"In New York, it is get to the World Series, win the World Series, or it is a failure" - Roger Clemens on the competitive nature of the Yankees

Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees held a deep hatred for their rivals, the Boston Red Sox. This was and still is arguably one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.

Clemens spent his first 13 years in the big leagues in Boston, but could not reach a contract extension and eventually left for Toronto. After two years, he would sign with the Yankees, where he would be facing Boston quite a bit.

Clemens was more than excited to play for the Bronx Bombers. They expect excellence, something that the hard-throwing righty mentioned in Netflix's documentary, The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox.

"In New York, it's get to the World Series and win the World Series or it is a failure," said Clemens.

The documentary then flashes to Clemens' start against Boston in July during the 2003 season. He wanted to prove to his former club that he still had it, but Boston would make it hard on him.

"The Red Sox had a great lineup, a powerful lineup. And these guys had a campfire going on the plate. I mean, their arms were in the strikezone" said Clemens.

Clemens was not going to back down just because batters were hugging the plate, he was still going to pitch inside. This led to him hitting Kevin Millar up high, which did not sit too well with Pedro Martinez.

The Red Sox were quick to respond after Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens plunked Kevin Millar

New York Yankees: Roger Clemens (Photo via Getty)

It did not take long for Pedro Martinez and the Red Sox to respond to Roger Clemens hitting Kevin Millar. Martinez asked Millar who he wanted to get hit, but Millar left that decision up to Martinez.

Martinez decided to hit both Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano. The hit-by-pitches sent both sluggers to the hospital to get X-rays. Afterward, Martinez told reporters he knew exactly what he was doing.

This would lead up to one of the most infamous benches-clearing brawls of all time. During Game 3 of the ALCS, Clemens threw at Manny Ramirez, sparking the fight.

It was not just the players that were getting involved, but coaches as well. Yankees coach Don Zimmer went after Martinez in which Martinez threw him to the ground. It took a while for the older Zimmer to get up, but he eventually did, adding to this historic rivalry.