Red Sox and Yankees Celebrate Fenway's 100th Birthday in a Fitting Manner

Fenway Park and the entire city of Boston were alive with celebration last Friday for the 100th anniversary of the opening of Fenway Park.  

But, as Red Sox fans might have come to expect by now, the New York Yankees strolled into town and took on the role of the Grinch with a dominant 6-2 victory over the Sox.

Just a day later, it was looking as if the Sox fans would finally party like it was 1912 when they took a 9-0 lead over the Yankees through five innings.

But once again, the Yankees put a damper on Boston’s celebration by scoring 15 runs in four innings to hand the Red Sox a devastating 15-9 defeat.

When looking back through the history of this so-called “rivalry,” one can easily come to the conclusion that it was only fitting that Fenway Park’s 100th birthday was rung in by the Yankees dominating yet another series at Fenway, just as they have for the past 100 years.  

The Yankees have 27 World Series titles vs. the Red Sox’ seven.

The Yankees have won 40 AL Pennants vs. the Red Sox’ 12.

Not to bring the mythical “Curse of the Bambino” into play, but between 1920 and 2011, the Red Sox won just two World Series titles and six AL Pennants.

During that same period of time, the Yankees won 26 World Series titles and all 40 of their AL Pennants.

In fact, during the 84 years since Babe Ruth was traded from the Red Sox to the Yankees, the Yankees have finished the season with a better record than the Sox 66 times.

That essentially means that the Yankees have been 79 percent more successful than the Red Sox since Ruth was traded between the 1919 and 1920 seasons.

How that even constitutes a rivalry, other than based on the close proximity of the two cities, is debatable.

Rivalries typically contain at least some kind of push and shove aspect to them.

For the past 84 years, the Yankees have done virtually all of the pushing while the Red Sox have run for the hills.

So, as we come to the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park, could there possibly be a more historically fitting way to ring in the park’s birthday celebration than by watching the Yankees defeat a team they have spent the last 84 years dominating?

Red Sox fans may not be happy about how things have played out so far this weekend, but historically speaking, Fenway’s 100th birthday came and went in a manner very similar to how the past 100 years have come and gone for the Red Sox and their “rivalry” with the New York Yankees.