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They say familiarity breeds contempt, and that’s certainly true in professional baseball.
MLB was founded in 1903, making it the oldest major professional sports league in the world. Thanks to the sport’s lengthy history, teams have had plenty of time to form bitter rivalries over the years.
Due to MLB’s daily schedule, teams also play the same opponents more frequently than in other sports. Whereas NFL, NBA and NHL rivals only face each other a handful of times each year in the regular season, MLB divisional foes play each other 13 times every season, often in grueling summer weather or the heat of a pennant race.
As such, MLB has some of the oldest and most intense rivalries of any sport. Here’s a look at the five biggest.
Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees
The granddaddy of them all, Red Sox-Yankees is arguably the most intense rivalry in any sport, not just baseball.
Their fates have intertwined countless times throughout the years, dating all the way back to the 1904 American League pennant race. Boston came out on top that season and had the upper hand in the first two decades of their rivalry, but everything changed when the franchise sold Babe Ruth to New York after the 1919 season.
That kicked off the longest and most successful dynasty in professional sports. The Yankees won championship after championship, often at the expense of the Red Sox, who frequently finished second to New York and went 86 years without a title.
Boston finally turned the tables in 2004, overcoming a 3-0 deficit against their AL East rivals in the ALCS en route to their first World Series triumph since 1918.
The rivalry has cooled a bit recently but was particularly hot during the 1940s, 1970s and 2000s. From on-field brawls and beanball wars to iconic home runs and epic playoff battles, this rivalry has seen it all.
"Bronson Arroyo hit A-Rod and A-Rod started to mouth off. … That’s when Jason Varitek gave him the leather sandwich." – Joe Castiglione
Remembering this Red Sox-Yankees brawl from July 24, 2004.
✍️"Rivals Rumble" for @NESN: https://t.co/yZEVsSWcmjpic.twitter.com/uZ1uh0R0Lb
— Tim Crowley (@tcrowley37) July 24, 2024
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants
The National League version of Red Sox-Yankees, Dodgers-Giants goes way back.
This rivalry started when both teams played in New York as the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. It peaked in the early 1950s after Willie Mays debuted for the Giants in 1951, the same year New York overcame a 13-game deficit in August to beat out Brooklyn for the pennant. Their tiebreaker series produced one of the most famous home runs in baseball history – Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round The World.”
Today In 1951: "The Giants Win The Pennant!" ~ Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” walk-off HR at the Polo Grounds becomes one of baseball's most memorable moments! #MLB #Baseball #SFGiants #History https://t.co/mGZSTBCE7j
— Baseball by BSmile (@BSmile) October 3, 2022
After both teams moved to California in 1958, their rivalry continued on the West Coast. Mays & Co. again got the best of the Dodgers in 1962, erasing a late-season deficit and beating them in another tiebreaker series to win the pennant.
Both teams play in the NL West and have engaged in numerous close pennant races over the years. However, they didn’t meet in the postseason until 2021, when Los Angeles edged San Francisco 3-2 in the NLDS.
Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals
If Yankees-Red Sox is the ultimate East Coast rivalry and Dodgers-Giants is the ultimate West Coast rivalry, Cubs-Cardinals is the definitive Midwest baseball rivalry, hence its nickname as the “Route 66 Rivalry.”
Chicago’s been bad for much of its history, famously going 108 years between World Series championships. St. Louis, on the other hand, has been one of the most successful teams in baseball history. Only the Yankees have won more World Series than the Cardinals (11), inspiring a lot of resentment and jealousy in Cubs fans.
One highlight of the rivalry was in 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa dueled for the single-season home run record. McGwire broke the record first and led the league in homers, outpacing Sosa 70-66. However, it was Sosa who won NL MVP honors after leading Chicago to the playoffs.
It was a friendly race between the two sluggers. When McGwire hit the record-breaking blast against Sosa’s Cubs, Sosa ran in from the outfield to congratulate him.
Sammy Sosa hugs Mark McGwire after his record breaking home run, 1998 pic.twitter.com/8r381GxKNQ
— Baseball In Pics (@baseballinpix) December 19, 2021
The two teams finally met in the playoffs in 2015, with Chicago prevailing 3-1 in the NLDS. They haven’t shared a postseason series since then, but they still see a lot of each other in the NL Central.
New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies
When you bring together two intense, baseball-crazed cities like New York and Philadelphia, sparks are bound to fly.
While both teams have been around a while, their rivalry – known as the “Battle of the Broads” – is relatively recent. The Phillies were terrible for most of their existence, while the Mets didn’t come along until 1962.
Aside from a few fights in the 1980s, this rivalry remained fairly calm until the mid-2000s, when both teams started challenging each other for the NL East crown after the Atlanta Braves’ dynasty petered out.
New York won the division in 2006 before five straight first-place finishes from Philadelphia, including a dramatic ending to the 2007 campaign when the Phillies overcame a seven-game deficit with 17 games remaining.
While the two teams have never met in the postseason, they did take their rivalry abroad with a series in London in June 2024.
Darren Fletcher of TNT Sports (British MLB Broadcaster) calls the game ending double play as the Mets win 6-5 over the Phillies in London: pic.twitter.com/EnYhJPRYxZ
— MLB Clutch Moments And Walk Offs (@MLBWalk_Offs) June 9, 2024
Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers
A more recent rivalry, Astros-Rangers has emerged as perhaps MLB’s most heated one over the past few years.
Originally a National League franchise, Houston joined Texas in the AL West in 2013. The Astros quickly emerged as one of the best teams in baseball, winning six division titles, four pennants and two World Series from 2017 to 2023. They also became embroiled in controversy for their infamous cheating scandal, which made them even more disliked.
The 2023 AL West race went down to the wire with Houston winning via tiebreaker. The Rangers got their revenge in their first-ever postseason matchup, however, beating the Astros in a tense seven-game ALCS en route to their first World Series title in franchise history.
During the World Series parade, Corey Seager stoked the fire by mocking Houston’s Alex Bregman for the latter’s gloating after winning the division.
"Everybody was wondering what would happen if the Rangers didn't win the World Series. I guess we’ll never know." – Corey Seager 🎤
For context: There’s a month-old video of 3B Alex Bregman saying the same thing about the Astros winning the division.pic.twitter.com/v1dZKh2LXz
— John Sparaco™ (@JohnSparaco) November 3, 2023
Given that both teams play in the same state, there’s always going to be some bad blood between the two, especially when you factor in the brutal Texas heat and close proximity between fanbases.
