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BOOG POWELL |
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ...
"THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM"
Boog Powell's homer sinks
Lonborg and the Sox
September
16, 1967 ... Jim Lonborg managed to get out of
trouble three times in six innings, but the fourth time was not a
charm. He hit Curt Blefary to open the seventh inning with the Red
Sox and Orioles tied at 1 to 1. Dick Williams had seen enough and
brought in John Wyatt. After a sacrifice by Paul Blair, Frank Robinson was
intentionally walked and Wyatt got Brooks Robinson to hit a ground ball down
Rico Petrocelli, but he and Mike Andrews were unsuccessful in turning the
double-play when Frank slid hard into second.. That brought up Boog Powell, and
with the count 2-0, Powell smashed his 11th home run of the year into the
left-field net, making it 4 to 1.
The Red Sox faced rookie Jim Hardin who allowed just three hits. Petrocelli
hit his 16th home run in the second inning and the other two hits were both made
by Andrews, both singles. After Carl Yastrzemski received a walk in the third
inning, Hardin retired 15 men in a row.
Rico put the Sox ahead 1 to 0 in the third inning, with his home run and
Lonborg had no trouble for the first three innings. He struck out four and
occasionally his breaking ball was very high. He had his first brush with danger
in the fourth inning, when Paul Blair, who had four hits, doubled to left field
and Frank Robinson singled him home to tie up the game. Brooks Robinson lined
another single and Frank went to third-base. Then Lonborg got Powell to fly to
center, Dave Johnson to pop to second and Andy Etchebarren to ground out.
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FRANK ROBINSON
BREAKS UP A DOUBLEPLAY |
In the fifth inning he also got out of the jam. Hardin singled to start it
off and then Lonborg got two strikeouts. Blair hit his second double to left and
Frank Robinson was intentionally walked to set up the force. Brooks Robinson
obliged by grounding out to Petrocelli.
In the sixth Lonborg did it again when he walked Johnson with one out and
Etchebarren lined one down the right-field line that a fan reached over and
deflected for a ground rule double. The next two batters popped out and struck
out, and Lonborg escaped again.
Jim got a nice hand for his ability to fight out of the spots, but in the top
of the eighth he hit Blefary to start off the inning. That brought Dick Williams
out of the dugout and sent Jim to the showers. Powell carried the ball into the
left-field net, about 5 feet over the wall. It was his first home run since July
23rd.
The Red Sox went down in order in the seventh and eighth, and all they could
do in the ninth was a leadoff single by Andrews, followed by three quick outs to
end the game.
The loss dropped the Red Sox into second place with the Minnesota Twins, one
game behind the Detroit Tigers who beat Washington, 5 to 4. The Twins lost to
the White Sox in the ninth-inning, 5 to 4. Chicago is only 1 1/2 games out of
first. |
