NEW YORK – The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees used to see a lot more of one another.

Before the current Collective Bargaining Agreement ‘balanced’ the schedule starting in ‘23, divisional play comprised nearly 47% of a team’s season. Major League Baseball wanted all clubs to face off in at least once series per season, and cut into the divisional slates in order to accommodate. Now, instead of six series against each American League East rival, the Red Sox play only four.

Has the reduction in divisional play impacted storied rivalries such as this one, or Dodgers/Giants, which dates to the 19th century – older than the entire American League – and which shaped westward expansion when they jointly moved to California in 1958?

Does seeing your team’s greatest rival less often take th

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