Why do We as New Englanders Despise the New York Yankees?
Christopher Smith
October 09, 2025
Growing up in the State of New Hampshire, like many other children, I was raised a Boston Red Sox fan, a passion I take very seriously. Being a Sox fan, however, isn’t a right; there are things you have to do to be considered a “die-hard fan”, and the most important of those is undoubt edly hating the New York Yankees with all of your heart.
This past summer, I held a job working with younger kids, and I was delighted to know the tradition was still alive, as I met children as young as seven years
old who already had a certain distaste for those boys in The Bronx. That being said, most kids I interacted with didn’t even know why; they just knew that’s how it is around here, so it got me thinking, and I realized most people don’t know the deep history of what has been coined as “The Rivalry”, one of the
greatest feuds in not only baseball but the history of sports.
It all started when the Red Sox owner, Harry Frazee, sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920. This triggered what is known as “The Curse of the Great Bambino.” The acquisition of Ruth turned the Yankees into a World Series-winning force, whereas the Red Sox experienced a prolonged success drought that left them without a World Series Championship win for 86 years. The rivalry skyrocketed in the 1970s as the teams built up a history of bench clearing brawls and intense games that left even the most casual fans with their jaws on the floor.
The pride of Sox fans over the Yankees, however, is unanimously agreed to be the 2004 American League Championship series that led to Boston’s first World Series championship since 1918.
The Yankees held a 3-0 series lead over the Sox, and Boston came back to win 4 games straight, completing the greatest comeback in MLB history, no one had ever done it, and nobody has since.
Many say the rivalry is weaker now and dead, but spend some time around Fenway or Yankee Stadium during baseball season, and you’ll find nothing but evidence that this rivalry can never and will never die. Because this feud isn’t about baseball, it’s about a clash of cities, cultures, and even accents. This is
Boston vs New York, and being a Red Sox fan means inheriting that battle and
knowing your part in it, because the fans are just as much a part of the teams as the players. So the next time you chant “Yankees Suck” at a ballgame, remember why you know that.
Christopher Smith is a Littleton High School graduate and a student at the University of Missouri studying journalism.
This past summer, I held a job working with younger kids, and I was delighted to know the tradition was still alive, as I met children as young as seven years
old who already had a certain distaste for those boys in The Bronx. That being said, most kids I interacted with didn’t even know why; they just knew that’s how it is around here, so it got me thinking, and I realized most people don’t know the deep history of what has been coined as “The Rivalry”, one of the
greatest feuds in not only baseball but the history of sports.
It all started when the Red Sox owner, Harry Frazee, sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920. This triggered what is known as “The Curse of the Great Bambino.” The acquisition of Ruth turned the Yankees into a World Series-winning force, whereas the Red Sox experienced a prolonged success drought that left them without a World Series Championship win for 86 years. The rivalry skyrocketed in the 1970s as the teams built up a history of bench clearing brawls and intense games that left even the most casual fans with their jaws on the floor.
The pride of Sox fans over the Yankees, however, is unanimously agreed to be the 2004 American League Championship series that led to Boston’s first World Series championship since 1918.
The Yankees held a 3-0 series lead over the Sox, and Boston came back to win 4 games straight, completing the greatest comeback in MLB history, no one had ever done it, and nobody has since.
Many say the rivalry is weaker now and dead, but spend some time around Fenway or Yankee Stadium during baseball season, and you’ll find nothing but evidence that this rivalry can never and will never die. Because this feud isn’t about baseball, it’s about a clash of cities, cultures, and even accents. This is
Boston vs New York, and being a Red Sox fan means inheriting that battle and
knowing your part in it, because the fans are just as much a part of the teams as the players. So the next time you chant “Yankees Suck” at a ballgame, remember why you know that.
Christopher Smith is a Littleton High School graduate and a student at the University of Missouri studying journalism.
Photo taken at Fenway Park in Boston Massachusetts from the infamous “Green Monster” by Christopher Smith
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