"What makes a good rivalry? Sometimes it's two teams going head-to-head. Sometimes it's two players trying to one up each other. Sometimes it's fans egging each other on. Baseball is full of rivalries just like these. From college clashes to major league matchups, read on to discover some of the sports' biggest rivalries"--

This photo-filled history of the greatest rivalry of baseball--Yankees vs. Red Sox--is penned by the leading sportswriters for the two teams' hometown papers. 80 photos, 20 in color.

Traces the roots of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry and recreates some of the great moments of competition.

Teddy Ballgame or the Great Bambino? Nomar or Jeter? Clemens or Clemens? For more than 115 years, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have been battling it out on the diamond, playing each other over 2,000 times. This heated rivalry has stood the test of time, as one team’s triumph usually means the other’s dismay. While the teams battle on the field, the fans and cities take the rivalry just as seriously. But who’s the best? Which team’s players have the edge? Which team’s squad would reign supreme? If you ask a New Yorker, you’ll get an obvious answer; same with a Bostonian. But what happens when two men from opposite sides of the track sit down to discuss who is the best? Red Sox vs. Yankees pairs baseball historians Bill Nowlin (Red Sox) and David Fischer (Yankees) to discuss who each team’s best position player was and which super team would win in a head-to-head series. Obviously, they won’t easily agree. Obviously, there will be cheap shots and venom spewed back and forth. But in the end, we will have two teams: one of the greatest players and one of each squad’s best year. You can guess that Nowlin will say that the Sox will win, while Fischer is confident that the Yanks will be victorious. But it’s not that easy. Thanks to the help of Action! PC Baseball, we will have a simulation to find out which team would win in a head-to-head battle. Will the All-Star Yankees take the series? Will the Red Sox pummel the best the Bronx has to offer? There’s only one way to find out.

Call it the forgotten rivalry. The Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers may not share geographical boundaries, and today they don’t even play in the same division, but for a period of time in the 1970s Dodgers vs. Reds was the best rivalry in Major League Baseball. They boasted the biggest names of the game—Johnny Bench, Steve Garvey, Pete Rose, Don Sutton, and Ron Cey, to name a few—and appeared in the World Series seven out of nine years. In Cincinnati Red and Dodger Blue: Baseball's Greatest Forgotten Rivalry, Tom Van Riper provides a fresh look at these two powerhouse teams and the circumstances that made them so pivotal. Van Riper delves into the players, managers, executives, and broadcasters from the rivalry whose impact on baseball continued beyond the 1970s—including the first recipient of Tommy John surgery (Tommy John himself), the all-time hit king turned gambling pariah (Pete Rose), and two young announcers who would soon go on to national prominence (Al Michaels and Vin Scully). In addition, Van Riper recounts in detail the 1973 season when both teams were at or near their peak form, particularly the extra-inning nail-biter between the Reds and Dodgers that took place on September 21 and effectively decided the divisional race. Cincinnati Red and Dodger Blue includes never-before-published interviews with former players from the rivalry, providing a personal and in-depth look at this decade in baseball full of upheaval and change. Baseball’s realignment in 1994 may have rendered this great rivalry nearly forgotten, but its story is one that will be enjoyed by baseball fans and historians of all generations.

The rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox involves not just the teams, but the cities, owners, ballparks, fans, and the media. Its roots reach back to before even Babe Ruth and Harry Frazee, yet it is as contemporary as the next Red Sox–Yankees game. This book tells the story of the rivalry from the first game these epic teams played against each other in 1901 through the 2013 season in what former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani called “the best rivalry in any sport.”

Rivals! The Ten Greatest American Sports Rivalries of the 20th Century presents the most memorable rivalries in over a hundred years of American sports history. Examines ten of the greatest American sports rivalries of the past century, relating them to their broader historical context Includes the rivalries between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, Duke and North Carolina, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, and more Draws upon the most recent works of sport historians, as well as hundreds of books, articles, and newspaper accounts Reveals a deep understanding of American sports history and American popular culture Features 30 images that bring the rivalries vividly to life

Games between the Dodgers and Giants are never just another day at the ballpark. Dating back to the late nineteenth century—when the teams embodied the competitive spirit of rival metropolises of New York and Brooklyn—the Giants-Dodgers rivalry gained intensity throughout the early twentieth century. The cheering and jeering continued unabated until 1957, when the clubs backed the moving vans up to the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field, and took their rivalry to new venues in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Indeed, Brooklyn-New York baseball was a tough act to follow, but the West Coast version didn’t take long to fire up the emotions. Only six games into the first West Coast season, the clubs had their first beanball dustup. The venue had changed but the venom remained, and the rivalry became author Joe Konte’s obsession. Fifty-eight years ago, he attended one of the first Giants-Dodgers games ever played outside of New York. A longtime newspaper editor and baseball fiend, Konte understands what is so special about this storied rivalry. And so—via statistical analysis, game summaries, roster scrutiny, manager matchups, season recaps, and more—he has put together a rivalry bible. Revised and updated to include the events of the last three seasons—from the Giants’ 2014 World Series win and the Dodgers’ playoff runs—Giants vs. Dodgers captures the spirit and intensity of one of the greatest rivalries in American sports.

A History of the Epic Rivalry between Two of Baseball's Powerhouses that Has Spanned Over Eighty Years—from Ebbets Field to Dodger Stadium, from Babe Ruth to Reggie Jackson The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees are two of the most storied and popular teams in not only baseball, but all of sports. Their rivalry began in New York and continued with the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn and moving to sunny California. The two teams have even met in the World Series a record eleven times! For a long time, the Dodgers-Yankees rivalry was the marquee match-up in baseball. For as good as the Dodgers were, the Yankees were almost always better. But why were the Yankees so much better than the Dodgers? Were the Dodgers “chokers” when it mattered most? Or was it simply the case that the baseball gods favored the team that would be later known to its detractors as the “Evil Empire” over the boys in blue? From Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Jackie Robinson’s famous steal of home in the 1955 Series, or Reggie Jackson’s three-home-run game in the 1977 Series, Dodgers vs. Yankees provides a history of this rivalry—from their first World Series match-up in 1941 until the present day. Every game between the two teams, including inter-league play, is covered as author Michael Schiavone attempts to answer why the Yankees have reigned supreme over the Dodgers. Whether you’re a fan of the Yankees or Dodgers—both on the East and West Coast—Dodgers vs. Yankees offers the most complete overview and analysis of these team’s timeless rivalry.

The Red Sox and Yankees rivalry is one of the best-known rivalries in sports. The two teams have been battling it out on the baseball diamond since 1901. Famous games are profiled, including the 1978 one-game playoff and the 2003 American League Championship series. Readers will explore what makes the New York vs. Boston rivalry so intense.