 In 1978 , the Red Sox , led by Jim Rice , Carl Yastrzemski , Fred Lynn and catcher Carlton Fisk , and managed by future Yankee coach Don Zimmer , were looking good for the World Series ( aka " Fall Classic " ) for the second time in the decade . They led the Yankees in the standings by 14 games in mid @-@ July , with less than three months to go in the regular season . The Yankees turned their season around just as the Red Sox seemed to collapse . By September 7 , the Yankees had whittled down the 14 @-@ game deficit to only four games , just in time for a four @-@ game series at Fenway Park in Boston . The Yankees won all four games in the series by a combined score of 42 – 9 . This series became known as the " Boston Massacre " . On September 16 , the Yankees held a 3 1 ⁄ 2 @-@ game lead over the Red Sox , but the Sox won 12 of their next 14 games ( and their last eight in a row ) to overcome that deficit and finish in a first @-@ place tie with the Yankees . A one @-@ game playoff was scheduled in Boston to determine who would win the AL East pennant for 1978 . 
