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THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PT 5
"THE
BEGINNING OF
GOING NOWHERE" ...
Jimmy Piersall stars and
wins
the game with a walk-off homer
July 12, 1956
... Jimmy Piersall crashed a two-run homer
with one out in the ninth inning after twice making run-preventing
catches to propel the Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over the White Sox.
Piersall's blast came off Jack Harshman, high into the left field
net, scoring Dick Gernert, who had singled before him. The blow came
with the game tied at 1-1 and was the icing on the cake for for
Jimmy.
Piersall, with two outs and a runner on first, turned in a masterful
piece of running thievery on a deep liner by Sherm Lollar in the
fourth inning. Playing in straightaway center, Piersall sprinted at
an angle to cross behind Ted Williams and snag the ball in front of
the scoreboard, stealing what appeared to be a sure double.
Harshman had breezed along on a two-hitter and hit a home run off
Frank Sullivan, into the Red Sox bullpen in the eighth inning, giving
himself a 1-0 advantage. But in the bottom of that inning, the Red
Sox wasted no time and doubled their hit production to tie the score.
Pinch-hitter Norm Zauchin singled and Billy Consolo was brought in to
run for him. Consolo made it all the way home on Billy Goodman's
double that he sliced down the left field line and rolled into the
corner.
Leo Kiely pitched the ninth inning to get the decision. With the game
tied, two singles, a force play, and an intentional walk had loaded
the bases. With two outs, Harshman came up and flied to deep right
center. Piersall ran straight back and hauled it in to save a
potential disaster.
Piersall delivered the first hit of the game for the Red Sox in the
fifth inning and Billy Klaus smashed one off Fred Hatfield's glove in
the sixth until the eighth inning.
Paramount Studios had a film crew at Fenway Park, trying to capture
some footage of Jimmy for his film biography, "Fear Strikes Out".
They got their money's worth. |
