If there is one thing New Yorkers love more than anything, it is a good headline. From the front page to the back of the tabloids, to the names lit up in the marquee lights that inspire the city that never sleeps. In a place that is never starved for things to do or people to see, Cam Schlittler’s starts have become a weekly must-watch event. Tonight’s feature in Boston brings Schlittler back home for another early chapter in a story that is already becoming special.
Schlittler has already inked his name into the history pages of one of the greatest rivalries in sports. However, after tonight, two of those three chapters will notably have the same opposition toeing the rubber: Connelly Early. Schlittler vs. Early. It is not Ali vs. Frazier, yet, but one can dream.
In the five-man rotation era, and with the reduced number of division games played each year, long gone are the days of consistently seeing the same starters line up against each other. Now fans are lucky if they get to watch their ace face the opposing ace more than a handful of times each season. That reality helps build the storyline tonight as, for the second time in four months, the Yankees’ top young arm will square off against one of Boston’s best young pitchers.
This got me thinking about some classic matchups of the past. What showdowns did each generation get to enjoy? Who measured themselves against each other within the rivalry, and how did they fare?
With apologies to Jack Chesbro and Cy Young himself, what feels right to call the first true “our guy versus their guy” matchup is Red Ruffing in the blue corner and Lefty Grove in the red. I decided to count no-decisions as ties or at least list them as such, so the records listed are wins-losses-no decisions. Over the course of the 1930s and 1940s, the former Red Sox righty Ruffing went 11-14-6 in 31 starts opposite his fellow Hall of Famer. Those 31 matchups were the most head-to-head meetings between Yankees and Red Sox starting pitchers that I could find.
Making a season’s worth of today’s starts against one opposing pitcher alone is an almost unbelievable concept. For reference, Gerrit Cole has made only 12 starts against the Red Sox during his entire Yankees tenure.
Another common matchup featured Mel Stottlemyre and Luis Tiant. These two faced off 12 times in the early 1970s around the same time five-man rotations became standard. In fact, they may have developed some type of common-law bond, as they faced each other four times between July 16th and September 17th of 1972 and then five more times during the 1973 season.
Stottlemyre went 6-5-1 in those matchups. The pair also combined for 13 complete games. Stottlemyre held the edge there as well, throwing seven of them.
Around the turn of the century, the rivalry featured one of its greatest pitching showdowns. Two of the fiercest competitors to ever take the mound squared off six times: Roger Clemens and Pedro Martínez. The number of matchups declines dramatically the closer you get to the present day, but this one stands out because of the October battles.
Clemens went 1-2-3 as a Yankee when facing Pedro and his former club, including getting obliterated in Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS at Fenway. However, that lone victory was a big one, coming four years later during another Game 3 rumble in Beantown. He later got a no-decision in the unforgettable Game 7, as his offense bailed him out of a tough start with a huge rally off Martínez in the eighth. Clemens and Pedro were both larger-than-life figures who ran hot, making them a dream pairing for New York media and fans alike.
Jump ahead another decade or so and we arrive at the modern version of longevity. CC Sabathia and Jon Lester faced each other eight times while serving as the staffs’ respective left-handed aces.
Sabathia held a 3-2-3 advantage. The matchup was fittingly even considering the two finished their careers with similar ERAs and WHIPs, though Sabathia accumulated 51 more wins and 837.1 more innings pitched.
Now Schlittler and Early take the stage for Round 2. For the next several years, barring injuries, lockouts, or other misfortune, there is a chance Yankees and Red Sox fans will get to watch these two continue building their own chapter in the rivalry.
Here’s hoping, more often than not, that the Yankees win.