Red Sox become Yankees. Yankees becoming Red Sox? Not so much.

Babe Ruth, Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, Red Ruffing, Wade Boggs.  All Hall of Fame players.  All except Boggs established their credentials with the Yankees.

Ruth played on Red Sox championship teams in 1915, 1916 and 1918; Babe set a World Series (WS) record of 29.66 consecutive scoreless innings pitched; in his final Red Sox season Ruth set the season home run (HR) record with 29 in 1919.  Ruth hit 659 homers with the Yankees and set the season HR record three more times.  Babe played on Yankee championship teams in 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932.

Hoyt: Two years with Boston: 10-12.  Ten with the Yankees: 157-98; WS winners 1923, 1927, 1928.

1933 Goudey baseball card
via Wikimedia Commons

Pennock pitched on the same Yankee championship teams as Ruth: 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932.  With Boston: 62-59.  Yankees: 162-90; 5-0 in WS.

Boston sent several other players to the Yankees in the 1920s, including:

Bullet Joe Bush: 15-15 with Boston WS winner in 1918; 46-39 in four years.  With Yanks for three pennant winners: 1921-1923; won 26 games in 1922; WS 1923.

Joe Dugan played 84 games with Boston to start 1922, then 60 with the Yankees as their starting third baseman 1922-1928 .  WS winners: 1923, 1927, 1928.

George Pipgras was acquired from Boston in 1923, although he had not yet played for the Red Sox.  Into 1933 Pipgras was 102-73 with the Yankees; he won 24 in 1928.  WS winners: 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932; 3-0 in WS.  Traded back to Boston during the 1933 season and pitched through 1935; 15-11 with Boston.

Ruffing lost 25 and 22 games with Boston and was traded to the Yankees during the 1930 season at age 25.  He won 20 games 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939; all won the WS as did the Yankees in 1932 and 1941.  With Boston: 39-96.  With the Yankees: 231-124; 7-2 in WS.

Sparky Lyle was traded to the Yankees for Danny Cater.  Lyle won the Cy Young award with the Yankees in 1977.  Yanks won WS 1977, 1978.

Mike Torrez won the final game of the 1977 WS in Yankee Stadium then joined the Red Sox in 1978.  Torres gave up the home run to Bucky Dent in the extra tie breaking game in Fenway Park in 1978 and lost the pennant to Ron Guidry and the Yankees.  Boston manager Don Zimmer later became Joe Torre's bench coach on Yankee WS winners years later.

Boggs played five seasons (1993-1997) with the Yankees, 602 games, 2,600 plate appearances; tournament 1995, 1996, 1997.  In 1996 Boggs played in four of the six WS games and rode a police horse in the celebration following the final game in Yankee Stadium.  Ironically, Charlie Hayes was at thrid base and caught a foul pop for the final out.

Going the other way: Elston Howard, 1963 AL MVP with the Yankees, was traded to Boston during the 1967 season in time to play 42 regular season games and all seven World Series games.  Howard then played another 71 games in 1968 and then retired.

David Cone pitched 135 innings in Boston in 2001 at age 38.  He pitched on Yankee championship teams in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000.  David Wells pitched in Boston in 2005 and 8 games in 2006 at ages 42-43; Yankee championship teams in 1996 and 1998.

Most recently after winning with Boston, free agents Johnny Damon and Jacoby Ellsbury switched to the Yankees.  Damon then started on the 2009 Yankee championship team.  Ellsbury joins the Yankees for the 2014 season.  Even Kevin Youkilis gave the Yankees a shot in 2013; only 28 games.

Yankee WS winning managers Joe McCarthy and Ralph Houk later managed less successfully for Boston, never winning the WS.

Ed Barrow managed Boston 1918-1920.  He became general manager of the Yankees in 1921, starting one year after Babe Ruth switched.  Barrow held that position through 1939, four years after he let Ruth return to Boston ... the Braves.