate Yankees, Red Sox to Rekindle Rivalry|date=January 12, 2011|access-date=February 6, 2011|first=Tony|last=Lee|work=NESN}}</ref> and "greatest rivalry in all of sports."<ref>{{cite book|title=The rivals: the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees: an inside history|last1=The New York Times|last2=The Boston Globe|location=New York|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=2004|isbn=0-312-33616-0|edition=1st|author-link=The New York Times|author-link2=The Boston Globe|page=1}}</ref> Games between the two teams often generate a great deal of interest and get extensive media coverage, including being broadcast on national television.<ref>{{cite news|title=Two nations, over the air: Portrait of a rivalry in radio waves|last=Wallace|first=Tim|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=July 10, 2011|page=K12|url=http://archive.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2011/07/10/two_nations_over_the_air/|access-date=January 13, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027191338/http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-10/sports/29758562_1_red-sox-sox-territory-yankees-fans|archive-date=October 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Yankees vs. Red Sox: Long-running drama|url=https://www.usatoday.com/SPORTS/usaedition/2010-05-07-yanksox07_cv_U.htm|first=Jorge L.|last=Ortiz|newspaper=USA Today|date=May 7, 2010|page=1C}}</ref>

===Tampa Bay Rays===
{{main|Rays–Red Sox rivalry}}
[[Rays–Red Sox rivalry|The rivalry]] between Boston and the [[Tampa Bay Rays]] developed in the late 2000s, after the two clubs had their first postseason meeting in the [[2008 American League Championship Series|2008 ALCS]]. Since then, both teams have won the American League East division a combined seven times. While the rivalry is more recent than Sox' rivalry with the Yankees, it has been called one of the most competitive in modern baseball.<ref>{{cite web|first=Will|last=Leitch|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/best-rivalries-in-baseball-ranked|title=Baseball's best rivalries right now, ranked|website=MLB|date=August 3, 2021|access-date=March 11, 2022|archive-date=January 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123094840/https://www.mlb.com/news/best-rivalries-in-baseball-ranked|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Nate|last=Scott|url=https://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/07/red-sox-yankees-tampa-bay-rays-al-east-best-rivalry|title=The Red Sox and Yankees are no longer the best rivalry in the AL East|website=USA Today|date=July 30, 2013|access-date=March 23, 2022|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513200306/https://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/07/red-sox-yankees-tampa-bay-rays-al-east-best-rivalry|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Gammons">{{cite web|url=https://theathletic.com/2887894/2021/10/14/gammons-the-rays-red-sox-rivalry-is-hotter-than-you-may-realize-and-its-only-getting-better/|title=Gammons: The Rays-Red Sox rivalry is hotter than you may realize, and it's only getting better|date=October 21, 2021|accessdate=March 11, 2022|author=[[Peter Gammons]]|publisher=[[The Athletic]]|archive-date=October 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014221935/https://theathletic.com/2887894/2021/10/14/gammons-the-rays-red-sox-rivalry-is-hotter-than-you-may-realize-and-its-only-getting-better/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The teams have met three times in the MLB postseason, with the Rays winning the 2008 ALCS and the Red Sox winning the [[2013 American League Division Series#Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays|2013 ALDS]] and [[2021 American League Division Series#Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox|2021 ALDS]].