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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ... August 2, 1967 ... The Kansas City Athletics tagged John Wyatt for four runs and charged from behind to whip the Red Sox, 8 to 6, before 24,581 fans. The Sox had a chance to pick up some ground on league-leading Chicago, who were beaten by Cleveland 5 to 1, but couldn't take advantage. After Jim Nash was knocked out in the early part of the game, the Kansas City bullpen held the Sox to one run over the final six innings. Meanwhile, Ken Harrelson and Ted Kubiak were providing the punch that brought the A's from behind. Harrelson with a home run and a double, knocking in three runs. Kubiak with the score tied at 6 to 6 in the eighth inning, tripled home the winning run and scored an insurance run himself. The Red Sox got their runs on a two run homer by Mike Andrews, two run-scoring sacrifice flies by Tony Conigliaro, and two more on some alert baserunning. But it wasn't enough. Wyatt just couldn't hold on to the lead for starter, Gary Bell. Bell pitched the first six innings and left the game in front, 5 to 4, before the A's stormed back. Nash had been extremely tough on the Red Sox in the past. But tonight the Sox slammed drives all around Fenway Park and had Nash out of the game before the third inning was over. His troubles started right away when he walked Mike Andrews to open the Sox first inning. Carl Yastrzemski, who never had a hit off Nash before, doubled off the wall with one out, sending Andrews over to third, where he scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Conigliaro, giving the Red Sox a 1 to 0 lead. The Athletics, given the opening on an error by Rico Petrocelli, bounced back with three unearned runs in the second inning to gain a 3 to 1 advantage. Bell created the problem by walking Mike Hershberger and Dick Green in succession after one was out. Phil Roof should have ended the inning when he bounced into a potential double-play grounder to Petrocelli. But Rico fumbled the ball and everyone was safe to load the bases. On the first pitch he saw, Nash laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt as Hershberger raced home. That tied the game at 1 to 1, and a single by Bert Campaneris off-the-wall, scored two more. The Sox came back with two more runs in their half of the second inning to tie it at 3 to 3. Andrews, after a walk to Mike Ryan, lashed a rising line drive over the left-field wall for his first Fenway home run. The assault on Nash continued in the third, when the Sox put together two more runs on three hard singles and some alert baserunning. Yaz got things underway with a single, and Conigliaro singled him to third. Hershberger charged the ball in right, looking to get Yaz, but the ball bounced out of his glove and Conigliaro made it down to second, when Hershberger recovered and threw the ball in, Yaz saw that and was coming to the plate and made it standing up. The throw by Hershberger went past second base to give him a double error on the play. The Sox now had a 4 to 3 lead with Conigliaro on second and Scott followed with a hard line drive single to center. The ball was hit so hard that Tony was going to stop at third. But the throw from Jim Gosger in centerfield was a little high, so Scott broke for second. Catcher Phil Roof caught the ball and threw to second trying to get Scott, who slid in safely under the tag as Conig scored from third. Scott ended the wild play, when he got thrown out at third after the throw to the plate to try for Conigliaro. Kansas City got a run back in the sixth on a long home run by Harrelson. He led off the inning by ripping into a high pitch and hitting a towering drive over everything in left-center, reducing the Sox lead to 5 to 4. Bell left the game in the sixth inning and Wyatt came in from the bullpen to start the seventh. The A's jumped on him for two runs, to go ahead, 6 to 5. Pinch-hitter John Donaldson led off with a single. Campaneris forced him at second and after two were out, Ramon Webster singled to right. Then Harrelson slammed a long drive to dead center for a double, that scored both baserunners. Reggie Smith made a great bid to catch the ball, turning at the crack of the bat, and racing full speed toward the fence. Just before he got to the wall, he caught the ball, but as he lost it when he slammed into the wall jarring it loose. The ball dropped at his feet and with two out both runners made it home easily. Back came the Sox in the seventh, with a run to tie the game at 6 to 6. Diego Segui was on the mound and Mike Andrews got to first on a walk, advanced to second on a single by Foy and to third on a long fly ball by Yaz. He finally scored on Conigliaro's second sacrifice fly of the game. But the Athletics didn't quit. In the eighth-inning they went after Wyatt again and knocked him out of the game. Hershberger doubled and scored on a triple by Kubiak. Then Santiago came in and pinch-hitter, Tim Talton, singled to center to score Kubiak and make the score 8 to 6. After the game the Red Sox locker room was more solemn then it had been in a long time. Tony Conigliaro put it this way, "There are only so many times you can come from behind." |
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