When the Red Sox spring training camp formally opened on February 15, 2026, it ushered in the 155th anniversary of Boston’s first professional baseball team–the Boston Red Stockings. And this year marks the 156th consecutive season of professional baseball in Boston!
Those of you who are observant, and almost of you are, noticed the “150th Anniversary” uniform patch worn by the Atlanta Braves when they visited Fenway Park in 2021. That patch honored the founding of the Boston Red Stockings in 1871 since the Atlanta Braves are their direct descendants.
Boston’s 156 consecutive seasons are the most in major league baseball—in fact the most in the world! Chicago is second with 154 consecutive seasons, and we can thank Mrs. O’Leary’s cow for shutting down Chicago baseball in 1872, leaving us with the world record.
How about New York you ask? Not even close! There has been a professional team in greater NY since 1883 so they have “only” 144 consecutive seasons. And the Yankees dirty little secret is they weren’t charter members of the AL! And even worse, they were an expansion franchise in 1903 to boot!
From 1871 to 1900, the Boston Red Stockings/Beaneaters were the dominant team in professional baseball. Then in 1901 the Boston Nationals—who became the Braves in 1912—were joined by the Boston Americans—who became the Red Sox in 1908. The two teams fought for fans’ affections for the next 52 seasons until the Braves waved the white flag of surrender and moved to Milwaukee for the 1953 season.
In the first two decades of the twentieth century Boston continued as baseball’s capital city. During this time the Red Sox won five World Championships and the 1914 Miracle Braves won another.
The sale of some fellow named “Ruth” after the 1919 season kicked off two dismal decades of baseball in Boston. But the arrival of another fellow named “Williams” in 1939 kicked off a resurgence of interest.
In 1946 the Red Sox carried the St. Louis Cardinals to a seven game World Series. And in 1948 the Braves won the NL pennant while the Red Sox tied the Indians for the AL pennant. A disappointing Red Sox playoff loss to the Indians spoiled the city’s chance for a subway series and the Braves fell to the Indians in a six-game World Series.
The Red Sox bottomed-out with 90 losses and a ninth place finish in 1966, while average attendance fell to 10,000 fans per game. But the 1967 Impossible Dream team overcame 100-1 odds to win the AL pennant on the last day of the season and baseball fever returned to New England to stay!
Seven-game defeats in the 1967, 1975, and 1986 World Series only seemed to stoke the passion of Red Sox fans. When the 2004 Red Sox staged one of the great comebacks in sports history by defeating the New York Yankees and then sweeping the Cardinals in the World Series, Red Sox Nation was in full-flower.
World Series wins in 2007, the improbable 2013 World Championship, and the record-breaking 2018 season remind us that Boston baseball dominates the first two decades of every century!
It is fascinating that the Red Sox dominated from 1903 to 1918 with five World Championships and then from 2004 to 2018 with four World Championships. And while the first stretch of five exceeds the four of the second stretch, the Red Sox of the 20th century only needed to best seven other AL teams to get to the World Series while the 21st century Red Sox had to overcome 14 AL opponents!
Has any other team managed a similar or even better 20-year record? Well, between 1920 and 1939 the Yankees went to the World Series 11 times winning 8 of them. Of course, that was with a little bit of help from a friend of ours—Mr. Ruth.
The Red Sox cupboards have been barren of World Series or even AL trophies for a while. Now I don’t know any Red Sox fans who expect a World Series trophy every year. I think that is just another urban legend. But at least a playoff appearance, and preferably a deep-playoff appearance, is a reasonable ask for fans of the most-profitable 2025 MLB team! I’m sure an exciting, and almost certainly interesting, 2026 season is in-store for all us!!
Herb fantastic article and writing as usual Happy New Year