The Red Sox are kings of the East for the third straight year. Here’s a look back at how they’ve clinched throughout their history.
2017
In a twist of fate, Boston clinched the AL East and a playoff berth by defeating the team that would end up knocking them out of the 2017 playoffs. On the second-to-last day of the regular season, the Red Sox came out on top over the Astros by the score of 6-3, behind six strong innings from Drew Pomeranz, ten hits, and even three outs from David Price in a rare relief appearance. The victory guaranteed a division title, but it also ensured a divisional series with those same Astros, whose loss allowed the Cleveland Indians to clinch the top seed in the playoffs. Houston would go on to defeat Boston and Cleveland en route to a World Series title, the first in team history.
2016
The Sox once again clinched the division on the eve of the postseason in 2016 after several years in the basement of the AL East, but not quite in the same fashion. Similar to 2018, Boston needed only to beat the Yankees in New York to clinch the title—and they seemed in position to do it with a three-run lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Yankees, however, rallied in the final inning against the duo of Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly, and managed to complete the come-from-behind victory with a two-out, walk-off grand slam. Fortunately for the Red Sox, a victory wasn’t their only path to clinching the title that year. Despite a devastating loss against the dreaded Yankees, the Blue Jays lost to the Orioles that same evening, guaranteeing the Sox their division title. While it was a disappointing night in some respects, the Red Sox clinched their title, one way or another. The team ultimately lost to Cleveland in the divisional round, but the contributions of their young players indicated that the future was bright in Boston.
2013
Expectations were low for the Red Sox coming into 2013. They suffered through the disaster that was the Bobby Valentine era in 2012, leading to a last place finish in the AL East. New manager John Farrell came in with some of the lowest standards for any Red Sox team in recent memory. But the team rallied and ended up with the division crown, behind a resurgent year from David Ortiz and the support of a city that came together after the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombings. They clinched the pennant with more than a week to go in the season, a 6-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway, breaking a four-year-long playoff drought. The Sox would go on to win a World Series in one of the inspirational stories of this century.
Boston Red Sox
2007
The Red Sox were one of the better teams in baseball this year, led by a youth movement in eventual AL Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury, as well as a dominant season from Josh Beckett. However, similar to 2016, the team’s fate wasn’t quite up to them. After holding a substantial lead over the Yankees going into September, New York closed the gap to a game and a half nearing the end of the season. The Red Sox defeated the Twins on September 28th, but they still needed a Yankees loss to clinch the title for the first time since 1995. Fans continued to occupy Fenway even after the final out to watch the closing innings of the Yankees-Orioles game in Baltimore. In a dramatic ending, Mariano Rivera blew a ninth-inning lead, leading to a walk-off victory for Baltimore that sent Fenway into a frenzy. The celebrations were topped off by Jonathon Papelbon’s Riverdance impersonation in front of the fans following the Yankees’ loss. The Sox would go one to win their second title in four years.
1995
The Red Sox managed to clinch their title in the mid-90s by their own hand, defeating the Brewers (then an AL team) 3-2. Boston was led by Mo Vaughn and Roger Clemens, as well as a young knuckleballer named Tim Wakefield who would outlast everyone on that team and became a fan favorite over his years in Boston. The victory came with a few games to spare, and it was never really in doubt- the Orioles finished four and a half games back, and were the only team even close, as the Yankees had a down year and finished twelve games behind the Sox. The Sox weren’t bound for greatness, however, losing to the Indians in the divisional series a few weeks later.
1990
Perhaps the most memorable division-clinching game of them all, the Red Sox won their fourth division crown on a diving catch with two outs in the ninth by right fielder Tom Brunansky. Unlike their future clinching games, this one came on the very last day of the season. The Blue Jays were right behind Boston in the standings as the White Sox came to town for the last series of the year. In the final game of the season, the winner of the AL East was still undecided- for the Red Sox, it was win or go home. In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, Brunansky made an incredible sliding catch that sent Fenway into a frenzy, and the Red Sox to the playoffs. The team would lose to the Athletics in the ALCS later that month.
1988
The Red Sox came out on top of their division for only the third time in 1988, and in far less of a dramatic fashion than in 1990. The team was nine games behind at the All-Star break, leading to the firing of manager John McNamara and the promotion of third-base coach Joe Morgan to interim manager. This set off what many remember as Morgan Magic, as Boston went on a tear in the second half of the season, including a 24-game win streak at Fenway that set an American League record. They cooled down just enough at the end of the year to make the race for the pennant close, and clinched in the closing days of the season, thanks to losses by both the Yankees and the Brewers on the same day. There wasn’t much fanfare when they did clinch, as the Brewers were playing the Athletics on the West Coast and the news came in late that night while the team watched at their hotel. That was the last favor the A’s would do for the Sox that year, as they ultimately ended up sweeping Boston in the ALCS.
1986
A year that, for many Sox fans, established that this team was cursed, and may never win a World Series. Boston was in the midst of an eleven-year playoff drought when they entered September behind the Yankees in the AL East standings. But they then went on an 18-8 run, culminating in a 12-3 beat down of the Blue Jays to clinch the division title near the end of September. It was an emotional victory for both fans and players, the culmination of a tumultuous year. Alas, the joy wasn’t to last for long; after rallying back from 3-1 in the ALCS, the Red Sox went on to play the Mets in the World Series. They would lose in seven games, with the defining moment of the year, and indeed the franchise to that point, coming in the form of Bill Buckner’s error that allowed the Mets to win Game Six. Even three decades, and several World Series titles, later, Buckner’s error still lives on in infamy.
1975
The inaugural division title for the Red Sox that came seven years after the establishment of the AL East, this was a joyous year for Red Sox fans, even without a World Series title to top it off. Boston had lost their game on September 27th to the Indians at Fenway, but still managed to clinch when the Yankees swept the Orioles- the last favor that New York ever did for the Red Sox. It didn’t come with much fanfare, as Red Sox players were confident they had it clinched despite the loss, and no one stuck around after the game at Fenway to see what happened. The Sox would go on to battle the Reds in the World Series, ultimately losing but giving baseball one of its iconic series, and one of the most memorable moments in Red Sox history in the form of Carlton Fisk waving his walk-off home run fair in Game Six.