1967 BOSTON RED SOX ...
(THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6) ...
"THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM" ...

The 1967 Boston Red Sox baseball season was one of the most exciting in the history of the franchise. It began slowly and built before finally exploding and set the path for the Red Sox for all the years that followed. The season saved the team and had it never happened, it is possible that the Red Sox might have left Boston.

The Red Sox hadn’t enjoyed a winning season since 1958. Their fan base that was created in the Ted Williams years was no longer showing up, with annual attendance shrinking to a mere 650,000 in a ballpark rumored to be in danger of demolition as plans for a suburban domed facility began to be drawn up.

The only serious threat in the Boston lineup came from Carl Yastrzemski, a star in relative terms only. Although Yaz won the batting title in 1963, he otherwise had shown little else to show that he was genuine superstar material.

There did appear to be some light at the end of the very long tunnel however. Young sluggers such as Tony Conigliaro, George Scott and Rico Petrocelli were emerging.

Over the winter, Oakland Athletics owner, Charlie Finley wanted to buy Tony Conigliaro and offered $500K for him.

Tom Yawkey, who had lost interest and was resigned to the teams second division status, left the team almost entirely in the hands of the general manager, Dick O'Connell. That left, O'Connell to hire Dick Williams as the manager and make other moves without interference or worrying about offending his boss or his friends, as had Mike Higgins, his predecessor.

Under O'Connell the Red Sox color-blind farm system had never been more productive. The Sox seemingly had something to build on along with rookies like Mike Andrews and Reggie Smith.

Dick Williams had been a player-coach for the Red Sox' Triple AAA club in Seattle. When the club announced that it would be moving to Toronto, their manager did not want to go. A utility bench player during his career, Williams accepted the offer to be the manager at $9K/year, knowing it would be his only chance to get back in the big leagues. He needed the money, and he had to win. The minor league club responded to his take charge attitude. With his approach, the Maple Leafs went on to win consecutive International League championships.

When Williams moved up to the Red Sox, he cleaned house and stripped Yaz of his captaincy. He did not want Yaz to be the only star on a team of losers. He schooled the Red Sox on incessant repetition of fundamentals. He knew his team had talent and his job was to turn them from losers into winners, or he'd get rid of them. He did it by being a sarcastic guy who knew how to get under a player's skin. He had a dress code and didn't tolerate talking back or even a dirty look. He didn't hit it off with anybody.

He first met many of his players at the Boston Baseball Writers Dinner in January. He was all business and mentioned that his players better show up ready to work. Many players had off-season jobs and had used spring training to get into shape. Not anymore. Williams made it clear that he expected everyone to be in shape when they showed up.

Those who came to Winter Haven overweight, suffered worse. He threatened to bench George Scott if he didn’t tip the scales the right way, and when young starter, Jerry Stephenson, couldn’t shake off ten pounds as he ordered, off to the minors he went.

When Dennis Bennett and another pitcher showed up late one day in the spring, Dick Williams publicly called them out and fined them. When Bennett blamed the hotel for failing to give him his wake up call, Williams ridiculed the players, and Bennett never got out of the new skipper’s doghouse.

Then at spring training, in between throwing in fielding drills, he made his pitchers play volleyball. They at first thought it was some sort of punishment, but it broke up the boredom. After a while, their competitive juices got flowing and they enjoyed it immensely.

One player who would have no problem with Williams’ shape-up-or-ship-out policy was Carl Yastrzemski. In the winter he had discovered the off-season training exercise that many players of the day still resisted. Worked hard daily by a former Hungarian Olympic coach, Gene Berde, Yaz immediately felt a new surge of power. He also had help from Red Sox hitting coach, Bobby Doerr, who refined his batting stance and his swing during spring training, a crucial element that would pay off handsomely.

Yaz was also happy that he no longer was the team captain. After six years of playing on losing teams, he liked Dick Williams' approach and totally agreed with it. He went from being the captain to the head cheerleader. It was a different story with Tony Conigliaro however. Tony C. was not married and had girlfriends everywhere. He balked at Williams' regimental style and curfews, but after a while, he too came around.

When Ted Williams was in camp as a roving batting instructor, interrupted the games to talk to the pitcher's about the theories on hitting and telling stories. Dick Williams asked him to stop several times and when he didn't, the manager took charge and ordered him to keep away from his pitchers. The greatest hitter in baseball had never been told to do anything. He stormed off and was never heard from again, for the rest of the season.

Dick Williams was everywhere, micro-managing his camp. He watched his players do sliding drills or practicing cut-offs. He even put on an umpire's gear and called the first intrasquad game. Reggie Smith, George Thomas, and Jose Tartabull all hit home runs.

The baseball writers were also shocked over how Williams ran his camp. They had been accustomed to sitting around after workouts, having a few drinks and talking with managers Billy Herman, Johnny Pesky or Mike Higgins. But Dick Williams instead had closed-door meetings with his coaching staff of Eddie Popowski, Sal Maglie, Bobby Doerr and Al Lakeman after workouts. Even on the team bus, the press was not allowed to sit up back with the players. Williams was afraid they may say something negative and wanted total control of the situation.

Williams brought Eddie Popowski to Boston as the new third-base coach and gave him the locker next to Rico Petrocelli. The good-natured Popowski had managed Petrocelli at both Winston-Salem and at Reading, and helped to build the young shortstop’s self-esteem with daily pep talks. Williams also helped Petrocelli to mature as a player by giving him the responsibility of being the leader of the club’s young infield. The moves gave Rico newfound confidence, and he blossomed as a player.

With his crew cut and sharp tongue, Williams looked and acted like a drill sergeant. He kept reminding his young players that no matter how hard he got on them, it was better than serving in Vietnam. Despite Williams’ “sarcastic” style of getting in a player’s head, pitcher, Dave Morehead said he learned a lot from him and said you always knew where you stood with him.

Williams continued to drill the fundamentals over and over again. He left no stone unturned and as the camp progressed everyone drank his Kool-Aid. Even the veterans like Bob Tillman, Don Demeter, Don McMahon and George Thomas bought in. Although he made an impression during training camp, the odds makers made them a ninth place club and a 100 to 1 underdog in the American League.

As opening day approached, veterans fell by the wayside and Williams stuck with the rookies and second year players that he knew from Toronto. Don Demeter was one of them who lost his position. Demeter was a proven home run hitter, who had batted over .300 until the previous year when he hit .292 with only nine homers. He lost his job to Reggie Smith, who had batted .320 with 18 homers in Toronto.

Joe Foy missed part of the camp with an injury so Williams moved George Scott back to third, so he could get a better look at Tony Horton on first base. When Foy returned however, Scott was moved back to first.

Then John Wyatt broke the shoulder blade of Tony C., when he hit him with a pitch on March 18th. It was the fifth time Tony had broken something in his early career.

Before spring training, Dick Williams had said that the starting second base job was Mike Andrews to lose. Andrews had injured his lower back from lifting off-season weights, however, and the persistent injury affected his defensive range in exhibition games. The tough-talking Williams was not sympathetic.

On March 4th, secondbaseman George Smith tore the cartilage in his knee during camp, leaving Dalton Jones, Andrews and rookie Mike Lehrer. After two Andrews' errors on March 26th, Williams decided to move Reggie Smith to second base and keep Jones as his utility back-up infielder. Andrews eventually moved in to take the job in mid-April, Reggie Smith moved back to center and George Smith never played in the majors again.

In his last spring appearance, Russ Gibson’s three-run homer won the game for the Red Sox, assuring the team a winning Grapefruit League record. After 10 long years in the minors, the local kid from Fall River, Russ Gibson, headed north with the Sox.

With a great change-up added to his repertoire, Billy Rohr easily nailed down a berth on the major-league team on April 6th, pitching six innings in a 4-1 win against the Tigers in Winter Haven, Heading into the season, Rohr was the team’s third starter.

The Red Sox were one of the youngest teams ever to be in the major leagues. Although José Tartabull worked hard on his fielding and hitting, and was still blessed with exceptional speed. Every time he got in a ballgame he did something. He enjoyed a remarkable preseason, and was destined to continue his role backing up each outfield position. Except for Yaz, every starting player in the lineup was 25 years old or younger. The oddsmakers put them at 100-1 to win the pennant.

With temperatures in the high thirties, plus forty mile-per-hour winds, forced the first ever postponement of Opening day since 1953 on April 11th. The opening at Fenway Park was more sad than celebratory. Only 8324 fans showed up to see the Red Sox. Most of the Ted Williams era Red Sox fans were now middle-aged or older and living in the suburbs, while younger fans and thousands of students from the area colleges, only knew of the Red Sox as perennial losers.

In the opening day game, on April 12th, Jim Lonborg beat the Chicago White Sox, 5 to 4, as shortstop Rico Petrocelli went three for three and knocked out a three run homer into a fierce crosswind. Just 8,324 fans turned out at Fenway Park because it was a bitterly cold day, but sparse home crowds in any weather would soon be a thing of the past in Boston.

The Red Sox lost the next day, on April 13th, making three errors in the ninth-inning against the White Sox. They became little leaguers and lost the game, 8 to 5.

On that night, 21-year-old rookie, Billy Rohr tossed and turned in his bed in a New York hotel room, so nervous about his major-league debut the next day against Yankee great Whitey Ford that, instead of sleeping, he spent time analyzing the Yankees lineup with Jim Lonborg. The Yankees may have been in decline, but they still had Mickey Mantle, Tom Tresh, Elston Howard and Joe Pepitone. Just as nervous as Rohr had been his catcher, rookie Russ Gibson.

The team had traveled to Yankee Stadium for the Yankees home opener on April 14th. On a cloudy and cold afternoon, Billy Rohr, made his major-league debut. The Kennedys were on hand as were Mrs Babe Ruth and Mrs Lou Gehrig. Joe Cronin and Lee McPhail were present, and the mayor threw out the first pitch.

Reggie Smith led off the game with a home run, but the Whitey Ford was tough. As the innings passed, Rohr gained more confidence with every hitter he retired. He kept the Yankees off balance, and by mid-game the Red Sox dugout turned quiet, realizing that a no-hitter was being pitched.

In the sixth inning, Bill Robinson lined a ball off Rohr's shin that ricocheted over to Joe Foy at third, who was able to throw out. Rohr regained his composure and continued to set the Yankees down. At this point, even the Yankees fans started to root for him. Foy made not only made the fielding play, but also hit a two-run homer in the eighth to give Rohr a little breathing room in the 3-0 game.

Yankees manager Ralph Houk sent up Mickey Mantle as a pinch-hitter to lead off the bottom of the eighth, hoping to crack Rohr’s aura of calm assuredness. Mantle received a huge ovation from the Yankees fans–but paradoxically an even greater one after he flied to Tony C. in right. The next batter, Lou Clinton, gave the Sox a scare when he reached on a throwing error by Rohr and advanced to second on the walk that followed, but Bill Robinson grounded into a double play, and Rohr was only three outs from baseball history.

And so, in his first major-league start, in the top of the ninth inning, Billy Rohr sat by himself in the Red Sox dugout, marooned in a sea of people, all alone to realize what was taking place.

In the ninth-inning, Yankee left fielder, Tom Tresh was the first batter. As Rohr got ready to face him to start off the ninth inning, a funny thing happened, something that, for some odd reason, seemed to stick in the heads of all those watching. He paused, looking around the infield. Rohr says, he was soaking in the moment. Turning back to the task at hand, he ran the count to 3-2, and then the play of the game took place.

Tresh nailed the first pitch to left-field. At the crack of the bat, Yaz broke back, being guided by some uncanny inner radar. Running as hard as a man could, he dove in full stride and reached out with the glove hand in full extension. At the apex of his dive, Yaz speared the ball, and for one moment of time that would never register on any clock, stood frozen in the air, as if the no-hitter was a thing of destiny. He hit the grass with his left knee first, somersaulted once, came up with the ball in his bare hand held high, and fired the ball back to the infield.

That catch Yaz made in the Stadium to save the no-hitter for Billy Rohr, became the pinnacle moment of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry and the "Impossible Dream". It was no longer about Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio.

The next batter Joe Pepitone lifted a lazy fly ball out to right field for the second out. Dick Williams came out of the dugout to remind his pitcher that the next batter, Elston Howard, might go after the first pitch. Rohr worked him carefully and with the count at 2-2, threw a curve that looked like a strike to everyone but the umpire. Russ Gibson, his catcher,  was sure the umpire blew the call. “It was right down the middle.” said Gibson. However, visiting rookies don’t get the benefit versus a hometown veteran.

The crowd all groaned and Rohr took it in stride, throwing Howard another curve. That one was poked out into right field for a clean single and the no-hitter was gone. The Yankees crowd booed Howard but still gave the rookie pitcher a standing ovation when Charlie Smith made the final out of the game.

After the game, he got to speak on the phone with Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. That was a huge thrill for him, because he had seen Koufax throw his own no-hitter and was a Dodgers fan growing up. Billy Rohr had become an instant celebrity and even made an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Red Sox players quickly learned that winning was all their manager cared about. He would use any means necessary to motivate his players, whether it was benching them, pulling them from games or even criticizing them publicly to the press. He proved to be the most polarizing personality at Fenway Park since Ted Williams. He was impartial and dumped on everyone.

On April 15th, the Red Sox were beaten by Mel Stottlemyre, 1 to 0, who hadn't given up a run in two games this season. The Red Sox never got a man to third base. Dennis Bennett matched Stottlemyre with a five-hit performance but lost.

Then they lost to the Yankees in 18 innings, 7 to 6 on April 16th. Both teams looked good at the beginning. Tony C. tied up the game in the ninth, doubling home Jose Tartabull to knot the score at six apiece. The Sox had blown a lead of 3-0 and got two runs back. Rookie Bill Landis came into the game in the third inning with the Sox up 5 to 3. He walked the first two batters and Dick Williams came out and threatened him that if he couldn't throw strikes, he would be buried far down in the minors. He got the next two batters out, but the two batters he walked, tied the game.

George Scott had four chances to win the game in extra innings and struck out in three of them. He also ignored a take sign on a 3-0 count and Tony C. on second base, grounding out to end the inning. In the end, the teams looked like a couple of characters staggering along until Joe Pepitone singled home Jake Gibbs who had walked and stolen second, in the last of the 18th. 

The Red Sox were only six games into the season when Dick Williams took decisive action against three of his players, benching them for poor performance. He benched Scott first, on April 17th, followed by Joe Foy and Jose Tartabull. Scott had struck out nine times in the first five games and was hitting only .182, once again chasing bad pitches. Williams commented that "Talking to Scott was like talking to cement." Trying to get to Scott, Tony Horton was given the first base job. But he was as bad a fielder as Dick Stuart, put a lot of pressure on himself and failed miserably. Scott was reinstated nine days later.

At Fenway Park, on April 21st, Billy Rohr pitched almost as well as he did in his one-hitter, facing the Yankees and Mel Stottlemyre, winning 6 to 1. He nearly pitched a shutout, only to have it broken up in the eighth, when his personal tormentor, Elston Howard, singled in the only Yankees run. In a bit of irony, before the year was out, Rohr would be back in the minors and Howard would be on the Sox. Rohr never won another game for the Red Sox and earned just one more major league victory in his career.

Dick O'Connell wagered George Scott that every time he hit a ball to the right of the shortstop, he'd give him $20 and Scotty would give him $10 for every hit he pulled to left. He learned to go up the middle and made some good money.

On April 22nd, Scott supplied the winning run as the Sox edged the Yankees, 5 to 4 at Fenway Park. Scotty was sent up to pinch-hit in the sixth inning with the score tied at 4 to 4. He responded with a sacrifice fly to right, that scored George Thomas from third base with the game winner.

The Red Sox beat the Senators, 7 to 4, in a weird, freezing evening, on April 24th.  In the eighth-inning, with the game tied, 4-4, Yaz opened with a slice single to left-center, going the second on a wild pitch. Both Rico Petrocelli and Jose Tartabull walked to load the bases. Up came Mike Andrews, and with everyone running on a 3-2 pitch, Andrews lined one to first at Ken Harrelson. The ball hit his knee and rolled into foul territory toward the Washington dugout. Because everyone was running, three men scored while Harrelson tracked down the ball and the Sox won.

The next day, April 25th, Reggie Smith opened up the game with a home run and the Sox coasted to a 9 to 3. win. Mike Andrews hit his first major-league home run, a three-run shot off the Senators’ Pete Richert. Later in the same contest, Andrews had his first big-league stolen base and scored on a double by Yaz.

It was Hank Fischer’s best effort of the season, a complete-game victory to even his record at 1-1. He threw a five-hitter, walked three and had five strikeouts. However, Fischer earned the wrath of manager Dick Williams for his failure to knock down Senator reliever Bob Humphreys, who had hit Rico Petrocelli with a pitch after Tony C. hit a home run.

After taking two of three from the Yankees and in Washington, the Sox came back to Fenway, 1/2 game out of first place.

Dick Williams' results started speaking for themselves. On April 28th, Jim Lonborg out-dueled Catfish Hunter, shutting out the Athletics and striking out 13 batters and 71 strikeouts overall in his first 70 innings.

On April 29th, the Sox were losing to the A's on a home run by Rick Monday off Don McMahon, 10-9, going into the bottom of the 15th inning. The Sox had fallen behind 5-2, then surged ahead by a score of 8-5. After nine innings the score was deadlocked at 9 to 9. In the 12th inning, the A's had a chance to win, but Yaz threw out Roger Repoz trying to score from second on a hit by Bert Campaneris.

So in the 15th, the Sox had loaded the bases and Jose Tartabull was sent to the plate to pinch-hit for Mike Andrews. He singled with the ball shooting through the drawn-in infield as Tony C. and George Scott scored for an 11-10 walk-off win. The entire Red Sox dugout emptied out onto the field to congratulate Tartabull. Not only was it a dramatic end to a prolonged game, but the win also elevated the Red Sox to a first-place tie with the Yankees in the American League, an accomplishment not enjoyed by the team since 1963.

In the last game of the series, on April 30th, before the largest Fenway crowd since opening day in 1960 because it was "Bat Day", Jim Nash gave nothing to the Red Sox but five hits. Sox pitcher, Darrell Brandon wasn't too generous either, except for a high fastball that Danny Cater knocked out of the park to give the Athletics a 1 to 0 victory. It dropped the Sox back down into third place.

Once he got his chance, Mike Andrews made the most of it, hitting .321 during April, and settled in with Rico Petrocelli to provide strong middle-infield defense for the Sox.

They went on a nine game road trip and started on May 1st in Anaheim. Dennis Bennett, changing speeds beautifully, pitched a six hit shutout and slammed a three run homer. The final score was 4 to 0 and Bennett had mastered the Angels all by himself. He allowed just one extra base hit and only one Angel runner reached third base, as he hurled his first shutout in a Red Sox uniform. George Scott also belted his first "tater" of the year.

It was the team’s first trip to Mike Andrews' home state for the series with the Angels. A contingent of 90 family members and friends made the 45-minute drive to Anaheim on two buses originating from his dad’s bar, and Andrews received rousing applause from the sign-waving group, even when he drew a walk in one of the games.

But the Sox lost 2 of 3 in Anaheim, with the game on May 3rd being a heartbreaker.  Jim Lonborg retired the first 17 batters and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He then went into the ninth inning with a one-hitter, protecting a 1-0 lead given to him by Mike Andrews' fifth inning homer. But he gave up three singles and next threw a wild pitch that bounced in front of the plate. It brought home the runner from third and as Russ Gibson was looking around for the ball that ended up behind him, both Lonborg and Jay Johnstone, who had gone to third, raced home. Johnstone won the race, scoring the winning walk-off run, 2 to 1. 

As Lonborg and Rico Petrocelli walked off the field, Rico tried to console his pitcher by telling him that he threw a nice game that was a tough luck loss. Dick Williams overheard the comment and was fuming. He shot back that that it was tough luck, his ass. Lonborg came back at him and was steaming. But it was that comment that motivated him to be more aggressive on the mound.

The Sox proceeded to now lose 2 of 3 in Minnesota, where the Sox had lost 27 of the last 30 games they played there. The Twins manhandled rookie Billy Rohr in the first game on May 5th, and in the next game, Dean Chance was the villain, as he threw a five hitter that stopped the Sox, 4 to 2 on May 6th.

Yaz was mired in a 4 for 32 batting slump and got benched for the final game on May 7th.  After being down 5 to 1, Tony Horton  tied up the game in the seventh. With George Scott and Don Demeter reaching base, Rico Petrocelli dumped a single into left that scored them both, putting the Sox ahead, 7 to 5. After the departure of Dick Radatz, John Wyatt had become the Sox primary closer. He snuffed out a rally by the Twins in the ninth-inning, getting out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew before getting Bob Allison to pop up, to preserve a fine 9-6 Sox come from behind win.

But the Sox also lost the next 2 of 3 in Kansas City.  In the second game of a twilight doubleheader against the A's on May 9th, Yaz delivering the key hit, a three run double with the score tied at 2 to 2 with two outs in the ninth inning, for a 5-2 win. The first game was lost, 4 to 3 on an unearned run. In the last game of the series, the Sox were guarding a 4 to 3 lead going into the seventh. The A's tied the game and then got an unearned run, which turned out to be the winner, on an error by Mike Andrews.

Dick Williams wasn't satisfied after the dismal 3-6 road trip. Three of the losses were by one run and came as a result of poor defense in the late innings. The team came home in 6th place, 4 1/2 games behind.

Russ Gibson had developed a hand infection, was unable to play, and optioned to Pittsfield on May 10th, when the roster had to be reduced to the 25-man limit.

In the first game back against the Tigers on May 12th at Fenway, the Sox looked more like the Keystone Cops than a baseball team. With Wyatt on the mound and Al Kaline trying to steal second, catcher Bob Tillman rifled the ball down to second.  The only problem was that Wyatt turned around to see the play.  The ball hit him off the back of his head and ricocheted all the way to the batter's circle.  By the time it was retrieved, Kaline had come all the way around to score.  It was the signature moment of how sloppy the Sox had looked, thus far in the young season. Tillman became the prime tenant of Dick Williams’ "doghouse” and was benched for 38 games thereafter.

The players weren't happy with Williams’ emotionally harsh and icy rule. He had left Wyatt in the next game on May 13th after he had given up six runs and the players, especially the pitchers, believed it was thoughtless and mean spirited. As if that wasn’t enough, the players briefly considered mutiny, when the manager repeatedly ridiculed his players in front of the media. That was the last loss in a brutal ten game stretch.

Williams had made a statement by benching Yaz. He felt treating the star of the team like just another player both solidified the his authority and it lit a fire under Yaz, so he would know he would no longer be coddled like the star, who was treated special in the past.

Early in the morning before a doubleheader on May 14th, Yaz met with coach, Bobby Doerr, for an extended session of batting practice. Doerr had told him to hold his bat higher to try and level his swing. After the extended batting sessions, the ball started flying off his bat. In the doubleheader against the Tigers that day, Yaz led a Red Sox sweep, by going 3 for 8 and hitting two home runs.

Yaz worked hard at his game and was mentally tough. He had been under pressure at the beginning of his career being compared to Ted Williams. His hard work began to pay off. He was off to the greatest season of his career.

Rico Petrocelli (.320 BA) also enjoyed the best day of his career. He belted a pair of homers in the first game and had two more hits in the second game. He finished the afternoon with five RBIs.

Pitching was hurting the Sox. They lost their next two games to the Orioles, 8-5 and 12-8. No one was thinking about the Red Sox as a pennant contender. They were in 7th place, 7 games behind, on May 17th.

With the Vietnam War raging, many of the Sox players had joined the reserves. Reservists were required to attend regular meetings and serve two weeks active duty each year. Tony C. was now the first lost to a two week stint in the reserves. He was hitting .304 with a couple of homers and 15 RBIs in 23 games when he left. Because the Red Sox were so young, they also lost Jim Lonborg, Mike Andews, Dalton Jones, Billy Rohr, Bill Landis and Rico Petrocelli at different times.

The Sox pitching staff had given up 56 runs in their last six games and in their last 37 innings, they had given up 17 home runs. Williams now shifted his wrath to those pitchers and made a move that would change things around. He took Billy Rohr out of the rotation and stuck him in the bullpen, giving Jose Santiago his place as a starter. Starting with the next game, Sox pitchers would only give up more than three runs just six times in a 17 game stretch.

On May 19th against the Indians at Fenway, Jim Lonborg gave up a first inning homer to Leon Wagner. It was the 18th homer he had surrendered in 38 innings. But he pitched a gem, giving up only three more hits and striking out 12. He found himself going into the bottom of the 9th inning, behind 2 to 1. Jose Tartabull beat out an infield hit and Reggie Smith lined a triple to center that scored him. Smith was then brought home on a walk-off single by Tony Horton for a 3 to 2 game winner.

But the next night, on May 20th, Cleveland Indians outfielder, Chuck Hinton, hit a distant home run with a man on board in the 10th inning, to beat the Red Sox 5 to 3. But the Sox had come back after being down 3-0 in the seventh inning. They tied the game on a two-run double by Dalton Jones and a single by Rico Petrocelli that sent the game into overtime.

In a doubleheader with the Indians on May 21st, The Sox were down 3-0 in the first game. George Scott led a 4 to 3, come-from-behind win with an eighth inning two run homer.  In the second game, Darrell Brandon, who had not won the game all year, beat the Indians 6 to 2, to sweep the doubleheader. Yaz went 3 for 7, with 4 RBIs and raised his average to .302.

George Scott put on a hitting display in a seven-game span during the homestand, rapping out 11 base hits in 27 at-bats (.417 BA), including two doubles, three triples, and one mammoth home run. For that he won "Player of the Week" honors. The Sox ended their homestand at 5-5, but took 3 of 4 from the Indians and left for Detroit in 4th place, 5 1/2 games behind.

In the opening game in Detroit on May 23rd, Dennis Bennett beat the Tigers, 5 to 2. The Sox got home runs by Rico Petrocelli in the second inning off Mickey Lolich and by Carl Yastrzemski in the eighth-inning, with a man on.

Jim Lonborg (5-1) then pitched one of his finest games against the Tigers, on May 24th, beating them 1-0. He struck out 11 batters and four times he had the first man get on base and three times there was a man on third base with only one out. None of them scored. In a rare start, Dalton Jones got to start at third over Joe Foy because Dick Williams knew that he hit well in Tiger Stadium. Jones had 17 career homers going into that game and five had been hit in Detroit. Of course, Jones hit a solo home run off Denny McLain for the Sox' only run. The Sox lost the final game to old friend, Earl Wilson on May 25th.

In Baltimore, Billy Rohr started for the Sox on May 26th, and he had absolutely nothing on the baseball. Yet he managed to get through the first three innings and allowed only one run. He finally ran out of good luck in the fourth inning when the Orioles got him for three runs. Then in the next game, the Red Sox committed six errors. Manager Dick Williams had Tony Horton at first, but Horton was simply awful, as the Sox were beaten by the Orioles 10 to 0.

On May 28th Jim Lonborg stopped the three game losing streak by beating the Orioles 4 to 3. The Red Sox finished the road trip, going 3-3, and returned to Fenway in 5th place, six games behind. On the trip however, Mike Andrews' bat came alive as he went 11-for-23 to bring up his batting average to .301 and Reggie Smith hit well, going 10-for 26.

Back home on May 30th, in front of the largest attendance seen at Fenway Park in five years, the Sox fell behind in the opening game of a doubleheader. But the Angels got sloppy in the sixth inning and one of their baserunners got jittery in the eighth, allowing the Sox to come back to win it, 5 to 4, on a pinch-hit double by Tony Horton. In the nite cap, Dennis Bennett, who had shut out the Angels in California, only got hit for a home run in the fifth inning of the second game, coasting home 6 to 1. The two wins brought the Sox record to 21-20. They would never fall below .500 again for the rest of the season.

The next day, on May 31st, Yaz slammed two homers for the first two runs against the Minnesota Twins.  Then with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, Mike Ryan scored George Scott with a suicide squeeze bunt. The Sox had their fourth consecutive win, defeating the Twins 3-2, and finished the month in third place, 4 1/2 games behind the Tigers and White Sox.

As June started, Billy Rohr lost again. Dean Chance shut out the Red Sox, 4 to 0, on four hits and striking out 10, on June 1st.

The following night, on June 2nd, Jim Lonborg came within five outs of throwing a no-hitter at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Duke Sims broke it up with a ground-rule double in the eighth inning. Lonnie settled for a three hitter and a 2 to 1 victory, his seventh of the season. Yaz gave him all the runs he needed with his 11th HR of the season.

In the next game on June 3rd, Tony C. returned from his two weeks army duty as Dennis Bennett beat the Indians’ Gary Bell. Bennett brought his record to 4-1, with a 2.97 ERA. Jose Santiago came in the seventh inning and got every batter he faced, nine men and nine outs for the save. It hammered down a 6 to 2 victory over the Indians.

In the final game, on June 4th, Steve Hargan, the Cleveland Indians most effective pitcher, threw his fourth shutout of the season, a five hitter that stopped the Red Sox, 3 to 0. The Sox had taken 2 of 3 from the Indians and Yaz had reached base in 31 consecutive games.

The Red Sox had always been a haven for Tom Yawkey's cronies and friends, but now it was all business under O'Connell. The club was beginning to shed the losing reputation that they had had for so many years.

With reliever John Wyatt heating up, it gave GM Dick O'Connell, the luxury of trading Don McMahon to the White Sox along with minor-leaguer Bob Snow in exchange for infielder Jerry Adair, who was a former teammate of Dick Williams. Adair’s toughness appealed to Williams. He filled in for the injured Rico Petrocelli at short off-and-on for a month, playing errorless defense.

The following day O'Connell obtained starting right-handed pitcher, Gary Bell from the Indians, for Tony Horton and Don Demeter. Bell had been an All-Star in 1966, but behind the hard throwing staff of Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert and Luis Tiant, he was a fourth starter for the Indians and having a mediocre year. The Indians needed a power hitter like Horton, who was playing behind George Scott at first base. He was only used as a pinch-hitter by Dick Williams, and would be the everyday firstbaseman for Cleveland, so the deal was good for both teams.

Both would prove to be important players for the Sox going forward. Adair and Bell were two opposites however. Jerry Adair was quiet and workman-like, while Gary Bell was a character, with a wonderful sense of humor. And although Yaz appeared to be all business and emotionless to outsiders, he was a prankster to his teammates. Yaz and Bell kept everyone loose in the clubhouse.

White Sox manager, Eddie Stanky was a lot like Dick Williams. Both would do anything to win, were accomplished bench jockeys and did whatever it took to get under the skin of their opponents. Stanky had little respect for neither Yaz nor the Red Sox, in general. He called Yaz "An All-Star from the neck down" to the Chicago sportswriter. That was a mistake because those words got Yaz angry and it motivated him even more when the Red Sox moved on to meet the White Sox in Chicago.

Yaz was 2-for-4 in the first game that the Red Sox lost to the White Sox, 5-2, in the June 8th doubleheader, but boosted his batting average up 18 points to .322. Then he batted the Red Sox to a 7 to 3 victory over the White Sox to help end a three-game losing streak. Gary Bell made his Red Sox debut in the second game and got the win. Yaz belted his 17th home run of the season, a 430 foot shot to straightaway center field, and had four hits in five at bats. He got his sweet revenge, by going six for nine in the doubleheader. As he rounded third, after hitting his home run, he slowed down and tipped his cap toward Stanky and the White Sox bench. Newcomer Jerry Adair also collected three hits for his new team, filling in for Rico Petrocelli.

The following evening, June 9th, was "Cap Day" at Fenway and the Sox were home to play the Washington Senators, who were beaten, 8 to 7, in a thrill packed game. Yaz (14 HRs, .328 BA) kept going at a frantic pace and contributed a pair of home runs. He had hit six home runs in his last 32 times at bat, knocking in 39 runs, and had a slugging percentage of .630. Despite going 3-for-9 with a home run in the doubleheader the day before, Joe Foy was benched, but came back quickly. Called off the bench to pinch-hit for Jim Lonborg, he hit a fifth-inning homer and added another one later in the game. Foy went on a tear after that, hitting safely in 18 of the next 20 games.

The next day, on June 10th, Yaz doubled in the first inning just before George Scott hit one of his "taters" into the centerfield seats, but the Sox lost, 7 to 3.

In a doubleheader on June 11th, the Red Sox spotted the Senators three runs in each game and then went after them. It worked out for the Sox in the first game, when they caught them with Tony Conigliaro hitting a line drive off the pitcher's arm, to give the Sox a 4 to 3 victory. But although the Red Sox came back and squared things with the Senators in the second game, they saw Washington pull way. George Scott's three run homer in the ninth-inning left them short, as the Nats got a split with an 8 to 7 win.

With the Yankees in town on June 12th, Gary Bell blinded the Yanks, 3 to 1, on seven hits, striking out eight and walking only one. But the fans had a little more to cheer about. Russ Gibson, who waited all these years, to get into the big leagues, sent one of Joe Verbanic's pitches into the left-field net during the second inning, with a man on first. It was his very first big-league home run.

Then the next night, June 13th, the Yankees got 12 hits off Jim Lonborg and pinned the second defeat of the year on him, 5 to 3. The Sox were 3-3 so far on the homestand, treading water in 4th place, five games behind the White Sox who were coming to Fenway next.

In a doubleheader on June 14th, the White Sox provided the Red Sox with one of the wildest nights in some time. Every time Eddie Stanky came out of the dugout, he got booed and had things thrown at him. One of the fans held up a home-made sign. It read "Eddie Stanky - a great manager from the ankles down"

The day ended with the Red Sox pulling out a near riotous second game, 6 to 1, to gain a split of a doubleheader. The first game was also a thriller, as Chicago hung on to win, 8 to 7, with relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, striking out George Scott with the bases loaded in the ninth-inning. Then, behind great pitching by Lee Stange, the Sox pulled out the second game for his first win of the season. He pitched seven strong innings, giving up just one run and five hits.

On June 15th, the Red Sox played one their best games of the season up to that point. For nine innings, neither rookie Gary Waslewski, the Sox pitcher, nor Bruce Howard who was pitching for the White Sox, gave up a run. Waslewski had to leave in the 10th with a muscle pull behind his left shoulder. A crowd of 16,775 at Fenway gave the rookie a standing ovation when he left the field.

In the top of the 11th, the White Sox appeared to wrap it up when they scored the first run of the game, to go ahead 1 to 0. In the bottom half of the 11th, with two outs and Joe Foy on first base, Tony C. came up to hit against relief pitcher John Buzhardt. He was in an 11-for49 slump since coming back from the army. The count went to three and two, and then Tony C. slammed a drive into the left-field screen that triggered the wildest of celebrations. He had many big moments in his young major league career and could add this game to the list.

The Red Sox, who had made a habit of coming from behind to win games all season, this time did it was against the first place White Sox, 2-to-1. The win moved them up by percentage points to put them in a tie for third place, just four games out of first.

The team then went back on the road. First they went to Washington and lost 3 of 4, but on June 17th, Jim Lonborg defeated the Senators, 5 to 1, for his eighth win of the year. Lonborg had now completed six games for the Red Sox and knocked in a run himself, to help his cause.

On June 19th, third baseman Joe Foy went to visit his parents in the Bronx before a game at Yankee Stadium. He was told his house was on fire as he arrived. Foy was responsible for getting his parents out safely, but the house was destroyed. The next day, June 20th, he hit a grand slam homer to beat the Yankees, 7 to 1.

In the next game, on June 21st, Yankee pitcher, Thad Tillotson, threw at Foy and Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg remembered that when Tillotson came to the plate the next inning, hitting him in the back. "Gentleman Jim" had a reputation of brushing back opposing hitters, and as Tillotson went down to first, he glared back at Lonborg and said something. Foy came across the diamond, and both benches emptied.

Rico Petrocelli was a central figure in the brawl. Petrocelli and Yankees first baseman Joe Pepitone had gotten involved in some friendly verbal jousting. The two were friends who had grown up in Brooklyn together, but when things escalated into a full-scale battle, it took a dozen Yankee Stadium security guards, including Petrocelli’s brother David (who pulled Rico out from under a pile of Yankees), to help restore order. The fight was recognized as a defining moment that helped to bring the Sox together as a team. The Red Sox won 8 to 1 and the victory was Lonborg's ninth, leaving him just one less than his total wins in the previous year.

The Red Sox (33-31) ended their June road trip, again playing .500 baseball, going 3 and 3.  They were in 3rd place, 6 games behind the White Sox.

On June 23rd, Joe Foy's hot bat led the Sox to an 8 to 4, victory over the Indians at Fenway. Foy had four hits, two of which were triples, and he scored three runs. But the Sox experienced their first major injury of the season in the game when Rico Petrocelli was hit on the wrist. Jerry Adair took his place at short and immediately started to produce, playing errorless ball for the next 28 games.

After a couple of rough starts, Dennis Bennett's fell to 4-3, and his relationship with Dick Williams deteriorated further. On June 24th Dick O'Connell traded Bennett to the Mets for minor leaguer Al Yates, who would never pitch for the Red Sox. He also optioned Billy Rohr to the Triple A team in Toronto and brought up a great young pitcher named Sparky Lyle. Meanwhile, Dalton Jones left for his two weeks of military reserve service and 19 year old Ken Poulsen was brought up from Winston-Salem in Class A ball. Poulsen got into five games and went 1-for-5 before later being sent back down.

On June 25th, the Sox exploded with three home runs and bombed the Indians, 8 to 3. Bob Tillman, Joe Foy and Carl Yastrzemski were the slugging starts. Tillman, who had only eight hits all year, collected three in the game, including his first home run. The hot Joe Foy, again, had three hits and blasted his 10th home run of the year. Yaz hit his 18th home run of the season with a man on.

In late June, owner Tom Yawkey threatened that he would take the team out of Boston unless a new stadium was constructed. He said he was losing money year after year with the Red Sox. Yawkey, who was in his 35th year as owner of the team, did not set a specific date for when the club could be moved. But when asked if the Red Sox would still be playing at Fenway Park five years from now, he answered "no".

For as long as he has owned the Red Sox, Yawkey had been strapped by inadequate parking and limited seating at Fenway Park. These two factors he claimed, were the major reasons for the Red Sox losing money over the years. He indicated that he was losing in excess of a million dollars each year.

The Boston Patriots shared Fenway Park with the Red Sox, and their owner, Billy Sullivan also wanted a new stadium.  He pushed to chair a commission for exploring the possibility to get the city to build a new 60,000 seat domed stadium, with a retractable roof in the South Station section of Boston. 

Yawkey signed on to the idea, in hopes that a new stadium idea might fall on progressive ears that would listen, considering within the city’s aggressive plans for redevelopment in the early 1960s. Their comments spurred a great deal of activity among the politicians in Boston. By late summer, a sketch of a proposed $60 million stadium, appeared in the papers. But the city, as before, had no desire to fund a private stadium and again, the plan never saw the light of day

But things were changing for Yawkey and his team. As the Red Sox were starting to prove that they were in it for real, the fans in Boston started to get excited. Yawkey soon became aware that the Boston fans would come out and support a contending team, something they hadn't seen since 1950.

Attendance started creeping up as older fans started driving in to the ballpark from the suburbs and the younger fans were streaming in from the local colleges.  Their homestand in May averaged 13,000 fans for ten games.  In the three game series with the Indians at the end of June, the Sox attendance averaged 28,000 each game, just 4000 short of a half million fans for the year, their best attendance mark in the last decade.

Winning was contagious. Tony C. loved being on a winning team and he ached to be the one who would get the winning hit or score the winning run. But the year belonged to Yaz, who was hitting for average and for power. Not being the slugging hero, pushed Tony C. to work even harder. Yaz wanted to get the hit that meant the team would win, but Tony C. wanted to get the hit that would make the crowd cheer for him more than Yaz.

Yaz and Rico Petrocelli, were named as American League starters in the All Star Game. Jim Lonborg was named as one of the pitchers and Tony C. was added by the A.L. All Star manager, Hank Bauer of the Orioles, when both Frank Robinson and Al Kaline were injured.

Al Kaline, the top American League All Star vote getter, broke a finger in a fit of anger by slamming his bat back into the rack. It would be a major reason why the Tigers eventually lost their chance at winning. And losing the reigning MVP, Frank Robinson, who suffered a concussion in a baserunning collision, also kept the Orioles from repeating as American League champs. The injuries to the two All Stars of the American League would help the Red Sox pennant chances dramatically and made an already tight pennant race, even tighter.

Tony C. celebrated his selection to the All-Star team with a tape measure three run homer, that carried the Red Sox to a 5 to 3 victory over the Athletics in Kansas City, on June 30th. It also gave Gary Bell, his fifth win against just one loss, since he was traded to the Red Sox.

The Sox ended June in 3rd place, 5 1/2 games behind the White Sox and just one game behind the Tigers.

On July 1st the Sox belted the Athletics, 10-2. Tony C., with three hits, including his 11th home run, had now hit nine home runs in his last 72 trips to the plate, or one in every eight times at bat. Jim Lonborg picked up his 10th win and was second in the major leagues to only Juan Marichal with 120 strikeouts.

On July 2nd, in a 2-1 Sox win over the A's, Catfish Hunter stopped Yaz's streak of reaching base in 56 straight games. So far this year, Yaz had only failed to get on base in only three games. Gary Waslewski was the winner, throwing a three-hitter with “nothing but a high school curveball.” In the sixth inning, Waslewski picked off American League stolen base leader Bert Campaneris with his 10th throw to first.

Dick Williams liked to use Mike Ryan behind the plate because of his arm and his defensive skills. Ryan dislocated his finger trying to catch an errant throw from Lonborg when his glove slipped off the game before. He got it taped up and continued to play and the A's didn't steal any base in the three game series. The A's led the league with 132 stolen bases.

On July 3rd, Lee Stange kept the Red Sox winning streak alive by stopping the California Angels with a seven hitter, 9 to 3 at Anaheim Stadium. He was backed by home runs from Mike Andrews, Reggie Smith and Tony Conigliaro.

Breaking into the major leagues on July 4th, in the seventh inning at Anaheim Stadium, Sparky Lyle made his big debut. In the two innings he pitched, Lyle gave up one hit, walked one, allowed no runs, and struck out three.

The Sox lost 2 of 3 to the Angels, and in the last game of the series, on July 5th, the Angels beat the Sox, 4 to 3, on a ninth-inning walkoff two-run homer by Don Mincher. George Thomas had given the Sox a one-run lead in the top of the ninth.

The Sox lost three games in a row in Detroit. On July 7th with a 5-4 extra inning loss in Detroit, the Red Sox (40-37) had lost exactly 19, more than 1/2 of their games, by just one run. In their last 25 games, the Sox were 15-10, and all ten of the frustrating losses, were by one run.

Finally, in the second game of a July 9th doubleheader, Jim Lonborg stopped the longest Red Sox losing streak of the season. The Sox had lost the opener to the Tigers, 10 to 4. Lonborg was great even after be became dehydrated and disoriented in the hot and muggy afternoon. He lost twelve pounds but pitched seven masterful innings in the second game, and give the Red Sox a 3 to 0 victory. Home runs by Reggie Smith and Yaz provided the winning runs for his 11th victory. Yaz had five hits on the day breaking out of a mini-slump.

The Sox concluded the first half by winning only six on their 13 game road trip and went into the All Star break in 5th place, six games behind the White Sox. The Sox run production for the past eight games had been a meager 21 runs and only 15 of those were earned, or less than two a game.

The Red Sox were the top hitting team in the American League. At the All-Star break, they were batting .254 as a team, six points better than Baltimore. Carl Yastrzemski (.324 BA) was third in the league in batting, fourth in home runs with 19, and third with RBIs at 56. Tony Conigliaro (.295 BA), Rico Petrocelli (.291 BA) and George Scott (.288 BA) were also in the American League top ten in batting. Jim Lonborg (11-3) was fourth in the AL in pitching.

While the rest of the team went to the traditional family clambake on the Cape, the Red Sox All Stars flew to Anaheim. In the All Star Game, Yaz had three hits, struck out once and drew two walks. Tony C. made the defensive play of the game. Orlando Cepeda, blasted what looked like an extra base hit to right-center. Tony C. raced out and made a backhanded stab, running at full speed. The National League won the game in the 15th inning on Tony Perez's homer, 2 to 1.

Following the All Star break, the Sox split a doubleheader in a home series against the Orioles on July 13th. The opening game victory went to Lee Stange, who did quite well until the sixth inning when he had the bases loaded with two out and the Red Sox ahead 4 to 1. Dick Williams called in rookie, Sparky Lyle, who fanned Boog Powell on three straight pitches to end the inning. The Sox lost the second game but would win the next ten, their longest winning streak in 16 years.

TONY C. GREETED AFTER A HOMER

Jim Lonborg won his 12th game of the year, had leads of 8 to 0 and 11 to 5, yet still needed help from his bullpen on July 14th. Yaz banged out his 20th homer and Tony C. hit a moon-shot over Lansdowne Street, onto the roofs and landing on the Mass Pike. It was one of the longest homers ever hit out of Fenway Park.

On July 15th, one the plays of the season happened in the very first inning. With runners on first and second, Paul Blair slammed the ball on a line to the left of Joe Foy, who one-handed it, threw to Mike Andrews to double up after Luis Aparicio, and then as Snyder banged into him, he fell back a couple of feet and finally threw to first, with George Scott finishing off a triple play.

Sparky Lyle came out of the bullpen, once again, and put out a fire, shutting off the Detroit Tigers, for a 9 to 5 Red Sox win on July 16th. Yaz hit his 21st home run, bettering his top home run total in his seven seasons of major league ball.

Norm Siebern was now acquired for the waiver price of $20,000. Dick Williams, a teammate of Siebern’s at Kansas City in 1960, welcomed the well-traveled slugger. He had played with him and liked his hustle and effort.

The next day, July 17th, Yaz (.328 BA) doubled and homered into the net in left, for his 22nd of the year, and his 61st and 62nd RBIs. Lee Stange was in trouble at the start of the game and maneuvered himself out of it, as the Red Sox went on to defeat the Tigers, 7 to 1. The Sox won four in a row, as they swept the Tigers, before heading out on a six-game road trip. In the homestand, Yaz batted .380 (8 for 21).

Healthy and on a hot streak, the Red Sox went into Baltimore and beat the Orioles twice behind Jim Lonborg, who won his major league leading 13th game on July 18th with a five-hitter and 11 strikeouts.

The next day, July 19th, the Red Sox won their sixth straight game, 6 to 4. Mike Andrews belted a three run homer that ignited a five-run fifth inning. Joe Foy was 3 for 5 in the game and had 14 hits in his last 32 times at bat, for a .437 BA during that streak. The Sox pulled to 1 1/2 games of the American League lead and headed to Cleveland.

During a rain-out on July 20th, George Scott and several Orioles players were kidding around with each other. When Scotty came back to the dugout, Dick Williams kiddingly told him he would be fined $50 for fraternizing with the enemy. Scotty shot back the he was not fraternizing, he was just talking with them.

In the first game of the series, on July 21st, Darrell Brandon pitched a complete-game and Joe Foy clubbed a three-run homer off Luis Tiant. The Sox won 6-2 giving them sole possession of second place. However, it was to be Brandon’s final big league win as a starter.

The next day, July 22nd, Lee Stange threw a 4 to 0 shutout against the tribe, on just 83 pitches, to push the Sox to within half a game from the top.

On July 23rd, Lonborg (14-3) won his fifth in a row, striking out 11 Indians in the first game of a doubleheader, and Gary Bell then beat his old teammate, Luis Tiant, 5 to 1 for the series sweep in the second game. Reggie Smith stole home in the fourth inning, scoring what proved to be, the winning run. Tony C. at the age of twenty-two, became the youngest player to hit 100 homers when he hit his 17th of the season and Joe Foy, for the second time in three days hit a homer off Tiant, this one being a grandslam.

The Sox (52-40) had won 10 in a row for the first time since May in 1957, and had gone from fifth place into second place, 1/2 game out, outscoring their opponents, 67-26. They had gotten everyone's attention, putting the club in its first pennant race in more than a decade. It was a fun clubhouse that Yaz put in perspective. He said when the team won, they were playing a kid's game, but when they lost, the game became a business.

Another generation of Red Sox fans was starting to fall in love with the team. They were different from the war veterans who had cheered their invincible club of the late 1940s, and even those fans were starting to come back. The young women were coming for another reason. They were swooning over Tony C. and a large number of teenagers and college students were beginning to identify with the youthful Red Sox underdogs.

Mike Andrews was a key man in the ten-game winning streak, with two hits (including a three-run homer) in Baltimore and three more safeties (with another homer) in Cleveland. Happy with Andrews’ contributions, owner Tom Yawkey quietly gave him a midseason salary boost from $11,000 to $15,000.

When the Red Sox returned, 15,000 fans were waiting for them at Logan Airport. Not even the Beatles, who had visited Boston the year before, had caused such a commotion. The players were stunned by their reception and joked that they would have to sacrifice Tony C. to appease the crowd. It was that night that baseball was reborn in Boston. Nearly as many people mobbed the Fenway Park ticket offices the next day for the upcoming homestand. It was the biggest walk up sale at Fenway Park since the 1940s pennant years. "Go Red Sox" bumper stickers seem to appear overnight on every car in New England. After that point, the Red Sox front office no longer announced the team's travel schedule.

After a communications snafu led the now-rabid fans to think that the game was sold out, Fenway Park was only half full when the two hottest teams in baseball, met for the next game at Fenway Park on July 25th. The Angels won, 6 to 4 and wrapped up the game in the first three innings against rookie Gary Waslewski. 

On July 26th, with a full house at Fenway, Mike Andrews hit a ball only about 20 feet, to highlight a Red Sox comeback against the Angels. Angels pitcher George Brunet had pitched a one-hitter thru six innings. The seventh inning started with the Sox down, 4-1.

A double off the wall by Tony C. started things off. George Scott next hit a line to right-center that banged against the Red Sox bullpen. Conigliaro scored, while Scotty was racing around for a triple. Petrocelli popped a fly ball to left that scored Scott, cutting the Angels lead to, 4 to 3.

Reggie Smith followed next with a high bouncer down the first base line. Don Mincher was ready to grab it, but the ball bounced over his head for a single. Norm Siebern bounced a ball between first and second, that Bobby Knoop got on the run, but as he turned to throw, the ball slipped out of his glove. Reggie was safe and then moved over to third.

Andrews now strolled to the plate and was thinking about a bunt. So he tipped off Reggie at third, and the bunt went down the third-base line as Reggie broke for home. It worked perfectly as Reggie scored the tying run and Andrews beat the play at first. Joe Foy was next and hit a ground ball down to Jim Fregosi at short. Andrews, who had taken a big lead, canceled any chance of a doubleplay or a force at second, as Fregosi threw the ball to first base. The play was fairly close at first, however, and umpire, Bill Haller, signaled that Foy was safe to load up the bases.

Now up came Yaz, who blasted a ball off the wall in left-center. With everybody on the run, centerfielder, Jose Cardenal, threw the ball off off-line to the plate. The ball bounded toward the grandstand, and Yaz rounded third and tried to score. Catcher, Bob Rodgers fielded the rebound and threw it to Don Mincher, who nailed Yaz at the plate. He was out, but was credited with a double, and clearing the bases giving the Red Sox the lead in a 9-6 come-from-behind win. It gave Bill Landis his first major league victory.

The next day, on July 27th, the "Impossible Dream" took root. The largest crowd at Fenway Park sine opening day in 1958 was on-hand. The Sox trailed the Angels, 5 to 2, on homers by Yaz and George Scott. in the bottom of the ninth. Mike Andrews led off the inning with a single to left. Joe Foy then came up and crushed a home run into the left field netting, bringing the Sox to within one run. One out later,  Tony C. jumped on the first pitch and sent it rocketing into the screen, tying up the game and sending it into extra innings. In the top of the 10th,

Yaz snagged a line drive on the dead run, that was ticketed for extra bases. Moments later, he fielded a hit by Bob Rodgers and gunned out Don Mincher at the plate, with what would have been the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the 10th, Reggie Smith worked the count to, 3-2, then sliced a ball down the right-field line, scooting all the way to third base for a triple. Jerry Adair stepped to the plate and hit a chopper down the third-base line. The ball took a bad hop by Paul Schaal and scored Reggie with the winning run.

The Sox players poured out of the dugout with a celebration that carried into the locker room. For the first time in decades, the Red Sox players actually believed they couldn't be beat.

The city of Boston and New England embraced the Red Sox with unbridled enthusiasm that bridged the generation gaps and drowned out a summer of political issues, that were reshaping the country and the world. The dominant voices on transistor radios throughout the summer were not those of the Beatles or the Beach Boys, but those of Red Sox broadcasters, Ned Martin, Mel Parnell and Ken Coleman.

One day a motorist caused a major traffic jam in the city, because he stopped his car to listen to an important at-bat during a game. He was about to enter the Sumner Tunnel under Boston Harbor, where there was no reception, and didn't want to miss what happened.

The Sox lost the next game to Dean Chance and the Twins, 9 to 2, on July 28th. Then the following day, July 29th, four pinch hitters carried out their assignments, without a slip and Yaz's strong-arm twice cut down Minnesota baserunners, allowing the Red Sox to come from behind with a 6 to 3 win in the opener of a twi-night doubleheader. The Sox rallied with four runs in the eighth-inning, but the Twins toughened up and slaughtered Sox pitching in the second game with five home runs, in a 10 to 3 Sox defeat.

The Sox lost to the Twins again, on July 30th with a bizarre play to end the game. With Mike Andrews was on third and Joe Foy was on first with the tying run, Yaz was at bat, with two outs. He hit a high pop fly between the mound and the plate, slightly toward first base. Cesar Tovar, the Minnesota Twins secondbaseman, came in for it, as did firstbaseman Rich Reese. Catcher Gerry Zimmerman yelled for Tovar to grab the ball. Reese was yelling that he had it. Andrews, heading toward first also yelled that he had it, to distract them. Reese and Tovar collided as the ball came down. Reese had the ball in his glove, but lost it as he fell backward. As he was falling to the ground, he reached out again and was able to grab it for the final out.

That day was “Russ Gibson Day” organized by a number of his Fall River fans and friends. He didn’t disappoint the 45 buses and more than 200 private cars that brought his fans to Fenway. He went 2-for-4 with two doubles. Soon after the “day,” another roster move took Gibson back to Pittsfield.

On July 31st against the Twins. Lee Stange threw 6 2/3 innings of perfect baseball before allowing a single to Harmon Killebrew, and wound up tossing a three-hit shutout, 4 to 0. The Sox (56-44) finished the month two games behind the White Sox in second place.

Dave Morehead was brought up from Toronto and ordered to come directly to Boston to pitch the next game. The Maple Leafs were playing in Columbus, and instead of coming straight to Boston, Morehead stopped off in Toronto to take care of some business and was late in reporting. When he arrived at the ballpark, Dick Williams verbally blasted him for thinking he could just do what he wanted, as had happened in previous years.

Morehead was so nervous that he let the A's score four runs in his first appearance in the first game of a doubleheader on August 1st. Backed by the five hit pitching from Chuck Dobson, the A's took the first game, 4 to 3. In the nightcap, Jim Lonborg wasn't sharp, giving up eight hits and walking five batters. But the Sox battled back from a 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead. After Lonborg hit Danny Cater with a pitch, Sparky Lyle was brought in and pitched 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief. With a 15 hit attack, the Sox gained an 8 to 3 victory.

The following day, August 2nd, the Athletics tagged John Wyatt for four runs and charged from behind to whip the Sox, 8 to 6.

Mike Ryan did the majority of the catching, however, there was some tension between Dick Williams and Ryan because the two did not see eye-to-eye over pitch selection. So Dick O'Connell then acquired Elston Howard, in a deal for Ron Klimkowski and Pete Magrini from the New York Yankees.

Now Elston Howard was 38 years old and had been part of the Yankees' winning tradition. He had class and had the experience of playing in nine World Series and nine All Star appearances. He was understandably upset after being a Yankee for 13 years, His first reaction was to retire. Tom Yawkey and Haywood Sullivan both got on the phone and called him personally, to pump him up on the idea of being a  part of a pennant race again. He thought about it and decided to come to the Red Sox for the ride. To make room for him, Jose Tartabull was sent to the minor-league team in Pittsfield.

Elston Howard's greatest contribution to the young Red Sox, may be one that can’t be measured in the clubhouse. His knowledge of the hitters in the league, his game-calling ability, and his calming presence also helped the entire pitching staff.

On August 3rd, Mike Andrews hit his second home run in two days, his only ones at Fenway Park in his career, and drove in the tying and leading runs in the sixth inning off Catfish Hunter. Dave Morehead bounced back and pitched five innings of good relief ball, winning a 5 to 3 game. The Sox finished their homestand just as they had started it, in 2nd place, two games behind the White Sox.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, American League owners voted to split the league into two five team divisions. A 3 of 5 game divisional playoff series would determine which team would represent the A.L. in the World Series.

George Scott continued to play well following the All-Star break, both in the field and with the bat. By the first week in August, he was hitting .294 and was among the American League batting leaders.

The first road trip in August did not go well. The Sox flew up to Minnesota for the start of a nine-game trip. But the Twins were in the pennant race too. The Sox were shut out in the first game, 3-0 on August 4th. They lost the second game, 2-1, only getting three hits on August 5th.

And on August 6th, Jim Lonborg, pitching on a one-day pass from the Army, faced Dean Chance. Chance threw a perfect game for five innings, before a 57 minute torrential rain ended it, with the Twins leading 2 to 0. The sweep enabled the Twins to move ahead of the Sox into second place, by one percentage point.

On August 7th, Jose Tartabull was back up with the Sox when Bob Tillman was sold to the Yankees and Russ Gibson was sent down to Pittsfield. Dick Williams now backed off his "We'll win more games than we'll lose" mantra and predicted the race would go down to the final games with the Twins at Fenway.

In Kansas City, the Athletics won the first game of a twi-night doubleheader, 5 to 3 on August 8th. That made four straight losses for the Sox. Dick Williams then tried a way to snap his team out of it by shuffling his lineup in the second game. Down by three, the Sox  tied the game in the seventh inning. Then in the ninth they won the game with a three run rally after two were out. Norm Siebern had the big hit, a bases-loaded single that brought in two runs. The Sox had rallied for a 7 to 5 victory to stop the losing streak.

Pitcher Hank Fischer was reactivated from the disabled list, and wound up pitching in both ends of the doubleheader, pitching three scoreless innings. Although he had come off the disabled list, assistant general manager Haywood Sullivan said he was not throwing hard and was still having arm troubles. Fischer was therefore sent down to Toronto, where he finished the season.

Jerry Adair, had three singles for two games in a row, driving in three runs on August 9th, giving Jim Lonborg his 16th victory, 5 to 1. Lonborg, who had just flown in from Atlanta from two days of Army reserve, was tired but pitched a great game.

Weight control was constantly an obsession for Dick Williams. He had Joe Foy, Reggie Smith, George Scott, Elston Howard and Dalton Jones show up for a 10AM workout the next day. None of the players knew what was going on, because he never talked to them.

And although the Sox rebounded and won 2 of 3 in Kansas City, Dick Williams benched Scotty, who was batting .289, because of his weight, when the team went to Anaheim. Williams put Eddie Popowski in charge of weighing him before each game. If Scotty was overweight, Norm Siebern would play first base. Players were confused how one of the team's best players could not play during a pennant race. But Williams thought that it was important that he not appear wishy-washy. What was important in spring training was to remain important all year. It was a message to the whole team. If he lost their respect for the rules, they no chance of winning. So to his credit, George Scott never complained and did the work.

In the last game of the trip out west, on August 13th, Yaz got knocked unconscious when he banged into the wall, chasing down a fly ball in the first inning by Jose Cardenal, that went for an inside-the-park home run. Yaz continued to play but had blurred vision by the end of the game. They lost 3 to 2.

The Red Sox finished the road trip in California just as they had started it in Minnesota, losing three straight games, and scoring only three runs. Sox batters posted an anemic .199 batting average. What seemed special about the Red Sox was beginning to fade. By losing 7 of 9 on the trip, they returned to Boston in fifth place. Fortunately, however, they remained the same as when they started the trip, 2 1/2 games out of first, crucial in the close American League race. The top five teams were only separated by three games.

Back at Fenway on August 15th, against the third place, Detroit Tigers, Dave Morehead pitched a 4-0 shutout in the opening game, his first complete game since his 1965 no-hitter. George Scott weighed in at his proper weight before the Red Sox returned to Fenway, thanks to some fudging by Eddie Popowski and was reinstated into the lineup. Scotty made some slick plays in the field and homered, as did Yaz.

In the next game, on August 16th, Scotty homered twice and drove in four runs, to lead the Sox in an 8-3 win. Darrell Brandon relieved Lee Stange early in the game and pitched seven shutout innings to earn what would be his last win in a Red Sox uniform. The Sox took two of three from Detroit and dislodged them from third place. When Scotty did play, he batted .350 in August.

As attendance at Fenway Park topped the one million mark for the first time since 1960, governor John Volpe was endorsing a new 50,000 seat stadium to the Massachusetts legislature, that would have a retractable roof, and be home to both the Red Sox and Patriots.

On the off-day, August 17th, Tony C.’s partner in the music business, Ed Penney, was visiting his sons at the "Ted Williams Baseball Camp" in Lakeville, Mass. Ted told Peeney to tell Tony that he’s been crowding the plate and to back off, because it’s getting too serious now with the Red Sox. As Ted was going up to the stands to make some kind of talk to the campers, he turned around and yelled "Don’t forget what I told you. Tell him to back off, because they’ll be throwing at him."

And so the next night, August 18th was a date that proved to be a major turning point in Red Sox history. The game started the Sox on a seven game winning streak that put them right back in the thick of the pennant race. But it also essentially marked the end of the career of Tony Conigliaro. Ed Penney reminded Tony C., before the game what Ted Williams had said. But Tony was in a slump at the time, and thought that he couldn’t back off the plate or pitchers wouldn’t take him seriously. If anything, he was going to dig in a little closer.

The California Angels came to Fenway Park and the Sox hoped to avenge their three-game sweep in Anaheim the previous weekend. Gary Bell pitched the opening game of the series against Jack Hamilton.

The game was scoreless going into the fourth inning. Bell had retired the first 12 Angels batters and Hamilton had allowed just one hit to the Sox, when Tony C. came to the plate. He took his stance leaning over the inside of the plate.

Hamilton wound up and his first pitch rode in high and tight. Tony C. didn't like to jump out of the way. He'd just lean his head back as the ball zoomed past, showing no fear to the pitcher. But this time the ball tailed in on him and he didn't react quick enough. The ball struck him on the left cheekbone, just underneath the eye with a sharp crack. It was a sickening sound. The players in the dugout cringed when they heard it. Tony C. went down like he had been shot. The crowd was stunned as the umpire stood over him, waving frantically to the Sox dugout.

He lay motionless on the ground. Rico Petrocelli was on deck and was the first to reach him. Tony was awake but disoriented. Blood was coming out of his ear, his mouth, and his nose. Rico tried to tell him that everything would be alright. Seconds later, Buddy LeRoux and the Angels trainer Freddy Frederico circled around him. They tried to keep the conscious young star still, as they waited for a stretcher and an ambulance. For a full 10 minutes Fenway Park was stone silent as Tony lay kicking his legs. As he was carried off the field by Jim Lonborg, Joe Foy and Mike Ryan, the crowd applauded him and then turned their anger toward Jack Hamilton, who stood motionless on the mound.

Jose Tartabull went to first as the pinch runner when play continued. Petrocelli tripled him home for the first Red Sox run in a game they eventually won, 3 to 2. When Hamilton was lifted after five innings, the crowd booed him and an angry Yaz exchanged words with him.

Hamilton was shaken and insisted that he had not thrown at Tony intentionally, and that because he was standing over the plate, he was just trying to move him away. Although Tony was wearing a helmet, it didn't have the now common ear flap.

Hamilton had also been accused by Dick Williams of throwing an illegal "spitball" and was afraid someone might get hurt. He appealed to the umpires to watch him before the game started. Hamilton later admitted, that the ball that got away from him and hit Tony was indeed a "spitball".

Along with Red Sox team doctor, Thomas Tierney, Tony was rushed to the Sancta Maria Hospital in Cambridge, the same hospital where Harry Agganis had died, 12 years before. Dr. Joseph Dorsey was there waiting for him and said that Tony's cheekbone was shattered. He had a concussion, a dislocated jaw and a severely bruised left eye. The doctor said that had the ball hit him an inch higher, he would have been dead.

And so the Red Sox, devastated over the tragedy, were left with a choice to collapse or play on. Jose Tartabull was sent in to run for Tony C. and Rico Petrocelli laced a triple to the triangle in center that scored him. The Sox ended the game, winning 3 to 2.

The next day, players arrived in a steady stream to find out if their teammate was okay. Other than family, only Tom Yawkey was allowed to come into the room. Jack Hamilton also tried to see him, but was turned away. Tony C. would be disabled for three weeks and wouldn't be able to play again for 18 months.

The Red Sox would patch things together in right field, with Jose Tartabull, George Thomas and for six days, Jim Landis.

In the next game, August 19th, the Sox took their anger out on the Angels, and beat them on the field by a 12 to 11 score. Yaz had four hits and starting with a pinch hit, Dalton Jones would go 24 for 59 (a .407 clip) the rest of the season.

The two clubs played a doubleheader the next day, August 20th, and in the first game, Reggie Smith became the first player in Fenway Park, and the first Red Sox player ever, to hit home runs both left-handed and right-handed. It was the first of six times in his career he achieved the feat of hitting a home run from each side of the plate in a single game. Yaz hit a three run homer and it was later said that cheers went up at the local beaches because so many people had transistor radios with them. The Red Sox beat the Angels, 12 to 2.

In the second game, the Red Sox fell behind, 8 to 1, but in the fifth inning they started to chip away at the lead. Reggie hit his third homer of the day, and Yaz hit a three-run homer in the fifth. Jerry Adair’s single in the bottom of the sixth tied the game, 8-8. In the bottom of the eighth, Adair finished off a five for seven afternoon, by knocking an eventual game-winning home run into the left-field net.

But after Adair's homer, Angels pitcher Minnie Rojas hit Yaz in the elbow. With the memory of what happened to Tony C. still fresh, Dick Williams went ballistic. He screamed at Yaz to go into second, spikes high and cut someone open. Umpire Bill Valentine shouted back at him, and that brought Williams out of the dugout in a rage. They went head-to-head, and finally Williams spat on Valentine's shoes and got tossed. Then in the bottom of the ninth the Angels loaded the bases, but Jose Santiago got a ground ball hit to Jerry Adair that ended the game, 9 to 8. The sweep of the Angels series left the Red Sox only 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Twins, and one half game behind the second-place White Sox.

The next team to come to Fenway was the Washington Senators. On August 21st, the Sox won their fifth straight game, 6 to 5, when Jerry Adair doubled and crossed the plate with the walk-off winning run in the ninth-inning, after Elston Howard lined a base hit into centerfield.

After the Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators on August 22nd, the standings showed that they were only one percentage point behind the American League leading Chicago White Sox. Jerry Stephenson won the opening game for the Red Sox. He threw 7 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and just one run and having Dalton Jones knock in the winning runs. In the ninth inning, the Senators loaded the bases with nobody out. A grounder ended in a doubleplay, Jerry Adair to Elston Howard at home, back to first. Then John Wyatt protected the 2 to 1 lead with a strikeout to end the game.

A three run explosion in the seventh inning of the second game, brought the Sox back for their seventh straight home win and ninth in their last ten games, 5 to 3. Gary Bell racked up his eighth win since joining the Sox and Reggie Smith hit his sixth home run in the last ten games.

On August 24th. Jim Landis, who was brought in from Detroit to replace Tony C. on the roster, came on to play defense late in the game and with the Sox leading, 6-2, in the eighth inning. The Senators scored three runs and had the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth, when Ken McMullen hit a fastball from John Wyatt to deep right. A gust of wind caught the ball and Landis, running all the way, made a one-handed grab to end the game, lunging for the ball as the runners circled the bases. The Sox won 7 to 2, on homers by Landis, Jerry Adair and Elston Howard's first as a member of the Red Sox.

The victory gave the Sox a 10 wins and 2 losses homestand, and put them into virtually a first-place tie, just a percentage point behind the White Sox. It was one of the very few times since the 1940s that the Red Sox had been atop the standings this late in the season.

The Red Sox next left for a crucial five-game series with the White Sox. Chicago was in first place by one percentage point at the start. The White Sox manager Eddie Stanky continued building his reputation for being "The Brat". He complained in the Chicago papers that his first place White Sox team wasn't getting as much ink as the Red Sox. He also said the Red Sox should stop crying about Tony Conigliaro and that his boys would knock off Jim Lonborg. The Red Sox players laughed it off as just another crazy rant by the White Sox manager.

The White Sox and Red Sox ended up splitting a doubleheader on August 25th, with Lonborg throttled Chicago with a shutout going until the ninth inning and picking up his 17th win in the first game, 7 to 1. Red Sox batters knocked out 16 hits, including four by George Scott and three by Yaz. The Red Sox were now technically in first place, but they lost the second game, and both teams dropped into second place, because Dean Chance threw a no-hitter against Cleveland, that put the Twins in first place.

The next game on August 26th, Jerry Stephenson faced off against Joel Horlen. Dick Williams had told him to throw as hard as he could for as long as he could. Stephenson threw five innings of no-hit ball before tiring in the sixth, when he allowed a couple of runs on three hits. He pitched the Red Sox to a 6-2 win that put the Red Sox in first place for the first time since 1959, by 1/2 game over the Twins.

The first game of the Sunday doubleheader that concluded the Chicago series on August 27th, remains the most memorable. Going into the ninth, the Sox led 4-3, when Ken Berry led off with a double down the left-field line. He was sacrificed to third and Duane Josephson came to the plate. He lined one into fairly short right field. The catch was made by Jose Tartabull as Berry tagged up from third. Jose's throw was high, but Elston Howard jumped up high to get it, and as he came down, his left foot blocked Berry's slide while the glove tagged the runner for a doubleplay and the game was over.

“Tartabull’s Throw,” a pivotal play in a critical game, one of only three assists he made that season, became part of Red Sox lore and was his primary contribution to the "Impossible Dream". It was expected that Yaz and Jim Lonborg would provide the heroics, but role players, like Tartabull and Howard convinced fans that winning it all was indeed possible.

The Sox (73-57) won 3 of the 5 games in Chicago and left town one percentage point behind the Twins, a game ahead of the White Sox, and 1 1/2 games ahead of Detroit. Yaz (.318 BA) was second in the batting title race, was tied with Harmon Killebrew with 34 home runs, and led the league with 93 RBI.

The loss of Tony C. was significant because at the time he was injured, he was second on the team to Yaz in most of the offense of categories. The Red Sox missed both his power and the protection he afforded Yaz in the lineup.

1000 miles away, an event that would affect the course of the Red Sox season was unfolding. Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley, suspended pitcher Lew Krausse, indefinately for supposedly getting drunk on a flight back to Kansas City. Finley criticized the drinking as deplorable behavior, banned it on further flights and would not accept the shenanigans of those who did not appreciate playing in the major leagues. He then released the statement to the newspapers before telling of his players.

Krausse accepted it, but many of his teammates viewed as a trumped-up offense because Krausse just had two drinks on the flight in question. His teammates, led by player representative, Jack Aker, Ken Harrelson and a half dozen other players, read a statement criticizing Finley and the unfounded charges he had made. Manager Alvin Dark read the players' statement and knew there would be repercussions. The players' response also appeared in the Kansas City newspapers.

As a result, Finley, not known for level-headed decisions, fired Dark, prompting Harrelson, who was livid at the firing, to publicly denounce the owner. The Kansas City papers wrote that Harrelson had called Finley, a "menace to baseball." Finley seethed, called Harrelson, handed him various insults and put him on irrevocable waivers, when he refused to publicly apologize for the statement.

And so, the Red Sox were drawn into the first free-agent bidding war in baseball history. In many ways, the signing of Ken Harrelson (.273 BA) marked the end of the age where the owner was boss, and the beginning of the era in which players controlled their own destinies. The ability to add a player like Ken Harrelson, so late in the season, without having to give up a player, was a unique opportunity in 1967. Knowing he could be the difference in the pennant race, drew multiple teams from both leagues into the bidding.

Harrelson was patient, and within two days the White Sox had offered $100K in salary to a player who was only making $12K in Kansas City. Next Harrelson got a call from the Tokyo Giants, who offered him three times the offer of his best one and a three year contract. After some consideration, Finley calmed down and had A's interim manager, Luke Appling, tell Harrelson, that he wanted him back and would double his salary to $25K. Harrelson just laughed at it.

Soon after, Harrelson received a call from his former manager, Haywood Sullivan, now the Red Sox Director of Player Personnel. He offered him a $118K contract. Then a call from Atlanta Braves general manager, Paul Richards. They offered $125K and Harrelson called Sullivan back and told him about the Braves' offer, saying he would come to Boston for $150K.

 Haywood Sullivan thought about it and called his bluff. He advised him to take it, not caring, because he would be playing in the National League. But Ken Harrelson was someone the Red Sox desperately needed, and Tom Yawkey was not about to let money stand in the way of his first shot at a pennant in almost 20 years. Yawkey agreed to $150K request. Then the Braves offered $200K.

Harrelson eventually decided that he he wanted to play in Boston because of the team's youth, their status as pennant contenders, the chance to play at cozy Fenway Park, and because his wife grew up in nearby Arlington, Mass. On August 25th, with a guaranteed second year in 1968, the Sox cut him a check for $92K. This was a sneak preview of what free agency would become.

Not only did he fill the void left in right-field, but Ken Harrelson became a favorite with the fans and the press. Because of his personality, the flamboyant "Hawk" also provided a great help in taking the attention of the press off the media-conscious Yaz. Jim Landis was released to make room for Harrelson.

The Sox then flew to New York. It was "Yaz Night" at Yankee Stadium, where friends and family from Long Island came to honor their hometown hero on August 28th. They saw the Sox win, 3 to 0, as Elston Howard knocked in two runs behind Dave Morehead.

On August 29th, the Sox played their third doubleheader in five days. Jim Lonborg's three-hit, 11 strikeout pitching, had given the Sox a 2 to 1 victory in the first game. Lonborg's single off Mel Stottlemyre, drove in Reggie Smith with the winning run.

In the second game, Ken Harrelson made his debut and in his first Sox at bat, slammed a home run over the scoreboard in right center to briefly give the Sox the lead. The Yankees tied it up on the fourth on Steve Whitaker's triple, but got thrown out at home by Yaz, when he tried to make it an inside-the-park homer. Then inning after scoreless inning passed. Finally, at almost 2AM, after over six hours of play, Horace Clarke hit a walk-off single, to give the Yankees a 4 to 3 victory in the 20th inning. Reggie Smith had five stolen bases in the doubleheader. An exhausted Yaz quipped that had he known they'd be playing that long, he would have let Whitaker score in the fourth.

Less than 12 hours later, both clubs were back on the field the following day, August 30th. Again, the game went into extra innings with both teams playing like zombies. Yaz, who had been rested by Dick Williams, was put into the game in the eighth inning. With the game tied at 1 to 1 in the 11th inning, Yaz (.311 BA) crushed his 35th home run, 420 ft to deep right center, giving the Sox a 2 to 1 victory.

The Sox ended their road trip with a record of six wins in three losses, and came home leading the American League by 1 1/2 games. The last time the Red Sox had returned to Boston in first place, was in 1949.

September started with four teams within 1 1/2 games of first place and the stage was being set for one of the most exciting pennant races in American League history. The pennant race shifted day by day between Chicago, Minnesota, Detroit and the Red Sox. At various times, each club seemed certain to win and at other times each seemed destined to fail.

Yaz was batting .308, which placed him 23 points behind Frank Robinson. He led Harmon Killebrew by one homer, 35-34 and in RBIs, 95-90. Jim Lonborg had the league's best record at 18-6.

Chicago came to Boston and played in front of a packed Fenway Park. They had a team ERA under 2.50 and the most shutouts. Joel Horlen had 19 wins and was tied with Tommy John for shutouts. Tom McCraw, Don Buford and Tommie Agee all had more than 20 stolen bases.

Ken Harrelson, who had been playing first base for the A's, took a long practice in right field at Fenway before the first game which the Red Sox lost, 4 to 2. In the following game on September 1st, Harrelson doubled, tripled and homered, coming within a base hit of the "cycle", in a 10-2 drubbing of the White Sox. However, the Sox showing signs of exhaustion, lost the final two games, and fell out of first place.

When his teammates flew to Washington over Labor Day, Yaz who was slumping, remain behind and took several hours of extra batting practice with Bobby Doerr before joining his teammates.

Yaz came out of the long slump and slammed his 36th home run in the first game of a doubleheader on September 4th. The Red Sox earned a split, thanks to Jerry Adair's clutch pinch-hit in the second game and started on another streak.

Dick Williams wanted Yaz to take the next game off because he would be facing Frank Bertania, a lefty. Then the team did not have a game scheduled the next day. Yaz did something most people couldn't do. He talked Williams into letting him play.

On September 5th, he slugged two home runs in Washington. He was leading the American League in seven categories: home runs with 38, RBIs with 101, total bases with 304, slugging at .601, hits with 158, runs with 95 and extra bases with 67.

Returning back to Fenway, the Twins and the White Sox sat atop the American League, with the Sox and the Tigers just .001 points behind. The four teams got permission to start printing World Series tickets. A box seat at Fenway went for $12 and a seat in the bleachers was priced at $2.

On September 7th, Jim Lonborg scattered three hits and struck out ten, taking the league lead with 210 Ks. He also doubled and won his 19th game at Fenway Park, as the Red Sox topped the Yankees, 3 to 1.

While the team was on the road, Tony C. returned to Fenway Park and practiced for the first time. He found that he couldn't judge fly balls and then had the Sox batboy throw to him. He couldn't hit the left field wall and walked off the field disappointed. He didn't have any headaches and his vision wasn't blurred, but he had a problem with depth perception. When people asked him how he was, Tony just said, "Fine!"

George Scott was involved in an interesting play. Reggie Smith lined a ball to right field with Scott on first. Scotty, thinking it was a hit for sure, sprinted around second and was heading toward third. Rightfielder, Steve Whitaker had caught the ball and Scott retraced his path to second where he stopped. Of course, he was out when the throw went back to first base. When he came back to the dugout Dick Williams asked him what he was thinking. Scotty said he stopped back at second, hoping the ump would forget what base he had started from.

Old friend Bill Monboquette led the Yanks past the Sox in the second game on September 8th, 5 to 2 and they fell into third place, 1/2 game behind. Monbo, who had pitched for the hapless Red Sox a few years before, now led the ninth place Yankees in victories, inning pitched and victories.

On September 9th, the Red Sox took the lead when Yaz hit his 39th home run and Rico Petrocelli hit his 15th. The Sox collected 13 hits in the game they won, 7 to 1.

In the series finale, on September 10th, Gary Bell pitched a four hitter to beat the Yankees, 9 to 1, giving the Red Sox their 82nd victory. Mike Ryan, batting under .200 was called on to pinch hit. He hit a bases-clearing triple in the victory. But Ryan watched most of the action the rest of the season from the bench.

As the teams jockeyed for position, the Sox had taken 3 of 4 from the Yankees at Fenway Park to remain just behind Minnesota, who also kept winning. They had 82 wins, guaranteeing their first winning season since 1958. For the first time in years, both the players and fans engaged in something most had never done before: scoreboard watching.

With Tony C. in the stands, Jim Lonborg picked up his 20th win on September 12th, beating the Kansas City Athletics and Catfish Hunter, 3 to 1. With the game tied at 1-1 in the eighth inning, and Jose Tartabull on first, Lonborg got the bunt sign. But he saw thirdbaseman Sal Bando charging in and pulled his hand back down and swung away, trying to hit it past him. Instead, he lined the ball into right for a triple, that chased Tartabull home with the go-ahead run.

As a result, the Twins (83-63) and Sox (83-63) were tied for the American League's top slot, with the Tigers (82-64) one game behind.

The Sox made it seven wins in their last eight games when Rico Petrocelli's three RBIs beat the Athletics on September 13th.

Then the Red Sox lost three straight games to the Baltimore Orioles, and ended up in third, tied with the Twins and a game behind the Tigers. When the Sox lost the third game, 5 to 2, on September 17th, the score was announced at the Colts football game and the Baltimore fans booed. The loss dropped the Sox into third place, only a game behind the first place Tigers, whom the Sox played next.

It was at this point that Yaz fashioned perhaps some of the greatest clutch performances in Red Sox history. He did it in every way, at-bat, in the field and on base. The four teams had proven thus far that there wasn't much of a difference between them, so as the St. Louis Cardinals were clinching the National League pennant, the Sox traveled to Detroit to battle the Tigers and Al Kaline, Willie Horton and Norm Cash for first place.

Yaz's streak began on September 18th. In the first game of the crucial showdown, down one run and with one out in the ninth, he turned on a fastball from Fred Lasher and drove it into the right field upper deck for his 40th home run to tie up the game at 5-5. It was his third hit of the night.

Dalton Jones had gotten the start at third because he hit well in Tiger Stadium. He slammed his fourth hit of the night in the tenth inning, a home run that won it for the Red Sox, 6 to 5. Jones now had 18 career home runs, six of which were hit in Tiger Stadium and three of which had been game winners. The victory tied the Red Sox with Detroit and Minnesota for first place at 85 wins and 66 losses. Yaz, who had three hits in the game, overtook Frank Robinson for the batting lead and now was first in all the Triple Crown categories.

The next night, September 19th, the Sox pulled out another ninth inning victory. Mickey Lolich had struck out 13 batters and gave up only five hits over the first eight innings. Down 2-1, with Jose Tartabull on second and Yaz on first, George Scott lined a single to score Tartabull and tie up the game.

With the bases loaded, Earl Wilson, the Tigers top game winner with 21 wins, was brought in to pitch in his first relief appearance of the season. Reggie Smith bunted Yaz to third, and Scotty to second. Dalton Jones was sent up to bat for Harrelson and the Tigers took no chances, walking him intentionally. Dick Williams now sent up Norm Siebern to pinch-hit and Wilson's first pitch to him was in the dirt. It allowed Yaz to come home with the lead run, 3 to 2. Russ Gibson followed with a sacrfice fly ball to Al Kaline in right, as Scotty tagged up, beating his throw to the plate and putting the Sox up, 4 to 2.

In the bottom of the ninth, Don Wert got robbed of a hit when Yaz made a sliding catch of his liner to left. Jose Santiago then walked the next two batters. Lefty slugger, Eddie Mathews was sent up to hit next and having already used Sparky Lyle and Bill Landis, who had spent most of the season in the Williams doghouse, was the only lefty he had in the bullpen. Landis came into the game and Williams glared at him. He struck out Mathews and Gary Bell was brought in to face Kaline, who lined out to center and ended the game.

It was the Sox' second straight ninth inning rally, keeping them tied for first place with the Twins and knocking the Tigers into third.

In Cleveland on September 20th, the Sox came back in the ninth inning for the third night in a row. Yaz, Rico Petrocelli and Mike Andrews all homered to put the Sox up 4 to 2. Lonborg started the game on short rest and wasn't sharp. He gave up back-to-back homers to Max Alvis and Tony Horton to tie the game.

The game was tied at four apiece in the ninth inning, as Yaz, who was been a part in all three ninth-inning rallies, lined a single to left-center for his fourth hit of the game and went to second on a wild pitch. George Scott then took four pitches off the plate, putting him on first. Reggie Smith came up and hit an 0-2 fastball on a line to right for a single, scoring Yaz, and giving the Red Sox another win, 5 to 4.

It kept them tied with the Twins for first place, who had beaten the A's, 6-2. Yaz (.316 BA) had also hit his league leading, 41st homer of the year in the sixth inning, giving him the league lead with 108 RBIs.

The Sox stretched their winning streak to four games with a 6 to 5 win, on September 21st, against the Indians. There were no ninth-inning heroics. As a matter fact, the Red Sox had a 6 to 1 lead and let it disappear. Up just one run in the ninth inning and with rain starting to fall, John Wyatt set down the Indians in order for his 17th save. The Twins also won, so both teams stayed tied at the top.

Then the Sox got blown out, 10-0, in the first game at Baltimore on September 22nd, but Jose Santiago pitched great in the second game, picking up his third victory in five days. Players who had been riding the bench, got their chance and pounded out 14 hits in an easy 10-3 win, to earn a split of the doubleheader. But losing the first game, allowed the Twins, who beat the Yankees, to take over first place by 1/2 game.

The following day, September 23rd, the Orioles jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Yaz gets two hits and hit his 42nd home run of the season to put the Red Sox ahead, 5 to 4. However Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson teamed up to come back and beat the Sox, 7 to 5. The Red Sox were still 1/2 game behind the Twins.

Next to Yaz, Jim Lonborg, was the most significant player on the team. In the last game of the series, on September 24th, he held Baltimore scoreless through six innings, as the Red Sox built up a 7 to 0 lead. Then Dick Williams decided to bring in a relief pitcher so he could use Lonborg later. The Orioles stormed back, but they were held off by the Sox, 11-7. Dalton Jones went 4-for-6 with a double and triple and five RBIs.

The Sox finished off their last road trip of the year, winning 5 of the 7 games, but all four contenders were basically where they had started. The Twins (90-68) were in first, tied with the Sox (90-68) 1/2 game back, Chicago (89-68), 1/2 game back, and Detroit (88-69), 1 1/2 games out. It would all come down to the last week of the season.

Freak injuries hurt the Tigers. In the final weeks, both Denny McLain and Eddie Mathews were lost. Mathews, who had been picked up when thirdbaseman, Don Wert got hurt, tripped on some stairs at his home and tumbled down twelve steps. McLain, whose foot had fallen asleep while he watched TV, stood up and had his leg buckle and dislocated his big toe.

But the Sox were not immune from the injury bug either. Darrell Brandon had torn a muscle behind his right shoulder and would be gone for the rest of the season.

With Tony C. back in uniform and allowed to be on the bench, the Red Sox returned to Boston for two games against Cleveland and two against Minnesota to end the regular season. For the first time in ages, the Red Sox were in control of their own destiny, a prospect they found both thrilling and frightening.

In the first game against the Indians on September 26th, the tribe jumped out bto a 3-0 lead, before Yaz went 2-for-3 and hit his 43rd home run of the year. The Sox had played a sloppy game, allowing a pop up to fall untouched between three fielders. Reggie Smith airmailed a ball into the dugout that cost a run. A line drive was deflected off Jerry Adair's glove, Rico made an error and a grounder went under Dalton Jones' glove. The other bright spot of the day was the fact that the Red Sox seasonal attendance swelled to 1,597,752 which exceeded the club record of 1,596,650 set in 1949.

The loss put the Red Sox back in third-place, one percentage point behind the White Sox and one game behind Minnesota. The Twins beat the Angels on a pair of tape measure home runs by Harmon Killebrew. Killebrew and Yaz were tied for the American League lead in home runs with 43.

Mike Andrews had hit .342 (25-for-73) and along with Yaz and Dalton Jones kept the team in the hunt while others slumped. Andrews was actually well over .400 for the month until an 0-for-9 skein, and after this Dick Williams, who liked to go with the “hot hand” whenever possible, sat him in favor of veteran Jerry Adair for several games down the stretch.

The second game with the Indians on September 27th was worse, and the Sox situation looked bleaker. Williams brought back Lonborg on two days rest. It didn't work, and in three innings and the Indians lit him up. He gave up six hits and four earned runs. The Sox left the bases loaded twice, once with one out and once with nobody out. The second time saw the whole side struck out by two of the Indians relief pitchers. Pitcher Ken Brett made his major-league debut, pitching two innings to finish up the game. He gave up one run on three hits, walking none and striking out two in his only appearance during the regular season. Sonny Siebert got the win by shutting out the Sox, 6-0.

After thinking they were dead, the Red Sox were brought back to life when they found out knew they could still win it because the Angels had beaten the first place Minnesota Twins and the White Sox, who were a game behind, dropped a doubleheader to the Athletics. So in spite of the loss, the Sox (90-70) moved into second place, tied with the Tigers (89-69), who didn't play, one game behind the Twins (91-69) and 1/2 game ahead of the White Sox (89-70).

With two days off, both teams regrouped. Dick Williams then received a letter from old friend, Dick Stuart. In it, he congratulated the Sox for their success and was happy for Yaz, getting the chance to lead the American League in the top three categories. He reminisced that, he too once led the American League in three categories: most errors, most strikeouts and best quotes to the press. His letter was just what the Red Sox needed to lessen the tension.

The White Sox were the first to bow out on September 29th, by losing their third straight game. The Tigers and Angels game was postponed due to cold and windy weather.  As a result, the Tigers had a very difficult task. They would have to play two doubleheaders over the weekend to finish the season.

And so the stage was set. There was no more scoreboard watching. The Red Sox and the Twins would meet for the final two games that would decide the pennant. The Twins had beaten the Red Sox in 11 of the last 16 games they played, and were a battle-hardened team, having won the pennant in 1965. The players on the Sox had never been close to knowing what it was like.

The Twins also had the edge, because a split in the series would give them the pennant over the Sox. And it the Twins and Red Sox split, the Tigers needed to win three of their four games to tie the Twins.

JOSE SANTIAGO

So, in the second to last game of the season, on September 30th, Dick Williams went with Jose Santiago, who got the start because Lonborg would have had to pitch on just two days rest. After being used primarily in relief for most of the season, he had been equal to Lonborg down the stretch.

TV color analyst, Mel Parnell couldn't help remembering that in the do-or-die game in 1948, it was thought he would pitch. Instead, the ball went to Denny Galehouse and the Sox lost the pennant. He hoped this wouldn't be history repeating itself.

But these Red Sox were opportunists. They made the mistakes, but the Twins made more of them. Everything went right for the Red Sox in this must-win game, as it has all season. 

A nervous Jose Santiago gave up three hits, a walk and a run to the first four hitters and was in and out of trouble all day. Then the Sox caught their first break when Jim Kaat pulled a muscle in his pitching arm and had to leave the game. On the field, the nerves showed, as Russ Gibson failed to catch a pop up and Ken Harrelson misplayed a ball into a triple in the fourth inning.

In the fifth inning, down 2-1, the good luck the Red Sox had been having all year, showed up again. Reggie Smith lined a double to left-center and Dick Williams went to the bench, sending Dalton Jones in to pitch hit for Russ Gibson. Jones hit the weakest kind of ground ball down to Rod Carew at second and just as Carew reached down for it, the ball took a crazy bounce and hit him on the shoulder. Jones ended up on first with a base hit, while Reggie legged it out to third. That brought up Jerry Adair. He flicked the ball out to right center for a base hit, allowing Smith to score the tying run.

With Jones at third, Yaz came up and slammed a ground ball to the right of Harmon Killebrew at first. Killebrew missed it, but Carew got to it and pitcher, Jim Perry was still standing on the mound, instead of covering first. Jones scored, Adair went to second and Yaz had a base hit. The Sox were given another gift and were winning 2 to 1. But the Twins tied it up in the sixth inning. However, they left the bases loaded.

In the bottom of the sixth, Twins manager, Cal Ermer, brought in Ron Kline to pitch and the first batter he faced was George Scott. Scotty hit his first pitch, a low fastball, five rows up into the centerfield bleachers and the mob in the dugout almost tore his shirt off after he crossed home. The Sox had grabbed a 3-2 lead.

That was mild compared to the excitement that came the seventh. With one out, Mike Andrews checked his swing and beat it out for an infield hit. Adair then hit what should've been an easy doubleplay ball back to the mound. Kline threw to second in time, but Versalles dropped the throw and everybody was safe. That brought up Yaz. The Twins brought in Jim Merritt and with the count 3 and 1, Yaz lined a fastball into the Twins bullpen for a three run homer, his 44th. The Sox were now up 6 to 2.

Gary Bell took over for Santiago in the eighth. Bell had won 12 games since being traded from the Indians. With a four run lead to protect, he set down the Twins in the top of the eighth.

The victory was a microcosm of the whole season. The Sox fell behind, made some mistakes, came back to go ahead, got some lucky breaks and made them stand for the win.

Harmon Killebrew later smacked a ninth inning bomb, his 44th, to tie again for the American League home run lead. But more importantly, the Red Sox won 6 to 4, and the Sox (91-70) and the Twins (91-70) were tied for first place.

Detroit won their first game of the doubleheader with the Angels, 5-0. They were in first place by percentage points at 90-69. The Sox were tied for second at 91-70. But Detroit lost the second game when the Angels rallied with six runs and won 8-6. So the Tigers (90-70) were in second place 1/2 game behind and needed to sweep the Angels on the last day, to tie the winner of the Red Sox and Twins final game.

For the first time in 18 years, Red Sox fans woke up the next day, October 1st, with an opportunity to watch their team win the pennant. It was the third time in the 35 years Tom Yawkey had owned the Red Sox, that they had gone into the final game of the season with the pennant riding on the outcome.

The Red Sox fans were ready and Fenway Park was packed. The whole nation was focused on Boston. NBC preempted the NFL and broadcast the Sox and Twins game nationwide.

Jim Lonborg (21-9) was to be the pitcher in the final deciding game. He had lost nine games that season and the Twins beat him in six of those losses. He decided to stay in Ken Harrelson‘s hotel room, at the Sheraton right near the Hynes Auditorium the night before. He was single and living at Charles River Park, a very active complex, with a lot of traffic going in and out. He felt he really needed a quiet place to get ready for the game. He pitched well on the road, so staying with the "Hawk" made him feel like he was out of town. He had a nice dinner with some wine, slept well, and woke up a lot more relaxed than he would have had he stayed at home.

Tony C. was in the locker room wanting to be a part of it, but felt like an outsider now, when Lonborg arrived. Lonie gave himself added incentive by writing the figure “$10,000”, what he estimated to be each player’s World Series share were the Sox to make it, into the palm of his glove. He was excited and admitted this was the biggest game of his life.

The game started and after getting Zoilo Versalles and Cesar Tovar out in the first inning, Lonborg walked Harmon Killebrew. Then Tony Oliva drilled a drive to left and the ball bounced off the wall above Yaz's leap. Third-base coach Billy Martin saw what was happening and waived Killebrew around third. The throw came toward the plate and George Scott cut it off and threw wildly to catcher Russ Gibson's left, allowing Killebrew to score the first run of the game.

In the third inning, with two outs, Cesar Tovar worked a base on balls and Killebrew slammed a single to left-center. Yaz tried to make a quick play on the ball to hold Tovar at second, but the ball went by him to the wall and Tovar scored, making it 2 to 0.

Dean Chance (20-13) was pitching a four hitter and Jim Lonborg was scheduled to lead-off in the bottom of the sixth inning. Dick Williams never made a move to pinch-hit. In his last eight games Lonborg had a double, a triple and three RBIs. Most of the hits he had gotten down the stretch were important ones and Williams knew that.

So up he came. Lonborg saw that Tovar was playing back at third, and so he elected to bunt. He had worked on his bunting with Bobby Doerr, so he felt confident. He didn't make a move to show them he was going to bunt and at the last second, pushed the ball between the mound in third base, surprising both players, who never had a chance to throw him out.

The veteran Twins took it in stride, but the Sox were jumping up and down like Little Leaguers. That was the play the change the game. Adair followed with a single through the infield, moving Lonnie to second. Dalton Jones bunted the first pitch he saw, foul and then pretended to bunt again. As the Twins infielders broke in toward him, he pulled the bat back and lined a single to left, to load the bases for Yaz.

With Yaz coming up to bat, Lonborg didn't take a chance and stopped at third. In the biggest moment of his career, Yaz ripped the second pitch he saw into centerfield for a base hit. Both Lonnie and Adair scored and tied up the game at 2-2.

Yaz was on first and Dalton Jones on third with nobody out, the Twins infield moved in. Next up was Ken Harrelson, who worked the count full, then chopped at a high fastball toward short. By the time the ball came down to Zoilo Versalles, he tried to get Dalton Jones, heading for home. The throw was late and Jones scored. The next day, Twins manager called it the dumbest play he ever saw, saying it was a perfect doubleplay ball and that all Versalles had to do was step on second and throw to first.

The Sox were now up, 3-2, and that was it for Chance. Al Worthington was brought in to face George Scott and threw a pitch in the dirt, that moved Yaz over to third and Tartabull, who was running for Harrelson, over to second. And then he threw it in the dirt again. As the ball got by catcher Gerry Zimmerman, Yaz scored the fourth run.

Then Reggie Smith hit a hard one down to Killebrew, at first, that bounced off his knee and Tartabull scored the fifth run of the inning. Norm Siebern pinch-hit for Gibson and grounded out. Lonnie, who started the rally with a little bunt, came up for the second time in the inning and ended it with a pop up. It was the Twins who made all the mistakes, and the Sox were up by three runs, 5-2.

Lonborg erased the Twins in the seventh inning, but in the eighth he ran into trouble. Rich Reese pinch-hit for Versalles and lined a single to center. Tovar hit a grounder to Jerry Adair, at second. Adair charged in on the ball, sweeping it up with his glove, tagging the oncoming Reese, and firing accurately to George Scott at first, though spiked so severely he had to leave the game and have several stitches. That doubleplay proved to be important.

Lonborg wasn't out of trouble because Killebrew and Oliva then both singled. Bob Allison was next and hit a soft liner down the left-field line into the corner that scored Killebrew. Oliva stopped at third and Allison decided to try for second. But Yaz threw a strike to Mike Andrews, who had replaced Adair. Allison tried to slide around Andrews and went by the bag. As he reached back, Andrews got him for the final out. The rally was stamped out with another clutch outfield play by Yaz, his 17th assist of the season.

During the bottom of the eighth-inning, news of the Tigers' 6 to 4 win over the Angels, in the first game of their doubleheader, filtered down to the bench. If the Red Sox beat the Twins and the Tigers won their second game, then there would be a playoff. But first they had to beat the Twins.

Lonborg took the mound in the ninth and leadoff hitter, Ted Uhlaender sent a ground ball to Rico Petrocelli at short, that took a bad hop, hit him in the neck and went for a single. Rod Carew represented the potential tying run and was up next. He grounded a ball down to Mike Andrews at second base, who grabbed it, tagged the runner and flipped to first for a doubleplay. The Red Sox fans began to cheer as Rich Rollins came up to bat for Russ Nixon. He was Minnesota's last hope. He swung and the ball floated up in the air toward Rico, who said it seemed like an eternity for it to come down. He watched the ball float gently into his glove and leapt into the air into the arms of thirdbaseman, Dalton Jones.

It was over, and the players made a mad dash from the dugout. There were fans rushing onto the field as Andrews and Scott boosted Lonborg aloft on the mound. His win was his 22nd, tying him with Earl Wilson of the Tigers. The delirious mob starting moving toward the right-field foul pole. The moment of jubilation had passed, and now the moment of anxiety had started to set in. Policemen finally moved in to rescue him. By the time he reached the dugout, Lonborg had lost the buttons on his uniform jersey, the undershirt beneath it, a shoelace, and his cap.

Signs off the scoreboard disappeared as the celebration, that Boston hadn't seen since the end of World War II, went on and on out into Kenmore Square. Tony C. cried in the Sox locker room. Tom Yawkey was a shy man who stayed out of the public eye, but this year was a constant visitor to the clubhouse, offering encouragement to all his players, veterans and rookie alike. He came in and threw his arms around Tony C. and then Yaz. Eddie Popowski got thrown into the shower.

But the Sox hadn't won anything yet. There still was a game going on in California. For the next three hours, Red Sox players and fans throughout New England, had their ears glued to the radio.

There was a radio in the Sox training room, and room for about eight Sox players to listen in. So they relayed what was happening to the others in the Sox locker room.  Finally, at 7:43 PM, with the Angels winning, 8-5, Tigers secondbaseman, Dick McAuliffe hit into a doubleplay to end the game.

Yaz flew out of his chair like a rocket and Dick Williams cheered like a little kid. Tom Yawkey had come down from his office and was almost crying, hugging Yaz. The Red Sox had come from ninth place to first and were going to their first World Series since 1946.

A team described as the “Cardiac Kids,” were in truth a team made up of players who had all at one time or another made a hit, a play, a save, or a throw that had kept the team on its way to clinching the pennant. Despite their youth and inexperience, they played mature, level, yet intense baseball, especially in big games. They didn't let the highs get too high, or the lows get too low. Coach Bobby Doerr was greatly responsible for the team's success. He had a steadying influence on the younger players with his gentle, yet effective manner. The city paused as if trying to comprehend what had just happened.

The Sox led the league in batting average (.255), slugging (.395), runs (722), hits (1,394), and home runs (158). But the pitching staff finished eighth in the 10-team American League with a 3.36 ERA. The league ERA that year was 3.23, with the White Sox the front-runners on their impressive staff ERA of 2.45.

Yaz had connected for 23 hits in his last 44 at bats (.523 BA). In the last 10 games of the season, he hit .541 and slugged .946, going 20-for-37 with four homers, three doubles, 14 RBIs and 11 runs scored. He had climaxed his remarkable two weeks splurge by going 7 for 8 in the final two games, capturing the Triple Crown, leading the American League with a .326 batting average, 121 RBIs, and tied with Harmon Killebrew with 44 home runs.

Keeping the Red Sox pitching afloat and the team in pennant contention were the starting of Jim Lonborg and the finishing of John Wyatt. Wyatt, became the Sox ace reliever, pitching in 60 games during the pennant drive, finishing 43, and finishing fourth on the staff with 10 wins. His 20 saves tied him for second place in the American League. Wyatt helped stabilize the pitching staff in a year in which Lonborg was the ace. He depended on a Vaseline–aided forkball and the many reminders he had written on the fingers of his glove. He didn't surrender a run in his first five appearances (20 1/3 innings).

Jim Lonborg finished the regular season 22-9 and led the league in wins, strikeouts (246), and starts (39) while placing second in complete games (15) and innings (273 1/3). His low-key, friendly demeanor in past seasons had earned him the nickname “Gentleman Jim,” but he was asserting himself more on the mound by throwing high-and-tight fastballs to keep hitters on edge. His 19 hit batsmen would lead the AL, but many were in “retaliation” for a plunked teammate. And even in these situations, he always seemed to keep his cool. Forced several times to leave the team between starts for Army Reserve duty, he would fly in on a private plane sent by Tom Yawkey in time to pitch another gem. Stationed in Atlanta, he was able to work-out with the Braves when down there.

After Lonborg, there was a huge drop-off in starts, innings pitched, and wins. Though Lee Stange had 24 starts and won only eight games and lost ten. He led the staff with a 2.77 ERA and was second in innings pitched with 181 2/3.

Gary Bell (12-8, 3.16 ERA) was the only other starter with more than 20 starts. He piled up 165 2/3 IP though he had only been acquired in June. Bell and George Thomas were comedians and practical jokers. It was these two who kept their teammates loose.

Jerry Stephenson, who pitched well in Toronto, winning eight games with a 2.91 ERA and with four shutouts to his credit, was called up in mid-August and pitched well down the stretch, with a 3.86 ERA in 39 2/3 innings of work.

Rookie Sparky Lyle pitched 43 1/3 innings, gave up 33 hits and struck out 42, and had a 1-2 won-lost record.

Dave Morehead also contributed by winning five key games down the stretch.

Veteran pitcher Galen Cisco was helped by Dick Williams to get him his pension. Cisco started the year with the Sox as a reliever. He was used mostly in mop-up work and pitched in 11 games and threw 22 1/3 innings. But shortly after the All-Star break, the Red Sox saw an opportunity to improve their bench and picked up Norm Siebern, and sent Cisco to the minors to free up the roster spot.

George Scott finished the regular season with a .303 average, 19 home runs and 82 RBIs. Scott was awarded his first Gold Glove, picked by better than a 2-to-1 margin over his nearest competitor. In this regard, Dick Williams also gave him the ultimate compliment, describing Scott’s fielding talents. “Until I saw George Scott, I thought Gil Hodges was the greatest defensive first baseman I ever saw. But Scott changed my mind.” Scotty was loved by his teammates. Every time he grounded out he complained that he couldn't catch a break, even on a routine grounder to the shortstop.

Mike Andrews finished the regular season with a .263 average, 8 homers, and 40 RBIs in 142 games after his late start. He led the league with 18 sacrifice hits, and was runner-up to "Rookie of the Year" Rod Carew among second basemen in voting by major-league players, managers, and coaches for the Topps All-Star Rookie Team. During the season, a Chicago gambler had made death threats to Carew, Dick McAuliffe and Andrews. The FBI got involved and gave protection to all three. Nobody on the Red Sox knew about it.

Rico Petrocelli, the All Star Game shortstop, finished with a solid all-around season, batting .259. He had 17 homers and 66 RBIs, to lead all American League shortstops.

Reggie Smith made important contributions at the plate, though he was only a league-average batter that season (.246/.315/.389 marks for batting average, on-base percentage and slugging average in 629 plate appearances). He had 20 home runs. Defensively, he threw the ball so hard he could throw about two feet off the ground and the ball would rise up. From dead center field, he could easily throw a guy out at the plate.

Ken Harrelson felt blessed. He had gone from being a nobody in Kansas City, making $12K a year, to making $150K and playing in the World Series.

Red Sox broadcaster Ken Coleman called Jerry Adair (.291 BA) “Mr. Clutch” and wrote that if there had been a “Tenth Player Award” in 1967, he would have deserved it. Jim Lonborg added that the trade that brought Adair to Boston “was like adding a gem to a beautiful necklace. He did such a magnificent job for us. He was a quiet guy around the clubhouse. He was so invaluable, older and more experienced.” Filling in for Petrocelli when he was hurting, he also exerted a steadying veteran influence on the young infielders Foy, Andrews and Scott.

Jose Tartabull contributed as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner and provided relief in the outfield. An upbeat kind of guy, he showed no displeasure about his role as the consummate utility player. He was often heard singing in the clubhouse, accompanying himself on his set of bongo drums, a source of positive attitude, and a spark-plug for the Sox.

Dick Williams was to be named "Manager of the Year" and Dick O'Connell "Executive of the Year".

The pennant race took so much energy that very little thought was given to the St. Louis Cardinals. The "Impossible Dream" had been just that, a dream and eventually one has to wake up. It was the St. Louis Cardinals who provided the wake-up call for the euphoric Red Sox. They had rolled over their opponents, clinching on September 18th, behind Bob Gibson, the power of Orlando Cepeda, and the speed of Lou Brock.

Cardinals manager Red Schoendinst, had Gibson, who had been disabled in July for two months with a broken leg and started pitching again a month ago. He was well rested so that he would be able to start three times if the World Series went seven games. Then there were Yankee legends Elston Howard on the Sox and Roger Maris on the Cardinals.

There were 100 requests for every ticket. The fans had waited a long time for this. The Sox pitching staff was mentally drained and too make it worse, Sparky Lyle strained a ligament in his elbow and was out.

Dick Williams called the team together in the locker-room before they took the field. He thanked everyone for their part in getting them there and told them to just go out and do their best. Jose Santiago was sent out to pitch Game #1 at Fenway in front of a sold-out, standing-room-only crowd.

Each pitcher pitched two scoreless innings. In the third inning, Lou Brock lined a single to center, moved to third on Curt Flood's double and scored when Roger Maris grounded out to George Scott, to put the Cardinals were up 1 to 0. Gibson had struck out five of the first eight men he faced when Jose came to bat in the third inning. Santiago had two strikes run by him on the first two pitches, but then Gibson gave him a slow hanging curve that he parked into the left-field net, in his first-ever World Series at-bat.

In the fourth inning, Yaz kept the tie intact when he threw out Julian Javier at home after a Lou Brock single.

The Cardinals used their speed to score the winning run in the seventh inning. Brock got his fourth single to open the inning. He broke for second and stole the base for the second time in the game. Flood hit a ground ball to Scott, putting Brock on third-base. The infield had to be drawn in for Maris, who hit a ground ball to Jerry Adair's left at second base. Adair got to the ball, but he had no chance of getting the speedy Brock, who broke on the pitch, for home. That was the Cardinals' second run of the game, and that's all Bob Gibson would need. He finished the Red Sox off with a six-hit, 10 strikeout, masterpiece. Lou Brock had four hits and two stolen bases, but none of the Red Sox hitters had gotten good swings.

Jose Santiago had pitched a solid game, allowing just two runs in seven full innings. It was his misfortune to be paired against Bob Gibson. He forever holds the distinction of being the first Latin pitcher to start the opening game of a World Series.

After the game, Yaz stayed at the park for extra batting practice, along with Rico Petrocelli, who had struck out three times and Ken Harrelson, who went 0-for-3. Joe Foy was their pitcher. Nobody had ever heard of anyone taking batting practice after a World Series game before. Yaz jokingly said that with the extra work in the cage, he should hit a couple of homers tomorrow, and he did just that.

In Game #2, the Sox turned to Jim Lonborg. He stuck with what had worked and delivered an immediate message to Lou Brock, who had run wild in the first game, sending him to the ground with a pitch that buzzed him under the chin.

True to his prediction, Yaz had staked Lonborg to a one run lead in the fourth inning with a home run into the grandstand, 30 feet inside the right-field foul pole.

Frank Malzone had given Yaz a good scouting report on Joe Hoerner, who tried to jam left-handed hitters with fastballs. So in the sixth inning, with Hoerner on the mound, Yaz thought of nothing but "fastball". With the count of two strikes and the ball, Hoerner gave Yaz a fastball and the ball soared majestically over the bullpen, as Roger Maris just turned around and watched. Yaz had another homer in the eighth inning. It was the first time since Mickey Mantle hit two in a 1960 World Series game.

Lonborg had the St. Louis batters intimidated after the first inning and retired the first 19 Cardinal batters before walking Curt Flood in the seventh inning. A blister had developed in his thumb in the sixth inning, limited the effectiveness of his curveball, so he primarily stuck with fastballs. But i the eighth inning he was four outs away from immortality, Julian Javier lined a hanging curve into left field for a double, but that was all. Lonnie won the game, 5 to 0, with a one-hitter, the fourth in World Series history. He came into the dugout and was speechless. He had just retired 29 batters in a World Series game.

Game #3, was played in St. Louis and pitcher Nelson Briles changed speeds and mesmerizing the Red Sox hitters. Lonborg had brushed back four of their hitters in the last game, and Briles threw one behind Yaz. He couldn't get out of the way and got hit. That brought Dick Williams out of the dugout along with Red Schoendinst. Trying to stop each team from retaliating, umpire Frank Umont issued a warning to both teams.

Gary Bell didn't have it and got knocked around, giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. He was out by the second inning, but Gary Waslewski pitched three perfect innings in relief. Reggie Smith homered and Dalton Jones had three hits, but the Red Sox couldn't catch up, as the Cardinals won by a score of 5 to 2.

The Cardinals were confident and it showed in Game #4.  The game was almost over before the Red Sox could reach into their bat rack. The Cardinals battered Jose Santiago with four runs on six hits in just two thirds of the first inning, and with Bob Gibson on the mound, the Red Sox had a mountain to climb. Until the ninth-inning, none of the Red Sox players were able to reach second base. George Scott took three called strikes in his first at bat, later claiming that he never saw one of them. Gibson had continued his mastery and scattered five hits, winning convincingly, 6 to 0.  The one bright spot for the Sox was Dave Morehead. He pitched three innings of shutout long relief.

The newspapers in St. Louis called the Red Sox the "DEAD SOX". The St. Louis players were so sure they would win, that there were reports that they didn't bring their luggage to the airport to go back to Boston.

But the Red Sox had come back from the brink all season and Lonborg got the call for Game #5. He pitched a determined game, winning his third consecutive masterpiece beating the Cardinals 3 to 1. He allowed only three hits and the Cardinals couldn't get a man to third base until the last inning, when Roger Maris stung one of his pitches into the right-field seats for a home run with two outs. His effort established a record for the fewest hits allowed in two consecutive World Series starts.

Not to be overlooked was the game pitched by Steve Carlton, who was equally tough. He only gave up an unearned run in the third inning and also allowed the Sox just three hits in the six innings he pitched.

Joe Foy was the forgotten man in the Series. He robbed Orlando Cepeda on a great play for the final out and had robbed Dal Maxvill earlier with a great grab taking a doubleplay.

The series did come back to Boston, and  for the second time in eleven days, the Sox were in the same situation. They had to win two straight games or be eliminated. But this was a Red Sox team that wasn't intimidated by that.

Dick Williams pulled a surprise and started Gary Waslewski in Game #6. He had pitched well with limited play for the Red Sox during the season, and in relief during game three. It was a gutsy move and it paid off. Waslewski was able to keep the Cardinals off balance. He retired the first six batters, giving him a string of fifteen straight over his last two games.

For the first time in the series, the Red Sox bats exploded. Extremely run down by the long season, Rico Petrocelli had a Vitamin B-12 shot prior to the game and proceeded to hit two home runs. He started it off with a home run in the second inning. Yaz started the fourth with a homer into the left-field screen. After the next two men had gone out, Reggie Smith pulled a slider into the right-field corner grandstand for the second home run. Then the next batter, Rico, hit another home run into the screen, his second in his first two at bats. The three home runs in one inning were a new World Series record.

John Wyatt came into the game in the seventh inning and walked Bobby Tolan. He told Rico that he would try to get Lou Brock out with a blob of Vaseline he hid under his belt. But Brock connected and blasted a homer over the 420 mark in center and tied the game at four apiece. Rico came to the mound as Brock circled the bases. Wyatt said "He must have hit the dry side". The Sox scored four in the bottom of the inning and won, 8-4, taking it to a deciding game seven.

They need only to win one game to become the second underdog team of the century in Boston, to win the World Series. The other, of course, was the "Miracle Braves" of 1914. But in order to do that they must get by Bob Gibson.

The difference in the World Series came down to one day's rest. Bob Gibson and Jim Lonborg each had two wins, but the difference was that Gibson had an extra day to rest. With rain in the forecast, the ground crew had covered the field. Dick O'Connell later confided that he considered leaving the field uncovered and turn on the sprinklers, so the finale would have to be pushed back a day, giving Lonnie the extra day he needed.

Firstbase coach Bobby Doerr remembered that his 1946 Red Sox were in this same position. The difference was that his team ran away with the American League pennant, and this team wasn't supposed to ever be here.

In Game #7, Gibson gave up only three hits in the game and Lonnie was knocked out after six innings, when he was tagged for 10 base hits, including a home run by Gibson himself and a three run homer by Julian Javier. Lonborg remembers feeling strong and comfortable before the game, but Sox coach Bobby Doerr noticed early that his pitches lacked the “snap” of his previous three starts. He also wasn’t locating the ball the way he wanted to.

Gibson gave up only one hit in the first seven innings, a line drive triple by George Scott in the fifth. The ball got by Curt Flood and bounced around the triangle at the 420 foot mark. Javier got the relay throw, but threw it into the Cardinals dugout allowing Scotty to score. The Red Sox final run came in the eighth-inning. Rico Petrocelli doubled to start and went to third on a wild pitch. He scored on an infield out by Norm Siebern.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching Gibson work the Red Sox hitters over, inside and out, and up and down. While Gibson was silencing the Red Sox batters, Lou Brock spent the afternoon running around the bases. He stole three bases in the game, two in the fifth inning and a third in the ninth, setting a World Series record with seven stolen bases.

The real noise started when Yaz came to bat in the ninth. The 35,188 fans showed no disgruntlement, and he received a standing ovation for everything he had done all season. He responded with a base hit to right-field. Ken Harrelson and Yaz were erased on a doubleplay, and George Scott went down swinging to end the Red Sox "Impossible Dream". The reality was that Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals woke them up from their wonderful dream and were the champions of baseball with a 7 to 2 victory.

Carl Yastrzemski had a great World Series. He batted .400 with 12 hits, including two doubles and three homers, good for five RBIs. Reggie Smith hit for power in the World Series, slugging .542 with a pair of homers in his 26 plate appearances (including two walks) while hitting for a .250 average. Dalton Jones hit .389 for the Series, second only to Yaz among Sox hitters.

Tony Conigliaro was lost, depressed and down on himself. He had tried to get involved, cheerleading from the bench when he came back, but felt like an outsider. He downplayed his contribution in the drive to the pennant. In 95 games, he had batted .287 and hit 20 homers before his injury. His teammates were the first to reassure him that they never would have reached the postseason had it not been for his contributions early on. Yaz publicly said that if Tony C. was healthy, with his bat in the lineup, the result of the World Series might have been different.

JOSE TARTABULL & SONS

When pitcher Bill Landis went into the service and Sparky Lyle developed late-season arm trouble, the Red Sox got approval from both Commissioner William Eckert and the Cardinals to put rookie Ken Brett on the roster. Brett pitched twice in the World Series, becoming, at 19 years and one month, the youngest pitcher to ever appear in the fall classic. He pitched 1 1/3 innings, with no runs, one strikeout, and one walk,

In suburban Brookline, there was another story. In a park nearby his home, Jose Tartabull was often seen throwing underhand tosses to his son Danny, nearly five years old and destined to also become a major-leaguer like his dad.

The dream had grown day by day as the Red Sox kept coming back to post win after win, starting in April. It lasted through the frantic days of the pennant race, right down to the seventh game of the World Series. The Red Sox had waited 21 years to avenge the defeat at the hands of the Cardinals in 1946. They would have to wait another 37 years, until 2004. But they had achieved a more important victory, however, because they revived major league baseball in Boston.

THE "IMPOSSIBLE DREAM"

 

THE "IMPOSSIBLE DREAM REVISITED"