As a fan of the New York Yankees, I have always been told to hate the Boston Red Sox. Although it is virtually impossible for me to tuly hate anything, I still have a strong dislike for the Sox. That being said, to show you how little I can hate, I was actually not livid with the events of the 2004 playoffs. I had an uncle who was a lifelong Boston fan pass away shortly after the 2004 World Series ended. I was happy to know that he could leave this Earth and have seen a championship by his beloved Red Sox. After that is a different story. Boston would go on to capture World Series titles in 2007, 2013 and 2018. That is more prolific than the Yankees’ single championship in 2009 during this stretch. Let’s also not forget playoff defeats absorbed by the Yanks at the hands of the Sox in 2018 and 2021. In short, there is not much to like about our New England neighbors.
So why do I have that wacky headline?
Let’s start by rewinding one year to last season’s Wild Card round. The Yanks beat the Red Sox in three games, snapping a three series playoff losing streak. That’s one reason. Another is that I have over 40 years of watching this rivalry with much of my formative years witnessing the Yankees coming out on top. A loss to Boston in 2026 would not nearly be stinging as it was in 2018. By my count, I still have 1978, 1999 and 2003 playoff victories to visualize, plus a bunch of World Series titles in my back pocket.
A loss to the Astros? Unacceptable.
The next time the Yankees beat the Astros in a playoff series would be their first time. The Astros have been to three World Series over the last nine years. On each occasion Houston found themselves in the Fall Classic, they ended up beating the Yankees in the ALCS. The Astros of 2026 remind no one of those teams. Yet, here they are leading the American League West after being nine games under .500 at the end of May. Jose Altuve is my age. No one named Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez are throwing strikes. George Springer is not around to swat a big home run. You have Yordan Alvarez mashing all pitchers and Josh Hader throwing darts to close out games. That’s it. How can the Yankees, even without Aaron Judge, lose another ALCS, or even a divisional round to this group?
If last week is any indication, the threat is very real. Houston won two out of three games at Yankee Stadium.
It is time for the New York Yankees to bury the Houston Astros once and for all. Erase all of the postseason demons that we can’t seem to shake. Beat this organization for the first time in five playoff tries. I feel my blood pressure rising at the very thought of having another season ended by those orange uniforms. Losing to the Red Sox is problematic. Losing to the Astros is catastrophic.
Threeunassisted 