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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ... May 3, 1967 ... Jim Lonborg has pitched against the California Angels 11 times and never beaten them. He must still be wondering if he ever will, because he pitched one of his finest games, marched into the ninth-inning with a one-hitter and came out a 2 to 1 loser, because he wild pitched home the winning run with two outs and the bases loaded. He may never suffer a tougher defeat. For six innings he held the Angels hitless and going into the ninth only three men had reached base. Meanwhile, secondbaseman Mike Andrews had produced a 1 to 0 lead with his second major league home run, a 370 foot line drive over the left-field fence in the fifth inning. So Lonborg, with his teammates looking futile against some of the worst pitching in the league, had his work cut out. For eight innings he handled everything that came his way with Jim Fregosi's leadoff single in the seventh inning, being the only hit made off him. Then came the ninth and it started harmlessly enough when pinch-hitter José Cardenal grounded out to short. Next came Fregosi and the Angels shortstop started things moving with a single to right. Jay Johnstone followed with a ground ball up the middle into center, moving Fregosi over to third. Rick Reichardt then slammed another single to center that tied the score and moved Johnstone over to third. Manager Dick Williams gave Lonborg the order to intentionally walk the left-handed hitting Jimmie Hall to load up the bases and set up a doubleplay with one out. That brought up rookie Don Wallace to the plate and Lonborg got him on a pop up to left which Carl Yastrzemski took in foul territory. Bob Rodgers came up next to hit but didn't get a chance to swing. Lonborg threw a curve ball into the dirt and catcher Russ Gibson dropped down to both knees to try and block the ball, which bounced in front of the plate and rolled back toward the mound. Johnstone broke from third and Gibson, thinking the ball had gone behind him, started make a move toward the backstop. Lonborg, in desperation, raced from the mound, but by the time he reached the ball, Johnstone was across with the winning run. Going into the ninth, Lonborg had 17 straight shutout innings under his belt, shutting out the Athletics in his last start. The Sox should have had more than just one run. In the second inning, but bad baserunning by George Scott and Rico Petrocelli wiped out a potential rally. Scott, who had walked, was thrown out trying to reach third when Reichardt dropped Rico's fly ball in left field. Then Petrocelli was thrown out trying to steal second. But the real heartbreaker came in the seventh. The Sox, with men on first and third and none out, couldn't score. Scott opened the inning with a single to left and Petrocelli singled to right, moving Scott over to third. Gibson grounded out to first, moving Petrocelli over to second. Andrews was walked intentionally to load the bases, and relief pitcher Minnie Rojas put out the fire by getting Lonborg and Reggie Smith to pop up. It was Lonborg's first loss of the season and one that prevented the Sox from moving into a three-way tie for first with Detroit and Chicago. It was the fifth game the Red Sox had lost by one run this season. |
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