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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ... April 29, 1967 ... José Tartabull was at the plate with the bases loaded against Jack Aker, one of his old teammates in Kansas City, in the 15th inning. There was one man out. He was looking for a sinker ball and got one. He lined it into right field, scoring two runners and the Red Sox won the game, 11 to 10. It looked bleak for the Red Sox in the 15th. The score was tied at 9 to 9 and Rick Monday had lined a home run into the centerfield seats off Don McMahon. Jack Aker was about to pitch his ninth-inning, the longest yet ever pitched in the big leagues. He was baffling the Sox hitters, except in the ninth, when the Red Sox missed scoring the winning run by inches. Until the ninth-inning, the game had been a wild ride. Billy Rohr had started for the Red Sox and had nothing on the ball. The Sox had staked him to two runs in the first inning, but Dick Green homered with the bases loaded, in the third giving Kansas City a 5 to 2 lead. Back came the Red Sox in the bottom of the third to get six runs, thanks to three scratch singles, three walks and Reggie Smith's booming double off the wall. Rohr left the game and Lee Stange came in to pitch with the Sox leading 8 to 5. The Sox added a ninth run in the fifth inning and led by four. But Stange ran into trouble when he gave up a three run homer to Danny Cater in the sixth inning and the tying run in the seventh, on Jim Gosger's pinch-hit double. Aker took over in the seventh inning and he was matched up with John Wyatt, who came in after Gosger's game-tying double. So on they went into the ninth-inning with the score tied. In the Red Sox half, Joe Foy doubled to right-center with one out. Aker walked Yastrzemski intentionally and got Tony Conigliaro on strikes. Then Rico Petrocelli lined one at Bert Campaneris at short. Campy stopped the ball as Foy overran third. Campy's throw to Ozzie Chavarria, the thirdbaseman, was dropped and Foy took off for home. But Chavarria recovered in time to throw him out at the plate. Wyatt was strong, giving up only two hits in 5 2/3 innings. He almost lost the game in the 12th when he walked Roger Repoz, who was sacrificed along before Campaneris singled to left. But Yastrzemski cut Repoz down at the plate. Wyatt finally had to leave in the 13th inning and gave way to Don McMahon. McMahon got by the 13th and 14th innings very easily, but with two strikes on Monday in the 15th, he got a fastball over and up high enough that Rick lofted into the centerfield bleachers. So down one run, Tony Conigliaro opened up the bottom of the 15th with a single to left. After Petrocelli sacrificed him to second, George Scott came through with a single up the middle. Conigliaro had to hold at third and Dalton Jones came out to pinch-hit for Russ Gibson. Aker worked him carefully, but Jones was patient enough to walk and load the bases. That set the stage for José Tartabull. He lined one to right-field past first baseman Danny Cater, who dove after it unsuccessfully. The ball shot through to the outfield and Conigliaro scored easily with Scott on his tail with the winning run. Tartabull was mobbed at first base, the author of a dramatic ending to a wild game. The win tied the Red Sox with the Yankees at the top of the American League. |
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