1963 BOSTON RED SOX ...

In October, with the team floundering and the fans staying away in droves, Tom Yawkey made Mike Higgins the General Manager. The ever-popular, Johnny Pesky was promoted from being the manager of the Triple-A club in Seattle, to lead the Red Sox in hopes of bringing the fans back. He was the first home grown player to move all the way up the Red Sox ladder since Bill Carrigan.

The Sox made some significant off-season moves that really didn't help the team. Pumpsie Green, pitcher Tracy Stallard and shortstop Al Moran were traded to the Mets for utility infielder Felix Mantilla. Then Dick Stuart and pitcher, Jack Lamabe were acquired from the Pirates, for Don Schwall and Jim Pagliaroni.

JOHNNY PESKY

On November 26th, American League batting champion Pete Runnels and Carroll Hardy went to Houston for Cuban outfielder Roman Mejias and infielder Dick Williams. Houston executives were very interested in acquiring Runnels, a native of Lufkin, Texas, who resided in the Houston suburb of Pasadena. The Colts had been trying for two years to land Runnels, a three-sport star at Lufkin High who had also attended Houston’s Rice University before turning pro in baseball.

Tom Yawkey then instructed his front office to spare no expense in reuniting Roman Mejias with his family from Fidel Castro's Cuba. Red Sox management worked with the State Department and the Red Cross to get the family out. On the evening of March 16th, Mejías’ spring training was interrupted with the arrival of his wife Nicolasa, 12-year-old Rafaela, 10-year-old José, and the athlete’s two younger sisters, Esperosa and Santa. He hadn’t seen them for 15 months.

Over the winter it appeared that Bob Tillman would be named the number one catcher. Tillman returned the favor by getting in early workouts with Bill Monbouquette at an indoor facility at Tufts University, before reporting to spring training. While off-season conditioning is taken for granted now, in 1963 it was quite unusual, and was considered an encouraging sign by Pesky.

Because of his early exit from playing basketball in 1963, Gene Conley was able to participate in an entire spring training. The basketball injuries however, proved to be a major issue, as was the chronic shoulder injury. He was unable to pitch smoothly and without pain and struggled during the early going of the regular season, but came back late in the year.

Carl Yastrzemski credited Mike Higgins for giving him some batting advice that changed his career. In spring training, Higgins had him lower his hands and swing slower, allowing him to have more bat control and spray the ball all over the field.

Two rookie pitchers, Dave Morehead and Jerry Stephenson were promoted to the club for the beginning of the season. Morehead was originally set for a return to Triple A, but came back to Boston because Conley and Ike Delock both experienced arm troubles. Stephenson was with the team for a month, but was then sent down to Seattle.

In one of baseball’s many attempts to curb signing bonuses in the years before the amateur draft, the Red Sox had to put rookie Jim Gosger (who had received a bonus to sign the previous year) on their 40-man roster, and keep him on the team for the entire season. In reality he was not a major leaguer and rarely played, but had he been optioned he could have been drafted by another team.

Yaz proved to be over-eager and over-threw the cutoff man and throw to the base. Dick Stuart's problem was inertia. In a March exhibition game against the Giants, Yaz overthrew Eddie Bressoud, unsuccessfully trying to get the runner on third. It allowed the batter to get to second base. A bloop single to right then scored two runs and Stuart didn't try to cut-off the throw to the plate, allowing the hitter to go to second. It was these little things that lost ball games.

Earl Wilson got the Sox' first win of the season on April 10th. He held the Los Angeles Angels to six hits, and only one in his last four innings. Yaz got two of the Sox four hits, beating the Angels, 4 to 1 in L.A.

Dave Morehead rewarded his team by pitching a shutout in Washington on April 13th, winning 3-0, and striking out 10 batters and allowing only five hits. His shutout was the first by a Red Sox pitcher making his debut since Dave Ferriss in 1945. Home runs from Dick Stuart and Lou Clinton aided the young pitcher gain his first major league victory.

The Sox lost three of their five games on their opening road trip. Against the Senators on April 14th, Yaz (.400) had a big day, going 4-for-5 and Chuck Schilling got four hits in his last nine at bats.

The Fenway opener on April 16th, was a winner for the Sox. Bill Monbouquette shined, pitching a five-hit, 6-1 victory over the Orioles, while Dick Stuart lofted his first Fenway homer into the nets.

On Patriots Day, April 19th, the Sox swept a doubleheader from Detroit, 3-1 and 5-1. In the first game Eddie Bressoud had two homers, and brought in a run that tied the second game. Gene Conley, in his first start, pitched 7 2/3 brilliant innings in the opener and then Ike Delock limited the Tigers to two hits in the second game, also in his first start of the year.

The Sox emerged as winners in the bottom of the 15th inning on April 20th. Roman Mejias turned on a pitch and slammed a double that produced two runs and gave the Sox a 5-to-4 walk-off win against Detroit. Dave Morehead pitched 6 2/3 innings of one-run, four-hit ball.

Earl Wilson lost a game to the Cleveland Indians on April 24th, 2 to 0. He had now pitched three excellent games, but only had one win. In 23 innings pitched, he had a fine 1.96 ERA and walked only seven batters.

On April 27th, the Red Sox beat Chicago, 9 to 5. Chuck Schilling went 4-for-5 and Frank Malzone had three hits, including a homer.

With Carl Yastrzemski slamming six hits, the Red Sox supported some excellent pitching with some timely hitting. The result was a doubleheader sweep of the Chicago White Sox by scores of 4 to 3, and 6 to 2 on April 28th. Yaz had four doubles and two singles for the day and it was his double, in the bottom of the 12th inning of the first game, that gave the Sox a walk-off victory. The Sox finished April in second place, only one game out of first.

The Red Sox headed to Minnesota and bombed the Twins, 14 to 5 on May 1st, knocking out 16 hits for a total of 26 bases. The assault was led by Eddie Bressoud, whose two-run homer tied the score in the second inning. Bob Tillman's two-run single put the Sox ahead in the third inning. Chuck Schilling, who had 12 hits in his last 21 trips, had four hits including a double and a homer, while Stuart and Yaz each banged out three hits.

Yaz's defense was outstanding. Against the Twins, with Rich Rollins on third, he caught a fly ball in center field and threw Rollins out at the plate. Then in Kansas City, with runners on first and third, George Alusik hit a smash to deep left. Yaz made the catch, back-handing the ball high over his head, only five feet from the fence. The runner on first had rounded second when Yaz caught the ball, and started to reverse his direction when he saw the catch. Yaz's throw was perfect strike to Dick Stuart, on one bounce, for a doubleplay. In the first 21 games, Yaz had thrown out six runners.

DAVE MOREHEAD

Dave Morehead won his second game, beating Kansas City, 3-2, on May 5th. He had allowed only three runs in his 23 1/3 innings of work, with 22 strikeouts.

Earl Wilson pitched the Sox into first place on May 7th. He retired 19 of the first 21 batters, allowing only a single and a walk, winning 5 to 1.

Back home. a combination of timely hitting by Frank Malzone and superb pitching from Jack Lamabe brought the Red Sox a 6 to 3 victory over the Senators on May 10th. A game tying base hit by Frank Malzone in the sixth and his eighth inning double broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Sox a victory.

Dave Morehead threw a one-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader on May 12th. A first inning home run was the only blemish by Chuck Hinton of the Senators, in a game the Sox won 4 to 1.

The Sox took 3-of-4 from Washington and won the last game, 8 to 5 on May 13th. They cut loose with 11 hits for 26 bases, including homers by Bob Tillman, Malzone and Stuart, triples by Yaz and Lou Clinton, and a pair of doubles by Chuck Schilling.

As the Red Sox were sweeping a doubleheader from the Angels on May 15th, both Dick Stuart and Lou Clinton each had one of their biggest days of the season. Clinton knocked out four singles and a triple, while Stuart blasted a grandslam homer in the first game and a three-run job in the second game. Malzone also collected four hits and Russ Nixon had three. The result was a 9 to 3 and 7 to 6 double victory. Stuart drove in seven runs in the two games.

By May 17th, the Sox were in first place. The game that day had to be delayed because so many fans were trying to get into the park.

Earl Wilson spun a beautiful 3-0 shutout to sweep the series with the Angels and it put the Sox in a tie for first place on May 19th. Frank Malzone belted out two home runs and two singles, accounting for 5 RBIs in a the first game of a doubleheader against Kansas City, with the Sox winning 7 to 3. Then after losing two of three to the A's and three straight to the Twins, the Sox tumbled into fourth place.

In Detroit, on May 24th, Bill Monbouquette pitched a great game, striking out twelve and winning 5 to 2. But the Sox struck out 13 times against four pitchers, led by Dick Stuart who struck out three times. The 25 strikeouts tied the major league record for strikeouts in a nine inning game. Stuart (.220 BA) after going 2-for-27, had averaged more than a strikeout per game and as a result, was benched by Johnny Pesky.

On May 26th, Jack Lamabe relieved twice and saved the Sox a split with the Tigers in Detroit. They lost the opening game of a doubleheader but then won the second game, 6 to 5. Lamabe came in during the ninth inning after two runs were scored a nailed down the final out.

The Yankees visited Fenway on May 28th and were beaten 11 to 6. Eddie Bressoud drove in three runs in this and also in the previous game. Gary Geiger had three hits, including a home run and Frank Malzone (.351 BA) had three hits. But the Sox finished the month of May losing 8-of-11 games and were in 5th place, five games behind.

The combination of age, injury, and ineffectiveness finally took its toll on Ike Delock’s career, and he was released. The Sox called up pitcher Wilbur Wood  from Seattle. Frank Malzone thus became the longest-tenured player with the team.

On June 2nd, Yaz hit a two-run homer to lead the Sox to an 11-9 victory in the first game of a doubleheader in Chicago. The White Sox shutout the Red Sox 10-0, blasting Wood, in the second game.

The Milwaukee Braves came back to town to play the Sox in the "Jimmy Fund" game on June 3rd. They had beaten the Sox in all three previous exhibition games, but tonight the Sox broke the spell by beating them 5 to 2. Dave Morehead looked as impressive as he had in his first starts this year. For five innings he allowed only two hits. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Bressoud smashed a homer into the left field net for the Sox first run. In the seventh inning, four singles by Roman Mejias, Dick Williams, Lou Clinton and Bob Tillman, along with three walks, produced four more runs.

Gene Conley started the beginning of the end of his baseball career on June 6th. He was taken out after two innings in Washington and new he was not himself. The ligaments he had injured while playing basketball, were not healing correctly and he knew it.

With the emergence of Dick Radatz and his best days seemingly behind him, Mike Fornieles was sold to the Minnesota Twins. Rookie pitcher, Bob Heffner, who had played for Johnny Pesky while in Seattle, was then summoned to join the Sox to bolster the depleted pitching staff, that was down to just eight men.

When Bill Monbouquette beat the Orioles, 7-1 on June 8th, he had pitched 88 innings and walking only nine men. It was the first time in 12 games, that a Sox pitcher had gone the distance

On June 9th, the Sox beat the O's, 3-2 in 14 innings. Dick Radatz got the win, striking out 10 batters in the six innings he pitched. Only two of the other ten batters got the ball out of the infield.

He then worked 8 2/3 scoreless innings in Detroit on June 11th, winning that game, 7 to 3, and striking out 11 batters. Radatz (0.92 ERA) had now made 13 relief appearances without allowing a run, covering 31 innings. It was a Red Sox club record that broke Ellis Kinder's streak of 29 consecutive scoreless relief innings, set in 1951. One of Frank Malzone's more thrilling contributions of the year was the three-run homer he hit in the top of the 15th inning to give Radatz the win. The victory started a streak for the Red Sox where they won 11 of the next 12 games.

Three home runs, by Bressoud, Yaz and Dick Stuart enabled Monbo to win again on June 12th. He beat the Senators at Fenway by a score of 5 to 3, striking out seven in the first three innings.

On June 13th, with so many sore arms on the Sox pitching staff, Arnold Earley got a chance to start. He won 7-5 over the Senators, with some help from Jack Lamabe. Malzone and Stuart both homered to lead the offense.

Dick Radatz added to his scoreless innings total on June 14th. He made his 21st appearance with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning of a game with the Orioles. With three pitches he retired the side and then saved the game on a dozen pitches in the ninth to extend his record to 33 shutout innings.

A big day for the Sox happened on June 16th, as they bombed the Orioles and swept a doubleheader. Roman Mejias banged out three homers as the Sox won 8-1 and 12-5. Monbouquette won the first game by pitching a complete nine innings. Dick Stuart also homered and knocked out five straight hits and Yaz had four straight hits. Unfortunately for Radatz, however, his scoreless streak ended when he gave up two runs.

Bressoud and Stuart homered against the Tigers on June 18th. Lou Clinton had been hot and knocked out two hits, having now gone 8-for-14. Earl Wilson only allowed four scattered hits shutting out Detroit, 9 to 0.

Bob Heffner’s debut was at Fenway Park on June 19th, and he pitched a complete-game, 9-2 win against the Detroit Tigers, allowing just seven hits. He also doubled off the center-field wall in his first at-bat. Yaz's two home runs, good for four RBIs, a two-run homer by Frank Malzone, and a solo homer from Stuart, paced the Sox. In the process, Malzone (.341 BA) moved ahead of Al Kaline in the AL batting race and Stuart (17 HRs) went ahead in the homer derby.

JACK LAMABE

Arnold Earley got another start on June 20th, and again with help from Jack Lamabe, beat the Tigers, 8 to 3.

The Sox hot bats continued against the Yankees at Fenway on June 21st. Malzone had a double and a homer, Gary Geiger slapped a triple and a homer, and Yaz a single and a triple, as the Sox bombed the bombers, 7 to 4. The Sox had won nine of their last ten games and Monbouquette became the first ten game winner in the American League. They were in third place and only two games out of first. But the Yankees took the next three and the Sox fell back to five games out.

On June 23rd, Earl Wilson and Eddie Bressoud collided chasing a pop fly. Wilson had to leave the game was sent to the hospital for x-rays. He was OK but never pitched very well for the rest of the year. Then Yaz pulled a muscle and had to be taken out of the game also.

After losing three to the Yankees and falling back to five games out, Gary Geiger broke up the "Family Night" game against the Cleveland Indians on June 24th, with a loud explosion in the ninth inning. The score was tied at 5-5, with Roman Mejias on first base. Geiger, not known as a home run hitter, turned on a pitch and launched it toward center field. Centerfielder, Willie Kirkland, drifted back as though he had it in hand, but it sailed over his head into the centerfield bleachers. And that was that, the Sox won 7 to 5.

The next day, the Sox swept the Indians, 4 to 1 and 3 to 2. Monbo won his ninth game in the opener and Earl Wilson won the nitecap. And of course, Dick Radatz came in to repair the leaks in both contests. Dick Stuart knocked in three runs but let an easy ground ball go by him thad earned him a dirty look from Monbouquette.

On June 26th, the Red Sox swept the Indians, 6 to 5, when Bressoud hit his second home run of the game in bottom of the ninth inning. The Indians' Joe Adcock smashed a two-run homer that tied the game at five apiece in the Indians half of the ninth inning.

Hal Kolstad was 2-1 with Seattle when Gene Conley went on the disabled list and was called up on June 27th.

In New York on June 28th, the Sox rallied and overcame a two-run lead on a funny hop that got by Tony Kubek off the bat of Frank Malzone. It gave the Sox a 4-3 decision, with late help from Dick Radatz.

Next, on June 29th, Dick Stuart let another ground ball go threw his legs that gave the Yankees three runs and gave the Yankees the game, 2-0. It was the second time in a week that Stuart had cost the Sox a game, and therefore he was benched for the second time this season.

The Sox ended up losing 4-of-5 in the series at Yankee Stadium and were 4 1/2 games behind as June turned into July.

Dave Morehead pitched a brilliant two-hitter when he faced the Indians on July 2nd in Cleveland. He retired the first 20 batters and walked one, going into the eighth inning with a no-hitter. Then after giving up a hit on a bad hop, he surrendered a home run, but won the game, 6 to 1.

Dick Radatz fanned six of the 11 batters he faced on July 3rd. And in the ninth inning, Gary Geiger singled in the tie-breaking run and Bob Tillman later belted a three-run homer beating the Indians, 6 to 2.

On July 4th, Geiger recorded 15 putouts in a doubleheader against Cleveland. This broke Al Simmons’ major-league record for putouts by an outfielder. Geiger had 11 putouts in the first game, which was the Red Sox outfielder’s record at the time.

The Sox hopped on Dave DeBusshere for six runs in the first inning, giving Earl Wilson a 8-3 win over the White Sox on July 5th. Dave Morehead threw another gem the next night, beating the White Sox, 6 to 2. Twice he struck out the side, giving up just three hits.

The Sox were in third place at the All Star break, seven games over .500 for the first time in a decade. They were 30-15 at home and 14-22 on the road. Dick Radatz was 8-1 with a 1.42 ERA at the break. There was even talk that Johnny Pesky could win "Manager of the Year". The Sox were leading the league in hitting, but pitching would be the key.

Frank Malzone's hot start saw him named as a starter over Brooks Robinson, to the American League All Star squad. Bill Monbouquette, Yaz and Radatz were also named as All Stars in the game, played in Cleveland on July 9th. Dick Stuart felt snubbed by the AL manager, Ralph Houk, who chose his own player Joe Pepitone, to be on the squad instead oh him.

Malzone had an RBI single in three times up and Yaz was 0-for-2. Willie Mays drove in the winning run and set two All Star records, in the 5-2 win by the National League. But it was Radatz who would be remembered, by impressing everyone with the strikeouts of Mays, Dick Groat, Duke Snider, Willie McCovey and Julián Javier in the two innings he pitched.

Dick Stuart started the second half in Minnesota, on July 10th, by belting a three run homer that led the Sox to a 7 to 4 victory. It was his first homer in 21 games and he hadn't knocked in a run in 11 games. Of their 46 wins, 22 have been won on homers. Both Stuart and Malzone each had four game-winning home runs. Each had a game-winning RBI in seven games. On the down side, Lou Clinton had left 161 base runners stranded.

Bill Monbouquette shut out the Twins on July 11th, 2 to 0, on three hits. Homers by Eddie Bressoud and Bob Tillman provided all the runs he needed. The next day, Yaz homered in the 12th inning to beat the Twins, 3 to 2, after the Sox scored the tying run in the ninth inning.

On to L.A. where, on July 14th, the Angels beat the Sox 10-8 in the first game of a doubleheader. In the second game Chet Nichols pitched his first complete game since 1955 when he was with the Braves. He gave up three hits and had a 5-0 lead going into the ninth, having to be saved by Dick Radatz.

Frank Malzone homered the next game on July 15th to give Monbo his 13th win, 2 to 1 over the Angels.

In Kansas City on July 18th, Dick Williams, Billy Gardner and Felix Mantilla got starts in the infield. Williams had four hits and both Yaz and Roman Mejias homered, in the 10 to 6 victory.

On July 21st in Chicago, Bob Tillman smashed a 10th inning homer that won the game, 3 to 2, in the finale of their road trip.

The Sox needed pitching help and on July 24th, they picked up veteran pitcher, Bob Turley, who had been released by the Angels. Hal Kolstad, who had given up four home runs in the 10 innings since he’d been brought back from Seattle, was sent back down.

The team had played about .500 ball on the road trip after the All Star break. But they then came home and were devastated in a home stand where they won only 2 of 11 games.

After losing four straight back at home, the Sox beat the Angels 5-4, on July 26th. Dick Stuart hit his 21st homer to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning. Then Bob Tillman's single behind Eddie Bressoud's double, put the Sox ahead to stay. Bob Turley started and Jack Lamabe got the win.

Dick Radatz saved a 7-5 win for Bill Monbouquette on July 29th. Homers by Dick Stuart and Eddie Bressoud gave the Sox a 7-0 lead, but they were offset by four homers by the Twins.

The Sox went 14-18 and finished the month of July in 5th place, falling 13 1/2 games behind.

In Cooperstown, the Sox beat the Braves 7 to 3 in the Hall-of-Fame Game. Russ Nixon drove home the winning run, Dick Williams provided a three-run homer for the Sox and Hank Aaron homered for the Braves.

Earl Wilson, aided by his own three-run homer, beat the Senators, 5 to 0 in the first game of a doubleheader, on August 1st in Washington. But the Sox lost the next three games in Washington and then were swept in three games by the Tigers in Detroit. They dipped below .500 and were 15 games back.

On August 7th, Gary Geiger had a two-homer game but the Sox lost to the Tigers, 5 to 4. Geiger belted two more home runs the next night, but the Tigers beat the Sox again, 6-5, when Dick Radatz blew a save in the ninth inning. Radatz had blown three straight saves in six games.

The Sox had lost 21 of their last 26 games and in the four weeks from July 15th to August 11th, they fell from second place to sixth and from ten games over .500 to six below.

Lou Clinton rescued the Sox temporarily with two home runs, beating the Twins, 5 to 4 on August 12th. But they lost three of their four games played in Minnesota, falling to 19 1/2 games behind. They had lost 14 of their last 16 games.

It was the Yankees who came to Fenway to play the Sox when they came home. After getting rained out, the Sox swept the Yanks in a doubleheader on August 14th. In the first game the Sox won 14-7. The fourteen runs were the most the Sox had scored all season, and the 19 hits they knocked out were also their best. The win went to Bill Monbouquette who now had 15 victories. In the second game, the Sox survived a Yankee rally in the ninth inning and held on to a 5-4 win.

DICK STUART

Dick Stuart went 6-for-10, with a home run, to push his league-leading total to 30. His seven RBIs pushed him up to 85 and were also tops in the American League.

Red Sox home runs beat the visiting Cleveland Indians on August 16th, 7 to 4. After Felix Mantilla homered in the first inning, Yaz singled, Dick Stuart walked and Lou Clinton blasted a three-run homer. Bob Heffner pitched a nice game, retiring 15 in a row at one point.

The next day, August 17th, Bill Monbouquette won his 16th game, after being given an 8 to 0 lead in the first four innings. A two-run homer by Yaz started the lop-sided 10-3 success over the Indians.

On August 19th, he hit two homers against the Indians. One of them was an inside-the-park homer.

Dick Stuart and Yaz (.328 BA) were the only ones who were hitting well. On August 21st, in a losing effort against the White Sox at Fenway, they had three hits apiece. The next night Stuart knocked out his league-leading 33rd homer to go along with his league-leading 93 RBIs.

Yaz homered again in the seventh inning and ruined a no-hitter by Pedro Ramos on August 23rd in Cleveland. Eddie Bressoud homered the next inning, to tie the game and Lou Clinton homered in the 13th inning, to give the Sox a 3 to 2 victory.

On August 25th, the Sox split a doubleheader with the Indians. That day a record was set for strikeouts in a doubleheader. Bob Heffner struck out 12 batters, Bill Monbouquette K'd 11 batters, Dick Radatz five batters, and the Indians' pitchers struck out 17 batters. The two-team record-breaking total was 44 strikeouts. The Sox won the opening game, 8 to 3, but lost the second game.

The Sox then went into Yankee Stadium and were shut out twice in a twi-nighter, 5-0 and 3-0, on August 27th. One hit that New York Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton rues was pinch-hitter Russ Nixon’s leadoff single in the ninth inning in the first game. Bouton lost the no-hitter he had going through eight innings. That single, however, was Nixon’s fifth consecutive hit.

Dick Stuart slugged his 35th homer against the Yankees on August 29th, tying him with Hank Aaron for the MLB leadership. In doing so, he became the fifth Sox player to reach that mark. Jimmie Foxx reached it twice, Ted Williams five times, and also Jackie Jensen and Vern Stephens.

The Red Sox had fallen back to 24 games behind the Yankees as the final month of the season commenced. Down on the farm, Tony Conigliaro (.356 BA, 20 HRs) was chosen as the Rookie-of-the-Year In the NY-Penn League.

It was Eddie Bressoud who delivered the key blows in a 4-3 walk-off win against the Senators on September 1st. Bressoud started a rally in the ninth inning. He then scored the tying run and the singled home the clincher in the 10th inning.

The Sox swept a doubleheader from Baltimore at Fenway on September 2nd. Bressoud knocked in the winning run in the first game, a 4-3 victory. In the second game, he scored the first run and it proved to be the game-winner in a 2-0 shutout by Bob Heffner. Bressoud had hit safely in the last eight games, going 12-for-27. Yaz (.318 BA) collected three hits in seven at-bats, tying him with Al Kaline in the AL batting race.

Dave Morehead beat the Orioles, 4 to 1 in Baltimore on September 7th. Dick Radatz retired five oif the six batters to end the game and recorded his 13th save. The next day Jack Lamabe pitched five good innings in relief of Gene Conley and picked a victory, 6 to 3 against the O's. Felix Mantilla had three hits including a homer.

In Los Angeles, with their backs to the wall, the Sox rallied in the ninth inning to pull out a 5 to 2 win over the Angels on September 9th. Down 2-1, Lou Clinton was the hero with a triple that drove in Frank Malzone with the tying run. Dick Williams scored Clinton with a single to left.

A dozen hits gave the Sox a 7 to 3 victory on September 13th in Kansas City. Gary Geiger led the attack with four singles. Dick Stuart singled in two runs in the seventh, to give the Sox a three-run lead and gave him a league-leading 108 RBIs.

FELIX MANTILLA

Bill Monbouquette notched his 20th win against the Athletics on September 14th, by a score of 6-to-4. Dick Stuart belted his 39th and 40th homers. The next day, September 15th, Felix Mantilla smashed a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, to beat the A's, 5 to 3.

On September 21st, Rico Petrocelli made his major league debut at shortstop against the Minnesota Twins, in the first game of a doubleheader. He went 1-for-4, driving home Russ Nixon in his first time up, with a double off the wall.

Dick Stuart banged out his 42nd homer. But he believed his pitchers didn't like him because he wasn't a good fielder and it caused them to lose games. He was sure the pitchers would give Harmon Killebrew soft pitches so he would lose the home run race. Sure enough, Killebrew hit his 41st off Monbouquette, his 42nd off Pete Smith and his 43rd off Arnold Earley.

Killebrew smashed his 44th homer off Gene Conley, to go two up on Stuart in the AL home run derby in the second game. Gene Conley did not know it at the time, but when he started and won 11 to 2 in the second game, it would be his last major-league appearance. Carl Yastrzemski had three hits and had hit safely in 20 of his last 21 games.

Killebrew hit his 44th homer off Bob Heffner during the next game, on September 22nd. Stuart only doubled in the 6 to 1 loss. Killebrew would end up with 45 homer to capture the home run title.

Felix Mantilla homered and Dave Morehead struck out 11 Kansas City A's batters on September 24th, to beat them, 5 to 1.

Pitcher Pete Smith initiated a triple play in the seventh inning of the Red Sox game against the visiting Los Angeles Angels in the season finale, on September 28th. The Angels had runners on first and second with nobody out. Third baseman Felix Torres stepped into the batter’s box and attempted a sacrifice bunt to advance both baserunners, but popped up the ball. But before Smith could catch it, Eddie Bressoud shouted to let it drop. He did and threw to Frank Malzone to start a triple play. The Red Sox won the game, 4 to 3 on Lou Clinton's walk-off single that sacored Gary Geiger. For Pete Smith, it was his last major-league game.

The Sox finished in seventh place (76-85). It was the hitting that carried the club. Although the first half of the season made Johnny Pesky look like a men who could work miracles, the second half made him look human again. A collapse of both the hitters and pitchers, as well as injuries had taken their toll. The players also had fallen into cliques and there was a lot of dissension and finger-pointing on a team that just didn't get along with each other.

Dick Stuart led the league in RBIs (118) and knocked out 42 home runs. Apart from the homers and RBIs, he led the league in grounding into double plays (24) and set a club record for striking out. Among American League first basemen he ranked first in games (155), games started (155), complete games (143), innings (1376 1/3), putouts (1207), and assists (134). He missed the top only in double plays with a mere 100. It looks like a terrific year, maybe even worthy of a Gold Glove, until one sees 29 errors and a .979 fielding percentage. His 29 errors were the most by any first baseman since the shortened 1919 season, when Harry Heilmann booted 31. He earned the name "Dr. Strange-glove" for turning everything hit his way into an adventure.

Johnny Pesky knew a good part of the reason for the team's lack of success was Stuart and told him flat out that he was losing more games for the team with a lackadaisical attitude in the field, than he was winning for the team with his bat. Stuart didn't care and battled Pesky as often as he could. He wouldn't go after ground balls just out of his reach and in the end, his selfishness undermined everything that Pesky was trying to instill. He ran the bases, head down and looking anywhere except at the third-base coach or the outfield or a teammate who might be able to tell him something, often sending his team out of the inning.

In one game a pop fly was hit in Stuart's direction. Sure he wouldn't catch it, both Frank Malzone and Eddie Bressoud raced over from their positions to try and catch it. They both collided and fell down in front of Stuart, who calmy just picked up the ball and handed it to his pitcher, Earl Wilson. Wilson was in a rage and his teammates were sure he would kill Dick Stuart. Stuart dragged everyone down and it didn't help that Johnny Pesky got no backing from the front office.

Yaz, however, won the American League batting title with a .321 BA and led the league in base hits (183), doubles (40), and walks (95).  But he batted .336 before mid-July but only .285 in the second half. All the while, however, he was improving in left field, honing the solid defensive play that he is remembered for today. 

After hitting over .300 for the first couple of months, Chuck Schilling’s batting average nose-dived. He finished at .234 and drove in 33 runs. He scored 63 times and he precisely matched his .985 fielding percentage of the prior year.

Eddie Bressoud played in 153 of the team’s 160 games. He collected one or more base hits in each of his first 14 games. His .277 batting average was his best to date, as were his 14 homers, 40 doubles, 9 triples, and 79 runs scored. The 68 runs batted in proved to be the best season of his career. The downside was that the 28 errors he committed were the most among shortstops in the American League.

Felix Mantilla didn’t get much playing time during the season, appearing in just 66 games, but he batted .315. When Bressoud suffered a severe heel sprain and bruise, Mantilla filled in for him, and he began playing second base the last two weeks of the season.

Frank Malzone made another run at .300, batting as high as .345 on July 1st, before dipping in the final two months and finishing with a .291 BA. He only registered 15 RBIs in the final two months.

Gary Geiger got off to a great start, but slumped and ended the season with a .263 average and 16 home runs in 121 games.

Lou Clinton worked nearly the whole season in right field, In 148 games, he hit 22 homers, with 77 RBIs, but his batting average was .232 and he was benched for most of two weeks late in July. His strikeouts ballooned from 79 in 1962, to 118 in 1963. He had dropped off the most since the previous season.

Bill Monbouquette (20-10, 3.81 ERA) became the team's first 20-game winner since Mel Parnell. On the downside, he led the league in base hits allowed (258) and earned runs allowed (113).

Earl Wilson earned 11 victories and 16 defeats. Still, he lowered his ERA to 3.76. He also threw more than 200 innings for the first time in his career.

Dave Morehead’s final numbers in his rookie campaign were 10-13, 3.81, with 136 strikeouts and only 137 hits allowed in 174 2/3 innings. He threw six complete games and one shutout. It was an excellent start for a 19-year-old rookie on a poor team.

Dick Radatz embarrassed the whole league, as he saved 25 games and went 15-6 (without starting a single game) with a 1.97 ERA, 132 IP and 162 K, which remains the third most all time, becoming the first pitcher in history to have consecutive 20-save seasons. He finished 5th in MVP voting despite the Sox' poor finish. Radatz wasn't a closer by today's standards because he commonly pitched multiple innings. Johnny Pesky worked him hard, on six occasions having him pitch four or more innings of relief in a game. American League hitters fell to him and with every victory, he would raise his arms in triumph.

Radatz might have had even a better year, but he tailed off the last two months. He was 12-1 (1.38) at the end of July, then 3-5 the rest of the way. The cause may have been tonsillitis, because on October 11th he had his tonsils removed at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Jack Lamabe’s first four decisions were all wins, and all games in which he worked multiple innings in relief. Radatz overshadowed Lamabe with the BoSox, but Lamabe held the fort in the middle innings, which permitted Radatz to pick up all those saves. At the Boston Baseball Writers Dinner in January 1964, Lamabe was honored as the “Unsung Hero” of the ’63 Sox.

Mike Fornieles was only 31, but 1963 was his 12th and last season in the majors. He made nine appearances for the Red Sox, all in relief, finishing six of them, and posted a 6.43 ERA. With the emergence of Radatz, Fornieles pitched only 14 innings in 2½ months.

Among the last cut in spring training, Wilbur Wood was optioned to the Seattle Rainiers, where he was the hottest pitcher in the Pacific Coast League, winning five of seven decisions and posting a 1.12 ERA, thus earning his second midseason call-up to the Red Sox.  However, major-league batters were not tricked by his curve and fastball, and pummeled him for 39 hits in just 28 innings in his first six starts. With a 0-4 record and 5.49 ERA, Wood was demoted to the bullpen where he posted a 2.45 ERA over 36 2/3 innings during the remainder of the season.

The Red Sox were the American League’s big-market team with the weakest front office. Dick Williams got to witness, and despised, what he called the “country club” atmosphere. With Tom Yawkey and his royal court of drinking companions and "yes-men", the organization was driven primarily toward pleasing Yawkey rather than pursuing excellence. While his playing skills were slipping at age 35, his intensity, flexibility and passion for observing and understanding was keen. Williams struggled to amp up the team’s intensity from the bench, to teach them to hate losing as much as he did, but he believed he was associated with a bunch of losers.

Tom Yawkey's comment after it was over, was that the season was not dull nor discouraging. The Red Sox made things interesting all summer. But the season attendance sagged to 750K fans, although up 200K from the season before, and Yawkey blamed the ballpark and it's lack of parking as the problem.

He agreed to allow the Boston Patriots to use Fenway Park, thinking both he and the Patriots' owner, Billy Sullivan, through their combined strength, could pressure the city into building a new stadium. But their plan went nowhere.