MLB games have been played for around 150 years.
You would imagine some rivalries have developed over that time.
These are the fiercest MLB rivalries, as they have lasted until our day.
3. Cardinals – Cubs
The St. Louis Cardinals – Chicago Cubs rivalry is old and intense.
Both teams have reasons to celebrate: the Cubs dominated the early years of the rivalry until 1908, when they won their second World Series title.
After that point, the Cardinals would go on to dominate the rivalry when it comes to World Series titles, with 11 in total.
The Cubs finally won their third Fall Classic in 2016, and have dominated the rivalry since that point with division titles and playoff appearances.
The Cards have the edge in World Series 11-3, but amazingly, the Cubs have won the most regular season games between the two organizations, 1,246–1,187.
Excellent players have taken part of this rivalry, from Stan Musial and Ernie Banks to Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, and most recently Albert Pujols and Derrek Lee.
McGwire and Sosa famously chased the home run record in a single season held by Roger Maris in 1998.
Both surpassed Maris’ 61 round-trippers, but McGwire ended up with 70 and Sosa with 66.
Both teams are competitive in 2021, so the rivalry is alive, as they fight with the Milwaukee Brewers to win the National League Central.
Kris Bryant has experienced a revival and is carrying the Cubs, but the Cards acquired the talented Nolan Arenado and won’t go down without a fight.
2. Dodgers – Giants
We would put it as Los Angeles Dodgers – San Francisco Giants, but that wasn’t always the case.
There was a point in time in which they were the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants, and that’s when this heated rivalry started.
Around the middle of the century, the franchises moved to the West, to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Both teams lead the NL in pennants, with 24 (Dodgers) and 23 (Giants).
Since 1969, which marked the transition to the divisional era, the Dodgers have taken the NL West, a division that both franchises share with other three clubs, 19 teams while the Giants have won it only eight times.
The Giants hold the advantage in total wins, head to head wins, and World Series titles, 8-7.
However, the Dodgers have won the Fall Classic six times since moving to Los Angeles, as opposed to three by the Giants since they have been in San Francisco.
Notable players that have taken part in this fierce rivalry are Mel Ott, Jackie Robinson, Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, Orel Hershiser, Barry Bonds, Clayton Kershaw, and Buster Posey, among many others.
The rivalry is, thanks to the Giants’ revival after a few down seasons, back to being exciting.
In fact, the Giants, led by rebound campaigns from two World Series winners, Posey and Brandon Crawford, are currently leading the division over the mighty Dodgers.
The Giants won 8-5. They've won 8 of 10 since that Dodgers sweep, and they've done it with offense. Tonight was their fourth four-homer game of the season. They did it twice in 2017 and 2018 combined.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) June 5, 2021
1. Yankees – Red Sox
The New York Yankees – Boston Red Sox rivalry is the fiercest in MLB and one of the most famous worldwide.
The Red Sox were fairly successful until 1918, but they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919 and the rest is history.
Boston didn’t win a World Series again until 2004.
But in their way to the Fall Classic title that year, they did something never seen before in MLB: they turned a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series into a win.
That was a moment fans will never forget.
The Yankees, though, dominate the Red Sox in World Series won 27-9 and also in games won between the two teams (1,226–1,025).
In playoff series, the Yankees took two, in 1999 and 2003 (with Aaron Boone’s Game 7 walk-off home run off Tim Wakefield) and the Red Sox won two as well, in 2004 and 2018.
That “Just Swept the Yankees” Feeling.pic.twitter.com/nH7AauHIjj
— Red (@SurvivingGrady) June 7, 2021
Some of the best players to participate in this rivalry are Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Carlton Fisk, Carl Yastrzemski, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez, among dozens of others.
The Red Sox are fresh off a weekend sweep of the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, so you could say the rivalry is raging.
I’m still surprised that people claim that the Yankees-Red Sox is the best rivalry in baseball. For the vast majority of baseball history, it has not been and certainly isn’t this year. The Giants and Dodgers are the oldest and closest rivalry in baseball, with the Giants only having around a 40 game win advantage in head to head games after over 130 years. Even right now, they are only separated by 2 games with the Giants being in 1st place and the Dodgers in 2nd place. There have been years where the Yankees and Red Sox have been in the best rivalry, but it’s not even close to being the best this year. It seems that making them #1 was following this weird trend the last 15 years of claiming it’s the best rivalry. It loses to Giants-Dodgers in virtually every category that makes a rivalry.