The Red Sox and Yankees have one of the oldest rivalries in American sports. No matter where each team sits in the standings, their matchups are front and center in Major League Baseball’s schedule. Boston has the edge over the Yankees so far this season, but the clashes are always memorable. Sabathia’s favorite moment from his experience is when Austin charged Joe Kelly.
“Probably the Tyler Austin fight, right? I think that was 2016,” Sabathia said about his favorite Red Sox-Yankees rivalry moment.
Sabathia got involved in the scrum that resulted after Austin took off after Kelly when a pitch hit him. While that was one of the few fights in recent Yankees-Red Sox history, the matchup helped Sabathia settle into New York in 2009.
“I feel like my ‘Welcome to the Yankees’ moment happened against the Red Sox late in 2009,” Sabathia said. “I had a start against them in early August. It was a big serious, I think we were chasing them, I don’t think we were in first place yet. I went out, got through eight innings, gave up one run, and and that picture that the Yankees photographer took is my favorite picture.”
Sabathia was a veteran in a very young Yankees clubhouse in 2017. However, he had spent the last eight seasons of his career embodying what it meant to represent New York on the diamond. According to him, he knew that night that the Yankees could be really good behind Judge, Stanton, and the rest of the teams stars.
“You have those moments and it kinda brings you together,” Sabathia said. “That moment we had in Boston in 2017 with that team was one of those.
