Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are an American professional Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox compete in MLB as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division, and their home ballpark has been Fenway Park since 1912. One of the most-storied franchises in American sports, the Red Sox have won nine World Series titles and 14 American League pennants. The club's history spans more than 120 years and encompasses some of the most celebrated — and heartbreaking — moments in the sport's history, from championship dynasties in the early twentieth century to an 86-year drought and a triumphant return to glory in the modern era.

Origins and Early History

Founded in 1901, the franchise (then unofficially known as the Boston Americans) was one of the eight charter members of the American League. The Boston Americans began play on April 26, 1901, with a 10-6 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, finished second in their first season, third in 1902, and then won the first World Series in 1903, defeating Pittsburgh.

Officially known as the Americans, the club was also referred to by the media as the Somersets — after owner Charles Somers — as well as the Plymouth Rocks, Speed Boys, Puritans, and Pilgrims in its infancy. The team's familiar name came somewhat later in the franchise's life. The "Red Sox" name was chosen by team owner John I. Taylor around 1908, following the lead of previous teams that had been known as the "Boston Red Stockings," including the Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves). After the 1907 season, the Braves announced they would stop wearing their signature red socks due to a belief that the red dye in them could cause infections. The Americans' owner decided to capitalize on the move and adopted red socks for his team's uniforms, and as a result the franchise officially changed its name to the Boston Red Sox in 1908.

The team played at the Huntington Avenue Grounds from 1901 to 1911 and moved to Fenway Park in 1912. Boston enjoyed immediate success with its superstar Cy Young, the premier pitcher of his generation, and their talented third baseman and manager Jimmy Collins. Boston won the very first World Series in 1903 by defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates and continued its successful run in the 1910s, winning four more championships (1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918) with lineups that included center fielder Tris Speaker, pitcher Smokey Joe Wood, and a young pitcher-turned-outfielder named Babe Ruth.

The Curse of the Bambino

From 1919 to 2003, the team endured one of the longest championship droughts in baseball history, dubbed the "Curse of the Bambino" in recognition of owner Harry Frazee's decision to sell Babe Ruth — one of the game's all-time greats and the so-called "Bambino" — to the rival New York Yankees in 1920.

When Ruth demanded more money, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee arranged to sell his star player to the New York Yankees for $100,000 in January 1920. But Frazee didn't stop with Ruth. He gutted his franchise during the next few years by sending the Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher Herb Pennock and solid players such as Joe Dugan, Everett Scott, George Pipgras, "Bullet" Joe Bush, and Sam Jones without receiving adequate compensation. Perhaps the most devastating loss for the Red Sox during this time was Ed Barrow, the era's most effective general manager. It was Barrow who brought all this talent to Boston, and when the Red Sox let the Yankees hire him away, they condemned themselves to two decades of second division mediocrity while Barrow built the Yankee dynasty.

Thomas Yawkey bought a dismal, down-and-out franchise in 1933 and immediately committed the money necessary to turn it around. He started by adding veteran stars such as Jimmy Foxx and Joe Cronin, and during the next decade he mixed in homegrown talent such as Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio, and a fresh-faced slugger from San Diego named Ted Williams. This lineup of sluggers became one of baseball's best teams in the 1940s.

Despite fielding powerful rosters, the franchise's championship drought continued to deepen. Even with their great hitters and dominating pitchers — including Luis Tiant, Roger Clemens, and Pedro Martinez — the Red Sox were unable to win a championship between 1918 and 2004, often finding heartbreaking ways to lose crucial games. The team made it to the World Series four more times (1946, 1967, 1975, 1986) but lost each series in the seventh and final game. The 1967 pennant race, remembered by fans as the "Impossible Dream" season, captured national attention. Yastrzemski won the American League Triple Crown — the last player to accomplish such a feat until Miguel Cabrera in 2012 — with a .326 average, 44 home runs, and 121 RBI, putting forth what is considered one of the best individual seasons in baseball history.

Fenway Park

The Red Sox' home since April 20, 1912, Fenway Park is MLB's oldest ballpark. Located at 4 Jersey Street in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, the park is a defining landmark of the city and one of the most recognizable sports venues in the world. As of 2020, Fenway is the oldest MLB ballpark still in use and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

Because of its age and constrained location in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, the park features several quirks, including Pesky's Pole — the right-field foul pole named after Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky and that stands a mere 302 feet from home plate — and "The Triangle" — an area in center field where the walls form a triangle 420 feet from home plate. The park's most defining characteristic, though, is the Green Monster, the 37-foot high, 231-foot long left-field wall.

Fenway Park also hosted the Boston Braves in 1914 while they awaited the completion of Braves Field, and it has also been the home field for several pro-football teams, including the Boston (now New England) Patriots from 1963 to 1968. The ballpark's intimate dimensions, asymmetrical outfield, and manual scoreboard have made it an enduring subject of fascination for baseball enthusiasts, historians, and tourists alike.

Notable Players

The Red Sox have produced and attracted some of the finest players in baseball history. Boston teams have featured some of the most talented hitters in baseball history, including Jimmie Foxx, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Manny Ramirez, and, most famously, Ted Williams, the left-handed outfielder considered by many to be the best pure hitter ever and the last player to bat above .400 in a season (.406 in 1941).

Ted Williams, who played left field from 1939 to 1960, batted .344 with 521 home runs in 19 seasons, all with the Red Sox. His career was interrupted twice by military service — first during World War II and again during the Korean War — yet he still amassed statistics that place him among the game's all-time greats.

Other notable players in Red Sox history include Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, and David Ortiz, each of whom left a significant mark on the franchise and the sport. Yastrzemski, known affectionately as "Yaz," spent his entire 23-year career with the team from 1961 to 1983, while David Ortiz — nicknamed "Big Papi" — became the face of three of Boston's four championship teams of the 21st century. The Red Sox also became the last Major League team to field an African American player when they promoted infielder Pumpsie Green from their AAA farm team in 1959.

The Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry

The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is one of the most storied in all of sports, dating back more than a century and 2,200 games. What began with Harry Frazee's sale of Ruth evolved into a decades-long competition that shaped both franchises and captivated American sports fans. The rivalry intensified throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s as both clubs fielded competitive rosters and frequently met in the postseason.

In 2003, the Red Sox again seemed on the verge of breaking the "curse," when they led the Yankees 5–2 late in Game Seven of the American League Championship Series. New York scored three runs in the eighth inning and won the game in the eleventh inning to keep Boston out of the World Series.

The teams met again the following year for one of the most dramatic postseason series in baseball history. The third-longest title drought in Major League history — 86 years — ended when the Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals to win the 2004 World Series, shortly after becoming the first team in Major League history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win the American League Championship Series against long-time rivals the New York Yankees. In addition to Boston's historic comeback in the 2004 ALCS, the two teams have met three other times in the postseason, most recently in the 2021 AL Wild Card Game, which the Red Sox won 6-2.

Championship Era: 2004–2018

The 2004 World Series title launched a new chapter in Red Sox history. The Red Sox captured another World Series title in 2007 with a sweep of the Colorado Rockies. In 2012 Boston lost 95 games — the most for the team in 48 years — but a substantially rebuilt team immediately rebounded in 2013 to post an AL-best 97 wins and return to the World Series, where the team beat the Cardinals in six games to capture its eighth championship.

The team set a franchise record with 108 regular-season victories in 2018. That season the Red Sox faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Led by pitcher David Price and slugger Steve Pearce, Boston defeated Los Angeles in five games to capture its ninth championship. Boston has since added three more championships beyond 2004, giving it the most of any team this century.

The franchise continues to compete in the AL East, playing home games at Fenway Park before devoted fans who have followed the team through triumph and heartbreak for well over a century. With nine World Series titles, 14 pennants, and one of the game's most iconic ballparks, the Boston Red Sox remain an inseparable part of the cultural fabric of Boston and American baseball.