For nearly a century, the Yankees took top billing from the Red Sox. Then David Ortiz showed up. Now, as he plays his final series against the Yanks, we revisit his impact against his rival.

IT WAS THE era of The Superpowers, Boston and New York, when the entire baseball world watched. From 2003 to 2007, the Red Sox and Yankees played 94 times, including 14 epic playoff games. The Yankees won 49 times, the Red Sox 45. They met in consecutive classics in the 2003 and 2004 American League Championship Series, each losing a series they probably should have won, with the Red Sox doing the impossible, coming back from a 3-0 deficit in 2004.

David Ortiz was not the only difference-maker, but he was a difference-maker. He hit the Yankees so hard and so devastatingly that even in games the Red Sox lost they did not kneel. Win or lose, the hammer-nail relationship was dead. There had been Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon, Jim Rice, Yaz and Ted Williams before them, but when David Ortiz played for Boston, and when he went to Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox went from a rival the Yankees respected into a team they would have to fear.

DAVID ORTIZ: I put myself on the map once I started playing good against the Yankees. There are teams in the big leagues that I have better numbers against than I do against the Yankees, but playing good against them is what matters the most. The time stops. When you play against the Yankees, look out.

BRIAN CASHMAN, YANKEES GM: They always had good lineups, but when they had Damon, and Ortiz, Millar -- they had a swagger. They were loud. They were arrogant. The arrogance is what really bothered me more than anything else because they were chirping before they had even gotten past us yet. They were loud, but at the end of the day they wound up backing it up, and that's all you can ever ask.

LARRY LUCCHINO, FORMER RED SOX CEO: That confidence that David brought -- it was a swagger that we needed at just the right time.

SEAN MCADAM, JOURNALIST: Ortiz is in a separate category because almost beyond the counting of the rings, he fundamentally changed people's expectations for the Red Sox. Before Ortiz, it was, "What's going to happen to rob us of our destiny?" And after he arrived in '03, it was, "He'll figure out a way to deliver for us."

Guido Vitti for ESPN

ORTIZ STARTED THE 2003 season on the bench behind Jeremy Giambi. But by mid-July, Ortiz was the starting DH, and in his first series against the Yankees, he hit four home runs in two games. That kept up through the playoffs, where the Red Sox came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Oakland in an AL Division Series, setting up their second-ever ALCS against the Yankees. They survived deficits of 2-1 and 3-2, setting up the winner-take-all Game 7.

JED HOYER, FORMER RED SOX ASST. GM: What he did for us that second half changed everything. It wasn't just that he went on a tear, but it was the way he did it and who he did it against. He either set the tone for us or did something clutch that got us back in a game we were probably going to lose. It wasn't just that he did it. It was the number of times.

LEE MAZZILLI, FORMER YANKEES COACH: All you were doing (in the ALCS) was looking over your shoulder for that guy. There was nothing you could do with him, because Manny (Ramirez) was right there. You had to pitch to him.

DAVID ORTIZ: (David Wells) threw me that breaking ball (Ortiz homered to put the Red Sox up 5-2 in the eighth). I saw that ball coming from the bullpen. I knew exactly what was coming. I was on that s---, and boom! I saw him later and he would say to me, "How did you hit that pitch?" And I would say, '''Cause you threw it to me so many times." Breaking ball -- pow!

THE RED SOX led for most of Game 7, and Ortiz's bomb seemed to seal the deal. Then, of course, the Yankees tied it. Aaron Boone comes to the plate in the bottom of the 11th. Tim Wakefield throws one pitch. Boone hits it out. Series over. Mariano Rivera, who pitched three innings of relief, runs to the mound and collapses on it.

DAVID ORTIZ: With Mariano, it was business. Straight business. Mariano is one of those guys. The best pitcher I ever faced? It's between him and Pedro. One pitch. That's all he threw. You knew it was coming and still couldn't hit it.

MARIANO RIVERA: I was praying all along for that game.

DAVID WELLS, FORMER YANKEES PITCHER: Nobody was happier than me when we tied that game. I came in, we're making a comeback, and Ortiz takes me into the f---ing seats. He's rounding the bases and all I'm thinking is, "I blew the f---ing game. I blew the f---ing game, the f---ing season." Thank God my boys took me off the hook. I owed Aaron Boone my life!

TOMMY MCLAUGHLIN, RED SOX CLUBHOUSE MANAGER: I just remember the visitors clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. Guys were crying, coming over to Wake. It was just awful.

ORTIZ: We didn't win that game, but that year, my first year in Boston, you could see the difference. No fear. Nobody had any fear anymore of the Yankees. Even though we lost, they knew we had something for their a--.

MCADAM: I've always said in terms of ginning up fan interest, nothing does that more than improbably, almost, heartbreaking losses. The closer you get, no matter how heartbreaking the loss, the more people get on the bandwagon because they realize its right there. It's right within your reach. So in my mind, the complete apex of Red Sox interest was the offseason of 2003, after Aaron Boone, because you can't get closer than that, and all that did was invite more people to the bandwagon for when it finally came through.

"Nobody had any fear anymore of the Yankees. Even though we lost, they knew we had something for their a--." David Ortiz

THE NEXT YEAR, Ortiz tore through the Yankees again in the regular season (a .985 OPS and 11 RBIs in 18 games), culminating in the ALCS rematch. The Red Sox were down 3-0 in Boston, so Game 4 was a must-win. Ortiz had a go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth, then followed it up with the game winner -- a two-run home run -- in the bottom of the 12th.

MCLAUGHLIN: There was a tunnel where all the MLB executives were, and a cart with the championship hats and T-shirts, and after the year before, after Aaron Boone, all I was thinking about, especially after they absolutely crushed us in Game 3 was, "Christ, just prolong it another day."

DAVID ORTIZ: You know what? It was only recently that I realized we were down 3-0. I always thought it was 3-1. When you put it like that, come on. If they aren't lying to you, everybody -- and I'm talking about me, my teammates -- everybody thought we were gonna lose. There's only one guy who always said we could win, and it was (Kevin) Millar. They scored 19 runs off of us, and nothing but missiles. And Millar is saying, "Don't let us wake up! Cowboy up!" And I'm like, what in the hell is he talking about? They put 19 runs on our a--. How we gonna bounce back from that? I was like, we're pretty much done. If I tell you I had any thoughts about us bouncing back, I'm lying to you.

GAME 5 WAS more of the same -- Ortiz hit a single to put the Red Sox up 1-0 in the first, a home run to cut the gap to 4-3 in the eighth, and the game-winning RBI single in the 14th. In Game 7, Ortiz banged a home run in the 10-3 clincher. Now, the comeback from 3-0 is legend. Ortiz was named ALCS MVP. He hit .387 with three homers and 11 RBIs.

ORTIZ: (In Game 5) I'm starting to feel differently. I'm like, "They woke up the monster now." That was first time I thought about it. That was the first time I was like, "They're in trouble."

MIKE BORZELLO, FORMER YANKEES BULLPEN CATCHER: We'd sit out there counting, counting how we would get through the lineup as the game went on, because you knew one little thing would turn that lineup over and get to Ortiz. A bad error, walk the eighth hitter, then you knew you were going to see Ortiz.

Ortiz's heroics against the Yankees helped the Red Sox win their first title in 86 years. Getty Images

ORTIZ: When I'm up there, my attitude is I'm the last chance. I take full responsibility for the situation. I never go up there scared. The worst thing that can happen is you're going to get me out, but when I'm in it, I'm coming to get you. Look at my face when I'm up there. I'm locked.

TONY CLARK, FORMER YANKEES FIRST BASEMAN: A lot of bad memories, right there.

CASHMAN: I don't know him very well, but you see him out there giving everybody hugs. I saw him on the field one day and I said, "Hey, I need a hug from you for what you've been doing to us."

No Red Sox player has more home runs in Yankee Stadium than Ortiz. Rob Tringali/SportsChrome/Getty Images

THAT WOULD BE the end of David Ortiz's postseason legacy against the Yankees -- the two teams haven't met in the playoffs since. But his success against them continued. Heading into his last series against New York, Ortiz was batting .308 with 58 home runs. Only Ted Williams and Manny Ramirez have more home runs as a Red Sox against the Yankees than Ortiz. No Red Sox player has more in Yankee Stadium.

David Ortiz vs. the Yankees Vs. Mariano Rivera: .324/.361/.500

Andy Pettitte: .322/.382/.475

Roger Clemens: .200/.333/.600

Mike Mussina .316/.381/.526

CASHMAN: He was most certainly our house of horrors. I know in Washington, Frank Howard used to have the nickname "Capital Punishment." (Ortiz) certainly fit that description for us. He was a thorn. He was definitely a pain.

JACK O'CONNELL, JOURNALIST: This guy put (the Yankees) through hell. I mean, every time he came up, he did serious damage -- and you know what? His uniform stayed clean. I always thought his uniform was a little too clean.

ORTIZ: The one thing I can tell you about playing against the Yankees, is after those series, I was so tired. You need a day or two vacation. The excitement, all day. It was a war. It was a UFC fight, but if you were a fan, it was priceless.

KEN BURNS, DIRECTOR: He has that cheerful arrogance. David Ortiz knows in a Reggie Jackson sort of way that he's the straw that stirs the drink, but instead of all the baggage Reggie brings, David comes with spectacular play. I know all the sabermetricians say clutch hitting doesn't exist, but we have David Ortiz to prove it. Aaron Boone and Bucky Dent and many others put me in my purgatory, and we came out of that on the back of David Ortiz into one of the greatest events in the history of sports.

Ortiz will "especially" miss facing Jeter and the Yankees. Al Bello/Getty Images

BY NOW, THE old history has changed. After losing the 2003 World Series to the Marlins, the Yankees have reached the World Series just once, winning in '09. Since '03, the Red Sox have won three championships in three tries ('04, '07 and '13). In the 14 years Ortiz has been in Boston, the two teams have played almost exactly .500 baseball: 128 wins for Boston, 130 for New York (in the five years before Ortiz arrived, the Red Sox won just 37 of 88).

Red Sox greats vs. Yankees Ortiz: .308 BA, 58 HRs

Ted Williams: .345, 62 HRs

Jim Rice: .330, 36 HRs

Manny Ramirez: .317, 59 HRs

ORTIZ: The reality is I had no idea about any of it (before I got here). If I would have played for the Blue Jays or Baltimore or maybe even Tampa, I probably would have known a little, but playing in Minnesota? Back then, in Minnesota, you were in the big leagues but you really weren't. Then, when I came to this side, Boston-New York, then you knew you were really in the big leagues. It all came back to being in Boston. You could be in last place getting your a-- beat or in the middle of a hurricane, and that place is packed. So you gotta bring something to the table every day because you feel like the whole world is watching.

CASHMAN: I saw him on the street this offseason. I took my kids to Boston this winter and I had just gotten (Aroldis) Chapman. And I said to my kids, "There's David Ortiz." And the deal was basically almost done, but not done yet, and I wanted to tell him, "Hey, buddy, I got something for you." Now it turned out he faced Chapman once and Chapman walked him, but I so wanted to grab him and say, "This one's all geared up and I'm gonna bring this guy in and stop you once and for all."

MCADAM: I've always thought that what Ortiz accomplished in those two or three years was he changed the fatalism and flipped it on its ear to the point where people expected good things to happen and not the worst-case scenario.

RIVERA: Competing against David, and the Red Sox, was tremendous. I think you live for those moments. I must be a masochist, but I live for those moments. It was competition, pure competition. He's trying to be the best. I'm trying to be the best. That's how it should be. That is the stuff you remember.

ORTIZ: I'll tell you what: The biggest thing I'm going to miss about this game? Facing them. Especially facing Jeter. Red Sox-Yankees? We put on a hell of a show, didn't we?