|
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ...
"THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM"
The Sox
back up
Hank Fischer with 3 homers
April
25, 1967 ... The Washington Senators may have
had nine men on the field, but they in looked like they hadn't had
anything injected into them. They were beaten by the Red Sox and
pitcher Hank Fischer, 9 to 3. The Sox got four runs in the first
three innings for their pitcher. Reggie Smith opened up the game with a home run
off Pete Richert. George Scott, put back in the lineup again, beat out an
infield hit to open the second inning. Russ Gibson followed that up with a
single and up came Mike Andrews who tried to bunt twice, and then knocked the
next pitch out of the park for his first big-league home run. Tony Conigliaro,
who had been on the sidelines with a bad back, next smashed one of Richert's
pitches in the third inning off the façade in left field, making it 5 to 0.
With these five runs, Fischer breathed a sigh of relief and seemed quite cool
in handling things. He got the first eight men out but then, Bob Humphreys, who
had replaced Richert, drew a walk with two outs. Ed Brinkman lined a single to
center and Jim King tripled to right. Fischer settled down and pitched very well
until Fred Valentine hit a home run over the fence in the eighth-inning.
Carl Yastrzemski doubled home two runs in the fourth inning with a line
double to left field after Andrews and Dalton Jones had both walked, giving the
Sox an 7 to 2 lead. The final run came in the fifth inning on Rico Petrocelli's
double to center, on a bloop fly, that fell between Valentine and Brinkman.
George Scott moved Rico the third on a fly to right and Gibson scored him on a
line drive to centerfield.
So Fischer, digging in, pitched very well, giving up only five hits,
including Fred Valentine's home run over the fence in the eighth-inning.
The Sox also played very well in the field. Joe Foy took over for Dalton
Jones and third, when he pulled a hamstring. Scott is again playing first base
because Tony Horton had all sorts of trouble fielding balls. |
