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THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ...
"THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM"
Yaz leads the
Sox in a doubleheader split
June
8, 1967 ... Carl Yastrzemski batted the Red
Sox to a 7 to 3 victory over the White Sox and ended a three-game
losing streak. The victory came the second game of the doubleheader
after the White Sox won the opener, 5 to 2. 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. Yaz was 2 for 4 in the first game
and boosted his batting average up 18 points to .322, with his big day. It was
doubly sweet to have it against the White Sox, where he was taunted in print by
Chicago's manager, Eddie Stanky, for being a moody ball player and an All-Star
from the neck down.
He smashed his home run off John Buzhardt in the sixth inning of the second
game for the final run by the Red Sox. As he approached third-base, Yaz reached
for the peak of his helmet and tipped it, as he was facing directly into the
White Sox dugout.
The Red Sox erased a two run White Sox lead and knocked out Chicago starter,
Bruce Howard, with a five-run second inning. A walk in three straight singles
produced two runs. A wild pitch put runners at second and third, and both scored
on Joe Foy's line drive double into the left-field corner. Yaz then singled to
right, to drive in Foy off lefty reliever, Wilbur Wood. The Red Sox scored their
final run in the ninth-inning against Jim O'Toole, on an error, a wild pitch and
a single by Jerry Adair.
Gary Bell, making his Red Sox debut, was credited for the win. The White Sox
opened up the scoring off him in the first inning. With runners at first and
second, two outs, and the count three and two, Tom McCraw slashed a
single up the middle. Don Buford scored easily from second with Tommy Agee on
his heels. Agee slid in safely under a high throw from Adair.
The White Sox didn't score again off Bell until the ninth-inning, when Ron
Hansen lined his fourth home run of the season into the seats in center.
Yastrzemski doubled in a run in the first inning to start the scoring against
Joe Horlen in the opener. Chicago then chipped away at Dennis Bennett. An
infield single by Walt Williams, and a double by Agee produced a run in the
first inning that tied up the game at 1 to 1. Catcher Gerry McNertney, who was
batting .188, homered in the second inning to give the White Sox the lead.
McNertney doubled to lead off the fifth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Buford
giving the White Sox a 3 to 1 advantage.
Foy homered into the seats in right in the seventh, to slice the White Sox
advantage to 3 to 2. But Ken Berry provided breathing room for Horlen by hitting
Bennett's first pitch into the seats in left-center with Buford on, in the
eighth-inning.
Jerry Adair, playing shortstop in both games, had four singles in nine
at-bats. He is 5 for 13 since joining the Red Sox in Cleveland last weekend. |
