Over the 63 seasons in which there have been at least three major league teams in Boston--beginning with the 1946-47 Celtics--there have been only 24 occasions in which three Boston sports teams played and won their games. Three of them have been this spring--April 20 was the other day where we had three winners.
Only once before have we had three three-winner days in a spring. The last time it happened was in April 0f 1974. 1974 is also the last time that both the Bruins and the Celtics qualified for their league championship series in the same season.
19 of the 24 occasions saw the Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox all winning on the same day. On the other five occasions--including the first time on November 25, 1973--it was the Patriots that joined the Bs and Cs in the winners' circle.
I've posted the entire list below, but there are a few dates that stand out:
- On April 21, 2002, not only did the Bruins and Celtics each win their playoff games, but the Red Sox swept a doubleheader in Kansas City, making that day the only time that Boston has won four games in one day. That day is also one of just three where the Bruins and Celtics both played at hime on the same day.
- Another such day was April 24, 1983, which one might argue was one of the greatest days in Boston Sports history for sheer drama. Many remember that the Bruins beat Buffalo 3-2 that night in a game 7 overtime to advance to the Wales Conference Finals in one of the greatest Bruins games ever played at the Garden. But earlier that afternoon, the Celtics won their own elimination game as they ended a best-of-three series against the Atlanta Hawks with a 98-79 win. It appears to be the only time the Garden has hosted two elimination games on the same day. The Red Sox did their part wth a 4-2 win in Oakland.
- April 24, 1977 is the only of these occasions that two Boston teams have victimized rivals from the same city on the same day, as the Bruins beat the Flyers at the Garden and the Celtics defeated the 76ers at the Spectrum. The Red Sox were cruising that day in Toronto.
DATE BRUINS CELTICS RED SOX
5/12/09 W 4-2 @ CAR* W 92- 88 v ORL* W 4- 3 @ ANA
5/10/09 W 4-0 v CAR* W 95- 94 @ ORL* W 4- 3 V TB
4/20/09 W 4-2 @ MTL* W 115-113 V CHI W 12- 1 V BAL
4/25/02 W 5-2 @ MTL* W 93- 85 V PHI* W 7- 0 @ BAL
4/21/02 W 6-4 V MTL* W 92- 82 V PHI* W 12- 2 @ KC (W 8-7 @ KC)
4/7/01 W 4-2 V NYI W 102-100 @ WAS W 6- 2 V TAM
4/7/99 W 5-2 @ FLA W 108- 87 V WAS W 6- 0 @ KC
4/1/98 W 4-2 @ NYR W 98- 87 @ ORL W 2- 0 @ OAK
4/7/96 W 4-2 @ PHI W 98- 97 V DET W 3- 1 @ KC
4/24/83 W 3-2 V BUF* W 98- 79 V ATL* W 4- 2 @ OAK
4/11/82 W 5-2 @ BUF* W 110-109 @ PHI W 6- 0 @ BAL
4/14/80 W 6-2 V PIT* W 138-121 @ HOU* W 3- 1 V DET
4/13/80 W 8-3 @ PIT* W 100- 81 @ HOU* W 3- 1 @ MIL
4/8/79 W 6-3 V TOR W 127-101 V NJ W 7- 6 @ CLE
4/24/77 W 4-3 @ PHI W 124-119 V PHI W 9- 0 @ TOR
4/11/76 W 4-0 V LAK* W 103- 99 @ WAS W 6- 2 @ BAL
4/28/74 W 6-2 V CHI* W 98- 93 @ MIL* W 5- 4 @ KC
4/21/74 W 8-6 V CHI* W 98- 91 @ NYK* W 6- 5 @ CLE
4/14/74 W 4-3 @ TOR W 113- 88 V NYK* W 7- 5 V DET
DATE BRUINS CELTICS PATRIOTS
12/28/08 W 2-1 @ ATL W 108- 63 @ SAC W 13- 0 @ BUF
12/20/87 W 4-2 @ CHI W 124- 87 V PHI W 13- 7 @ BUF
12/28/85 W 5-1 @ STL W 110-108 @ UTA W 26-14 @ NYJ*
12/16/79 W 5-1 @ BUF W 115-112 @ NJ W 27-23 V MIN
11/25/73 W 3-1 V LAK W 107-101 @ CLE W 32- 0 @ HOU
* - Denotes Playoff Game.
Tags: Celtics Patriots Boston Bruins Red Sox
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