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HOW TO BLOW A SEVEN GAME LEAD ... April 21, 1974 ... It was a quiet crowd at Fenway Park. Nobody seemed to be watching. After all, the Red Sox were playing horribly, fouling up doubleplays, dropping pop flies, just horrible. Until the ninth-inning. The Sox were trailing the Indians, 5 to 1, going into the last of the ninth. Jim Perry was seeking his 32nd lifetime win over the Red Sox, and the Cleveland right-hander seemed to be sure to take on the win, especially after the Sox let him off the hook in the first inning. But then came the troubles for the Indians. Manager Ken Aspromonte went to the mound three times and had four pitchers work in the inning. The Red Sox tied the game and weren't playing horrible baseball anymore. Then in the 10th inning, Indians right-hander Milt Wilcox, brought in from the bullpen with men on first and second and nobody out and with the count two balls on Cecil Cooper, made a wild throw to second base. Dick McAuliffe, who was the runner on second, and supposed to be breathing his last as a player, came all the way around to score, and the Red Sox won the game 6 to 5. After giving up two balls to Cooper, shortstop Frank Duffy called for the pick off. Wilcox spun around and threw the ball in the dirt, watching it dribble into centerfield. By the time centerfielder, George Hendrick finally retrieved the ball, McAuliffe had rounded third and was heading for home easily. And the ninth-inning had been quite a lovely one also. McAuliffe walked, pinch-hitting for Bob Didier and Danny Cater, batting for Mario Guerrero, singled to right. Ken Sanders replaced Perry for the Indians, and Cooper singled to load the bases. Doug Griffin lined a base hit to plate one run and another scored when Tom Hilgendorf, a lefty, brought in to pitch to Bernie Carbo, got him on a ground ball to second. Carl Yastrzemski flied deep to centerfield to bring in the third run and out came Aspromonte to bring in Cecil Upshaw with Rico Petrocelli at the plate. Rico sent one to centerfield that almost made it to the bleachers with a double, that scored the tying run. The picture for the Red Sox was bleak early in the game. Angel Hermoso singled in the third inning and starter Bill Lee threw wildly trying to pick him off first. John Lowenstein then homered into the Red Sox bullpen to give the Indians a 2 to 0 lead. With one out in the fifth, Doug Griffin dropped a pop fly and after Frank Duffy's infield single, Hermoso connected with an outside pitch and sent a dribbler that never got out of the infield for another hit. The Indians last two runs came in the seventh inning. After a single by Duncan, Duffy bunted down the first base line. Lee picked up the ball but Duffy ran into him and Lee dropped the ball. Hermoso got another hit and on Buddy Bell's grounder to Doug Griffin, it looked as though the Red Sox had an easy double play to get out of it. But after Griffin tossed the ball to Guerrero, the shortstop's throw was late, getting to Yaz on first, and two runs scored. The fans weren't so angry, because they were listening to the Celtics and the Bruins in the playoffs on their radios, so they were paying attention. But they turned off those radios in the final two innings. |
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