Boston: Red Sox Move Their Start Time Vs. Yankees For Celtics Finals

Friday is a big day in Boston. In fact, sports fans may be in all their glory and Fenway Park is here for it. The Red Sox vs. New York Yankees will have a new start time Friday night. The team announced via a press release that Friday's game time has been bumped up. The first pitch will now be at 6:30 PM as opposed to 7:10 PM. This is in an effort to not overlap with the NBA Finals. Furthermore, it gives fans the chance to watch game 4 with the Celtics win the championship.

"The change was made as a courtesy to fans interested in watching the Celtics take on the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, June 14 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas," the Red Sox said.

Believe it or not, this weekend will actually be the first time the Red Sox and Yankees are playing each other this year. As of now, Friday's scheduled starting pitchers are Luis Gil for New York (8-1), and Cooper Criswell for Boston (3-3).

With the NBA Finals either being over by the end of Friday or taking a two day break, returning to Boston for game 5 on Monday, the Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry will take center stage this weekend. In fact, both Saturday's and Sunday's games are prime-time nationally televised battles. Here are the details:

In addition to game three taking place on Father's Day it is also ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball feature. It's the second time both teams have been the main Sunday night game of the week.

The team announced the earlier start at Fenway Park on Wednesday before the Celtics even beat the Mavs in game three. Now with the trophy and banner #18 on the line, it's expected fans are going to want to watch every minute of the Celtics game even more. However, Fenway Park will not allow fans to remain in the park upon the conclusion of the baseball game. The Celtics vs. Mavs game four will not be broadcast inside Fenway on the big screen.

The Fenway area does have a ton of other options however. Places like Game On, Cask 'N Flagon, and Lucky Strike will certainly be ready for the overflow and fans immediately rushing in to catch some hoops.

Game 4 of the NBA Finals tips off at 8:30 PM. If the Red Sox game is not over yet, there are some streaming options so that you don't miss tipoff. Business Insider explained that SlingTV and Fubo have ABC in their streaming options.

"The most affordable of these two options is Sling TV, where you can access ABC in select regions by subscribing to Sling Orange + Blue for $55 a month," they explain.

Boston Red Sox left fielder Alex Verdugo wears number 99. Closer Kenley Jansen wears number 74. At first glance, you may think these are not typical baseball uniform numbers. The organization has 11 options that are immediately unavailable. The Red Sox retired numbers include 10 players that are forever Yawkey Way legends, and one player who is forever a MLB legend.

The Red Sox first retired a uniform number in 1984. It was #4 which belonged to Joe Cronin, who spent 48 years in baseball. The nod was to honor the fact that Cronin was a player, manager, and executive with Boston. Five days later (May 29, 1984) the Red Sox retired Ted Williams' #9. It would be four years until another number was retired with Bobby Doerr.

In April of 1997 all of Major League Baseball retired #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson.

Walking into Fenway Park you will see banners draped along the outside walls of the stadium honoring each player who has their number retired. You will also see them displayed high above right field inside the park, complimenting the Pesky pole.

So, if you are catching a game this year and wondering why a starting pitcher like Nick Pivetta is sporting #37, it's important to know what his options were to select from. Here are the Red Sox retired numbers.