Why the Boston/St. Louis sports rivalry is unique
It comes down to data, stats, and nerdy sports history.
The 2019 Stanley Cup series is historic, but for more reasons than you might realize. Sure, St. Louis is in its first Final since 1970, when the Bruins dispatched the Blues in four games. Additionally, St. Louis’s Game 2 victory marked the first time in Blues history that the team won a game in a Final series.
But it’s not just the Bruins and Blues that have a competitive past, but Boston and St. Louis. The Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins all have won championships by beating teams from St. Louis.
In the 10 times that Boston teams have faced off against St. Louis teams with championships on the line, the Boston teams were victorious seven times. St. Louis hasn’t beaten Boston to win a championship since 1967.
This is impressive, considering St. Louis no longer has football or basketball teams. But it’s also noteworthy because no other pairing of cities has this relationship. To appreciate the rarity of this, let’s start with some data.
Boston is one of seven cities that has won at least one championship in football, baseball, hockey, and basketball:
Now, let’s consider the cities that have played each other. Only a handful have faced each other in championship-deciding games in more than two sports. Boston and St. Louis are one of only two pairs that have faced each other in all four sports. The other pair is Philadelphia and Chicago.
But Boston is the only city that has defeated the same city at least once in each sport. Chicago and Philadelphia have played each other for finals in hockey, baseball, the pre-Super Bowl NFL championship game, and the Basketball Association of America Finals. But Philadelphia has beaten Chicago in only three of the four sports. When the Flyers faced the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010, Chicago won the series, 4-2.
But there’s more that Boston sports fans can brag about: No city’s sports teams have beaten St. Louis teams to win championships more than Boston teams.
In other words, most of the times these two cities have faced off in a championship, Boston has been the victor.
St. Louis Cardinals
Boston Red Sox
Boston Celtics
St. Louis Hawks
St. Louis Hawks
Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
St. Louis Hawks
Boston Celtics
St. Louis Hawks
St. Louis Cardinals
Boston Red Sox
Boston Bruins
St. Louis Blues
New England
St. Louis
Boston Red Sox
St. Louis Cardinals
Boston Red Sox
St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis has given Boston seven of its 37 championships, but lest St. Louis fans feel embarrassed or defeated, they can take solace in the fact that they aren’t Los Angeles fans. That city has given Boston the most championships, thanks largely to the Celtics-Lakers rivalry.
Remember how only seven cities have at least one championship in football, baseball, hockey, and basketball? If St. Louis wins this Stanley Cup, it would become the eighth city on that list. Though the city has only two professional teams now, the Rams won a Super Bowl and the Hawks won an NBA championship while in St. Louis.
But if St. Louis does not become the eighth city to win at least one title in basketball, football, baseball, and hockey, what could be? There are several cities that have won at least one title in three of those four sports. But only two could join the list: Dallas and Miami.
For Dallas to become the eighth city, the Texas Rangers would have to win a World Series. The Rangers lost to the San Francisco Giants in 2010 and to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011.
Miami’s entry into this club would require the Florida Panthers to win a Stanley Cup, but the Panthers haven’t made it to the Final since losing to the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.