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1965 BOSTON RED SOX ...
Because Carl Yastrzemski and Johnny Pesky were at odds the previous year, manager Billy Herman's goal was just to make Yaz happy at any cost in 1965. Yaz was not his team's favorite player by any means. He didn't hustle after hits he knew were doubles and refused to chase down home runs. He often would just bow his head, keep his hands on his knees, and not turn around. In an attempt to bolster the pitching staff and get rid of a headache, the Mike Higgins traded the controversial Dick Stuart to the Phillies for Dennis Bennett. Higgins didn't know that Bennett had shoulder problems when he made the trade however, and he spent most of the season on the DL.
Off the field, Tony C. had become a teen idol and enjoyed it. He dated actresses and Playboy bunnies. Not only could he hit, he could really sing. He wasn't a nite-clubber. He liked to stay in the hotel room and sing Doo-Wop with his roommate, catcher Mike Ryan. One night in a Framingham night club during the off-season, he was introduced by the band and took the mic to join them. He was good and put up the money to make a record himself. In a few weeks, Tony C. had his first record, "Playing the Field" released on January 19th. He later signed a deal with RCA worth $25K. This on top of his Red Sox salary of $17.5 K. He appeared on TV shows like "The Merv Griffin Show". Tony C. was the kid, at age 20, who had everything: fame, fortune, girls, a red Corvette and a hit record. But once he put on his uniform he was all business and loved playing baseball. He worked hard all winter at Tufts University with Bill Monbouquette. When a reporter asked Tony C. what was his secret to making the club at such a young age, he replied that it was because he was in shape. That implied that some of his teammates were not (which they weren't) and it caused a rift between him and some of the veterans, like Yaz. Billy Herman did nothing to change the reputation of the Red Sox being a "country club". Dennis Bennett also was one of those guys who thought the rules didn't apply to him and did what he wanted. He fit right in. Right from the start, manager Billy Herman got all his young players in the starting lineup, playing Tony C. as much as he could. Herman reluctantly also replaced veteran shortstop Eddie Bressoud with the youngster, Rico Petrocelli. Bressoud, who had a good year the last season, was not happy about it. The Sox were desperate for pitching help, and a 22-year-old was given a strong chance to make the club. In a surprising move to start the season, Herman named rookie, Jim Lonborg as one of his four starters along with ace Bill Monbouquette, Earl Wilson, and Dave Morehead. Lonborg possessed an explosive fastball, along with a strong breaking ball he could throw for strikes and which hitters often sent into the dirt. Unfortunately, a ground-ball hurler and an inconsistent defense didn't always mix. Things started brightly. In a spring training exhibition game against the Indians on March 26th in Mexico, the Red Sox knocked out 10 home runs and won 15-9. They had five home runs in one inning by Bobby Guindon, Mike Ryan, Eddie Bressoud, Tony C. and rookie Bill Schlesinger. It was the most home runs ever hit in a major league game, surpassing the previous records of eight made by the Minnesota Twins in 1963. Outfielder Lenny Green was a non-roster invitee to spring training, the property of Baltimore’s Rochester ballclub but with Boston on a “look-see” basis. If he made the team, the Orioles would sell him at a predetermined price. He excelled, leading the Sox in spring training with a .385 mark. On March 30th Boston announced his purchase. Catcher Gerry Moses competed for Boston’s final roster spot in spring training. He spent three months with the Red Sox because he had to be kept on the roster or risk being lost in the Fall Draft. He shared an apartment near Fenway with Jim Lonborg.
The Sox home run slugging carried into the regular season. On Opening Day, April 12th, Lee Thomas blasted a three-run home run in the third inning in Washington helping the Sox a 7-2 victory. Newcomer Lenny Green homered twice, Tony C. (3-for-4) homered into the upper deck, and Felix Mantilla also hit a home run. But in their next game, on April 14th, Dick Radatz couldn't protect a 4-3 lead and gave up three runs in the seventh inning, losing to the Senators, 6 to 4. In their home opener against the Orioles on April 17th, facing Jim Palmer in the future Hall of Famer’s major league debut, Lee Thomas hit a two-run single helped the Sox come back from a five-run deficit. But the O's tied the game against Radatz at eight apiece. Then the Sox scored four runs on four walks and two hits to go back ahead and win 12-9. The Angels traded pitcher Bob Duliba to the Red Sox for Hal Kolstad before the game The next day, April 18th, the Sox slugged the Orioles again, winning 11 to 4. Bob Tillman and Tony C. (4-for-4) each knocked in three runs. The Sox hitters ravaged the O's pitchers with 25 hits, good for 23 runs in their two game series. Against the Washington Senators on April 20th, Dave Morehead limited the Senators to six hits and beat them 5-2, striking out 11 batters. As a result, the Sox were in first place, 1/2 game ahead of the Twins. But it would be all downhill from there. In their final game of the opening homestand, the Sox lost to the White Sox, 3-1 in 11 innings on April 21st. Bill Monbouquette was magnificent for 10 2/3 of those innings. Then he hung a ball to Bill Skowron, with a man on base, that he "Moose" deposited into the left field nets for the game winner. Rookie Jim Lonborg made his major league debut in Baltimore on April 23rd. He held the Orioles to just two hits in six innings, but one of those hits was a bases-loaded double by Robin Roberts, that gave the O's three runs and a 4 to 2 victory. The next day, April 24th, Lee Thomas, as part of a 4-for-6 day, belted a three-run homer in the 12th inning that broke up a pitching duel between Dick Radatz and Stu Miller. It gave the Sox a 7 to 5 victory in Baltimore. to 1. The Sox started to show their true colors in Chicago on April 27th. They lost 10 to 1, making bone-head errors that gave the White Sox five unearned runs. Chuck Schilling had two home runs as a pinch hitter for Jack Lamabe on April 30th in Detroit. Then in the next game, on May 1st, he pinch-hit for Rico Petrocelli and homered again. It was the 11th time in major-league history that a pinch-hitter had homered in consecutive plate appearances.
In the May 1st game, Dick Radatz once again blew a lead. With the Sox up 7-4, Radatz was brought in to pitch the seventh inning. The Tigers clawed him for four runs, going on to win, 9 to 8. On May 2nd, in the first game of a doubleheader in Detroit, Earl Wilson and Phil Regan had a pitcher's duel. The game was won in the 6th inning for the Sox on a homer by Eddie Bressoud. Then in the second game, catcher Mike Ryan, in his second major-league ballgame, hit a third-inning homer and a fifth-inning homer. The Sox won 10-3, and he drove in three of the runs. It proved to be the only multi-homer game of his big-league career. Dalton Jones had three hits in the game including a triple and a homer. In Los Angeles, Dean Chance out-dueled rookie Jerry Stephenson and walked away with a 1-0 win on May 3rd. On May 4th, first baseman Bill Schlesinger made his major league debut. It was also his last appearance. Schlesinger pinch-hit for Dave Morehead in the sixth and grounded out to the pitcher, his one at-bat in the majors. Dennis Bennett threw a couple of innings giving up four hits and two walks and was lucky to escape only having yielded two runs. He escaped by fielding a pop bunt which he turned into a double play. It was Bennett’s first appearance for the Red Sox. The lone tally for the Red Sox was a solo home run by Lenny Green, losing to the Angels, 7 to 1. The next day, on May 5th, Bennett was given a 5-0 lead and in the seventh inning gave up two runs on three hits and some more sloppy defense, finally losing 6 to 4. The Sox lost three straight to the Angels, finishing their road trip winning only three of the ten games and falling into eighth place, five games behind. When the Sox returned home, they faced Luis Tiant and the Cleveland Indians on May 7th. Tiant pitched a five-hitter, losing his shutout in the eighth inning, but winning 5 to 1. The Sox rallied the next day on May 8th, and blew out the Indians, 15 to 8. The Sox scored in every inning and even Dick Radatz chipped in with two hits, while Tony C. smashed his 5th home run. On May 9th, Tony C. banged out two more homers, back-to-back in the second game of a doubleheader. Yaz, who had gone 7-for-43, hit two doubles, and Bob Tillman had a triple and two singles. But the Sox lost both games. Their pitching was the problem. In both games, Sox pitchers gave up at least six runs after three innings. The Yankees next came to town and the Sox took three of the four game series. In the first game on May 10th, Yaz homered twice to give Jim Lonborg the lead and a 3 to 2 win. Behind Mickey Mantle, the Yanks beat the Sox in the second game, 5 to 3 on May 11th. In the next game, on May 12th, Bill Monbouquette held the Yanks to five singles and shut them out 2-0. In the final game, Dave Morehead beat them 4 to 1, giving up five hits and striking out nine on May 13th. The Tigers then pounded Dick Radatz in the 10th inning for four runs and came from behind to beat the Sox 12 to 8, on May 14th. Yaz hit for the cycle, with an extra home run thrown in for good measure. But two days later on May 16th, Earl Wilson shut the Tigers out, 5-0, walking one and striking out eight, and Monbouquette won his fourth straight game, 4-3, in a doubleheader sweep. Yaz (.304 BA) was 3-for-6 including a home run, his third of the series. Tony C. added his eighth homer of the season.
Dave Morehead took a no-hitter into the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium on May 18th and went into the ninth leading 3-1. The Yankees tied the game and won it off Dick Radatz in the 12th inning, 4-3. Jim Lonborg walked the first two Yankee batters he faced in the next game on May 19th. Then he held them to four scattered hits and a ninth inning walk for the rest of the game, shutting the Yanks out, 3 to 0. A couple of nights later, on May 21st, Rocky Colavito's homer off Radatz, sunk the Sox in Cleveland, 11 to 6. But the Sox took the next three from the Indians. Colavito homered again of Dave Morehead on May 22nd, but the Sox bats did the job, winning 8 to 4. Felix Mantilla had three RBIs with a home run. On May 23rd, the Sox took both ends of a doubleheader, 6-2 and 8-3. In the first game, Jim Lonborg went all the way, permitting only three Indian runners past second base. Jerry Stephenson, with some help from Jay Ritchie, picked up his first major league win in the second game. He held Cleveland to four hits and struck out nine. The Minnesota Twins flattened the Sox, 17-5 on 20 hits at Fenway on May 25th. Rookie Gerry Moses hit a homer in his second major league at bat for the Red Sox. Gary Geiger also homered. It was his only home run that year. Pitcher Bob Heffner had twisted a knee in spring training. He was not very effective in April and May, with a 7.71 ERA and neither a win nor a loss. He was optioned to Triple-A Toronto, as the Sox bought up Bob Duliba on May 26th. After banging the Sox around 9-7 on May 26th, in the next game on May 27th, the first place Twins were tamed by Dave Morehead, 2-0. Dick Radatz struck out seven of the nine batters he faced, saving Jim Lonborg, in 9 to 3 victory, over the Kansas City A's on May 28th. It was Lonborg's third straight win. Felix Mantilla hit his 7th homer of the season. Tony Conigliaro's homer tied the next game on May 30th and the Sox won it in the 11th inning when Radatz singled and the A's John Wyatt walked the bases-loaded. Wyatt then walked one batter too many, Lenny Green, to bring in Eddie Bressoud with the winning run, 3 to 2. The sore-armed Dennis Bennett held the California Angels down on May 31st, and shut them out for five innings. Radatz came in for the fifth time in six games and preserved his 3 to 0 shutout.
During the June free-agent draft, there was more good news for the Conigliaro family: The Red Sox used their first pick to select Tony C's younger brother, Billy Conigliaro. Dick Radatz had a "monster" of a game against the Athletics, but this time in Kansas City on June 5th. He struck out the side in both the ninth and tenth innings. Then with one out in the 11th inning, he came to bat and bashed the game winner over the left field fence, 5 to 3. In the past 13 2/3 innings he had struck out 26 batters, giving him 49 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings for the year thus far. The Sox split a doubleheader in Kansas City on June 6th. The Sox exploded for four runs in the eighth inning for a 9 to 4 win in the opener. Dalton Jones drove in the winning run in the first game and Mantilla homered with Jones aboard, to force the second game into extra innings in the second game, but they lost in the 11th inning, 4-3. Mantilla drive in four runs to raise his league-leading total to 44. Tony Horton was hitting .301 for Toronto in early June when Red Sox left fielder Gary Geiger broke his hand chasing a double by Chicago’s Tom McCraw on June 7th at Fenway. The injury ended Geiger's season after only 24 games, in which he batted just .200. Horton was brought up to play first base the next day, temporarily, Lee Thomas back to left field. In his first game, Horton had three hits and three RBIs on June 9th, giving the Sox a 4 to 2 victory over the White Sox. Tony C. homered before Yaz and Frank Malzone put together another run, while Dave Morehead struck out eight White Sox in five innings to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the last game of the four game series on June 10th. But then Radatz was brought in and he let the White Sox put up three runs. The Red Sox lost the game, 4 to 2. The Baltimore Orioles next took three straight from the Sox, all by one run. Winning only one game on the homestand and falling 10 1/2 games behind, the Sox headed back on the road. In Detroit, for three days in a row, the Tigers came from behind against the Sox bullpen and swept a three game series in Detroit. After losing eight straight games, Bill Monbouquette finally beat the White Sox in Chicago, 2 to 1 on June 19th. It was his first win after five consecutive losses. The Sox only had four hits, but Lenny Green had two of them and they were both homers. Then the Sox lost again when Radatz couldn't hold another lead in the last game of the series in Chicago on June 20th. In the losing effort, Rico Petrocelli knocked out his first major league home run. After four failed pinch-hitting attempts to kick off the season, Russ Nixon had been placed on waivers and no team claimed him. He agreed to go to Triple-A and spent 31 early-season games with Toronto, where he hit .323 before being brought back to the Red Sox. The team moved down to Baltimore for a doubleheader on June 22nd. They split the day, losing the first game. Then Earl Wilson retiring 18 batters in a row, interrupted by a fielding error by Rico Petrocelli in the sixth inning of the second game. He gave up just four hits, winning 4 to 2. On June 23rd, Jack Lamabe pitched his last game for the Red Sox in a 4-6 loss against the Orioles. His pitching record was 0-3 (8.17 ERA). Shoulder troubles brought an end to his work with Boston. The Sox lost 3 of 4 in Baltimore, 8 of the 10 games they played on the road trip and 15 of their last 18 games. That's when Billy Herman finally blew his top and called his team a bunch of "bush leaguers" and notified everyone that he would be cracking down on curfew violations. Upon returning home to host the Washington Senators on June 25th, the Red Sox came close to blowing an eight run lead. But they won 8-6 on June 25th. Yaz blasted his 11th homer and the Sox scored seven runs in the fifth inning. With his ERA at 5.50, Dick Radatz blew another lead. It was his 28th relief effort over 54 innings. He had permitted 34 earned runs and lost six games. This time it was against the Senators at Fenway on June 26th. With the score tied at 6-6, he gave up the go-ahead run in the seventh and was knocked around for five runs in the next inning, losing 12 to 7. Well, the Red Sox couldn't lose them all however. On June 27th, the Sox swept a doubleheader from the Senators on Bob Tillman's 11th inning single that gave them a 5-4 overtime victory. Jim Lonborg pitched a tremendous game in the opener for a 4-1 win. But they then lost nine of their next ten games.
Bob Heffner was recalled on July 4th, with Jack Lamabe heading the other direction to Toronto. After losing two games to New York, Tony C. powered his 16th home run with Lee Thomas on base, to give the Sox a 5 to 3 win over the Yankees on July 4th. They next lost four straight to the first-place Minnesota Twins, with Tony C. making two costly errors. The Sox were in 9th place, 20 1/2 games behind them. They only were able to score four runs in the series and gave up 18 runs. Earl Wilson put them in the win column again on July 9th. He struck out 11 and gave up just five hits, winning 10-1 in the second game of a twi-night doubleheader. Jim Gosger, who was just called up from Toronto, opened the game with a homer and it was followed in the fourth inning by a homer by Wilson. The Sox only bright spot going into the All Star break was Lee Thomas. In the final three games, in Washington, Thomas got seven hits in seven times up along with a couple of walks. Felix Mantilla (.316 BA, 12 HRs) was the only Red Sox player to make the American League All Star team. He started the game at second base and played for five innings, going 0-2 at the plate. The All Star Game, played in Minnesota, was won by the National League, 6 to 5 on July 13th. In the first game after the break in Cleveland on July 15th, Lee Thomas homered to tie the game, but shoddy fielding after that, lost the game for the Sox and Jim Lonborg. The next night, July 16th, Tony C. struck out three times, bringing his season total to 80. He was trying too hard to hit home runs. On July 18th, Tony C. collected two hits and drove in a run, as the Sox beat the Indians in Cleveland, 4 to 1. On July 19th, the Sox were in New York. Jim Lonborg beat the Yankees for the third time this year, 3 to 1, losing his shutout in the eighth inning. He gave up only one walk and five hits, and knocked in a run himself. His ERA against the Yanks was 1.99 this season. But it was only his second win in his last 10 starts.
Tony C. clearly was a favorite with the young Baby Boomers his age, around town. He was in demand at the local clubs in Kenmore Square and on the North Shore. But as Stuffy McInnis once observed about playing in your home town: If you don't go out at night with your friends, they think you are full of yourself, and if you do, then everyone else thinks you're getting drunk all the time. You can't win. With the Sox losing so much and the press being so critical, the fines for infractions continued. Tony C. missed curfews more than once. But the tipping point came after a night of drinking in New York, when he came back late to the hotel so drunk, that he was throwing-up. When he was fined $1000, he then threw a tantrum and said he was sick and couldn't play. But hungover or not, Billy Herman made him play against the Yankees. Back at his home, Tony's dad was fed up after reading about his son's continuous bad behavior in the newspapers. After a meeting with Herman, Mike Higgins, and his father Sal Conigliaro, Tony C. apologized to his teammates and came back to the lineup. Then he had an informal meeting with Tom Yawkey, sitting in the box seats at an empty Fenway Park. Yawkey asked him if it was worth it, and then told him that everyone makes mistakes and the should just learn from it. However, the fans weren't as forgiving. On July 21st, Tony Conigliaro got booed loudly during the first game of a doubleheader against the Twins at Fenway. He responded by getting three hits and two more in the second game, including his 17th home run. The Sox, however, lost both games and fell 24 games behind. Yaz had suffered from a groin pull and was frustrated with the way his team was playing and wanted to get back into the lineup badly. The Sox were losing a lot of games and on July 22nd, Billy Herman reluctantly put him back in the lineup against the Twins, even though he knew Yaz wasn't anywhere near 100%. Yaz got a double, a triple, and a home run. If he could have run straight out, the triple might have been an inside-the-park home run. The Sox lost anyway, 11 to 5. The Red Sox next split a series with the Angels at Fenway. Dennis Bennett finally earned his paycheck by pitching and batting the Sox to an 8-5 victory on July 24th.
On July 25th, the next day,
Yaz
beat out a bunt to score
Frank
Malzone with a 5 to 3 win. The highlight of the day
was the annual Father-Son game before the dads took the
field for real.
Yaz had hit safely in his last 10 games and in 29 of
the 31 he had played. He was leading the league in batting
with a .346 BA.
Bill Monbouquette shoved the Athletics into the American League basement the next day, on July 28th, when he blanked them 6-0. But Tony C. was again hit by a pitch which resulted in a hairline fracture of his wrist. It was the third time over the past three years, he had broken a bone in his arm. In the next game on July 29th, a five run seventh inning rally gave the Sox a 6-4 uphill win over the A's. Frank Malzone found his range with a key two-run double off the wall, but it was Bob Duliba's scoreless relief pitching that was needed in the game. They finished the month of July in Los Angeles. On July 31st, with the score tied in the ninth inning, Lenny Green tripled and scored the winning run on a wild pitch. It gave the Sox a 4-3 victory, their first over the Angels in a year. The Red Sox led the league in hitting, were third in home runs and fourth in runs scored. Carl Yastrzemski led the American League with a .339 BA and Felix Mantilla (.311 BA) was right behind him in second place. Tony C. had 21 homers, one behind Willie Horton and Harmon Killebrew. And Mantilla had 67 RBIs, three behind Killebrew. But they, however, were last in the league in defense, had allowed the most runs, had the highest ERA, and made the fewest doubleplays. They were in 9th place, 29 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins. And even worse, the team was also last in spirit, enthusiasm and hustle. Players did not run out to their position, an infielder would never come over to the pitcher and give him some encouragement, and players would never come up to the front step of the dugout and greet a player, who had just hit a home run, with a hand outstretched to congratulate him. The Sox were all afraid they might be traded or given away at season's end. They just didn't care anymore.
In Kansas City, Earl Wilson held the A's to two singles for the first six innings on August 3rd and didn't walk anyone for the first six innings. In the meantime, the Sox batters piled up a 10-0 lead, before Wilson faded. He also hit a three-run homer and the Sox won 10 to 5. The Sox beat the Athletics again the next day, on August 4th, 5 to 1. The Sox scored the winning run on a squeeze bunt and they scored their last two runs on walks with the bases loaded. Back in Fenway on August 10th, fans saw an outright slugfest. It was a doubleheader with the Orioles and the Sox beat them up 15 to 5 in the first game, and then the O's got off the mat and beat-up the Sox in the second game. Yaz (.334 BA) had six hits in eight times up and maintained his leader in the batting race. The Sox had 16 men come to bat and scored 12 runs in the fifth inning of the first game. Rico Petrocelli clubbed a three-run homer as the Sox beat the Orioles, 8 to 3 on August 11th for a split of the four game series. Against Hoyt Wilhelm and the White Sox on August 13th, the Red Sox won 3-2, when Wilhelm's catcher, J.C. Martin couldn't corral one of his knuckleballs, letting in the winning run. Earl Wilson received a standing ovation after hitting two home runs and pitching an excellent game against the White Sox on August 16th. He tired in the eighth inning and gave the ball to Dick Radatz. But Radatz couldn't help him, blowing the save and got beat in the ninth inning, 5 to 4. In Baltimore, Jim Lonborg pitched the Sox to an 11 to 3 win. The Sox scored six runs in the ninth inning to grab the victory on August 19th.
Knuckleballer, Bob Duliba won his fourth straight game on August 21st. His teammates knocked out 15 hits and scored 13 runs against the Tigers, beating Detroit 13-10. Tony C., back in the lineup after fracturing his wrist, doubled, tripled and hit his 22nd homer. Tony C. hit a grandslam homer in the first game of a doubleheader in Washington on August 24th and it helped Lonborg win his 9th game. It was the third grandslam in his career and the Sox won the game 9 to 4. Rico Petrocelli homered also and hit two more in the nite cap, but the Sox lost that game. Rico was the hottest batter on the Sox. He had an eight game hitting streak in which he had 12 hits (six singles, four homers and two doubles for a .414 BA) On August 25th, the Sox hit five homers in an 8-3 win against Washington at Fenway. Tony C. hit his 24th which tied the amount he hit last year. Petrocelli hit another homer, along with long balls from Felix Mantilla, Bob Tillman and Yaz. Earl Wilson struck out 13 Senators. Dave Morehead pitched a complete game, giving up just three hits and striking out 10 on August 26th against the Senators, winning 4 to 2. Dennis Bennett pitched his first complete game in the second game of a doubleheader with the White Sox in Chicago. He scattered six hits and walked only two, winning 6 to 1, on August 27th. The Sox, however, lost the first game. Lee Thomas homered in each game, and Tony C. blasted his 25th into the center field bleachers. Tony Horton's three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning, gave the Sox an 8 to 5 win in Washington on August 31st. It gave the Sox a doubleheader sweep, because Dave Morehead gave up two singles in six innings and shut out the Senators, 4 to 0 in the first game. August concluded with the Sox having won 13 games and losing 20. They were in 9th place, a distant 33 games behind the Twins. Yaz (.322 BA) maintained his league in the batting race, and Tony C (25 HRs) was only one homer behind Willie Horton (26 HRs) in the home run race.
Tony C. blasted his 26th homer on September 2nd in Washington, to tie him with Horton. Dave Morehead pitched his third straight impressive game on September 4th in New York. He gave up just three hits, one walk. He faced only 29 batters and retired the last 14 men in a row, beating the Yankees, 1 to 0. That was the first game of a doubleheader. The Sox won the second game also, 7 to 2 behind Dennis Bennett. On September 5th, Yankees pitcher Pedro Ramos, slipped fielding a slow roller hit by Tony Horton in the 12th inning. He threw to first from his sitting position, only to see the ball sail past firstbaseman Joe Pepitone. Yaz raced all the way home from second base and the Sox won, 4 to 3. The Sox won four games in a row for the first time this season, when they beat the Tigers, 4-1, in Detroit on September 6th, behind the excellent job by Earl Wilson. The Sox went .500 on the 16-game road trip. Radatz won three of the eight victories and the sore-armed Bennett was able to start four of those eight wins. On September 8th, in Cleveland, Tony Horton homered again in the 10th inning, beating the Indians, 5 to 3. The first place Minnesota Twins came to Fenway for a three game set. With an infield of Dalton Jones, Rico Petrocelli, Felix Mantilla and Lee Thomas, the Sox had the weakest defensive group in the league. And with Russ Nixon, who had nine bases stolen on him in the first two games, the Twins walked all over the Red Sox and swept the series. When it was over, the Sox had lost 17 of the 18 games they played with Minnesota this season, helping the Twins to easily win the pennant.
The only thing the Sox had left were individual accomplishments. Tony C. hit his 28th homer to put him one up on Horton in the AL home run derby. Yaz (.323 BA) collected three hits to put him six points ahead of Tony Oliva in the batting race. In another game against Cleveland, Tony Horton tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, setting the stage for a walkoff 13th-inning homer by Yaz, who banged out his 17th homer that gave the Sox a walk-off 5 to 4 victory at Fenway on September 14th. The season's highlight took place on September 16th. Dave Morehead rode into baseball history by throwing a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians, beating them 2 to 0. By just one pitch, he missed a perfect game when Rocky Colavito drew a walk to first base in the second inning. Morehead was immediately rewarded for his pitching gem with a $1,000 bonus by Tom Yawkey. But this would also be one of the pivotal dates in Red Sox history off the field. Mike Higgins had been with the Red Sox for a decade and his attitude was to cover his butt and kiss that of the Sox owner, not taking any chances that would jeopardize their relationship. Everyone knew what kind of a person Higgins was back in 1959, when he wouldn't allow Pumpsie Green to be on the team. But he was a Tom Yawkey cronie and was brought back as the manager in 1960 and made general manager in 1963.
But now the Red Sox put up a pitiful record and it didn't sit well with Yawkey. He blamed it on the laissez-faire leadership of Higgins, replacing him with Dick O'Connell. O'Connell, who had been a vice president running the business side of the club for several years, was given complete control of the organization. O'Connell was everything that Mike Higgins was not. He liked developing the young players and was on the phone conducting business all the time. He surrounded himself with good baseball people and listened to their advice. He put himself in a position to make sound decisions that helped the team and soon would turn the franchise around. Tony C. (30 HRs) hit two home runs against the Kansas City A's on September 17th, putting two up on Willie Horton.
On September 19th, Jim Gosger hustled for an inside-the-park homer which gaVe Bill Monbouquette a 3 to 2 victory. It was Monbo's first win in his last eight starts. Yaz (.315 BA) went hitless and fell behind Tony Oliva (.317 BA) in the batting race however. Satchel Paige, at age 59, held the Red Sox to one hit, no walks and 28 pitches over three innings in Kansas City on September 25th. The one hit was made by Yaz. Satchel received a standing ovation when he left the field, leading 1-0. The Sox went on to win the game, 5-2, thanks to an inside-the-park homer by Tony C. (31 HRs). At Fenway Park, Tony C. hit his 32nd homer, to give the Sox a 2-1 win on over the Angels on September 29th.
Against the Yankees in the final two games of the season, the Sox gave Mel Stottlemyre his 20th win on October 2nd. Then in the season finale the next day, October 3rd, they were tied 4-4, with two men on base and two outs, when Elston Howard lifted a fly ball out toward Tony C. He kept moving back as the wind pushed it away from him. He finally got to it but dropped it. Two runs scored and Howard reached third base on the error. It was the 162nd error in 162 games for the Sox, as they lost their 100th game, 11 to 5. It also made Whitey Ford the winningest pitcher in Yankee history. Yaz, singled, doubled and hit a home run, but wound up batting .312, nine points behind the A.L. batting champ, Tony Oliva. The 1965 edition finished in ninth place, 40 games behind the Minnesota Twins. They were 62-100, their worst record in 33 years. From May 31st thru September 5th, the Red Sox never won more than two games in a row. They hit 165 home runs, but were second to last in fielding (.974) and second to last in runs allowed (669). They set a new season record for men left on base with 1183. Very few people showed up at Fenway Park and those who did were frustrated and nasty. The players could hear everything in the near-empty ballpark. The 652,000 fans who showed up was down nearly a quarter of a million. Tony Conigliaro decided to grow up during the end of the season, concentrate on his career and he shined at the end. His 32 homers were good enough to win the home run title, the youngest player to ever do so. He played in 138 games and his average dipped to .269. But overall it was not a good year for him. He slumped, got benched, was ridiculed in the newspapers and again showed how fragile he was, by getting another broken wrist. Lenny Green's .276 average was a little higher than Tony C's, and he led the team with six triples and eight stolen bases. All Star secondbaseman, Felix Mantilla came through with a big season, batting .289, driving in 92 runs, and blasting 18 home runs, but down from 30 the year before. He spent the offseason working for the Milwaukee police department along with major leaguers Bob Uecker and Don Pavletich in a program to help curb juvenile delinquency. In what would be his last year on the Red Sox, Lee Thomas finished hitting .271, with 22 home runs (second on the team to only Tony C.) and 75 RBIs. Rookie Rico Petrocelli hit.174 through his first 20 games and Red Sox coach Pete Runnels suggested that he try to pull the ball more to take advantage of the inviting left-field wall. Petrocelli spent the rest of the season refining a new swing, steadily producing results. He finished the year his rookie year batting .232 with 13 homers. Petrocelli was not a favorite of Billy Herman, who had little patience, and made life miserable for the young shortstop. His sore right elbow had hampered his throwing for most of the year. The situation came to a head when Petrocelli left the team in the middle of a game to tend to a family emergency. Herman demanded that he be suspended but was only fined. Frank Malzone (.239 BA) got less work, down to 400 plate appearances in 106 games. There was one stretch from mid-May to mid-June in which he failed to get an extra-base hit. Malzone worked a lot with his possible heir-apparent Dalton Jones, helping him with his fielding, even though it might cost him his own job. When Malzone hurt his foot early in the season, manager Billy Herman put Jones in at third base. Jones played so well at the position that he earned the starting spot against right-handed pitching after Malzone returned. On November 19th, the Red Sox gave Malzone his unconditional release. Dalton Jones improved offensively despite tearing a hamstring muscle and despite moving to his third infield position in four years. He suffered his injury rounding first at Fenway while legging a double in early May. Jones would play with his leg wrapped the rest of his career. Jones batted .270 in 112 games. He played in 81 games at third base and made 17 errors in 243 chances. With Johnny Pesky went much of Bob Tillman’s playing time, which dropped to 111 games, when he hit .215 with six home runs and 35 RBIs. He was the team’s opening day starter, but his continued struggles with the bat caused Billy Herman to give a great deal of playing time to Mike Ryan (.159 BA) and Russ Nixon (.270 BA) as well, neither of whom hit that well, either.
Dick Radatz did not lead them out of the wilderness. He came back down to Earth and went 9-11 with 24 saves and a high 3.91 ERA. He still struck out twice as many batters as he walked, but for each of the three preceding years that ratio had been more than three times as many. He developed a pretty good sinker, but never regained his fastball. He had changed his mechanics too much to accommodate the sinker and without his fastball, he lost the extra in extraordinary. He was later diagnosed with an injury to his arm and shoulder which required off-season surgery. Bill Monbouquette who won 20 games two years ago, lost 18 games, the most in the league. Monbo posted a decent 3.70 ERA however over 228 2/3 innings. But it would turn out to be Monbo's final year with the Red Sox. In 192 2/3 innings, Dave Morehead lost 18 games and struck out 163, a career high, and allowed only 157 hits, but walked 113 and posted a 4.06 ERA. He finished the season strong however. After tossing his no-hitter, for the next 35 years, Morehead’s name was remembered around Fenway Park as the last Red Sox pitcher to have thrown a hitless gem. Earl Wilson had 13 wins to lead the Red Sox. He also had 14 losses with an ERA of 3.98 and threw 230.2 innings. He gave up 77 walks but struck out 164 opposing hitters. While in college Jim Lonborg had developed a taste for symphonic music, and this became a frequent reference point for sportswriters. Their image seemed to capture the handsome young bachelor who was a perfect meld of culture and cool. He was capable of taking the short stroll from Fenway Park to Symphony Hall one night, then hitting the rock-oriented nightclubs of Kenmore Square the next. Lonborg's end result in his rookie year, was a 9-17 record and 4.47 ERA. Dennis Bennett pitched adequately, starting 18 games and relieving in 16 others, finishing 5-7 for a team that lost 100 games. He started the season on the disabled list, joining the club in early May. He had a reputation for doing crazy things. For one thing, he carried several guns with him on the road, and often on his person. He told the story of shooting off several rounds with a gun one quiet spring just over the head of Boston Globe writer Will McDonough, who had written a story Bennett did not like. Jerry Stephenson made the big-league team and stuck with the team for the full year. It wasn’t an inspirational season, just 52 innings and a record of 1-5 with a 6.23 ERA. He already had a bit of a reputation of being on and off the field. His nickname was ‘Teens’ because he loved Teen magazine. He loved the Beatles and wore turtleneck shirts. Jay Ritchie was arguably the pitching staff’s biggest surprise. He appeared in 44 games (trailing only the righty-lefty combination of Radatz and Earley) and posted the staff’s lowest ERA (3.17). Right after the season ended, on October 4th, the Sox traded Monbouquette to the Tigers for infielder George Smith, George Thomas, and (more than a year later) Jackie Moore. Haywood Sullivan was also hired by Dick O'Connell to be the Director of Player Personnel.
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