Amazing numbers to know entering an epic Red Sox-Yankees series
It's always special when the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees meet, but they've never squared off when they've both been on top of their games quite like they are right now. Here are the most amazing numbers as baseball's biggest rivals kick off a showdown in the Bronx.
The Red Sox (55-27) and Yankees (52-26) enter Friday's series opener with the best records in baseball. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the last time the Yankees and Red Sox met this late into the season (either by games or calendar date) with the two best records in baseball was the one-game playoff at the end of the 1978 season. (For the uninitiated, google Bucky Dent.)
The Red Sox and Yankees both have had 17-1 stretches this season. It's the first time they've both had 17-1 stretches in the same season. They're the only two teams with 17-1 stretches this season.
This already is the latest the Red Sox (.671) and Yankees (.667) have both had .660 winning percentages in the same season. In fact, according to Elias research, the Yankees and Red Sox have never met this late into a season (either by games or calendar date) when each team had a winning percentage of .650 or better.
The Red Sox were the first team in the majors to record 25 wins, reaching the mark on May 6, and the Yankees were second to 25 (May 8). According to Elias research, the last time the Yankees and Red Sox were the first two teams in the majors to 25 wins was in 1994, when the Yankees reached it on May 14 and the Red Sox got there on May 18.
While the teams are both having among the best seasons of their long histories, they're doing it with first-year managers (Alex Cora in Boston and Aaron Boone in New York). This is the first time since 1901, the inaugural season of the American League, that the teams with the two best records in the majors on a given day were guided by first-year managers.
The Red Sox and Yankees both are on pace to win more than 100 games, which has never happened in the same season. In 1978, the teams finished the regular season tied with 99 wins apiece. (See Bucky Dent reference above.)
Given the teams' current pace, whoever doesn't win the division is in line to make history nonetheless. The most regular-season wins by a team to play in a wild-card game (so, since 2012) is 98 by the 2015 Pirates. They faced the 97-win Cubs, who have the second-most wins for any team to play in a wild-card game.
Rafael Devers of the Red Sox and Gleyber Torres of the Yankees, both 21, are regular starters for their teams. According to Elias research, the last time the Red Sox and Yankees faced off with each team having a player 21 or younger in the starting lineup was June 28, 1970, when Ken Brett was the Red Sox starting pitcher and Johnny Ellis played first base for the Yankees. Both were 21.
