During last night’s Sox/Yankee game, on MSG, they asked the following trivia question: Who is the last Red Sox pitcher to have 5 wins against the Yankees in a single season? I missed the answer–can anyone help? My guess was Clemens but that seems too obvious. Tiant? Torres? Eckersley? Smokey Joe Wood? I have no idea… Thanks.
Apparently MSG and NESN collaborated on this one. The NESN version of the question was “What Red Sox pitcher defeated the Yankees 5 times in 1974?”
Answer: Luis Tiant
I’ve received assurances from a die-hard Sox fan that Eckersley had 4 wins against the Yankees in the second half of the '78 season so I’m thinking he had to have at least one win against them in the first half. Too bad Satan is banned–I’m sure he’d have the definitive answer…
On another note, I’m scandalized that NESN and MSG would collaborate on ANYTHING. Maybe the fault lies with AFLAC, the trivia sponsor…
In 1978, Eckersley likely only faced the Yankees 4 times. The American League adopted a balanced schedule that season so the Yankees and Red Sox should only have faced each other 13 times, 2 series in each park.
In 1974, the Yankees and Red Sox faced each other 18 times, 3 series in each park.