1972 BOSTON RED SOX ...
(THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 7) ...
"THE SOX STUMBLE AND FALL AT THE END" ...

The 1972 Boston Red Sox had spent four years as a team with a winning record, but well off the pace off the American League elite. They made marginal improvements on the field in 1972, and it added up to pennant race baseball in Fenway Park, for the first time since the Impossible Dream of 1967, even if Boston came up just short in the end.

In the off-season, general manager Dick O'Connell continued shuffling his deck. He sent Jim Lonborg, Billy Conigliaro, George Scott, Ken Brett, Joe Lahoud and Don Pavletich to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielders Pat Skrable and Tommy Harper, along with pitchers Marty Pattin and Lew Krausse. Harper had always hit well at Fenway, which was part of his thought process.

Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Smith and Rico Petrocelli were now the only players left over from the 1967 team. In the meantime, manager Eddie Kasko received a contract extension. The players liked him because he would keep everything inside. He also never chewed-out a player in public and therefore was able to get the most out of his players.

Carlton Fisk was one of the stories when camp started, showing he had the potential to lead the team, always talking baseball and eager to learn. He was built like a linebacker, a solid catcher who could hit. He split time with Bob Montgomery and Duane Josephson but slumped at the plate. On March 15th, however, he showed his solid defensive skills. With a strong arm, he could throw bullets. In a game that day, he threw out a runner trying to steal second and in another play, jumped on a bunt and started a 2-6-3 doubleplay.

With his big cigar, Luis Tant became a major character on the team and changed the atmosphere of the locker room overnight. Every day he would come into the clubhouse and look at Yaz and say "Hiya, Polack". Then he'd grab the newspaper and go into the bathroom for twenty minutes, flush the toilet and come out saying, "There goes Tommy Harper". Harper, Tiant's closest friend, would retaliate by throwing a bucket of ice over the divider on top of Tiant. A barrel-chested man who looked fatter than he really was, Tiant would often emerge from the shower with a cigar in his mouth, look at his naked body in the mirror and declare himself to be a (in his exaggerated Spanish accent): “good-lookeen sonofabeech.”

On March 22nd, Sparky Lyle was traded to the Yankees for firstbaseman Danny Cater and Mario Guerrero. Cater had always played well against the Red Sox, and O'Connell considered him a more than adequate replacement for George Scott. By the end of the season, however, that trade would be considered a disaster and one of the worst trades in Red Sox history. To make room for Cater, Cecil Cooper was sent down to Triple-A Louisville.

According to Bill Lee however, the trade happened because Sparky Lyle dropped his pants and sat on Tom Yawkey's birthday cake. Lyle, famous for that practical joke, picked the wrong person to pull it on, in Lee's opinion.

The trade gave a boost however, to Luis Tiant. Eddie Kasko planned to make him a fixture of the Sox bullpen along with Bill Lee. Bob Burda was next picked up from the Cardinals for Mike Fiore.

Spring training had begun under a cloud, as the players union considered a strike. The major issue was a refinement of the players' pension plan with an more equitable share of the television revenue to be placed in their retirement fund. In a preliminary vote on March 12th, the Sox were one of the few teams to not support the strike unanimously. Yaz, then the highest-paid player in the major leagues at $166,000 per year, was one of the four Red Sox players to vote "no". Player representative, Gary Peters, explained the Red Sox vote, by telling the media it was a result of Tom Yawkey's extraordinary generosity.

The players finally called for the strike after meetings in Dallas, with the Red Sox being one of four teams to not give it unanimous support. The players voted 663-10 to stop work. When the existing pension agreement between players and owners expired on March 31st, the players formally and collectively went on strike, the first organized labor rebellion in the game’s history. The players were told to pack up and go home. Red Sox players either went back to Boston or to their home towns. All the team facilities were shut down.

On April 14th, the two sides reached agreement and baseball resumed. The owners agreed to add $500,000 to the players' pension fund and also agreed to add salary arbitration to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Players union lawyer, Marvin Miller had gained the full confidence of the players.

Some owners rallied to have the complete 162 game schedule played, but it the end it was decided that the missed games would not be made up. Nobody realized it at the time, but that decision would come back to haunt the Red Sox.

On opening day, April 15th, Detroit's Mickey Lolich beat the Red Sox 3 to 2, when Luis Aparicio tripped over third-base trying to score on Yaz's hit, and was tagged out. The manner of that defeat would prove to be prophetic at the end of the season, when almost the exact same thing happened again.

The Sox won their first game on April 18th against the Indians at Fenway. Five straight singles erased a 2-0 Cleveland lead, with Sonny Siebert picking up the win, 4 to 2. But the Sox lost 2 of 3 to the Indians, and then welcomed the Yankees to town.

On April 21st, Bill Lee pitched three innings in relief to save a win for Ray Culp, 5 to 4. He finished strongly, striking out Johnny Callison with the tying run on base. The difference turned out to be a triple by Carlton Fisk in the seventh inning, who later was brought in by Tommy Harper's single.

The next game on April 22nd, was a comedy of errors, eight of them, including four by Yankees thirdbaseman, Rich McKinney, that accounted for nine unearned runs by the Sox. Luis Aparicio's three errors were less costly, as the Sox won 11 to 7.

The Sox concluded April with a road trip that produced just one win in five games in Minnesota and then in Texas. Against the Texas Rangers, the former Washington Senators, on April 30th, the Sox got a 3 to 0 victory in 10 innings. Newcomer Lew Krausse shut out the Rangers on two hits for nine innings.  Tommy Harper's double in the 10th inning, scored Carlton Fisk and Bob Burda with the winning runs that snapped a scoreless tie.

Back home, the Sox lost three straight games to the Twins, giving the a 4-10 record and putting them in fourth place, five games behind the Tigers. Things hadn’t begun well for Danny Cater. After going 0-for-4 in an 8-4 loss to Minnesota on May 7th, and with a batting average of .120 after 14 games, he was benched.

In Anaheim on May 9th, the Sox snapped their losing streak against the Angels, 4 to 3. In the sixth inning, with Yaz on second and Duane Josephson on first, John Kennedy lined a singled to left. Yaz broke around third and slid into home, straining the ligaments in his right knee. Pinch-hitter Bob Burda scored Duane Josephson with the winning run, breaking a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning.

Yaz spent the next month on the DL, hobbling around on crutches. Bob Gallagher was brought up to take his spot on the roster. Gallagher was hitting .430 for Louisville at the time.

Two nights later on May 11th, Ray Culp became the first Sox pitcher to throw a complete game, as the Sox trounced the Angels, 8 to 1. Reggie Smith smacked his first homer of the season, while Tommy Harper knocked out three hits as did Bob Montgomery.

TOMMY HARPER

In Oakland, it took 12 innings, but the Sox beat the A's, 7 to 6, on May 12th. Harper again was clutch, slamming a homer to put the Sox ahead. Ken Tatum retired the Athletics in order to get the win for Bill Lee. In the next game on May 13th, John Kennedy knocked in five runs to guide the Sox to a 9 to 6 win.

In Milwaukee on May 16th, Harper stroked two doubles, including one in the 10th inning that started a winning rally, as the Sox beat his former team, the Brewers, 5 to 1. Danny Cater knocked him in with the go-ahead run and Rick Miller later followed with a two-run homer.

But the road trip ended with five straight losses. The starting pitchers were battling control problems, and the Sox were 9-17, falling 7 1/2 games behind the league-leading Cleveland Indians.

The Sox then briefly revived themselves with a 5-2 homestand against the last place Brewers and the three-time defending AL champion Baltimore Orioles. 

On May 23rd, in the 10th inning, after Reggie Smith walked and was sacrificed to second, Rico Petrocelli lined a game-winning hit to center, giving the Sox a 6 to 5 win over the Orioles. Two nights later, on May 25th, Marty Pattin won his first game as a member of the Red Sox, 2 to 1.

Next came the Brewers and Bill Lee defeated them, 5 to 4, in a battle for last place on May 26th. Carlton Fisk knocked in the winning run in the 8th inning, with a double off the wall, that scored Rico Petrocelli.

On May 27th, the Brewers imploded in the next game. With the score tied in the 5th inning, they committed three errors that gave the Sox four runs, that lead to an eventual, 9-3 win. Tommy Harper had another three hit night, including a home run, while Luis Aparicio got four hits in five trips.

In the third game with the Brewers on May 28th, Fisk ruined Jim Lonborg's return to Fenway, with a home run and a double, the gave the Sox a 4 to 1 victory.

On May 30th the Sox traveled down to Baltimore to have Ray Culp shutout the birds, 6 to 0. Home runs by Fisk and Harper gave him all the runs he needed.

Luis Tiant had appeared in nine games as a reliever and two as a starter. He was averaging a strikeout per inning to go along with a 1.80 ERA.

Sonny Siebert followed up Culp's gem and Doug Griffin rapped out four straight hits, beating the Orioles, 7 to 1 on June 1st. The Red Sox had started June with a 16-19 record and cut their deficit to four games.

But the revival didn’t last, as they lost three straight in Kansas City. In the last game of the series, the second game of a doubleheader on June 4th, rookie John Curtis threw a seven-hitter, shutting out the Royals, 4 to 0.

Off to Chicago and on June 6th, Sonny Siebert shut out the White Sox, 2 to 0, beating Wilbur Wood. Siebert had now pitched 18 straight innings without giving up an earned run.

When Yaz came off the DL on June 8th, Bob Gallagher was sent back down to Louisville after going 0-for-5 as a pinch hitter. When Ken Tatum was sidelined by a troubled sciatic nerve, pitcher Don Newhauser was called up.

After the .500 road trip, the Sox returned to Fenway to host the Angels on June 9th. Tommy Harper slammed a home run to break a 2-2 tie in the third inning. The Angels tied up the game in the top of the 6th, but Rico Petrocelli knocked one into the Angels' bullpen in the bottom half of the inning, that proved to be the game winner, 6 to 5, when the game was called because of rain.

Two days later, on June 11th, Carlton Fisk walloped a fastball from the Angels' Eddie Fisher into the bleachers in centerfield with the score tied at 4-4. Rico also knocked in two runs on three singles, as the Sox won this game, 8 to 4.

The Sox took two of three from the Angels, but then lost two of three to the Kansas City Royals. On June 14th, John Curtis had shut out the Royals and had an 11-0 lead after seven innings, winning 11 to 3. Reggie Smith had a 4-for-5 evening with two doubles. Danny Cater homered and had four RBIs.

Next, they lost two of three to the White Sox. In the second game of the doubleheader on June 17th, the Sox achieved their first come-from-behind win of the year. The White Sox were up 8-7 going into the eighth inning. Ben Oglivie, who had walked, was driven in by a triple from Duane Josephson to tie the game. Phil Gagliano's blooper drove in Fisk, who ran for Josephson. After John Kennedy drew a walk, Yaz drove in Gagliano with the final run on a single to center, giving the Red Sox a 10 to 8 victory.

RICO PETROCELLI

On June 19th, the Sox slammed four homers, two by Reggie Smith, backing Sonny Siebert, who pitched a three-hitter. Rico Petrocelli and Danny Cater each hit one each, as the Sox clobbered the Rangers, 12 to 0. Carlton Fisk had the hot bat. In the last nine games he was batting .444 with four home runs.

Two nights later in June 21st, the Sox rallied from a 7-1 deficit and beat the Rangers, 10-9 in the 11th inning. Yaz smashed out five hits and Rico knocked in six runs.

They finished the homestand by taking two of three from the Texas Rangers thus making their stay at Fenway a wash. They were 6 1/2 games out, in fourth place.

When Luis Aparicio broke his finger in a June 24th game, Juan Beniquez was called up to take his place. Bob Bolin, who struggled in relief through the first half of the season, accepted an assignment to Louisville, and Lynn McGlothen was also called up.

In Milwaukee, the Sox lost 4 of their 5 games with the Brewers. On June 25th, McGlothen made his major-league debut against the Brewers in the nightcap of a doubleheader. He struck out seven and held the opposition to one hit through six innings, but lost 2-0.

It was John Curtis, who weathered a rough first inning and proceeded to toss a nifty three-hitter at the Cleveland Indians, winning 8 to 2, on June 27th. A seven run fourth inning, highlighted by Bob Burda's three-run homer, helped make Curtis' job easier.

The team returned to Fenway on June 28th and fans saw Tiant overpower the Detroit Tigers, 5 to 3. He stole the show from Yaz, who had two hits and two RBIs and Carlton Fisk, who went 3-for-3, with two doubles. Luis pitched five innings, giving up just one hit, no runs and five strikeouts.

But on June 29th, the Red Sox pitchers blew a game to the Tigers. Lynn McGlothen carried a 4-0 shutout through eight innings before a ninth-inning error by second baseman Doug Griffin opened the floodgates to an 8-4 loss.

The Red Sox were still 27-34 and eight games off the pace in the AL East at the end of June. There was no reason for New England to expect a contender.

With his average in the low .200s as the season went into July, Danny Cater received rough treatment from the Boston fans. His short, unspectacular swings at the plate, together with his slow moving style were interpreted as signs that he didn’t care.

The Red Sox finally shook off a series of small injuries and started winning. Luis Tiant pitched his way out of the bullpen and soon anchored the starting staff. On July 1st the Brewers were at Fenway with two men on base in the ninth inning. In came Luis with Ron Thebold at the plate. He threw a fastball and a curve that didn't touch the plate, and was behind 2-0, the next pitch was grounded to shortstop Juan Beniquez, who started a game-ending doubleplay, with the Sox winning 5 to 4.

The Sox swept a doubleheader from the Brewers on July 2nd, 15 to 4 and 3-2 in 11 innings. It was a sweep by a combination of veteran ballplayer and from a few pushy kids. Ray Culp had a big cushion in the first game, thanks to a grand slam homer off the bat of Rico Petrocelli. Then Reggie Smith hit two homers, one left-handed and one right-handed.

REGGIE SMITH

In the second game, young John Curtis stayed strong the whole game. The power was replaced by small ball. Five hits from Juan Beniquez in the doubleheader were overshadowed when he drove in the winning run in the 11th inning. He drove in Ben Oglivie, who had started the 11th inning rally with his sixth hit of the afternoon.

In the next game, the Minnesota Twins were the victim of Luis Tiant, on July 3rd. With a spot start, Tiant gave nine strong innings and beat his former team, 8 to 2. He gave up eight hits and knocked in two runs himself. And with runners on second and third, Luis managed to tap a ball into centerfield.

Lynn McGlothen threw a three hit shutout against the Twins, 2-0, for his first major league win on July 4th. And then Marty Pattin also shut out the Twins, 2 to 0, for a series sweep and the Sox' sixth straight victory on July 5th. The Sox finished their homestand winning seven of the eight games they played and were in 3rd place, five games behind.

The Sox won their first game with the Angels on July 7th in Anaheim. Ben Oglivie's two-run homer in the tenth inning sewed up a 5-3 victory. But the Sox lost 2 of 3 to the Angels.

Then in Oakland on July 10th, the Sox were trailing, 2 to 1, with Lynn McGlothen getting no run support. Then in the eighth, with Yaz on base, Rico Petrocelli hit his eighth homer into the left field seats. Luis Tiant came in with runners on first and third in the ninth inning, try to protect a 4-2 Sox lead. He was making a fifth appearance in 13 days and got Sal Bando and Dave Duncan on fly balls, getting the save.

The next night, on July 11th, when Reggie Jackson lined a 2-2 pitch from Marty Pattin, in the ninth inning, for a single, gone was Pattin's no-hitter. But Pattin got the next two batters and beat the A's, 4 to 0. Carlton Fisk's 11th homer in the second inning, was all the support he needed.

Fisk led the Sox by knocking out two singles, a home run and two free passes, in the final game on July 12th. It all meant a 7 to 6 win and a series sweep of the Athletics. In his last 16 games, Fisk had hit safely in 15 of them, batting .439 in 57 times up.

Marty Pattin next fired a four-hitter in Minnesota and got home run help from Reggie Smith and Danny Cater, in beating the Twins, 6 to 1 on July 16th.

On July 17th, John Curtis defeated the California Angels, 4 to 1. Danny Cater showed some clutch hitting, doubling home two runs to break a 1-1 tie.

The next night on July 18th, Sonny Siebert burned the Angels and Nolan Ryan, retiring the last 18 men he faced, allowing only four hits. Tommy Harper had three hits off Ryan and the Sox won again, 4 to 1.

The Sox finished off the Angels on the back of Lynn McGlothen in the final game, 8 to 2 on July 19th. McGlothen walked only one batter and Carlton Fisk backed him with a home run.

CARLTON FISK

On July 20th, the Sox swept Oakland in a Fenway doubleheader. In the first game, Doug Griffin bunted perfectly down the third base line, to score the winning run in the seventh inning and give Marty Pattin his sixth straight win, 2 to 1. Griffin had three hits in the first game and four in the second game, helping the Sox win 4 to 3.

The next game, on July 21st, went 14 innings with the A's. The count was 3-2 on Yaz and Griffin was on first base. Yaz hit a grounder to Sal Bando, who was playing second base in this game. The ball hit his glove and rolled into right field. Griffin sped around the bases and slid home, giving the Sox a 5 to 4 win, their seventh straight.

On July 22nd, the Sox split a doubleheader with the Athletics. In the second game, Sonny Siebert overpowered the A's with a 3-0 shutout. The A's won the final game of the six game set, and the Sox ended their homestand winning seven of the nine games and going into the All Star break with a 45-41 record, in 3rd place, five games behind the first place Tigers.

Named as a reserve by Earl Weaver, Carlton Fisk became only the fifth Sox rookie to make the All Star team.  The others were Walt Dropo (1950), Frank Malzone (1957), Don Schwall (1961) and George Scott (1966).

Because of an injury to Kansas City's, Amos Otis, Reggie Smith was then named as a last minute replacement for the All Star Game. The National League beat the American League, 4 to 3, in 10 innings, in Atlanta.

Yaz started in left and went hitless in three times up. Fisk came in to take over for Bill Freehan and singled, scoring ahead of Cookie Rojas, who homered in the eighth inning.  He then had to try and catch Wilbur Wood's knuckleball, along with pitches from Gaylord Perry and Dave McNally, working the last five innings. Reggie pinch hit for Perry and struck out.

During the break, Sonny Siebert was vacationing with his family at the beach, when he slipped on some rocks and badly sprained his right ankle. The injury was costly, as he could not drive off the rubber, causing the velocity in pitches to drop. 

The on July 28th, the Red Sox split a doubleheader in New York on July 28th, winning 6-5 and losing 3-1. For a moment, trading Sparky Lyle for Danny Cater was a good deal for the Sox. In the first game, the Sox were trailing 5 to 2 in the ninth inning. Mel Stottlemyre walked Reggie Smith and Rico Petrocelli. Sparky Lyle came in to try and get his 21st save. He first gave up a run scoring single to Cater. After striking out John Kennedy, Bob Montgomery stepped to the plate. Lyle threw him a slider over the outside corner and Monty sliced a fly ball into the short right field stands, to give the Sox the game winner, 6 to 5. The Sox lost three of the four games to the Yankees however.

They next went to Detroit and split another doubleheader on July 30th with the first place Tigers. They won the first game, 4 to 3, behind the great relief pitching of Don Newhauser, who hadn't allowed a run in his last 13 2/3 innings. They lost two of the three games to finish the month. The Sox were 47-46 and were seven games out.

After losing four straight games, the Sox finally won one. It was the second game of a doubleheader with the Yankees, on August 2nd, at Fenway.  Eddie Kasko decided to sit Yaz down and his sub, Danny Cater, responded with three hits that knocked in a couple of runs, in a 7 to 4 Sox win.

The Sox cruised in the next game on August 3rd, with 15 hits in a 7 to 2 win over the Yankees. Rico Petrocelli was 4-for-5 and Carlton Fisk slammed a homer over the net onto Lansdowne Street.

The Orioles followed the Yankees into Fenway on August 4th. Luis Aparicio who had broken his finger and was out for six weeks, returned to the lineup. Marty Pattin subdued them with a masterful two-hitter, winning 2 to 0.

In the next game, on August 5th against Baltimore at Fenway, Luis Tiant pitched a complete game victory, as a last minute replacement for Sonny Siebert, who was suffering from dizziness. But at the plate it was Rico Petrocelli. Rico knocked in two runs with a double in the first inning. Two innings later, a poked a grandslam homer. The final score was Rico-6, the Orioles-3.

Against the Indians on August 8th, Doug Griffin looped a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, that triggered a three run burst that broke a 1-1 tie. The victory was credited to Marty Pattin, his 10th.

Sonny Siebert won his 10th the next day, on August 9th, as the Sox beat the Indians, 5 to 2.  But Doug Griffin was next to leave the lineup when he was hit by a pitch by Gaylord Perry, and received a hairline fracture. The Sox left for a road trip, four games behind.

FISK, SMITH, YAZ

Carlton Fisk packed up his car and traveled out to Springfield to appear at a fundraiser for the Parks and Recreation Department on an off-day, August 10th. Surrounded by fans and the media, he assessed how the Red Sox were doing. Fisk claimed that the team wasn't getting the leadership it needed from the veterans, specifically Yaz and Reggie Smith. And it was the younger players who were leading the team. The comment appeared in the newspaper, and they ran with it.

It bothered Reggie more than Yaz. The temperamental Smith, who had been pictured in the press as having not made the most of his talent, perceived every slight as racially motivated. He’d grown up in Los Angeles when neighborhoods were more integrated and social mores more relaxed. Reggie waged, what was at times, a constant war with the Fenway fans. Some people in the bleachers would throw batteries, heated coins, and other projectiles at him.  He put Fisk on his list of teammates that he wanted nothing to do with.

Yaz however, appreciated the intensity Fisk brought to the team and claimed that he wasn't a rah-rah kind of guy, who would go around and give his teammates a pep talk and a slap on the back, but led by example. When the media asked Yaz to comment, he told them he wouldn't add to the drama, adding that they would probably misprint what he said anyway.

And Carlton Fisk thus learned to watch what he said when the Boston media were present and decided if nobody was going to step up, he would become the team's leader.

The Sox lost 3-of-4 in Baltimore. The only win came as the result of Luis Tiant, turning and wiggling his was to a shut out in the second game of an August 12th doubleheader. Luis had a no-hitter going for 6 2/3 innings. He ended up winning 3-0, with nine strikeouts, one walk and two hits. It was his third consecutive complete game.

John Curtis pitched a great game in Texas on August 15th. It was a three-hit shutout, 3 to 0.  Reggie Smith accounted for all the runs with two homers. Reggie's three-run, eighth inning homer, insured a 4-3 win, two nights later on August 17th.

In Chicago, Luis Tiant shutout the White Sox, 3 to 0, on a three-hitter on August 19th. Tommy Harper knocked in two of the runs with a home run. The next day, August 20th, they split a doubleheader, when John Curtis and Bill Lee eked out a 5 to 4 win. But the Red Sox bullpen couldn't hold a 7-5 lead in the ninth inning of the first game and lost in the tenth.

The Sox started to turn their season around in Kansas City and made a run for the pennant. Although Danny Cater’s hitting stroke returned briefly in July, he was benched after hitting .240 on August 21st, and was replaced at first base by Yaz.

On August 22nd, the Sox beat the Royals 10 to 7. They rattled out 13 hits, including a two-run shot into the right field bleachers by Yaz. The win moved the Sox to 2 1/2 games within the AL East lead.

The Sox came back to Fenway and on August 25th, Luis Tiant threw his fourth complete game in a row, beating the Texas Rangers, 4 to 0.  In his last three games, he had given up a total of nine hits. Luis Aparicio hit his first home run of he year, with a man on, to give Tiant the runs he needed, in the 8th inning.

Prior to the Rangers vs Red Sox game, Ted Williams steps up to the plate to participate in a hitting contest to benefit the "Jimmy Fund."
 

TED WILLIAMS

The Sox brought up Bob Bolin from Louisville and made room for the reliever on the roster by placing Bob Burda on waivers for the purpose of giving him his outright release.

Just like in 1967, when wild things were happening to the Red Sox, and when it looked as though they were certain to lose, they made furious finishes. The game on August 26th was an example. The Red Sox were trailing 6 to 2 going into the ninth-inning and all of a sudden the place came alive as they beat the Texas Rangers, 7 to 6. There were five runs scored in the ninth-inning and Phil Gagliano had ended it with a pinch-hit double down the left-field line, to score the final two runs, as leftfielder Larry Biittner couldn't grab the rolling ball after bobbling it twice.

The Sox swept the Rangers by winning the final game, 10 to 3 on August 27th. Rico Petrocelli hit his 13th homer and doubled with the bases loaded. Carlton Fisk also homered and had a couple of hits.

The White Sox finished August with a visit to Fenway. They won the first game, but then faced Luis Tiant in the second game on August 29th. Tiant had all the crazy twitches, the nodding of his head, the slow windup along with his fastball, curves and a great slider. It all amounted to a three hit, 5 to 0 victory, his third shutout in a row. His record for the month of August was 5-0, with a 0.94 ERA.

Lynn McGlothen struck out seven and walked only one batter, in beating the White Sox, 4-2, in the August 30th game.  It was a win that put the Sox only two games from the AL East lead.

By the time Labor Day arrived, the race was red-hot. Baltimore was in first, but the Red Sox, New York and Detroit were all within a half-game of the lead. The stage was set for a dramatic September.

Marty Pattin, who was just 2-9 at the end of June, boosted his record to 14-12 by shutting out the Royals to start September.  He scattered seven hits, while picking up his fourth shutout, 1 to 0, on September 1st. The deciding run came on Rico's line drive off the wall that scored Yaz in the fourth inning.

The Sox completed their 7-1 home stand by taking the second game from the Royals, 5 to 3, on September 2nd and left Fenway only one game out of first.

In Milwaukee, Luis Tiant allowed the Sox to get the first game in a doubleheader split on September 4th. He held the Brewers to five hits and struck out seven in beating them, 2 to 0, for his sixth straight win, sixth straight complete game and fourth straight shutout. He had pitched 36 consecutive shutout innings, in which he had 31 strikeouts. Tiant shared the honors with Yaz, who lined his fifth homer into the center field seats with Luis Aparicio on base, off Jim Lonborg.

The Sox, however, lost the second game, 6 to 2. At the end of the day, the Sox and Yankees were tied, 1/2 game behind the Tigers and Orioles in the AL East dog fight.

The next day, on September 5th, with the Sox behind, 3-1, Reggie Smith homered with Harper and Yaz on base.  The Sox won 5 to 3 and remained 1/2 game out.

The Sox returned home to battle the Yankees on September 6th. Reggie again, homered with a man on, in the fifth inning, and gave John Curtis the runs he needed, to beat the Yanks, 2 to 0. Not only was there Reggie's homer, but there were Yaz's three rifled base hits, and most of all, there was probably the best fielding seen this year. Doug Griffin, Luis Aparicio, Yaz and most of all Rico Petrocelli, whose diving stab in the sixth inning, saved two runs and was the absolute highlight of the game.

The Sox blasted their way into first place on September 7th. Home runs by Tommy Harper, who went five-for-five, and Rico, who each belted three-run homers.  Sonny Siebert pitched his first complete game in a month and one half, beating the Yankees, 10 to 4.

The Red Sox swept the Yankees three games, when on September 8th, they won 4 to 2. Luis Tiant (11-4) missed his fourth shutout by finally giving up a run in the fifth inning. He had pitched 40 1/3 scoreless innings. Yaz hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and singled in the first run in the first inning.  It was the Sox 12th win in their last 13 games at Fenway Park. The Sox left Boston, 1/2 game up on the pack in the A.L. East.

On September 9th, the Sox lost in Cleveland, 2 to 1 in ten innings. Then on September 10th the Sox swept a doubleheader from them, 5 to 1 in 12 innings, and 2 to 0. In the first game, Graig Nettles tied up the game in the bottom of the 9th, with a home run for the Indians. Fisk came through with his 20th homer in the 12th inning into the left field grandstand to start a four-run rally. At the beginning of September, upon the recommendation of Danny Murtaugh, the Red Sox signed pitcher Bob Veale. He made his first appearance in the first game and pitched extremely well, allowing only two hits and no runs in eight innings, getting the win.

In the second game, John Curtis pitched his second straight shutout, scattering five hits. The double win put the Red Sox ahead of Baltimore by 1 1/2 games.

In New York, the Sox lost the first game of the set to the Yankees and then beat them in the next game, 7 to 2, on September 13th. They maintained a one game lead over Detroit and a 1 1/2 game lead over both Baltimore and the Yankees, as they headed back to Fenway.

In their first home game, on September 15th, Reggie Smith cracked his 20th homer of the year, and drove in the deciding run with a 9th inning, two out, double. It scored Yaz from first, and gave the Sox a  4 to 3 comeback, walk-off victory over the Indians.

The next day on September 16th, the Sox beat Cleveland, 10-0, behind Luis Tiant. It was his fifth shutout of the year. The Indians could only muster three hits against their former ace.

Tommy Harper (14 HR) homered in the first inning, Carlton Fisk (22 HR) in the second and Carl Yastrzemski ( 8 HR) in the third. Dwight Evans made his first appearance for the Sox, replacing Reggie Smith in the sixth inning. Evans stayed in the game, and in his one at-bat, he popped out to the shortstop. It’s an interesting tidbit that he batted out of order his first time up, but since he had made an out, the Indians chose not to make a point of it.

Dwight Evans got his first major-league hit the very next day, pinch-hitting with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in a game the Indians were winning with ease, 9-2 on September 17th. Evans singled to left off Gaylord Perry.

After losing two games and briefly falling out of first place, the Sox regained the AL East lead by beating the Orioles in a doubleheader on September 20th.  Marty Pattin beat Jim Palmer and won the first game, 9 to 1, while Luis Tiant once again threw goose eggs and shutout the Birds, 4 to 0.

Before the second game, the fans rose to their feet as Tiant walked to the bullpen to warm up and gave him such an ovation that his teammates joined in. The crowd spent most of the evening chanting “Loo-Eee, Loo-Eee, Loo-Eee,” as their hero recorded out after out. When he came up to bat in the bottom on the eighth, on his way to another shutout, the crowd again rose to give him an ovation that continued throughout his at-bat, the break between innings, and the entire top of the ninth. It was the greatest night of Luis Tiant's career.

Carlton Fisk had two singles, a double, a walk and three RBIs. Dwight Evans had himself a breakthrough day, playing left in both games of the doubleheader. He was 2-for-4 in the first game, with a couple of singles and two RBIs. He was 2-for-4 in the second game as well. The two hits were a seventh-inning triple off Mike Cuellar and an eighth-inning home run off Eddie Watt.

LUIS TIANT

The big series win over Baltimore, was followed by splitting four with Detroit. On September 22nd, Rico Petrocelli and Rick Miller had a huge hand in beating the Tigers, 3 to 2. Two spectacular plays by Rico, robbed Detroit of four runs.  Miller saved two more runs with a skidding catch in the 8th inning.

Two days later, on September 24th, "El Tiante" kept Tiger hitters on edge, beating them, 7 to 2.

The Sox next split with the Brewers. They belted around Ken Brett and held on to first place with a wild 7-5 victory on September 27th. Luis Aparicio was the hero with two singles and two late-inning doubleplays.

The next day on September 28th, John Curtis pitched the Sox to a 3-1 win over the Royals at Fenway. Reggie Smith led the Sox at the plate with two doubles. Curtis became the last pitcher to ever bat in a regular lineup at Fenway Park. It came in the bottom of the seventh inning. The next season the American League adopted the designated hitter.

They left Fenway for Baltimore and Detroit. With a week to play, the race was narrowed to just the Red Sox and Tigers. The Orioles and Yankees were 2 1/2 games out and three back respectively.

In the first game with the Orioles in Baltimore, on September 29th, Luis Tiant battled Jim Palmer once again and Yaz's 10th inning homer won the game for the Sox, 4 to 2. The win gave Tiant a 15-5 record, a phenomenal total for a man who didn't get his first start until the third week in June. Since the middle of August, Luis was 9-1, with six shutouts and a 0.96 ERA.

Yaz homered again in the next game and drove in another run to give Marty Pattin a 3 to 1 victory on September 30th.

The loss eliminated the Orioles from the race. The Sox lost the last game to the Orioles, 2 to 1, so they were 1/2 game ahead of the Tigers.

The Boston media began calling manager Eddie Kasko a miracle worker and Luis Tiant, the savior of the club. But the highest praise was reserved for Carlton Fisk, who led the team in hitting. Already seen as one of the best all around catchers in Red Sox history, he was soon recognized as the team's new leader.

The season would be decided in the final series at Tiger  Stadium. The Sox were playing on unchartered ground. They went into a series to decide the pennant with three rookies playing. Dwight Evans was in right, Fisk was catching and Curtis was on the mound.

In the first game with Detroit on October 2nd, the Tigers jumped out to a quick 1 to 0 lead over John Curtis, when Al Kaline homered. In the third inning, the Red Sox rallied. With one out, Tommy Harper and Luis Aparicio singled, then Yaz ripped a Mickey Lolich fastball over the head of centerfielder Mickey Stanley. The ball hit the top of the fence then bounced back over Stanley's head again toward the infield.

Harper scored easily from third as Aparicio and Yaz put it into high gear and tore around the bases. When Aparicio reached third, third-base coach Eddie Popowski waved him home. But Luis slipped on the bag and stumbled awkwardly into foul territory. As he scrambled to his feet, he stumbled again and fell down once more. Yaz was rounding second base, head down, thinking a triple or an inside-the-park home run. He didn't see Aparicio on the ground, because if he had, he would've held up and backtracked to second base.

But as Yaz pulled into third, he was surprised to see Aparicio still there. Yaz yelled at him to head for home and pushed him in that direction, causing Luis to fall down a second time, and then he headed back to third. Yaz could only head back to second and was easily tagged out.

Reggie Smith finished the would-be rally by striking out. Yaz's mistake was costly. Instead of having the lead, the game was tied at 1-1. The Sox ultimately lost 4 to 1 and fell 1/2 game behind the Tigers. Afterward Aparicio, of course, got all the blame and fans were reminded of the similar miscue that happened on opening day.

The following night's game on October 3rd, was a must win for the Red Sox. Before the game, "El Tiante" found a mechanical monkey who banged cymbals together when wound up, in the Sox clubhouse and started mimicking it. His teammates stopped what they were doing and a quiet locker room started laughing at Tiant and his mechanical monkey.

The Red Sox season ended abruptly in the seventh inning, when Dick McAuliffe doubled and Al Kaline knocked him in with a single off Tiant. The Tigers clinched the division title, beating the Sox, 3 to 1. Yaz called this the biggest disappointment in his career.

One of the over-all results of the players strike was that, because of the uneven schedule, not all teams played the same amount of games in 1972. The Detroit Tigers ended up playing one more game than the Red Sox, which enabled them to win the American League East by one half game over the Sox.

In the meaningless season finale on October 4th, rookie Vic Correll in his first game, was catching Marty Pattin. The Red Sox won the game 4-1, and he had two base hits in four at-bats. He singled his first time up, facing Joe Coleman, and drove in Rick Miller, the second run for the Red Sox and thus the eventual game-winner. Miller had two hits, a double and a triple, and Cecil Cooper had three singles in five times up.

The Sox had duplicated their 85 wins of 1971, by winning 37 of their last 59 games. The basic formula had remained in place for the season. That formula could be crudely described as hit the heck out of the ball to make up for bad pitching. The Red Sox led the American League in runs scored, and finished 11th in what was then a 12-team league, in ERA.

Reggie Smith battled injuries and moved from center to right to make room for Tommy Harper, but continued to put up numbers, with a .365 on-base percentage/.475 slugging percentage.

Tommy Harper hit .254, with a .341 on-base percentage, and scored a team-leading 92 runs. He drove in 49. His 25 stolen bases placed him sixth in the American League. He might have attempted more steals, but Luis Aparicio batted second in the order and the pair worked on the hit-and-run more than just the straight steal. Harper also missed time to a hamstring injury in late June and a balky knee later in the season. He was the center fielder, for 143 games.

The great Carl Yastrzemski (.264 BA, 12 HR), struggled with power. Yaz missed a month with torn knee ligaments and finished with a .357 OBP. When Yaz went down, Phil Gagliano filled in for 12 games in left field. He batted .256 but still managed a.333 on-base percentage.

Although Rico Petrocelli’s power output dropped significantly (15 home runs), he continued to drive in runs at a consistent pace, leading the Red Sox with 75 RBIs despite hitting only .240. He was especially hot in August, hitting .344 with 23 RBIs to help the Red Sox surge into contention for the division title.

Shortstop Luis Aparacio wasn’t an offensive threat with a .257 BA, but the 38-year-old glove wizard stabilized the defense. However, he missed the month of July when he broke his finger. With Aparicio out, Juan Beniquez played daily until he set a modern major league record with six errors in two consecutive games (making it a total of seven for three consecutive games). When Aparicio returned in August, Beniquez (.242 BA) rode the bench for the rest of the season.

Doug Griffin was on a tear, having a good year before he went of the disabled list from August 9th to September 1st, missing 25 games. When he returned, he had trouble gripping the bat, affecting his hitting. He finished batting .260 in 129 games.

Danny Cater finished up his first season with the Sox, on the bench. He appeared in only one game after August 20th, and finished the season with a .237 average, eight homers and 39 RBIs, both career lows.

Catcher, Duane Josephson actually played more first base (16 games to the six he caught), taking playing time away from Cater. His season was cut short when he was hospitalized again for a recurrence of pericarditis. His last game was on July 2nd.

Four games into the spring season, Ben Oglivie was sent to Hahnemann Hospital in Brighton, MA to be examined for a possible heart condition. After three days of cardiograms and other tests, he was given a “clean bill of health” and returned to spring training. Although he played with the Red Sox during the regular season, he was not an everyday player, completing the season with a .241 average in 94 games.

Outfielder Rick Miller played in 89 games, usually as a late-game defensive replacement in center field. He hit three home runs with a .214 batting average. He was also voted the Red Sox “Unsung Hero” by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

In 57 September at-bats, rookie Dwight Evans batted .263 and helped keep the Red Sox in the pennant race;

Carlton Fisk caught 131 games, (.293 BA, .370 OBP) popped 22 home runs and brought a fiery emotional spark to the team. After the first month he was the team leader. Every play and every pitch was important to him and he showed it with his blue collar grit, hustle and passion. He took charge of the pitching staff, told them what they needed to do, and kept them on an even keel. Fisk was the unanimous selection as American League "Rookie-of-the-Year", won a "Gold Glove" and placed fourth in the balloting for MVP.

Bob Montgomery understandably played the backup to Fisk, and appeared in just 24 games. He upped his average appreciably to .286, however, taking full advantage of the at-bats he had. The BoSox Clun recognized him as their "Man of the Year" for his outstanding contributions to the community.

Behind the highly competitive Marty Pattin (17-13, 3,24 ERA), the rotation was functional, if not great.

If anyone was born to be a Red Sox, it was John Curtis, whose great uncle laid the original sod in Fenway Park and whose uncle was Tom Yawkey’s Yale roommate. Although he began the season with the Triple-A Louisville Colonels, Curtis returned to Boston in May. He got more game opportunities and proved worthy of them, posting a 3.73 ERA to go with an 11-8 record.

This season proved pivotal to pitcher Lynn McGlothen’s development. Returned to Louisville at the start of the season, he mastered the curveball to give up 3.2 walks per 9 innings while completing eight of 13 starts (including four shutouts). Through August, he posted a record of 6-4, 3.06, including four complete-game wins. He showed signs of weariness in the closing weeks of the season and won just two of his last seven starts, finishing with an 8-4 record an a 3.41 ERA.

Sonny Siebert was enjoying another excellent season, going 9-5 with a 2.79 ERA before the All Star break. After his injury during the All Star break, he went 3-7 the rest of the season, with his ERA rising to 3.80 for the year.

Lew Krausse had a 9.15 ERA in 17 appearances, and for the first time in eight years was struggling with control.

Ray Culp (5-8, 4.46 ERA), the staff ace in recent years, tore his rotator cuff in July and was released after the season was over.

Because the Sox had acquired or promoted a number of new starting pitchers, and Gary Peters lost his job in the rotation. Although he stayed with the team all year, he had just four starts among his 33 games, splitting six decisions and posting a 4.32 ERA.

If nothing else, Bill Lee got the first regular work of his career, throwing 84 innings. He did not start a game, again appearing 47 times and his record was 7-4, with a 3.20 ERA. He hit his only American League home run on September 11th off the Indians' Ray Lamb.

Luis Tiant revived his career, making 19 starts, 24 more relief appearances and winning 15 games. He had a dazzling 1.91 ERA that led the American League. He was the first Sox picher to claim that honor since Mel Parnell had it in 1949. He was the first Red Sox pitcher to finish the season with an ERA under 2.00 since Carl Mays in 1917. He was 12-3 with a 1.18 ERA down the stretch since August 5th. Tiant won the "Comeback Player of the Year" award. By leading the Red Sox into an unexpected race for the pennant, "El Tiante" won the hearts of the Red Sox fans. He would never lose them.

But it was the bullpen without Sparky Lyle, that was the big Red Sox problem. Don Newhauser had pitched in eight games in July, throwing 13 2/3 innings without allowing a run. He finished his rookie season with a 4-2 record and a 2.43 earned run average, having worked 37 innings in 31 games.

Though struck in the ankle by another batted ball in spring training, Ken Tatum got off to a good beginning, with a 2.20 ERA at the end of May. But a sciatic nerve condition in his left leg and lower back put him on the disabled list for almost all of June and deep into July. Tatum’s record was 0-3 with a 3.07 ERA, and just four saves while working only 29 1/3 innings.

Luis Aparicio's slip and fall, along with Jim Lonborg having to pitch with two day's rest in 1967, Bill Lee's eephus pitch to Tony Perez in 1975, Bucky Dent's homer in 1978, the ground ball that went through Bill Buckner’s legs in 1986, Grady Little not taking out Pedro in 2003, Joe McCarthy picking Denny Galehouse to pitch in 1948 and Johnny Pesky's delayed throw in 1946, became another in the litany of Red Sox woes attributed to the "Curse of the Bambino".