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GEORGE SCOTT'S
INSIDE THE PARK HR |
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ...
"THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM"
The Sox split a doubleheader
with the Twins
July
29, 1967 ... Four pinch hitters carried out
their assignments, without a slip and Carl Yastrzemski'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 Red Sox rallied with four runs in the
eighth-inning, but the Twins toughened up and slaughtered Boston
pitching in the second game with five home runs, in a 10 to 3 Red Sox
defeat. Gary Bell did fairly well in the opener's first six
innings, but Gary Waslewski was battered in the second game. The Twins' power
really showed in the evening and the only excitement came from a line drive that
George Scott hit to right-field in the second inning with Tony Conigliaro on
base. The ball landed in front of Tony Oliva and bounced over his head, rolling
to the bullpen, while Scott lumbered his way around the bases and barely beat
the long relay home for an inside the park home run.
The first game was another of those typical shows where the Red Sox looked as
though they were going to be beaten, but somehow their bench kept them going,
until the win finally came. Southpaw Jim Kaat had a 3 to 1 lead for five innings
and there wasn't any sign that he was tiring.
His Twins teammates had given him a run in the first off Bell, when Tony
Oliva and Harmon Killebrew doubled and that run was matched by Rico Petrocelli's
home run in the second. The Twins got that run back when Oliva homered in the
third inning.
The first of Yaz's good throws prevented damage in the fourth inning.
Minnesota had scored a run in the inning on two singles, and after two outs Kaat
got another base hit. But as the runner came across the plate, Yaz took Kaat's
line drive and fired a perfect throw to Joe Foy at third, for the putout that
ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, down 3 to 1, George Scott hit a ground ball to
Zoilo Versalles at short. He had the ball in his glove and had a tough time
getting a handle on it. When he finally was able to throw, it was in the dirt
and past Killebrew, bounding into the Red Sox dugout. Kaat struck out Petrocelli
and Reggie Smith drew a walk. George Thomas, the first of four pinch hitters,
came to bat and he hit one over the pitcher's head to second where Versalles
tried to make the force play but missed. Pinch-hitter number two was Jerry
Adair. With the bases loaded, Kaat threw over to Killebrew as Scott was leaning
toward home. When the throw was made to third, Smith broke for third and Scott
broke for home. Catcher Gerry Zimmerman got the throw from Killebrew threw it
back. It hit Scott on the shoulder and he scored. Smith made it to third base
and Thomas went down the second. Adair drew a walk to load the bases, but Mike
Andrews struck out. The Red Sox were only a run behind, 3 to 2.
Yastrzemski's second fine throw saved a run in the seventh inning. Ted
Uhlaender tripled to open up the seventh off John Wyatt, who then struck out
Zimmerman. Kaat sliced a fly to left-field and looked deep enough to score
Uhlaender, but Yaz made a perfect one hop throw to the plate and nailed the
speedy baserunner.
Then came the eighth and Scott opened it up with a single. Petrocelli struck
out and Smith fanned, bringing up Norm Siebern who was batting for Bob Tillman.
Siebern singled to right and then Adair, who had stayed in the game and replaced
Andrews, singled in Scott to tie up the game. As the fans were going crazy, the
fourth pinch-hitter, Dalton Jones bounced a single off Tovar's glove at second,
allowing Tartabull to score, who had pinch run for Siebern. The icing on the
cake came when Joe Foy lined a double to left-center to score Adair and Jones,
making it 6 to 3 in favor of the Sox.
With José Santiago on the mound, Bob Allison struck out and after Tovar
singled and Uhlaender reached on an error, José struck out Rich Rollins and then
Rich Reese to end another Sox comeback.
In the second game, with a chance to close in on the Chicago White Sox for
first place, the Red Sox pitching flopped badly. The Twins scored three in the
second inning on a home run by Bob Allison, a hit batsman, a single by Rollins
and a single by Uhlaender.
George Scott hit his inside the Park home run in the bottom of the inning,
but the Twins broke it open in the fifth when Allison lined his second home run
of the game after Killebrew had doubled. After Tovar and Rollins got on base,
Uhlaender followed them with another home run and the twins were up, 8 to 2. In
the sixth inning, Minnesota added to the misery when both Oliva and Killebrew
hit home runs back to back and earned a split of the doubleheader, 10 to 3. |
