1975 BOSTON RED SOX ...
THE "GOLD DUST TWINS" AND A SEASON TO REMEMBER ...

Anyone lucky enough to be a Red Sox fan in 1975 likely remembers exactly where they were, what they were doing, and who they were with when Carlton Fisk hit what has become one of the most famous home runs in baseball history. To this day, that season remains one of the Red Sox' most memorable. From starting out the season as a long shot to make the playoffs, to sweeping the three-time defending champion Oakland Athletics in the ALCS, to the unforgettable World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, everybody involved with the team undoubtedly remembers it as one of the greatest years of baseball in their careers. 

During the off-season, general manager Dick O'Connell traded away Tommy Harper to the Angels for Bob Heise.

The Sox continued to hope that highly regarded shortstop Steve Dillard would overcome his own injuries and be able to play regularly and Rick Burleson appeared destined for second base. It was felt by some people in the Boston organization that, because of Burleson’s average range at shortstop, the Red Sox should deal for a veteran, established shortstop, such as Freddie Patek of the Kansas City Royals or Eddie Brinkman of the Detroit Tigers, so that Burleson could be moved to second. They discussed possible trades involving several other players, but nothing materialized. Mario Guerrero’s name continued to come up. Doug Griffin was still suffering with back trouble and was heading for surgery, which made any trade talks involving him doubtful. He seemed not to have a place, although the message was unclear.

In November, Tony Conigliaro decided to attempt another comeback after being out of baseball for two years, starting a career in the nightclub business. He called Dick O'Connell and asked for a tryout while apologizing for any remarks he may have made, upon learning of his trade to the Angels years before. He was given a clean bill of health and any vision problems that he had, were all but disappeared. His depth perception had never been better. O'Connell welcomed him and liked his guts and determination.

Yaz was still there, and Rico Petrocelli, Bob Montgomery and Bill Lee were also still around from 1970. Darrell Johnson, the pitching coach who oversaw Tony's attempt to come back as a pitcher was the Sox skipper. And Ken Harrelson was now the color commentator on the Red Sox television broadcasts.

Tony C. was still a man-about-town and one night Darrell Johnson caught him coming out of a bar after curfew. Tony explained that he had only gone in to get directions to a church that conducted Midnight Mass.

Despite having a good core group of players, there remained a few question marks in the lineup. Nobody was sure of how Rico Petrocelli would play after getting beaned and pulling a hamstring last fall. Rick Wise, who was traded for Reggie Smith, was supposed to be the team's ace, but had spent most of the last season hurt. And there was Carlton Fisk, who was lost when he suffered his devastating knee injury.

Player personnel director Haywood Sullivan, manager Johnson, and coach Don Zimmer were all very high on Kim Andrew, a newly acquired player picked up from the Baltimore farm system in the Rule 5 draft in December.

Over the winter, Carlton Fisk spent the time in his New Hamphire home trying to recover from his injury. He was left on his own to work his knee back into shape. The only thing he knew was that there was a chance he would never play baseball again and may walk around with a permanent limp. His progress was checked by trainer, Buddy LeRoux at a Boston area rehab hospital one a month. But other than that there was no contact by the team. He worked out at the YMCA and ran the bleachers at his school, knowing one misstep might ruin everything. But he perservered and made it through.

As training camp just got underway, Carlton Fisk, still hobbled by his knee injury, gave up five stolen bases in five innings of a game, unable to affectively get out of his catching stance. He chased one pitch in the dirt and came up wincing. His knee was sore, his arm ached and his timing at the plate was off. Then, he was hit by a pitch that broke his wrist. He would be gone until the third week in April.

O'Connell then went out and added veteran catcher Tim McCarver.

Manager Darrell Johnson was a classic text book manager. He had an impersonal, no-nonsense approach. He had a slow trigger finger and made few changes or moves. He left his talented players alone and let them perform, while he stayed in the background. He had the pleasant task of choosing an outfielder from the best crop of young prospects. Specifically, two young outfielders who were expected to do big things on offense, Jim Rice and Fred Lynn.  

After working out in Winter Haven long before camp started, Tony C. after suffering a pulled hamstring and returned to play in "B" squad games in mid-March. With an outfield that had Lynn, Rice, Dwight Evans, Juan Beniquez and Rick Miller in the mix, there was not a spot for him out there. But he had a good spring training and was named as the Sox' designated hitter when the season started.

However, the Red Sox left camp with mixed reviews, because pitching appeared to still be the problem.

Dick O'Connell offered the Indians five prospects for Gaylord Perry, but the deal died when O'Connell refused to include Juan Beniquez. In addition, Athletics pitcher Catfish Hunter was declared a free agent and O'Connell believed the Sox had an inside track to sign him, because personnel director, Haywood Sullivan, was his first minor league manager. But the Yankees swooped in and signed Hunter to a five-year deal.

Luis Tiant was the opening day pitcher for the Red Sox in their 75th season. He walked into the locker room with a big smile and greeted everyone in his special way. As he passed by Yaz's locker, he became disgusted with what he saw. He took all of Yaz's clothes and threw them into a pile in the center of the clubhouse, mumbling that with all his fame and money, Yaz was still wearing the same cheap clothes that he had from five years ago. That went on until Yaz came running in and rescued everything, but their teammates just laughed and laughed at the antics.

Fenway Park was almost at a World Series atmosphere on April 8th, as Tony Conigliaro made his triumphant homecoming and Hank Aaron made his American league debut with the Milwaukee Brewers. Tony C. received four standing ovations and a female admirer tossed a bouquet of roses onto the field. Sox HOFer, Duffy Lewis, threw out the first pitch and the season got underway.

Tony C. slammed out a single to right in his first at bat with Yaz on base. George Scott was now the firstbaseman for the Brewers and welcomed his old friend when he reached him on first base. Bob Montgomery doubled home two runs in a three run third inning, and the Red Sox defeated the Milwaukee, 5 to 2. Tiant went the route and allowed just one walk.

In Baltimore, on April 11th, Tony C. hit his first home run in four years and Yaz's home run into the right-field bleachers in the 12th inning gave the Red Sox a 6 to 5 victory over the Orioles. Rick Burleson sent the game into extra innings with a two-out home run in the eighth-inning, to tie the score at 5 to 5.

Reggie Cleveland's first start of the year, on April 12th, was a memorable one. Cleveland pitched 12 innings and allowed only two runs to the Orioles in a game the Red Sox won in the 13th. Doug Griffin's run-scoring single, gave the Red Sox a 3 to 2 victory.

On April 15th, Dwight Evans' two run single capped a four-run rally that carried the Red Sox to a 5 to 3 victory over the Yankees and Catfish Hunter. Bill Lee went the distance for the Sox, driving the Yankees crazy with his new Eephus pitch, allowing five hits, to even his record at one and one.

Fred Lynn was a great kid and had an enthusiasm for the game, but his season started off slowly, going 3-for-16. So his teammates decided to take him out when they were in New York. He got so drunk that they just tossed him in his bed when they got back to the hotel.

The next day, on April 16th, Lynn hit two home runs and Yaz added another, helping Rick Wise gain his first victory, as the Red Sox trimmed the staggering Yankees, 4 to 2.

Back at Fenway, the Sox lost to the Orioles, but Jim Rice slugged a pair of homers and Fred Lynn added another. The homers brought the Sox home run total for the year to ten. Lynn now had seven RBIs.

 Luis Tiant pitched a four hitter on April 20th, and the Red Sox capitalized on the wildness of Mike Torrez, to breeze to a 10 to 2 victory over the Orioles. Lynn walked twice in the game, had two singles and two RBIs and was now hitting .423

After losing two games to the Yankees at Fenway, Cecil Cooper started a five run uprising with a pinch-hit triple in the seventh inning, as the Sox rallied for an 11 to 7 victory over the Catfish Hunter on April 23rd. Cooper started the big rally by lining a triple to the 420 foot mark in right-center. Bernie Carbo singled him home. Lynn and Rice both followed with run-scoring singles and Bob Montgomery lined a double to right, that scored both Lynn and Rice. The Sox went from a four run deficit to score a one run lead.

On April 25th, in Detroit, Dave Meyer's two-out home run in the fifth inning broke Luis Tiant's perfect game and gave the Detroit Tigers a 1 to 0 victory. It however made a winner of Mickey Lolich, who was locked in a brilliant pitcher's duel with Tiant, who wound up yielding only two base hits, but losing the game.

But the Sox next lost three games to the Tigers by one run and fell three games behind in the AL East. On April 27th, Bernie Carbo homered twice in a 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Meanwhile, Tony C. pulled another hamstring and then injured his groin, and discovered that he was not so young anymore and bouncing back was not easy. That allowed Jim Rice to move into the designated hitter slot.

The Indians hammered Luis Tiant, 8 to 1 on April 30th, but concerning was that Luis told Darrell Johnson in the fifth inning that he was losing his strength.

Bernie Carbo triggered a three-run first inning with a leadoff double and then tagged Cleveland starter Jim Perry, with a two run home run in the second inning, as the Red Sox snapped a four-game losing streak with a victory over the Indians at Fenway Park on May 1st. A nice and safe 7 to 2 game ended up with a score of 7 to 6, with Diego Segui punching out the final batter in the ninth-inning, with runners on first and third. It was the first of six straight wins.

The Tigers began the afternoon on May 3rd, by offering the Red Sox six outs in the first inning. The Sox sent 11 batters to the plate, scored six runs on just four hits, plus some shabby Detroit fielding, and rolled to a 12 to 2 victory at Fenway. Bob Montgomery and Rick Burleson each had three hits. Fred Lynn had two hits and two walks. Jim Rice had a pair of singles, and so did Doug Griffin.

Senator George McGovern made a trip to Cuba during the first week of May in an attempt to open up diplomatic relations. With him he took a letter from Massachusetts Senator Ed Brooke for Fidel Castro. The letter was an attempt to allow Luis Tiant's parents to be reunited with their son. At their meeting, McGovern wanted to keep things light before they got down to the more serious business. Castro, being a huge baseball fan, admired Luis Tiant and when McGovern handed him the letter, he read it carefully, smiled and agreed to help make the Tiant family reunion in Boston, possible.

On May 5th, Jim Rice's two run double highlighted a four-run fourth inning that carried the Red Sox to a 7 to 5 victory in Cleveland. Bernie Carbo and Yaz drew walks off Jim Perry before Lynn hit the first of three consecutive doubles, scoring Carbo. Rice followed with his double to left, scoring Yaz and Lynn, and then came home on a double by Rico Petrocelli.

The next night, on May 6th, Bill Lee's six hit pitching and Montgomery's two run single led the Sox to a 4 to 1 victory over the Indians.

The Sox swept the Indians on May 7th, when Jim Rice's homer triggered a three run sixth inning that broke a 1 to 1 tie and carried the Sox to a 4 to 2 victory. The Sox had won five straight and were just a game out of first place.

In Anaheim on May 9th, the Red Sox made it six in a row with good defense, hustle and excellent pitching. Rick Wise pitched his fourth complete game in six starts and won for the third time in five decisions as the Sox defeated the Angels, 4 to 1. Rick Burleson got three hits that meant runs and made two brilliant defensive plays.

The Sox disappointingly lost the next game on May 10th, Luis Tant retired the first fifteen batters he faced, losing a 2-0 four-hitter to Frank Tanana.

Finally, on May 11th, Rico Petrocelli and Rick Burleson hit two-run singles to back the seven hit pitching of Bill Lee, as the Sox beat the Angels, 5 to 2 in the finale. Dwight Evans had three hits in the game, and Burleson knocked out two.

Two losses in Oakland took the wind out of the Sox sails, and they returned home to face the Royals. But the Sox bats were silent and they lost three in a row to the Royals, falling four games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the AL East.

On May 18th, Bernie Carbo (.355 BA) drove in all four runs, going 3-for-4 with a pair of homers and the Sox snapped a five game losing streak with a 4 to 2 victory over the Royals. Backed by Carbo's bat, Rick Wise earned his fourth victory in seven decisions.

Juan Beniquez turned the base paths into track lanes, made a fine catch, had two hits and a walk, a lined out twice, scoring three runs. He scored the tie-breaking run all the way from first base on Rick Burleson's hit-and-run single in the seventh inning, sparking the Sox to a 10-5 victory over the Oakland A's on May 19th.

On May 20th, Bill Lee pitched a two-hitter. In the fourth inning, Tony Conigliaro blasted his first homer of the year at Fenway Park. The third base coach, Johhny Pesky, who was his first manager back in 1963, grabbed Tony C.'s hand as he rounded third. It was Tony's 87th home run at Fenway Park and it would be his last. Jim Rice and Juan Beniquez also belted home runs, as the Sox whipped Vida Blue and the Oakland A's, 7-0.

In the series finale on May 21st, Yaz hit his sixth career grand slam and Rico Petrocelli contributed a two-run shot, powering the Red Sox to a 7-3 victory and series sweep of the Oakland Athletics. Bob Montgomery started it off with a pop fly blooper that fell safely in center field. Monty's hit was followed by quick singles by Juan Beniquez and Rick Burleson. Then on a 1-1 count, Yaz cleared the bases. The four RBIs boosted his career total to 1194, 50th on the all-time list.

After losing the first game of the series, Bernie Carbo, Yaz and Dwight Evans slammed home runs off Nolan Ryan, in this highly anticipated pitchers duel between him and Luis Tiant, on May 23rd. Fred Lynn also homered later in the game, and they powered the Sox to a 6 to 1 victory over the California Angels. Tiant pitched a complete game and Ryan was gone after six innings. But Tiant would have had a shutout if he had not thrown his old friend Tommy Harper, who teased him by calling him a "junk ball" pitcher, a blooper pitch which Harper banged off the wall, scoring Mickey Rivers. Tiant was so upset that he spun around and threw a fastball right at his friend, who was leading off second base, just barely missing him.

The next night was May 24th and Bill Lee posted his second consecutive shutout and sixth win, with a five-hitter as the Red Sox whipped the Angels, 6 to 0, on three-run homers by Rico Petrocelli and Rick Burleson. Lee led the Sox staff with six wins and was brilliant in four of his last five starts. He had pitched 21 straight scoreless innings, including two straight shutout complete games. The victory was the sixth of the last seven games for the Sox, who moved into first base by 1/2 game over the Milwaukee Brewers.

As it happened, Tommy Harper happened to be the firstbaseman for the Brewers that game and Cecil Cooper hit a smash at him. The ball bounced off the heel of his glove and into Harper's chin. Then as Harper grabbed for it on the ground, he accidentally kicked it toward second. Luis Tiant got the last laugh and went nuts on him, yelling and screaming from underneath the catcher's equipment he had put on, in the Sox dugout.

In a Fenway moment on May 25th, Carl Yastrzemski had been on home plate umpire, Lou DiMuro about ball and strike calls . Yaz was finally thrown out of the game for protesting a 3-2 called third strike and buried home plate in the dust to protest, then flipped his helmet and bat in the dirt, followed by a pair of sunglasses.

The Sox flew to Arlington to play the Rangers on May 26th, where Dwight Evans slammed a tie-breaking home run that capped a late inning exchange of homers and gave the Sox a 7 to 5 win.

Then, on May 28th, Bill Lee hurled a four-hitter, giving up his first hit in the fifth inning, but missed his third straight shutout on his own throwing error, pitching the Sox to a 4 to 1 victory over the Rangers. An infield hit in the seventh inning stopped Lee's string of scoreless innings at 28. Lee had been close to being the best pitcher in the league. He was 6-1 with a 1.94 ERA over the last month and a .121 batting average against him, earning himself the A.L. Player of the Week.

In Minnesota, after losing the first game, the Sox gave an exhibition of line drive hitting in the next game on May 31st. Liner after liner, all over Metropolitan Stadium off the Sox bats, gave the Sox a come-from-behind win. Jim Rice's three-run homer in the seventh inning highlighted a 17-hit attack, in the 12-8 victory. Six players had two hits apiece, led by Rice (.282 BA, 7 HRs, 26 RBIs) and Dwight Evans, who delivered three runs with a pair of doubles. Fred Lynn had a double, two singles, stole home and even had a sacrifice bunt.

In the series finale on June 1st, after hitting four home runs and running up a 9-0 lead in the first three innings, it took Dick Drago to finish off an 11 to 9 win against the Twins. Yaz, Lynn, Rice and Doug Griffin cracked homers. The Sox had won 10 of their last 13 and came home with a four game lead in the AL East.

Fred Lynn concluded the series going 7-for-14, to lift up his batting average to .352 and his slugging percentage to .616, chasing Rod Carew, who boosted his average to .390 with three hits. Lynn was enjoying the best debut of any Red Sox player in memory, inspiring comparisons to the best in Red Sox history, a combination of Ted Williams and Tris Speaker.

On June 3rd, against the White Sox at Fenway Park, Jim Rice drilled a three-run homer in the first inning and then Dick Pole made it stand up by hurling a three-hitter at the Chicago, beating them 4 to 0. Pole, making only his second start of the season, filling in for Reggie Cleveland, pitched his first career complete game. He struck out eight and walked three.

On June 4th the Sox won a come-from-behind thriller. They rallied for four runs in the ninth inning just as the fans were starting to leave Fenway Park. Three consecutive pinch hits were registered, before Rick Burleson singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning, giving them a 7 to 6 victory over the White Sox.

In Pawtucket, Dwight Evans hit two long homers as the Red Sox beat the PawSox, 10-1, in their annual exhibition match-up. The next night, June 6th,  the Twins came to play at Fenway. Evans' bat continued to sizzle, as he drove in six runs with a pair of homers, one, was the first grand slam of his major league career. The Red Sox held on to win a barnburner, 13 to 10.

Then on June 7th, the Sox combined good pitching by Bill Lee, good defense and clutch hitting to beat the Twins, 3 to 1. Yaz and Fred Lynn whacked run-scoring singles in the eighth inning to win the game.

Then the Sox lost the next three games, including two to Texas, to see their lead in the AL East shrink to just one game. On June 10th Bernie Carbo took Ferguson Jenkins deep twice in an 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers.

In Chicago Yaz got to be the hero once again, with a walk-off homer on June 11th. Yaz's homer in the 14th inning, gave the Red Sox a 9 to 7 win off Goose Gossage. In the bottom half of the ninth inning, with the score tied and the bases loaded, Dick Drago saved the game when a vicious line drive was slammed right at him. Drago never flinched and stopped the ball from going into center field and driving home the winning run. Rogelio Moret (4-0) came in in the tenth inning to pitch the Red Sox out of a jam and then went the next 3 2/3 innings of pitching one-hit ball, to pick up the win.

On June 13th, Fred Lynn hit his 10th home run, with two on in the ninth inning, in the first game of a doubleheader that the Sox won, 10 to 4. He collected two singles in the nitecap, in a 6 to 5 loss to the Kansas City Royals. The loss put allowed the Yankees to tie the Sox for first place in the AL East.

Denny Doyle, who lost his second base job to Jerry Remy in Anaheim, was traded from the Angels for minor leaguer, Chuck Ross. To make room for him, the Sox sent Tony C., who had only appeared in 21 games and was batting .122, with only two homers, down to Pawtucket. The PawSox manager, Joe Morgan, lamented that the great skills that Tony Conigliaro once possessed, were now gone.

That night, on June 14th, Jim Rice knocked in the tie-breaking run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and some good defense by Denny Doyle, led the Red Sox to a 4 to 3 win in Kansas City and a victory for Luis Tiant. It was the first of six straight wins.

The next day, June 15th, Dwight Evans scored the winning run when the Royals left the plate unguarded on Tim Blackwell's slow tapper. Blackwell's two-run infield single finished off a four-run eighth inning that carried the Red Sox to an 8 to 7 victory over the Royals. Fred Lynn (.348 BA) extended his hitting streak to 20 games with two hits.

In Detroit, Jim Burton's first major league victory almost happened in front of friends and family, but a Tiger rally forced him out of the game in the 10th inning and he didn't get the decision on June 16th. The game moved into the 12th inning and ended with a 6 to 2 win for Reggie Cleveland. Rick Burleson's long sacrifice fly won the game, following a leadoff triple, by Juan Beniquez, who had three hits, although the Sox scored three more times before the inning ended. Fred Lynn had gone hitless, breaking a 20-game hitting streak.

Juan Beniquez hit his second homer of the season with two outs in the eighth inning, as the Sox outlasted the Tigers, 7 to 6 on June 17th. Rick Wise luckily won his seventh game, but needed help from four relief pitchers to get the last nine Tiger batters.

On June 18th, Fred Lynn enjoyed one of his most remarkable days of the season when he launched three home runs, a triple and a base hit, finishing 5-for-5 with 16 total bases in a 15-1 shellacking of the Tigers. Lynn came out early to take extra batting practice. The hardest ball he hit all night was the triple, which missed being his fourth home run by less than a foot. The win gave the Sox a 2 1/2 game lead in the AL East.

Fred Lynn's 10 RBIs tied the Red Sox single game amount set by Rudy York in 1946, and tied by Norm Zauchin in 1955. It was one short of the American League record of 11 RBIs, set by Tony Lazzeri, of the Yankees in 1936, and two short of the MLB mark of 12 set by Jim Bottomley of St. Louis in 1924. The last Sox player to hit three home runs in a game was Joe Lahoud in 1969. Along with Lynn, Yaz and Rico Petrocelli each had three hits, and Rick Burleson and Rice each had two.

His 50 RBIs gave Lynn the American League lead over Willie Horton who had 46 RBIs. He also led the league with runs scored at 42 and his slugging percentage (.640) also led the league. He was  propelled into the national spotlight and helped fuel a “write-in” selection to the American League All-Star team.

A dramatic ninth inning rally by the Sox set the stage for a 12th inning come-from-behind victory in Baltimore on June 20th. Every run was a struggle, as each team rallied in the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings. A walk, a well-placed single by Juan Beniquez and a sacrifice fly from Rick Burleson accounted for the 12th inning winning run and it was Dick Drago who finally stopped the Orioles for a 4 to 3 win.

In the second game of the series on June 21st, the difference between Dick Pole and Jim Palmer was a bloop hit to center, but the Sox bats went silent as Palmer shut the Sox out ending their winning streak.

The next day, on June 22nd, Mike Cuellar shut the Sox out in the first game of a doubleheader. Finally Rico Petrocelli drove in the Sox first run in their last 22 innings, in the fifth inning of the second game. Luis Tiant scattered seven hits and struck out 12, carrying the Sox to a 5 to 1 victory over the Orioles, for a split. The Sox had managed just 22 hits in the 34 innings that preceded their two-run fifth inning.

The Sox concluded their road trip having won 9-of-13 games and were up by 1 1/2 games atop the AL East. Petrocelli batted .354 on the trip and knocked in a number of clutch runs.

Back at Fenway, on June 23rd, the Indians assaulted the Sox, 11-3, ruining the 1975 debut of Carlton Fisk for the Sox. He went 0-for-2 but his knees and wrist felt great. The veteran Tim McCarver, had been released to make room for him. The fans booed the team however, as if they had just blown the pennant. The reporters flocked into the locker room after game and Yaz, who had a bad game, ducked into the trainer's room, not wanting to deal with the bullshit.

The next night, on June 24th, Yaz hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put the Sox temporarily out front by two runs, before Cleveland put together a winning rally the next inning, scoring four runs, to win 8 to 6.

A team hardly sweeps three games from the Red Sox at Fenway Park, but the Indians did just that, with an 8 to 5 victory in the series finale on June 25th.

The Sox fell out of first place for the first time in a month and found themselves 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees in second place. Bill Lee went on a tirade after the boos reigned down at the end of the third loss, saying that Boston doesn't deserve a good team like the Red Sox. But an early-season showdown with the Yanks was next on the schedule.

Carlton Fisk, playing in only his fourth game, slapped a curve ball into the left field screen on June 26th. Fred Lynn (.344 BA, 54 RBIs) drove in three runs with a triple and a single, and Luis Tiant was masterful in picking up his 11th win. The three led the Sox to a 6 to 1 win over the Yankees and cut their lead to 1/2 game. The return of Fisk, lifted the spirits of everyone on the team.

During the game, Bernie Carbo crashed into the right-field wall while taking a homer away from the Chris Chambliss, in the process dislodging a chaw of tobacco in his mouth. Carbo is reported to have held up the game for 10 minutes while he searched for the missing chaw and then popped the same into his mouth upon discovering it on the warning track.

In the next game, on June 27th, backed by the eight-hit pitching of Rick Wise, the Sox shut down the Yankees with a 9-1 rout. Doug Griffin drove in three runs with a double and a single. Rico Petrocelli collected two RBIs with a single and a double.

The Sox lost the third game on June 28th, when Walt Williams overshadowed a remarkable performance by Yaz, by hitting what looked like a routine putout, that instead went for a tie-breaking double in an 8 to 6 Yankees win over the Sox. Yaz drove in four runs with two homers and also added a double.

Eighth inning doubles by Bernie Carbo and Rick Burleson snapped a tie ballgame and lifted the Red Sox back atop the AL East, with a 3 to 2 victory over the Yankees and Catfish Hunter on June 29th.

Late that night Reggie Cleveland was driving, along with his best friend from high school through Boston’s Sumner Tunnel, hit a puddle, and rolled his car, pinning him inside. Cleveland received 15 stitches around his right ear and eight in his mouth after being pulled unconscious from the wreckage. He spent no time on the disabled list and pitched two days later.

The Sox split a doubleheader with the Orioles on June 30th, but it cost them dearly. Dick Pole had blanked Baltimore for eight innings, outdueling Jim Palmer, the major league's only 12-game winner. He allowed just four hits until the ninth inning.

Tony Muser slashed a line drive up the middle that ticked off Dick Pole's glove and caught him in the face. Doctors determined that the ball had broken his cheek bone. He would require surgery and be out at least a month.

The Sox held on to win, 5 to 2, but the Orioles jumped all over Luis Tiant in the second game, winning 8 to 2. The Sox immediately brought up pitcher Steve Barr from Pawtucket, after the game.

The home stand finale saw Don Baylor break a 6-6 tie by crushing a three-run homer in the seventh inning, and powering the Baltimore Orioles to a 10-6 win. Yaz's bat stayed hot as he finished the homestand going 15 for 37.

The Sox had a one game lead in the standings. Luis Tiant (11-7) had won eight of his last ten decisions. Fred Lynn was named the American League "Player of the Month" for June., batting .325, with seven homers and 35 RBIs. He hit .400 with men on base and had his 20 game hitting streak, including his three homer game in Detroit. Pennant fever was again in the air.

The Sox next went to Milwaukee to face the hot Brewers, who had moved into second place ahead of the Yankees. On July 2nd the two teams split a doubleheader. In the first game, Rick Wise came within one out of throwing what would have been his second career no-hitter. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Wise walked Bill Sharp and then gave up the first hit of the game – a home run by George Scott. He gave up another homer after that, winning 6 to 3.

In the next game, on July 3rd,  Fred Lynn's unlikely error on a ball that rolled through his legs in the 10th inning, gave the Brewers a 3 to 2 win over the Red Sox and put them in a tie with the Sox atop the AL East.

General Manager Dick O'Connell started plugging holes in anticipation of a pennant run. He picked up St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, Jim Willoughby for shortstop Mario Guerrero, to help replace the injured Dick Pole.

In Cleveland, on July 4th, Luis Tiant pitched a four-hitter and lost. Oscar Gamble's two-run homer in the seventh inning, boosted the Indians to a 3 to 2 victory over the Sox. Twice the Sox had runners on third base and couldn't score.

Then the next day, on July 5th, Buddy Bell belted two home runs, one of them a grandslam, as the Sox went down to defeat to the Tribe again, 3 to 2.

On July 6th, Bill Lee huffed and puffed his way to a victory and Bob Heise drove in three runs, to lead the Red Sox to a 5 to 3 win in the first game of a doubleheader with the Indians. It was Heise's best day of the season. He went 4-for-7 with five RBIs. Lee's 10th win of the year halted the four game losing streak and put the Sox ahead in the AL East by a game, when the Brewers lost a doubleheader in Detroit.

The Sox then returned home and went on a tear, winning 10 straight games and putting them out in front to stay. On July 7th, Jim Willoughby earned his first save as a member of the Red Sox, bailing out Rick Wise in a 6 to 3 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Then, on July 8th, batting for Doug Griffin, Fred Lynn's pinch-hit single in the ninth inning, with the bases loaded, carried the Sox to a walk-off 6 to 5 win over the Twins. Lynn had stayed on the bench, nursing a sore wrist long enough. He had gone 0-14 before jamming the wrist during one of the games in Milwaukee.

Trailing the Twins by six runs, going into the bottom of the third inning, on July 9th, the Sox kept chipping away, cutting the margin to one run in the eighth inning. It was Jim Rice, Lynn and Cecil Cooper, who then powered the Sox to a dramatic 9 to 8, come-from-behind walkoff victory in the last inning. In the ninth, Cooper tied the score on a 3-1 pitch that he sent over the Sox bullpen. Doug Griffin next delivered a pinch hit single, and Rice lined a 3-2 pitch to left-center for a double. Griffin made it all the way around and scored with the winning run.

Against the Texas Rangers in the next game, on July 10th, for the third straight game the Sox won in the last inning with a walk-off. This time it was an 8 to 7 victory. The Sox chugged into the ninth inning with a 7-4 lead, only to have Jeff Burroughs pulverize a Reggie Cleveland fastball with two outs and two men on base, to tie up the game. The Sox waited for two outs in their half of the ninth and with Denny Doyle on second, Cecil Cooper lined a single into left field, and Doyle scored the winning run. It was the third straight game in which Cooper had been a part of a last inning rally.

The All Star teams were announced, and along with Fred Lynn, Carl Yastrzemski made the American League All Star Team for the 12th time. Lynn's hot bat gave him the league lead in slugging percentage (.620), total bases (168), runs (58), and RBIs (65). He was batting .339 and was fourth in the league with 20 doubles.

The Sox spotted the Rangers a 5-1 lead on July 11th, and countered with a 16-hit attack, including a homer by Bernie Carbo and six doubles, to come back and take the game, 11 to 8. Jim Burton picked up his first major league victory, and Bob Heise had three hits and was 10-for-25 in his last seven games.

Monsoons and rain delays punctuated a game where Yaz drove in three runs and Rice belted his 14th homer. Cecil Cooper (.354 BA) who was batting .413 over his last 13 games, had two more hits, as the Sox won their sixth straight game with a 10 to 4 victory over the Rangers on July 12th. Denny Doyle hit safely and began a hitting streak that would see him hit safely in 22 games.

Luis Tiant became the first Red Sox pitcher to bat when Cecil Cooper, the DH, had to take Yaz's place at first base. As he left the dugout, Luis bet Rick Burleson a dollar that he'd take Indians' pitcher, Steve Foucault, deep. When he walked to the plate, the crowd went wild yelling "Loooie-Loooie". True to his word he connected for a long ball, but it was caught in right field. Tiant went right over to "The Rooster" (Luis' nickname for Rick Burleson) and stuck his hand out to get paid.

YAZ HOMERS IN THE ALL STAR GAME

In their final game before the All Star break on July 13th, the Red Sox mounted a 15 hit attack as Fred Lynn drove in four runs (71 RBIs), Yaz (.313 BA) had five straight hits and Rico Petrocelli had three, as the Sox posted their 7th straight win by beating the Texas Rangers, 7 to 5. The Sox went into the break leading by four games in the AL East.

In the All Star game at Milwaukee, Manny Sanguillen came over to Fred Lynn and rubbed his uniform saying "you’re so hot I want some to rub off on me." The National League had a 3-0 lead after five innings, but pinch-hitting for Jim Kaat, Carl Yastrzemski's three-run homer in the sixth inning, tied the game. Finally, Bill Madlock's bases-loaded ninth inning single broke the tie and chased home the winning runs for the NL. Lynn came in as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, and then stayed in the game, going 0-for-2.

On July 17th, Cecil Cooper had a chance to hit for the "cycle" when he stepped to the plate in the seventh inning against the Royals. He had hit a home run, a triple, and a double already, but he grounded out. Cooper raised his average up to .367, having driven in four runs and leading the Sox past the Royals, 6 to 3. The Sox lead in the AL East went up to five games.

The Sox slammed Jim Busby, the Royals starter, as often as they could, beating the Royals down, 9 to 3, for their ninth straight win on July 18th. When Jim Rice faced him in the third inning, Busby threw him a low fastball, which was launched toward the centerfield bleachers. The fans anticipated scrambling after the ball, but they never got a chance. It sailed over their heads, over the wall to the right of the flagpole, and was last seen rolling down the end of Lansdowne Street toward Ipswich Street.

In 1937, Hank Greenburg drilled a homer over the bleacher wall about 20 feet to the right of the flag pole. Jimmie Foxx did the same thing the next year. Bill Skowron launched one in 1957, Yaz in 1970 and Bobby Mitchell in 1973.

But, on September 6th, 1927, Babe Ruth clouted three home runs at Fenway Park. The first according to the Boston Globe, was one of his longest, clearing the wall near the flagpole in center field and still rising as it sailed over Lansdowne Street, landing somewhere on or over the rooftops on the other side of the street. Babe's longest homer came in Tampa, during an spring training game against the New York Giants. Still with the Red Sox on April 4, 1918, Babe blasted a ball that landed 587 feet from home plate and is commemorated by a marker at the spot. How long was the one he hit out of Fenway? ... According to the observers in 1927, this homer was about as far.

The Red Sox next went on the road and first visited the Rangers in Texas on July 19th. Denny Doyle's three run homer climaxed a six-run sixth inning that pushed the Sox to their 10th straight win, 8-0. The Sox banged out 10 hits and Rick Wise went the distance, scattering seven hits for his 12th win of the year and first shutout.

The Sox were hitting .339 and slugging .592 during the streak and earned a 6 1/2 game lead over Milwaukee. Cecil Cooper hit over .400 in his last 17 games and over .600 in slugging percentage. Fred Lynn led the league with a .608 slg pct.

The next day, July 20th, the Sox and Rangers played a doubleheader. The Rangers snapped the Sox 10-game winning streak in the first game, but the Sox bounced back and took a close 3 to 2 win in game number two, behind the six-hit pitching of Reggie Cleveland and Jim Willoughby.

In Minnesota, Twins starter Dave Goltz, walked in the winning run, when he gave a free pass to Cooper in the fourth inning that forced a run home on July 22nd. Carlton Fsk's defense got Bill Lee out of a seventh inning jam, when he threw out a runner at third and preserved a 5 to 4 win over the Twins.

The next day, July 23rd, without a base hit, Jim Rice led the Sox in a 4 to 2 win over the Twins. His glove took two home runs away from Minnesota's Glenn Borgmann with spectacular catches. One was a leaping catch on which he grabbed the ball just as it cleared the fence and then caught another on the dead run, spinning up against the fence. A solo homer that Cecil Cooper unloaded, to lead off the sixth inning helped the Sox whip the Twins for the 9th time in 11 games this year.

The Sox defeated the Twins again in the series finale, on July 24th, 6 to 2, and held an eight game lead in the AL East. Rice led a team that had most of the regulars on the bench, with a tremendous two-run homer over the center field fence. Rick Wise was the beneficiary, winning his 13th game and the eighth in his last nine starts.

After losing the first game with the Yankees at Shea Stadium on July 25th, the Sox came back to maintain their eight game lead in the AL East over the Yanks on July 26th. Reggie Cleveland pitched perfect ball until the fifth inning. Jim Rice's sacrifice fly ball, in the ninth inning, broke a 1-1 tie and scored Denny Doyle with the go-ahead run for the Sox. Carlton Fisk followed with a two-run single past a drawn-in infield, to give the Red Sox a 4 to 2 decision.

Bill Lee and Rogelio Moret both pitched six-hit shutouts as the Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Yankees, 1 to 0 and then 6 to 0 on July 27th. In the opener, Rick Miller's single to center off Catfish Hunter, scored Fred Lynn with the only run of the game in the ninth inning, to end a tense pitcher's duel. Bill Lee held the Yankees scoreless, and the Sox were clinging to a 1-0 lead with one out in the ninth inning when Yankees’ Graig Nettles hit a line drive to deep left-center field. Lynn had been shading Nettles to right-center, and he ran the ball down, dove, went tumbling, and came up with the ball in his glove.

In the second game, the Yankees never showed up against Rogelio Moret, who coasted to his sixth win. Jim Rice (.305 BA) whacked four hits and drove in two runs to spearhead the Sox attack. Carlton Fisk went 6-13 with six RBIs in the series.

The Sox had won 17 of their last 20 games and the double victory pushed the Yankees 10 games behind the Sox.

Back at Fenway on July 28th, Carlton Fisk (4-for-4, 5 RBIs) was a one man demolition crew, powering the Red Sox to a 7 to 6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. His two home runs and a bases loaded single in the ninth inning lifted the Sox to their 10th consecutive home victory and a nine game lead in the AL East. In his first 31 games back, Fisk had hit .330 with five homers and 21 RBIs.

Then the Sox lost the next two games for only the fourth and fifth losses in their last 23 games.

Carl Yastrzemski ran like a deer and hustled his butt off, triggered scoring opportunities and then knocked out a base hit, to lead the Red Sox into a 6 to 1 whipping of the Detroit Tigers. It came after driving in two runs in the first game, which the Sox won in the 10th inning, 3 to 2, for the sweep of a doubleheader at Fenway Park on July 31st. In the opener, Bill Lee went the distance, in 90-degree heat, for his fifth consecutive win and 10th in 12 decisions since the middle of May. Then Rogelio Moret, who gave up just one run in the second game, picked up his eighth win against a single loss in the second game.

On August 1st, two runs in the ninth, gave the Sox an 8 to 7 win over the Tigers. Down 7-6, Denny Doyle beat out an infield hit and went to second on a hurried wild throw to first. Yaz brought Doyle in with a base hit and moved to second on the throw to the plate. Rice then laid a bunt down the third base line and the Tigers' pitcher, had no play at first, so he tried to get Yaz at third and threw the ball away, bringing him in with the winning run.

Denny Doyle knocked out a double and two singles, the next day, on August 2nd, scoring two runs and driving in one, to help the Sox to a 7-2 victory over the Tigers. Lynn and Yaz each drove in two runs with a double and a single apiece as the Sox posted their fourth straight win.

CECIL COOPER

Cecil Cooper launched a solo homer to break a 4-4 tie that powered the Sox to a 6 to 4 win over the Tigers and a five-game series sweep on August 3rd. The Sox (66-42) were at 24 games over .500, and had posted their best record since they were 25 games over 1951.

The pitching staff was hit by a plague of sore arms and bad luck. Luis Tiant was the first to suffer and languished for two months. Then after Reggie Cleveland flipped his car, Rogelio Moret was involved in a near-fatal car accident.

On a trip back from New York City in the early morning of a scheduled start against the second place Baltimore Orioles on August 4th. Moret fell asleep and crashed his car into the rear end of a stalled truck on the highway. It tore off the roof of his car and somehow, he didn't get his head also ripped off, avoiding serious injury. But he did suffer cuts on his head that required a visit to a hospital.

The Orioles swept the brief two game series at Fenway, shaving two games off the Sox AL East lead to 7 1/2 games.

The Sox moved into Milwaukee on August 6th, where Doug Griffin's pinch-hit single drove in the winning run, during a four-run ninth inning, to key the Red Sox to a 5 to 2 victory over the Brewers.

In the next game, on August 7th, Denny Doyle and Fred Lynn drove in two runs apiece and Rick Wise allowed eight hits, in his eighth consecutive win and 15th overall, leading the Red Sox to a 4 to 2 victory. Wise's win put him one behind AL leaders Jim Palmer and Jim Kaat. Lynn led the American League in five offensive categories: batting avg (.337), doubles (31), RBIs (82), runs (71), slugging pct (.603) and total bases (220).

In Oakland, the Athletics only had three hits, but they were enough. Two quick homers ruined Reggie Cleveland's no-hit bid in the seventh inning on August 8th. In under three minutes, Cleveland went from pitching a no-hitter to eventually losing 3 to 2. The A's pitcher Ken Holtzman, made it stand up in this 99-minute game.

The next day, August 9th, the Sox knocked out A's starter, Sonny Siebert in less than three innings, as Denny Doyle, Cecil Cooper and Carlton Fisk homered and paced an 11-hit Red Sox attack over the Athletics, 7 to 2. Bill Lee gave up five hits, in earning his 15th victory and had now won 11 of his last 13 games, and was 9-2 on the road.

In the next game on August 10th, Cecil Cooper and Jim Rice each hit two home runs, as the Sox beat the A's, 5 to 3. Luis Tiant snapped a three-game losing streak, to gain his 14th win.

On August 11th, in the series finale, for seven innings, Vida Blue held the Sox in check, but then needed help from three relievers, following a long ball attack in the eight inning by Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk. But it wasn't enough, and the A's held on to win and split the four game series with Boston, 4 to 3.

Denny Doyle, who had been out with the flu, and Yaz, who hurt his shoulder, both came back into the Sox lineup and initiated two early rallies on August 12th. Rick Wise kept up his remarkable pitching, winning his ninth straight and 16th game of the season with an 8 to 2 win over the Angels in Anaheim. The Sox lost 2 of 3 in Anaheim however and saw their AL East lead shrink to 5 1/2 games.

Behind the pitching of Luis Tiant and the batting of Cecil Cooper, on August 15th, the Sox slipped by the White Sox, 3 to 2, in Chicago. Tiant threw a neat seven-hitter for his 15th victory and his 14th complete game. He allowed only three hits over the last six innings. Meanwhile, Cooper (.338 BA), who was 15-for-40, smashed out three hits, including a triple and his fifth homer of the year.

In the following game, on August 16th, Rogelio Moret dazzled the White Sox with a two-hit shutout, 5 to 0, that saw only one Chicago baserunner reach second base, and that was on an error. Meanwhile, Fisk and Dwight Evans pounded Wilbur Wood easily. Fisk tripled in a run in the first inning, singled and just missed a homer. Evans, forced into action with his bad hip, because of Jim Rice had hurt his arm, drilled his 10th homer in the sixth inning, for the Sox second run, and tripled in the ninth.

In the finale with the White Sox on August 17th, Denny Doyle's two-out single in the 11th inning off Rich Gossage, lifted the Red Sox to a 4 to 3 victory over the White Sox, giving them a split of the day's doubleheader. Rice was back in the lineup in the second game. Cooper and Carlton Fisk each had three hits, while Dwight Evans had five hits and three RBIs in the two games.

BILL LEE

Rico Petrocelli was suffering from headaches, inner-ear trouble, and vertigo. He left the Sox, at the time hitting .241 with four home runs and 44 RBIs. Some wondered if his career, much less the season, was over. He was placed on the disabled list, Bob Heise was installed as the third baseman, and Dick McAuliffe was pulled from his managerial job in Bristol to take his place on the roster.

On August 19th, Bill Lee hurled a four-hitter and Fred Lynn slammed a double and a two-run homer to lead the Red Sox in a 5 to 0 shutout of the Royals in Kansas City.

Luis Tiant gave up nine hits and didn't strike out anyone, losing to the Royals, 3 to 1 on August 20th. There were concerns about his shoulder, but it was his concern about getting his parents out of Cuba, waiting for their visa clearance, that weighed the most on him.

On August 21st, Tony Conigliaro announced his retirement after playing for the PawSox and batting only .220. He accepted a job working as a sports reporter for a Providence television station.

Home at Fenway, Rogelio Moret's four-hitter, a solo homer by Dwight Evans and run-scoring single by Fred Lynn, were enough to push the Red Sox past the White Sox, 2 to 1 on August 22nd.

Carlton Fisk, was knocked out of the lineup once again, when he suffered a split knuckle on the ring finger of his right hand, the result of a foul tip, the next day, when the Red Sox lost to Chicago on August 23rd.

After an hour and 46 minute rain delay, home runs by Yaz and Rice backed the clutch pitching of Bill Lee, as the Red Sox slogged past the White Sox, 6 to 1 in the series finale on August 24th. It would be the last time, however, that Lee won a game this season.

LUIS TIANT SR & JR

On August 26th, Luis Tiant Sr. threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Sox lost to the Angels. Luis' mom and dad had finally arrived from Cuba and they got to see their son pitch in the major leagues for the first time. After two ceremonial first pitches to Tim Blackwell, Tiant Sr., a pitcher for the New York Cubans in his day, announced that he was ready to go for five innings at any time.

The Sox split a series with the Angels at Fenway. Rogelio Moret (11-2) allowed eight hits and walked seven batters, but was able to post his 11th victory in 13 decisions, as the Sox whipped the Angels 6 to 2 on August 27th. Moret showed his inconsistency once again and yet again, won because of his ability to escape the jams he created. Dwight Evans was 3-for-4 and had hit in 12 of his last 14 games at a .451 clip.

On August 29th, the Sox glided to a 6 to 1 victory over the AL West leaders, the Oakland Athletics, behind Rick Wise's fastballs and the hitting of Cecil Cooper. Wise scattered eight hits and walked just one, and breezed to his 17th win. Cooper (.340 BA) homered, doubled twice and singled. He might have hit for the cycle had he not tripped going over second base in the eighth inning.

On August 31st, Doug Griffin was beaned again, this time by Oakland’s Dick Bosman in an 8 to 6 loss. Griffin experienced hearing and equilibrium problems, but recovered very quickly. This time he had been wearing an ear flap with his protective helmet. The month of August ended with the Sox losing two of the three games to the A's, cutting the Sox lead in the AL East, to six games.

Dick Pole was activated and pitched for the first time since being struck in the face by a line drive on June 30th. He pitched three shutout innings on September 1st, a 4-2 loss to the Yankees.

Dick McAuliffe started this game at third base, batting eighth. With one out in the second, Yankees DH Walt Williams hit a popup between third and home. McAuliffe dropped the ball for an error. With one run in, shortstop Fred Stanley tapped a ball to third, and McAuliffe’s throw pulled Yaz off the bag. It was scored a single, and another run came in. McAuliffe drove in a run, but the Red Sox lost and Dick McAuliffe’s major-league career was over.

The memories of the leads they squandered during the stretch runs in 1972 and again in 1974, were there to remind the Sox players on a daily basis. But the sense of humor that were possessed by both Luis Tiant and Rick Wise, got the team to relax. And Carlton Fisk and Rico Petrocelli showed they were both able leaders, who never let the moment get them too high or too low.

On September 2nd, Reggie Cleveland stopped the Sox three-game skid. Fisk drove in three runs with a pair of base hits, leading the Sox to a 7 to 4 victory over the Yankees.

In a showdown with the second place Orioles in Baltimore on September 3rd, Cecil Cooper blasted his 13th homer to start off the 10th inning, winning the game for the Sox, 3 to 2. Rick Wise went all the way for the Sox, posting his 18th win (the most he has ever won in his major league career). It was his 11th win in his last 13 decisions.

The Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 3 to 1 the next day September 4th and took a commanding eight game lead in the AL East. Dick Pole combined with Dick Drago to hurl a five-hitter. Pole was a late replacement for Luis Tiant, who was experiencing muscle spasms in his back. He allowed just two hits in the first five innings.

Yaz, while playing first base on September 5th, tried to make a sweeping tag and was hit by the runner. As a result he pulled the ligaments in his shoulder. The next day he couldn't move and flew back to Boston to see the doctor. But he then flew back and continued to play.

On September 6th, the Sox unloaded on the Milwaukee Brewers, 20 to 6. Rico Petrocelli had his finest day in a long time. He knocked out four hits, including a three-run homer in a five-run sixth inning. Dwight Evans contributed five hits, including a two-run double in the eighth inning. Carlton Fisk slammed a three-run homer and Rick Burleson blasted a two-run homer in a seven-run second inning.

Fisk's tie-breaking double in a two-run eighth inning and Jim Rice's two-run single in the ninth inning, gave the Sox a 6 to 3 win in the first game of a doubleheader with the Brewers on September 7th. George Scott's 3-run homer gave the Brewers a 7 to 3 victory in the second game. Cecil Cooper was hit on the side of his face in the fifth inning of the second game and carried off the field on a stretcher, before being taken to the hospital for x-rays which were negative. The beaning hampered his performance for the rest of the season.

The Sox next went to Cleveland and lost two straight to the Indians. So after two must wins against Baltimore, the Sox lost 4-of-6 in Milwaukee and Cleveland ato see their eight game lead shrink to five games.

Back home, on September 10th, they split a doubleheader with the Tigers, winning the first game 7 to 4 and losing the nitecap, 5 to 3. Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk collected three hits apiece in the opener and Rico Petrocelli homered.

On the following day, September 11th, Luis Tiant came back to action and threw hitless ball, until two outs in the seventh inning. He finished with a three-hit, 3 to 1 victory over the Tigers, striking out ten batters and walking just one. Sidelined with tendonitis and then back spasms, it was Loooie's first win in almost a month and the first time he had pitched in ten days. He had hoped to make it thru just five or six innings.

Against the Brewers on September 13th, Rico Petrocelli and Doug Griffin broke out of batting slumps in a three-run fourth inning and the Red Sox went on to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6 to 3 for a doubleheader split. The Brewers won the first half of the twin bill by a 9 to 6. Bob Montgomery had two hits in the second game, while Jim Burton did a great job in relief of Reggie Cleveland, who went 7 1/3 innings to pick up his 12th victory.

Fred Lynn had four hits, including a home run, good for two RBIs and scored twice on September 14th. He also saved a run to end the fourth inning, when he caught a fly ball and threw a man out at home, trying to score from third. But Yaz provided the drama with a two-run tie-breaking single, in a three-run seventh inning, that allowed the Sox to beat the Brewers 8 to 6. Lynn had gone 13-for-21 (.619 BA) in his last six games, batting .346 over his last 62 games. In the fifth inning, Hank Aaron hit his 745th homer off Bill Lee. It was the only home run he ever would hit at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox held an 8-0 lead after two innings, then staggered home on September 15th. Dwight Evans drove in four runs with four hits, while Lynn and Rice each drove in their 100th runs of the season, leading the Red Sox over the Brewers, 9 to 7.

JIM RICE & LUIS TIANT

In a must-win series for the Baltimore Orioles, who were 4 1/2 games behind the Sox in second place. A Baltimore area disc jockey flew to Nairobi, Kenya and hired a witch doctor to put a curse on the Red Sox.

But Luis Tiant put an end to that when he out-dueled Jim Palmer, blanking the O's, 2 to 0 on September 16th. It was his first shut-out of the season. Rico Petrocelli and Carlton Fisk belted solo homers for the only runs the Sox needed. Fenway Park resounded with chants of "Looo-ie, Looo-ie, Looo-ie" as he finished off the Orioles. It was his first shutout of the season.

The Red Sox held on thru two rain delays to beat the Tigers 7 to 5 in Detroit on September 19th. Rice and Fisk led the way with three hits each. Fisk, since returning to the Sox lineup has hit .328 with 50 RBIs in only 238 at bats. Fred Lynn became the first American Leaguer to have scored 100 runs and knocked in 100 RBIs since Yaz did it in 1970.

But on September 21st the Sox suffered the loss of Jim Rice. He was hit by a pitch from Vern Ruhle in the second inning of the Sox 6-5 victory over the Tigers. He batted two more times before being taken to Ford Hospital in Detroit, for x-rays. They showed that he had a fractured fourth metacarpal bone and had his hand put in a cast.

Tony Conigliaro interviewed Jim Rice for the Providence television sports station, and after the interview he tried to console him, saying that he knows how he felt after getting sidelined and not feeling a part of the team in '67. But hearing how Tony C. felt some eight years earlier, did nothing to make the 22 year old slugger feel any better. At the time, Rice was batting .309 with 22 home runs and 102 RBIs. He had not made an error in left field, and now his season was over.

When Jim Rice went down, the Red Sox reacquired Deron Johnson from the White Sox for cash and a player to be named later (catcher Chuck Erickson). His role was to play first base and serve as designated hitter. He went 6-for-10 in the three games in which he appeared.

Fred Lynn continued his assault on the record book on September 22nd. With his three hits against the Yankees and a sacrifice fly, he broke the American League rookie record with 46 doubles. He was leading the league with 102 runs and 104 RBIs.

Luis Tiant posted his 18th win with a four-hitter and defeated the Cleveland Indians by a 4 to 0 score in the first game of a doubleheader on September 26th. Reggie Cleveland gave up five hits in a second 4 to 0 shutout of the Indians in the nitecap. The last two Sox pitchers to throw back-to-back shutouts at Fenway, were Bob Porterfield and Tom Brewer in 1956. Carlton Fisk had three hits, hit in his 15th straight game, and was batting .400 since Sept 1st.

On September 27th the race for the AL East championship ended, not with heroics, as the Indians beat the Sox 5 to 2, but with mathematics. The Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Orioles and the Sox backed into the title. Rick Burleson remembered that he had a speaking engagement that night, and when he arrived at the function, it was the guests that informed him that the Red Sox had won the pennant.

So September 28th was a bit of a rest day for the Red Sox. Call-up, Andy Merchant debuted behind the plate, catching starter Dick Pole. Also making his major-league debut in the day’s game was second baseman Steve Dillard and thirdbaseman Butch Hobson in his second game. Merchant was 2-for-4, and finished the season with a .500 batting average.

The American League pennant was a team effort. In winning 95 games, the Red Sox led the league in slugging (.417), on base percentage (.344) and batting average (.275). Thirty of those victories had come after they were tied or trailing in the seventh inning.

Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics won the American League West and faced the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series that started at Fenway on October 4th. The A's had played in the last four American League playoffs and won three consecutive World Series. But with an unstable atmosphere, their eccentric owner, and the upcoming free agency, their focus seemed not to be on baseball.

For two days, Carl Yastrzemski worked with Eddie Popowski on his stance. He was used to holding his bat high for power. But with his shoulder he had a problem with that and his hitting suffered. He now worked on keeping them low and just driving the ball.

FISK & TIANT

In Game #1, the Red Sox rode the three-hit, eight strikeout, pitching of Luis Tiant to a 7 to 1 victory. Tiant baffled the A's hitters, while the Sox were sharp, ran the bases with success and got the clutch hits. Juan Beniquez went 2-for-4, scoring one run and driving in another. He singled in Rick Burleson in the seventh, then proceeded to steal second, then third base; he scored after Billy North muffed Denny Doyle’s sacrifice fly. The A's, on the other hand, played like a high school team, booting ground balls, making bad throws and misjudging fly balls. Their three errors in the first inning set a playoff record. From the second through the six inning A's pitcher, Ken Holtzman set down 15 of the 18 batters he faced while his teammates failed.

Carl Yastrzemski turned back the clock in Game #2. He got the Sox going when he slugged a fast ball from Vida Blue into the left-centerfield screen in the fourth inning with Doyle aboard. In the third inning, Yaz made a brilliant throw to nail Bert Campaneris at third to kill a threat, and in the sixth, Yaz held Bando to a single after he drove the ball off the wall in left field. Carlton Fisk doubled home Yaz to break a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the sixth. Then Fred Lynn out-raced a Joe Rudi flyball to deep center in the the ninth inning. Reggie Cleveland became the first Canadian-born pitcher to start a postseason game when he started the game, but Rogelio Moret and Dick Drago finished off the 6 to 3 win.

In Oakland, for Game #3, the Athletics sent Ken Holtzman back out to face the Red Sox on only two days rest. Denny Doyle noticed that Holtzman tipped his pitches when flared his glove during his windup and delivery. He passed that on and it may have helped the Sox win.

Yaz knocked out two hits and had another brilliant play in the field. In the bottom of the fourth, Reggie Jackson hit a line drive down the left field line and figured he could make second when he saw Yaz sprinting after it. But Yaz caught up to it, spun and nailed Reggie at second. Then in the eighth Reggie came up again with two runners on and the Sox up by three. He laced a line drive in the gap between left and center. This time Yaz sprinted after it went airborne and knocked it down, holding Reggie to a single with only one runner scoring. Dick Drago came in and got Joe Rudi to ground into a 6-4-3 doubleplay and then held them in the ninth. Rick Wise won the clinching game, holding them to six hits and two earned runs over 7 1/3 innings to win 5 to 3, and send the Red Sox to the World Series.

It was the first postseason series win for the Red Sox in 57 years. While Carl Yastrzemski was the clear choice for ALCS MVP, Carlton Fisk went 5-for-12 and prevented the A's, who had stolen 183 bases, from swiping any in the three games.

The fans congregated at Logan Airport and 1500 of them greeted the Sox when they arrived home around 7AM. Another crowd awaited them when the buses pulled into Fenway Park. The fans were already hunkered down with sleeping bags, preparing to get in line when the World Series ticket windows opened.

The Red Sox weren't given much of a chance to beat the National League champions, the Cincinnati "Big Red Machine". The Reds had won 108 games and their division with a 20 game lead, blowing out the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Championship Series. They were a team perfect in the fundamentals, built for speed on the articial home turf at Riverfront Stadium, where they were 64-17. They had combined power, defense and speed, having stolen 108 bases in 205 attempts. As a team, they took on the personality of their combative leader, Pete Rose.

Television executives were worried. Baseball was seen to be too slow and boring as a spectator sport. Viewership was down after the lackluster two previous World Series, and they were losing viewers to the NFL.

A light drizzle blanketed Boston on October 11th for Game #1. Luis Tiant took the mound against Don Gullett and mesmerized the Reds batters early in the game, retiring the first 10 hitters, before Joe Morgan singled with one out in the fourth.

Morgan had stolen 67 bases and added four more in the NLCS, and as Tiant tried to hold Morgan on base, he was called for a balk. It took him 13 pitches, but he got Johnny Bench to pop out to Carlton Fisk and then struck out Tony Perez to close out the inning.

Don Gullett matched Tiant pitch for pitch into the seventh inning. Luis led off in the bottom of the seventh and responded with a solid single to left. Dwight Evans tried to sacrifice him to second, but Gullett fielded the bunt and threw the ball into centerfield. Denny Doyle followed with a base hit to load the bases and Yaz drilled a single that scored Tiant, who missed home plate on his first pass and had to backtrack to tag it. The Red Sox went on to score six runs and rolled to a 6 to 0 shutout. It was the Luis Tiant show, winning his third game of the post-season, without allowing an earned run in 36 innings.

Darrell Johnson gambled in Game #2, turning to 17 game-winner Bill Lee, who had not started a game because of a strained elbow ligament, since August. On another drizzly afternoon at Fenway, Cecil Cooper led off with a double to left and moved to third on Denny Doyle's third base hit of the series. However, Yaz chopped a bouncer to the pitcher Jack Billingham, who forced Doyle at second, but Cooper broke for home and then changed his mind, getting caught in a rundown. In the meantime Yaz made it down the second base and scored the game's first run on a single by Carlton Fisk.

The Red Sox led 2 to 1 in the seventh inning when play was stopped for a rain delay. When it restarted, Lee gave a leadoff double to Johnny Bench in the ninth. Dick Drago came in and forced Tony Perez to ground out to Rick Burleson. Bench moved to third and then George Foster flied out to Yaz. Dave Concepcion chopped a ball over Drago's head that allowed Bench to score the tying run. Concepcion then stole second and Ken Griffey followed with a double off the wall that gave the Reds a 3 to 2 lead. Rawley Eastwick closed the door with a perfect ninth-inning to tie the Series.

The two clubs traveled to Cincinnati for Game #3. Rick Wise, who had good memories of Riverfront Stadium, where in 1971 while pitching for the Phillies, tossed a no-hitter and hit two home runs, was the Red Sox starter. In this one, he nursed a 1 to 0 lead into the fourth inning, but then the "Big Red Machine" roared to life, smacking three home runs and putting five runs on the board.

Then in the seventh inning, pinch-hitter Bernie Carbo belted a home run to cut the score to 5 to 3. In the ninth-inning with one out and one man on, Dwight Evans belted a Rawley Eastwick fastball into the night for a two run blast that tied the game at five apiece.

Jim Willoughby then held the Reds scoreless since entering the game in the seventh inning, but in the bottom of the 10th, Cesar Geronimo singled and pinch-hitter Ed Armbrister attempted to sacrifice him to second. As he bunted the ball bounced fairly into the dirt in front of home plate, Carlton Fisk tossed his mask and was in front of the plate after the ball before Armbrister could react. The two collided and Fisk had his left arm on Armbrister's neck, as he grabbed at the ball with his right hand. He shoved Armbrister out of the way and fired toward second to get Geronimo. Armbrister was still in front of the plate just starting to run, because he had been blocked by Fisk going after the ball.

Fisk's throw sailed out to centerfield and Geronimo made it over to third while Armbrister hustled around to second base. Darrell Johnson jumped out of the dugout to argue that Armbrister had interfered with Fisk being able to make the play, causing his throw to go wild.

Umpire Larry Barnett, without the benefit of replay, said that he had not seen the play the same way. There was no intentional interference in his opinion. The batter has just as much right to get out of the batters box as the catcher has in trying to get the ball. The whole play took a couple of seconds, but the controversy it caused, lasted into the winter. But what wasn't seen by the umpires, was the fact that Geronimo overslid third and Rico Petrocelli tagged him before he could get back.

Rogelio Moret was summoned from the bullpen and walked Pete Rose intentionally to load the bases and set up a doubleplay. After striking out Merv Rettenmund for the first out, the Red Sox outfield moved in as Joe Morgan came to the plate. Morgan lofted a fly ball to center, deep enough to score Geronimo and the Reds walked away with a 3 to 2 win and a 2-1 Series lead.

The Red Sox players were incensed over the call by Larry Barnett and made no bones about letting the media know about their discontent of his non-interference call after the game. Carlton Fisk also thought he had tagged Ed Armbrister out when he came down with the ball and should have had a doubleplay. Reporters called the Sox locker room, the angriest they had ever seen.

The firestorm forced Luis Tiant to become the savior and stopper in Game #4. He delivered a virtuoso performance, throwing 163 pitches at every speed and from every angle. After giving up two first inning runs, he escaped disaster after disaster, leaving the Reds frustrated.

He entered the ninth-inning nursing a 5 to 4 lead. Cesar Geronimo led off with a single and Armbrister sacrificed him over to third. Pete Rose walked, and Ken Griffey smoked the ball to centerfield toward Fred Lynn. Lynn turned around and ran at full speed, before gracefully pulling down the drive with an over the shoulder catch. Joe Morgan finished off the game with a pop up and the series was once again tied. It was a gutsy performance by Luis, who teetered on the edge but was able the keep the Reds hitters in check. His fierce competitive nature never had burned brighter.

For four games, Tony Perez did little more than watch and play first. He didn't get a hit in his first fourteen times at bat. The reigning RBI leader on the Reds came up big in Game #5, by crashing a pair of homers, good for four RBIs. His slugging powered the Reds to a 6 to 2 win over the Sox, drawing to within one victory of winning the World Series. Don Gullett was equally impressive, allowing just two hits through eight innings, and turning the ball over to Rawley Eastwick to squelch a ninth inning rally by the Sox. Reggie Cleveland became the first Canadian-born pitcher to start a World Series game. He pitched well, shutting out the Reds through 3 2/3 innings before surrendering a home run to Perez.

The two clubs returned to Boston to find Game #6 getting postponed for three days because of the rain. Some thought the field was playable on Monday night, October 20th. But the game would have gone head-to-head with Monday Night Football and the commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, didn't want that to happen. The next day helicopters dried off the field and it was deemed ready to play. It woud also be the first World Series game to be played at night.

The delay gave Luis Tiant the rest he needed, and Darrell Johnson decided to use him and save Bill Lee for a seventh game. On Tuesday night, October 21st, Red Sox fans settled in for one of the most exciting games ever seen.

Carl Yastrzemski started things off by lining a single to right and was moved to second by Carlton Fisk's single to left. Fred Lynn then smashed a home run into the right-center field bleachers to give the Red Sox a 3 to 0 lead. Through the first four innings Luis was at his gyrating best, but in the fifth he showed a crack in his armor.

After a walk to Ed Armbrister and a base hit by Pete Rose, Ken Griffey launched a line drive toward left centerfield. Fred Lynn turned and at full gallop ran and jumped for the ball as it bounded away, untouched off-the-wall for a two run triple. But Fenway turned as quiet as a church mouse because Lynn was on the ground dazed. As Charlie Moss, the trainer, ran out to centerfield, Lynn first stirred and  was barely conscious and for a minute, couldn’t feel his legs. But after a while, he got up and stayed in the game. In his box behind home plate, Tom Yawkey turned to assistant general manager Haywood Sullivan and said, “Pad that wall.” Joe Morgan next popped up to Rico Petrocelli, and then Bench lined a single that scored Griffey with the tying run.

Tiant had pitched 294 innings in the season and was noticeably tired in the seventh. He was all guts and guile, with the hopes and dreams of the Red Sox riding on his back. Griffey and Morgan led off the inning with base hits. Luis got Bench on a line drive and Tony Perez on a fly ball to right. That brought up George Foster, who drove the ball to center, over Lynn's head and off-the-wall for a two run double. Dave Concepcion grounded out to end the inning, but the Reds now led by two runs.

The Red Sox went down quietly in the seventh inning and Tiant went back to the mound in the eighth. Cesar Geronimo led off with a home run just inside the "Pesky Pole", and that was it for Luis, with all his magic and right arm gone. Rogelio Moret then came in and retired the Reds in order.

But little did the Red Sox fans know that this game would provide them with one of the greatest thrills in the history of the franchise. Fred Lynn led off the eighth with a line drive through the box that bounced off Pedro Borbon's leg for a base hit. Rico Petrocelli then worked a walk and out came Sparky Anderson to call on his ace, Rawley Eastwick. Eastwick struck out Dwight Evans and got Rick Burleson on a line drive to George Foster.

Bernie Carbo now came out to pinch-hit for Rogelio Moret and Eastwick's first pitch fooled him so badly, that he swung defensively like a little leaguer. But the next swing was beautiful and the implausible hero sent a line drive into the centerfield bleachers that brought the Fenway fans back to life. As he rounded third, Carbo laughingly asked his old teammate, Pete Rose, if he wished he were that strong. Rose yelled back "Ain't this great? This is what playing in the World Series is all about."

“Bernie,” Bill Lee waxed eloquently in Peter Gammons’ book Beyond the Sixth Game, “is the only man I know who turned fall into summer with one wave of his magic wand.” His blast was commemorated by the Red Sox at their 2004, Hall of Fame induction as a memorable moment in Red Sox history.

Carbo reminisced: “I stepped out of the box. I figured, ‘He’s going to be thinking I’m going to be looking slider, so instead I’m going to be looking fastball.’ Eastwick got the fastball up and away, where I was looking. I got the pitch, and when I started running to first base, I didn’t know if the ball was going to go out of the park, because center field was a long ways. I figured it might be off the wall, and I could see Geronimo turn his back, and that’s when I knew the ball was gone.” The game was tied at 6 to 6 and as Cecil Cooper struck out to end the inning, it didn't deter the pure joy that permeated the ballpark.

Denny Doyle was then involved in a ninth-inning play, that allowed the game to go into extra innings. The bases were loaded with no one out when Fred Lynn lifted a fly to short left field. Reds left fielder George Foster made the catch and Doyle, at third, tagged up and attempted to score the winning run. But he was thrown out at the plate. After the game, third base coach, Don Zimmer told the press, “I was yelling, ‘no, no, no’ and with the crowd noise he thought I was saying, ‘go, go, go.’’

The game moved into the 11th inning. NBC's commentator Joe Garagiola announced that the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson would not be seen. A record 76 million viewers did not care.

Pete Rose was the first up  and was spun around by an inside pitch. Acting as if he was mortally wounded, umpire Satch Davidson awarded him first base. Ken Griffey attempted to bunt him over to second, but Carlton Fisk was too quick a threw Rose out.

With Griffey on, Joe Morgan hit what looked to be a possible series winning home run into the right field corner. Dwight Evans ran back and back to the short fence and gauged the distance perfectly making a half leap while sticking out his glove and catching the ball at the fence and almost falling into the stands. He then whirled and threw instinctively back toward the infield where Yaz quickly grabbed it and relayed it to Rick Burleson, covering first, for an improbable inning ending double play. That catch would later make Yaz think of Willie Mays' famous catch in the 1954 World Series, at the Polo Grounds.

When the Red Sox came to bat in the 12th inning of the early morning, it began to appear is if the game would never end. Those in the press box had already anointed it as the best World Series game ever played.

The Red Sox had not been able to touch Reds pitcher Pat Darcy. But then Carlton Fisk stepped up to the plate. As he got ready to hit, he told Fred Lynn, who was in the on-deck circle, that he was going to hit one off the wall and that Lynn should prepare to drive him in.

Fisk took ball one, stepped out of the batters box and adjusted his stance and bat. Pat Darcy, the eighth Reds pitcher of the game, wound up and released his second pitch. Fisk swung, and the NBC camera inside the left field scoreboard was fixed on him. He looked up and watched the ball with everyone else, straining, waving the ball fair, and hoping and praying it would do just that.

Cameraman Louis Gerard had been told by the producer to keep his left field camera trained on Fisk and to follow the ball if he hits it. It was not an easy task to finish, because Gerard noticed a large rat standing up on its hind legs leaning against his own leg, so he lost any interest on what the camera was picking up and tried to get rid of his unwanted guest. Thus, the camera shot stayed trained in Carlton Fisk.

Luckily, the producer decided not to use another camera's shot of the ball flying toward the foul pole, but instead used Gerard's shot of Fisk waving it fair and jumping toward first base. Thus was recorded, was one of the most famous images in baseball history. Gerard would win an Emmy for that night's work. It would be the crowning achievement of his 35 years of work and a dozen other Emmys. Nobody knows what became of the rat.

The ball ricocheted off the left-field foul pole for a home run. It bounced down into left field where George Foster picked it up and put it in his pocket (In 1999, he sold the ball at auction, for $113K). At 12:34 AM, the game was over. Rick Wise was the fourth Sox pitcher in the game and got the win. The World Series was tied at three games apiece.

Fenway Park organist John Kiley, pounded out the "Hallelujah Chorus". In Charleston, New Hampshire, Carlton Fisk's home town, the bell at St. Luke's Episcopal Church started ringing. At such a late hour the police were dispatched to find out why.

Game #7 began with the promise of finally winning a World Series, but it ended as it always seem to be, with just another line score in the futility of the Red Sox and another notch in "The Curse of the Bambino". 

Sparky Anderson, interviewed before the game about his starting pitcher Don Gullett, said that no matter the outcome of the game, Gullett would be a future Hall-of-Fame. Bill Lee was to pitch for the Sox and responded that no matter the outcome of the game, he was goimng to the "Eliot Lounge", a local bar ... and he did.

Bolstered by the flawless pitching of Lee, the Red Sox took a three run lead into the sixth inning. Johnny Bench bounced a ground ball to Rick Burleson, who flipped over to Denny Doyle and as Rose barreled toward him, and Doyle threw the ball into the Red Sox dugout.

Tony Perez came to the plate with first base open and instead of walking him, Lee lobbed him one of his Eephus pitches, even though he had been told not to give Perez any off-speed stuff in the meeting before the game. But Lee had gotten him on slow curves before and felt he could do it again. This time Perez was waiting for it. As Lee said, "Perez timed it perfectly. He counted the seams on the ball as it floated up to the plate, checked to see if Lee McPhail's signature was on it, signed his own name to it, and hammered it over the left-field screen and into the darkness", putting the Reds within one run, 3 to 2.

In the seventh inning, Lee walked Ken Griffey and left the game with a broken blister on his pitching hand. Rogelio Moret came in and surrendered a game-tying hit to Rose. Next was Jim Willoughby who pitched out of the inning and pitched scoreless ball into the eighth inning of the tie game.

In the bottom of the eighth inning Dwight Evans walked and Rick Burleson failed in a bunt attempt that ended up in a doubleplay. Pinch hitting for Willoughby came Cecil Cooper, who struck out.

Then in the ninth-inning, Darrell Johnson brought in Jim Burton. He walked Ken Griffey to start the inning. Cesar Geronimo sacrificed Griffey to second and Dan Driessen grounded out, moving Griffey over to third. With Pete Rose up next, Johnson visited the mound and advised Burton to keep the ball away from him. Burton gave him a diet of curveballs that remained outside the strike zone, and the Rose ran down to first base with a base on balls.

Up came Joe Morgan, who was working on keeping his weight back as long as possible on breaking balls. With a 1-and-2 count, Burton and Fisk decided on a late-breaking slider low and outside. The pitch was where Burton wanted it – a pitcher’s pitch. Against most players, the young lefty should have walked off the mound to a raucous ovation, but Morgan reached out and took a broken bat slider out to right-field for a clean base hit that scored Griffey, giving the Reds a 4 to 3 lead.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Burton tipped his cap to Morgan: “The pitch that Morgan hit was a very good pitch, a slider low and away, right where I wanted it. Give the man credit for hitting it. I don’t think I could’ve made a better pitch."

The circumstances now boiled down to left-hander, Will McEnaney, needing to get three outs. The first batter was a right-hander in Juan Beniquez, who smashed a line drive right at Ken Griffey in right field. Bob Montgomery, another right-hand batter, hit his first pitch to Dave Concepcion at short.

That left the Sox' fate in the hands of Carl Yastrzemski, who had smashed out nine hits. He had done it all for the Sox. Who better? With a 2-1 count, Yaz, who admitted he was trying to hit a home run, just got under it. Cesar Geronimo camped under it for what seemed forever and the most dramatic World Series ever played, belonged to the Cincinnati Reds. Yaz had scored 11 runs and batted .350 during the ten postseason games, but fell one hit short. The Sox had run out of miracles and Impossible Dreams.

The World Series of 1975 would go down in history as one of the best ever played. Not only because of the way it was played on the the big stage, but by how it was seen by the fans. It contained everything with the big name players performing at their best, the close come-from-behind games, great plays, controversy and late inning heroics. A record 75.9 million viewers had tuned in and it recaptured baseball for every fan, while breeding millions more. In a little under 28 hours, the fans had lived through a lifetime of baseball. Time would not diminish that sentiment.

Carl Yastrzemski was having a great year before the All Star game when he was batting .313, but he didn't do well in the second half of the season with a .212 BA. He batted .269 overall, driving in 60 runs, and hitting just 14 homers.

Fred Lynn had an astounding .331 average, 21 home runs and 105 RBIs. Lynn also led the league with 47 doubles, 103 runs, and a .566 slugging pct. He went hitless in his first two games of the season, and after sitting out the next two games, put together 24 hits over his next 17 games. It was not only his batting feats that drew attention, but also his wonderful fielding. He was terrific, diving forward, snaring line drives, and jumping to reach over fences and take home runs away from hitters. Fred Lynn won both the American League MVP and "Rookie of the Year" honors.

It took Jim Rice a while to get settled in with the team. Tony Conigliaro was the Opening Day designated hitter, a role earmarked for Rice. When he came up to the Red Sox, he was quiet and somewhat surly, who had a resentment for the front office. He knew about the racism in the organization and blamed them for not bringing him up sooner. In a Sport Magazine interview in 1978, Rice would cause a stir when he complained: “Race has to be a factor when Fred Lynn can hit .240 in the minors and I can hit .340 and he gets a starting job before I do.”

Whatever arrested his rise to the majors, and however unsettled he may have felt, when Tony C's season fizzled a few weeks in, Jim Rice had the job to himself. By July, he took over left field and held it the rest of the season. At the end, he was second in the voting for "Rookie of the Year" and third for MVP. He hit .309 with 22 home runs and 102 RBIs, and led the Sox in game-winning RBIs with 13. He was also one of the strongest men in the game, once snapping a bat in two on a check swing. Fred Lynn and Jim Rice were dubbed the “Gold Dust Twins” and formed what may have been the most productive rookie tandem of all time.

Dwight Evans batted .274 and had another good year playing a solid right field. His defense, and especially his throwing arm, was what made him special. He was involved in a league-leading eight double plays.

With the emergence of Rice and Lynn early in the season, Juan Beniquez soon found himself in a reserve role. He played a total of 78 games, mostly in the outfield (44 games), but he also filled in at third base (14 games) and at designated hitter (20 games). Despite his limited playing time, he had a solid .291 batting average, but a mediocre .760 OPS, reflecting his meager two home runs on the year.

Rick Miller thought he would be the leadoff hitter in 1975, but Darrell Johnson chose to go with Juan Beniquez. Miller played in 77 games, mostly when one of the other outfielders struggled or when someone got hurt and batted only .194.

The member of the Red Sox who was the "Unsung Hero" as voted by the Boston Baseball Writers, was Rick Burleson. He had a menacing air about him and filtered his aggression on the field. By the end of May, he was firmly in place as the starting shortstop. His fielding was consistently good, and he was learning how to play hitters better. There was nobody who could step in if the "Rooster" as Luis Tiant called him, got hurt. Luckily he only missed four games all season and batted .252 with 146 hits and 62 RBIs.

Cecil Cooper did not have a good defensive reputation, which is why he spent a lot of time as a designated hitter. He had to beat out a lot of people in order to get a chance to play. At the end of May, he was the odd man out, getting just six hits in 24 at-bats. He persevered, and by late June he was platooning against right-handed pitchers. He ended up hitting .311 with 14 home runs in 305 at-bats.

Rico Petrocelli was in the Opening Day lineup for at the start of the season, but it was apparent that he was still suffering from the aftereffects of the beaning the past September. Although it was not public knowledge, he also had a severe inner-ear imbalance that caused him trouble with his sense of balance. While he continued to perform at a high level in the field, he had difficulty gauging the ball as it left the pitcher’s hand and his batting average dropped significantly to .239, with only seven homers in 115 games.

Carlton Fisk batted a hefty .331 with 53 RBIs in 79 games and clearly established himself as the leader of the team with his commanding presence. The arm injury in spring training was a blessing in disguise because had he played at the beginning of the year, his knees would never have fully healed. In September, he hit .400, drove in 20 runs and finished the season with a 16 game hitting streak.

Bob Montgomery was the Red Sox catcher for the first two months of the season because of Fisk's injury. More impoortrantly. he was the Sox best clutch hitter. He appeared in 62 games and made a number of important contributions. He delivered the game winning RBI in four of the Sox first 11 wins.

Tim Blackwell and Tim McCarver also filled in when Fisk was out. Not were particularly strong with the bat, but they all played flawlessly behind the plate.

Though his average slipped yet again, to .226, Montgomery played in 62 games and did his share to keep the Sox in the hunt. At the season’s start, he was responsible for the game-winning RBI in four of the first 11 wins. After Fisk hurt his finger in August, Monty got quite a bit of playing time in September. He also started a couple of games at first base, filling in there six times before season’s end.

Tim McCarver batted .381 in 12 games. He had been on three pennant winners and two World Series winners. His knowledge about how to set up hitters was invaluable and he was a positive influence in the clubhouse, with a great sense of humor. He was released after Fisk came back, a move that was questioned by some.

As a reserve catcher, Tim Blackwell got into 59 games and raised his fielding percentage to match the league average of .984. Yet he battled just .197.

Doug Griffin never fully recovered after getting beaned by Nolan Ryan in '74 and Denny Doyle came in and finished with a .297 BA but batted .310 after he was traded to the Sox. Manager Johnson platooned Griffin and Doyle most of the rest of the year. Interestingly, after the platooning took effect, by midseason Griffin was hitting close to .300 and having his best year since 1973. The irony was that this was the first year Griffin avoided injury in his five full seasons with the club.

Denny Doyle batted a career-high .298, batting .310 in 89 games with the Red Sox, and he put together a 22-game hitting streak that topped the American League. Most importantly, he brought in a level of intensity and preparation. Darrell Johnson said of Doyle, “I knew he was a good player, but I never realized how good. He’s simply uncanny at advancing runners.” Doyle didn’t waste any time making an impact on his new team. He made a game-saving defensive play in his first game and hit a key home run in his second game.

Secondbaseman Buddy Hunter got in just one game and grounded out. He would never get up again, though he didn’t know that at the time. He’d been brought up every year (1971, 1973, and 1975).

Kim Andrew played in two games and went 1 for 2. He hit .500 and that remains his lifetime average. With one putout and one assist, his lifetime fielding average was an unimpeachable 1.000.

Bernie Carbo was an eccentric personality, who travelled with a stuffed gorilla named Mighty Joe Young. Bill Lee once called him baseball's "Forrest Gump". Quick tempered and always itching for a fight, he once got into it with Dwight Evans, only to have Jim Rice step in and left each one of them up off the ground with each hand.

Carbo was a key bench contributor for the Red Sox. He appeared in 107 games during the regular season, playing the outfield in 85 games and serving as the DH in 13. Although he hit only .257, he amassed an on-base percentage of .409, drawing 83 walks. He loved the Red Sox and Tom Yawkey. He once asked Yawkey to advance him $10K out of his pay, so he could make a downpayment on the house for his family. The next day there was a check in his locker. Yawkey never had him to pay it back.

Luis Tiant or "El Tiante" as Boston Herald writer, Tim Horgan dubbed him, was 18-14 with a 4.02 ERA, leading the team with 142 strikeouts. New York Times columnist, Red Smith called him the Pancho Villa of baseball. He was the master of every pitch and never threw two consecutive pitches at the same speed.

Fred Lynn remembered best that in the middle of his windup Luis would be looking directly at him in center field. It was a little distracting for him, and he could only imagine what it was like for the hitter.

Bill Lee had become a media darling with his quick wit and quirky ways. He filled the reporters' pads with knowledgeable and sometimes nonsensical comments. And Lee reveled in all the attention. He described Tiant's season to that of a masterful orchestra leader. Everything starts hard and the place is shaking. Then in the middle things get slow and easy. Finally, the orchestra builds back up and bang the show is over.

Tiant struggled all season to stay above .500 thru pain and arm troubles. He also battled the emotional process of reuniting with his parents from Cuba, whom he hadn't seen since 1961. He missed a few turns in July and August and didn't look sharp. But he took some time off to rest his back and it worked. He put it together at the end of the season when the team needed him the most.

For the third year in a row, Bill Lee won 17 games. His record was 17-9 (3.95 ERA), he remained a workhorse, tying for the team lead, throwing 260 innings, but had slumped at the end of the season and was sent to the bullpen. He hadn't won a regular season game since the last week of August. Toward the end of the season when the pitchers started taking batting practice in September, Lee was slugging homers and overdid it. As a result, he hyperextended his arm and slightly tore a tendon in his elbow. The injury kept him out of the ALCS.

After Lee hurt his elbow, Reggie Cleveland stepped in and made a huge difference. He was 4-1 in the month with a 2.21 ERA in 36 2/3 innings (four starts and one five-shutout-innings relief appearance). He finished the season at 13-9 with a 4.43 ERA. It was the tale of two seasons, finishing strong after a mediocre start.

Rogelio Moret started the season in the bullpen picking up five wins and a save in relief and as a sometime starter, before emerging as the fifth man in the rotation in late July. In a stretch of four starts at the end of July, he collected three wins with one loss. His performance as a fifth starter gave the other starting pitchers extra rest and the Red Sox started winning everything. His 14-3 record at the end of the season put him atop the American League in winning percentage, at .824. Moret saw little duty during the postseason, but the little he saw, loomed important in the outcomes.

Rick Wise led the Red Sox with 19 wins and at one point, won nine games in a row.

Dick Drago emerged as a premier reliever. His 15 saves ranked fifth in the league and his 34 games finished placed him ninth. In the heat of the stretch drive, beginning on August 27th, he pitched in 13 games, earning one win and eight saves.

After missing two full months after taking a line drive in his face, Dick Pole was reactivated in September and got in four more starts, throwing three scoreless innings in relief against the Yankees and winning a game against the Orioles. Pole (4.42 ERA) surrendered 11 home runs in just 89 2/3 innings of play.

After Pole had been hit, Jim Willoughby was brought up. He had never been a short man out of the bullpen before, but he took to it like a duck to water. In 24 appearances with 48 1/3 innings pitched, he compiled five wins, two losses, eight saves, and a 3.54 ERA.

Jim Burton shined as a reliever. In 25 relief appearances, his ERA was 2.58 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was almost three to one. He gave up more hits than innings pitched, but the young hurler wriggled out of trouble because of his control and pitch selection.

After a season full of pleasant surprises and exciting games, the Red Sox came up short. It was something that Sox fans in Boston had become used to over the years. But the Red Sox and their fans were not that disappointed in the way the season turned out, because with the nucleus of a solid young team, there was no doubt that this young group of Red Sox would return again to the World Series again in the minds of their fans. Carl Yastrzemski for one, thought that they would contend for the next five or six years until he retired.

But they never would. With everyone getting caught up in free agency starting the following winter, it would change everything forever.