Remembering memorable Boston-New York playoff battles

Boston Globe

05-05-2025

Ahead of Monday's Game 1, let's look at some of the most memorable playoff battles between Boston and New York across the four major professional sports leagues over the years.
1972 Stanley Cup Finals
Before the advent of the Eastern and Western Conferences, the Bruins and Rangers met in the Stanley Cup Finals twice. The 1972 matchup was the final time the two Original Six franchises met to play for Lord Stanley, with the Bruins winning in six games thanks to their dramatic wins in Games 1 and 4. In the clinching Game 6 win, Bobby Orr scored the first goal while Gary Cheevers blanked the Rangers for a 3-0 victory.
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Bobby Orr and Jean Ratelle got to hold the Stanley Cup before the 1972 matchup between the Bruins and Rangers.
ASSOCIATED PRESS/Associated Press
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1973 and 1974 NBA Eastern Conference finals
The Celtics and Knicks battled it out for the Eastern Conference crown in back-to-back seasons in the early-to-mid 1970s. In 1973, New York took a 3-1 series lead before Boston won two straight games to force a Game 7 at Boston Garden. But the Knicks picked up a decisive 94-78 win, handing the Celtics their first ever Game 7 loss.
A year later, the Celtics got their revenge by finishing the Knicks in five games. John Havlicek put up 30-plus point performances in the final two games of the series, helping Boston advance to the NBA Finals.
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1984 NBA Eastern Conference semifinals
Thanks to Bernard King, the Knicks pushed the Celtics' and Larry Bird to seven games in 1984. King scored 44 points in Game 6, outdueling Larry Legend's 35-point performance to force a Game 7. But, Bird showed up in the series' deciding game, putting up a 39-point triple-double to help the Celtics win, 121-104, en route to their second title of the Bird era.
1986 World Series
Of course, the Fall Classic between the Red Sox and Mets is remembered for what happened in Game 6. After taking a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10th inning, Boston was an out away from winning its first World Series title in 68 years. But, New York recorded three straight hits before Bob Stanley threw a wild pitch that allowed the Mets to tie the game at five. In the same at-bat that he saw the wild pitch, Mookie Wilson hit a groundball to first that between the legs of Bill Buckner and allowed Ray Knight to score from second base to win the game.
The New York Mets won Game 6 of the 1986 World Series when Bill Buckner was unable to field a grounder.
STAN GROSSFELD
In Game 7, the Red Sox took a 3-0 lead in the second inning before the Mets evened the score in he sixth. Knight's homer in the seventh helped the Mets take a 6-3 lead in the seventh as they added a couple more runs in the eighth to hold off the Red Sox' rally and win Game 7, 8-5.
1999 ALCS
The first Red Sox-Yankees postseason battle didn't feature the dramatics of their other playoff matchups. As New York was in the midst of its dynasty run (four World Series wins in five years), the Yankees were able to take down the Red Sox in five games.
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Game 3, though, featured a pitching duel between two of the generation's top aces, with Roger Clemens taking the bump for the Yankees and Pedro Martinez on the mound for the Red Sox. Martinez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 12 hitters. Clemens's first postseason start at Fenway since leaving the Red Sox, meanwhile, went south pretty quickly. He only pitched two-plus innings, getting pulled in the third as he allowed five runs. As the Red Sox won Game 3 13-1, the Fenway Faithful began a chant of 'Where is Roger?' that was followed by 'In the shower.'
Red Sox fans heckled Roger Clemens as he departed Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS early, but the Yankees got the last laugh.
Globe Staff Photo
2003 ALCS
Four years after their first playoff battle, the Red Sox and Yankees met again for the AL pennant in 2003. This time, there was plenty of drama. With the series tied 1-1 in Game 3, Martinez and Clemens went head-to-head in another highly anticipated matchup at Fenway.
The rivalry heated up when Martinez plunked Karim Garcia with a pitch, with words being exchanged between the two while Martinez also stared down Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. In the next inning, Manny Ramirez thought Clemens tried to hit him with a pitch high and inside, strolling toward the mound. As the benches cleared, Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer made his way over to Martinez, who tossed the 72-year-old to the ground.
The Yankees went on to win Game 3, but the Red Sox were able to even the series in Game 6 to force a Game 7. It appeared that the Red Sox were set to go back to the World Series for the first time in 17 years, taking a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning as they chased Clemens out of the game early on.
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Martinez remained on the mound, giving up a string of hits as his pitch total went over 100, allowing the Yankees to tie the game. A few innings after Grady Little's controversial decision to leave Martinez on the mound, Aaron Boone hit a walk-off home run off Tim Wakefield in the 11th to send the Yankees to the World Series.
2004 ALCS
Somehow, the ALCS sequel between the Red Sox and Yankees outdid the original. You likely know the story by now, but in case you forgot, New York took a 3-0 series lead after its 19-8 win in Game 3. Trailing 4-3 in Game 4, Kevin Millar drew a four-pitch walk from Mariano Rivera. Dave Roberts pinch ran for him, stealing second before scoring on Bill Mueller's base hit to tie the game. David Ortiz hit a walk-off home run in the 12th to keep the Red Sox' hopes alive.
Ortiz played hero again in Game 5, hitting a home run in the eighth that cut the Yankees' lead to 4-3 before hitting a walk-off single in the 14th in a marathon of a game. Game 6 featured Mark Bellhorn's three-run homer and Alex Rodriguez's glove slap of Bronson Arroyo, with Boston winning that one, 4-2. Game 7 wasn't anywhere near as dramatic, with Ortiz and Johnny Damon hitting home runs in the early innings that gave the Red Sox an 8-1 lead before winning, 10-3.
The Red Sox became the first team in MLB history to comeback from a 3-0 deficit and win a series when they defeated the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.
Davis, Jim Globe Staff
Super Bowl XLII
After the Red Sox delivered the Yankees arguably the most painful loss in postseason history, the Giants gave the Patriots a similar defeat a few years later. On the precipice of history, New England was only 2:45 away from becoming the first team in NFL history to go 19-0 after Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass to Randy Moss that gave the Patriots a 14-10 lead in Super Bowl XLII.
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It appeared that the Patriots' defense had one more stop in them. But after Asante Samuel's dropped interception, Eli Manning somehow avoided a sack and threw a deep ball that was caught by Giants wide receiver David Tyree, who stuck the ball to his helmet for a 32-yard reception. The 'Helmet Catch' got New York into New England territory, but the Giants also converted a third-and-11 three plays later before Manning threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress to take a 17-14 lead with 35 seconds remaining.
Brady tried a couple of Hail Mary attempts on the ensuing possession, but the Patriots weren't able to come up with their version of the 'Helmet Catch,' allowing the Giants to pull off one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.
2010 AFC Divisional Round
In the heat of the Patriots-Jets rivalry, Rex Ryan was able to lead Gang Green into Foxborough and upset New England just a month after losing a game to its AFC East foe 45-3. The Jets' defense made life difficult for Brady, snapping his months-long streak of not throwing an interception early on.
The Patriots were able to keep the game relatively close through most of it, but Shonn Greene's 16-yard touchdown run with just under two minutes remaining essentially served as the knockout blow as the Jets took a 28-14 lead. After their 28-21 win, Jets linebacker Bart Scott gave a memorable interview to ESPN, leading Jets fans to remember their team's upset win over the Patriots as the 'Can't Wait' game.
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Super Bowl XLVI
The Giants' second Super Bowl win over the Patriots was eerily similar to their first championship win over New England. Following Wes Welker's critical drop with four minutes left, the Giants got another miraculous grab when they had the ball while trailing in the game's final minutes. Mario Manningham was somehow able to keep his feet inbounds to come up with a 38-yard reception to move the Giants to midfield with just over 3:30 remaining while trailing 17-15.
As New York reached the red zone, New England allowed Ahmad Bradshaw to rush for a six-yard touchdown that gave the Giants a 21-17 lead with 59 seconds left. Brady nearly connected with Rob Gronkowski on a Hail Mary on the game's final play.
2018 ALDS
Meeting in the ALDS for the first time, the Red Sox and Yankees split the first two games at Fenway, setting the stage for a pivotal Game 3. But, the Red Sox quickly put the Yankees away in a historic defeat, beating their rival 16-1 as they recorded 18 hits. Brock Holt became the first player in postseason history to have ever hit for the cycle in that game.
Brock Holt became the first player in MLB postseason history to hit for the cycle when he did so in Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS.
Jim Davis
In Game 4, it appeared the Red Sox were set to comfortably clinch their ticket to the ALCS. Chris Sale pitched a scoreless eighth, but Craig Kimbrel was shaky as Boston held a 4-1 lead entering the ninth. The closer loaded the bases, hitting a batter that allowed a run to score, while Gary Sanchez's fly ball to left seemed like it was going into the bleachers off the bat. But it fell short of the fence, resulting in a sac fly before Kimbrel was able to induce a ground out to win the game and series.
2021 AL Wild Card Game
While the Red Sox and Yankees met for Game 163 in the 1978 season, that game didn't count as a playoff matchup. So, the 2021 AL Wild Card Game was the first time the two teams faced off in a one-game playoff.
Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Schwarber's early home runs chased Gerrit Cole out of the game in the third inning. The Red Sox needed some defensive help, though. Holding a 3-1 lead in the sixth, they were able to execute a perfect relay off Giancarlo Stanton's double to throw Aaron Judge out at home, proving to be a pivotal play in