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The Sox walk-off with a win after August 1, 1973 ... Before Bob Montgomery slid onto and sat atop home plate with the winning run, in the bottom of the ninth-inning, for 3 to 2 Red Sox victory over their bitter enemies from New York, there was a memory that was to last throughout the rest of the years in Red Sox lore. After a 25 minute brawl and intermission involving mainly Carlton Fisk, Thurman Munson and gene Michael, John Curtis regained his composure and got Michael to bounce out in the top of the ninth-inning with the score tied at 2-2. Then, after Sparky Lyle got two outs, Montgomery singled, Rick Miller walked and Mario Guerrero singled to center for the winning hit. But the supposed winning run in the game was in the top of the ninth inning. With the scored tied at 2-2, Thurman Munson was on third base and came charging in as John Curtis’ pitch headed for the plate. Gene Michael, the batter, squared around to bunt. Only Michael blew the play that was going to win the game. He missed the bunt. Munson was out, the Yankees didn’t score. But it was the brawl that became a moment in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry that no fan has ever forgotten. It started when Michael wouldn’t get out of the way. The Red Sox felt very strongly that Michael continued to get in Carlton Fisk’s way as he tried to get ready for Munson’s charge, and home plate umpire Joe Brinkman should have called interference. Fisk braced from Munson and the collision carried the Yankee catcher on top of Fisk. Curtis and Doug Griffin and Carl Yastrzemski grabbed and separated them after a couple of punches and held Munson back. Then Michael got into it. So Fisk, who still had the ball securely in his hand, and Michael started going at it. By now both benches were emptied. Fisk kept slugging Munson and Michael. It actually started the game before when the Yankees accused Fisk of trying to trip Roy White at home, causing him to miss the plate. Fisk’s first time up in this game saw Mel Stottlemyre hit him squarely in the head. The brawl lasted about 10 minutes. Gene Michael blew the squeeze play, grounded out, and the Red Sox went on to win. Sparky Lyle had lost three straight times this year to the Red Sox and four times in the last two years. In the eighth-inning he got out of a mild rally and got the first two hitters in the ninth. Up came Monty, who had come into the game after Fisk's ejection, and with two strikes, he slapped a grounder to the left of Graig Nettles, which skipped under the thirdbaseman's glove into left. Then Lyle threw four straight sliders to Miller and walked him. That brought up Guerrero, the player to be named later in the Lyle and Danny Cater trade. On a 2-2 count, he slammed a curve up the middle into centerfield. Monty came rumbling around third toward the plate and as Bobby Murcer's throw bounced in late, he slid home and sat there. Curtis (10-8) again pitched a very strong game. Murcer and Orlando Cepeda traded RBI singles in the first inning. Then in the second inning, Mel Stottlemyre hit Fisk in the head. Miller followed with a shot up the alley into left-center. Roy White retrieved it and threw for some reason to second base. Miller kept going and when Horace Clarke's relay got there, it was too late. When Miller switched hands on the bag, umpire Jim Evans called him out. A fly ball and Tommy Harper's double followed. If Miller had scored, things might've been different in the ninth-inning, but that would be boring.
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