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In 1991, Rookie Zupcic was a late-season callup for the Red Sox. The next season, he was called up in late April. Injuries to starting outfielders Ellis Burks, Mike Greenwell allowed him to start regularly. On June 30, 1992, the Sox staged an 8-5 comeback victory over the Detroit Tigers. Zupcic hit a ninth-inning grand slam to complete the come-from-behind walk-off victory. Then, on July 10th, in a 6-5 Red Sox thriller over the White Sox, Zupcic slugged his second grand slam in two weeks, in the bottom of the eighth inning. It transformed a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 Red Sox lead. Against the Yankees, on August 8th, with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, the Sox were down 1-0 in a tight pitcher's duel. Zupcic came up to face Scott Kamieniecki, and flared a two-run, go-ahead single to right-center field that gave Roger Clemens his 13th win. Zupcic again was the hero when he snapped a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning with a single, that climaxed a 4-0 comeback by the Sox, into a 7-6 win on September 11th over the Tigers. Two days later on September 13th, he climbed the railing of the Red Sox bullpen and snagged a ball hit by Mickey Tettleton of the Tigers, before it fell into the Red Sox bullpen in center field. Butch Hobson called it “one of the best plays I’ve ever seen at this ballpark.” Zupcic finished 1992, hitting .276 and driving in 43 runs. He had 11 outfield assists, at least one from each of the three outfield positions. After the season, he was the winner of the “10th Player Award” for the Red Sox player who performed “above and beyond the capacity one would normally expect.” The Boston Baseball Writers also voted him the "Rookie of the Year". After he had a mediocre 1993, the next season he could not find a spot on the team and was placed on waivers. But for one year Bob Zupcic was a Red Sox star. |
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