Boston Red Sox

TheBoston Red Soxare an Americanbaseball teamfromBoston,Massachusettsthat play inMajor League Baseball.They have nineWorld Serieschampionships, most recently in 2018. The Red Sox are a member ofMajor League Baseball's American League EastDivision and of theAmerican Leagueitself. The Red Sox have played atFenway Parksince1912

One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded inBostonin 1901. They had no real nickname, but were often called the Boston Americans because they played in the American League. Their first home field was the Huntington Avenue Grounds. They met the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first modernWorld Series,and defeated the Pirates in an upset.

In 1907, theBoston National League teamstopped using red as their team color. The Americans team color had been blue. The next year, 1908, the Americans adopted red as their color, and officially became the Boston Red Sox.

In 1918, the team won its fifth World Series, and then went into one of the longest championship droughts in baseball history. The Red Sox won the World Series in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018; they won the pennant, but lost the World Series in 1946, 1967, 1975, and 1986.

The Curse of the Bambino[change|change source]

Many thought their championship drought between 1918 and 2004 was caused by the "Curse of the Bambino", said to have been caused by the trade ofBabe Ruthto theNew York Yankeesin 1920. The drought was ended, and the "curse" reversed in 2004, when the team won their sixth World Series Championship.

To get to the 2004 World Series, they beat the Yankees in the2004 American League Championship Series;they lost the first three games to the Yankees, but then, facing elimination, they won the next four games and thereby won the ALCS. That was, and still is, the first and only time an MLB team has won a seven-game playoff series after losing the first three games.

After theALCS,the Red Sox swept theSt. Louis Cardinalsto win their first World Series since 1918 (86 years) in 2004.^[1]

Other facts[change|change source]

They share a large and very famous rivalry with the New York Yankees. They also share a notably smaller rivalry with theTampa Bay Raysbecause of the 2008 American League Championship Series and because of various on-field fights and disputes.