Bill Nowlin - Red Sox in 5s and 10s: Bostons Agony and Ecstasy

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2020 by Bill Nowlin

All rights reserved

Front cover, top left: Leslie Jones photograph, Boston Public Library; top right: Bill Nowlin photo; bottom left: Bill Nowlin photo; bottom right: Leslie Jones photograph, Boston Public Library.

First published 2020

E-book edition 2020

ISBN 978.1.43966.957.0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019956048

print edition ISBN 978.1.46714.508.4

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

I was very fortunate to play for the Red Sox my whole career and to spend over fifty years in the Boston area. I think Ive read just about every book published about the Red Soxbooks about Red Sox players and books about the great Red Sox teams that have won four World Series championships. You probably have read many of them yourself. However, the newest book, Red Sox in 5s and 10s, by Bill Nowlin, is, in my opinion, one of the best.

Bill is no slouch when it comes to Red Sox history. Hes written six books on Ted Williams, biographies of Johnny Pesky and Tom Yawkey and a great book on the 2004 World Champs. Hes edited books on the 67, 75, and 86 teams for SABR. He knows the Red Sox.

This book is a must-read for all Red Sox fans. Bill gives us nine categories that he feels are the best and worst accomplishments of former Red Sox players. Youll get not only statistics but also tidbits about the players themselves. I especially like Bills Top 5 Home Openers and Top 10 Debuts by a Red Sox Player. Bill puts Daniel Navas first-pitch grand-slam home run in 2010 and Billy Rohrs near no-hitter in 1967 as two of his favorites.

He does the same with hitters, pitchers, fielding, the best rookie seasons and much more. Bills final category is called Best of the Best. He gives us the Red Sox players and teams he feels are the best of all time. You may disagree with him on some of his picks, but it will bring back memories of some of the greatest players and teams in Red Sox history. Bill has done a terrific job writing Red Sox in 5s and 10s. I know youll enjoy this book as much as I have.

Rico Petrocelli

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book was inspired by Brian Wrights book Mets in 10s, published by The History Press in 2018. I worked with Brian on a book for SABR, Met-rospectives, as he was wrapping up Mets in 10s. Thanks to Jim Prime for getting me started writing for books when we put together Ted Williams: A Tribute more than twenty years ago. And thanks to Mike Kinsella of The History Press for welcoming this book.

I

OPENING DAYS

OPENING THE SEASON IN STYLE

Top 5 Home Openers

Opening Day in Boston has always been an event. Its the true start of spring in many a mindthough the temperature on, say, Opening Day 2018 (April 5) was forty degrees. It cooled down by the later innings; the game lasted twelve innings, ending at 6:00 p.m. on the nose, but the Red Sox won it in a walk off (the first of seven walk-off wins in 2018), beating Tampa Bay, 32. And we know how the 2018 season turned out.

In 1967, Opening Day was postponed with the temperature at thirty-five degrees and winds gusting to forty miles per hour. When they played the next day, April 12, the Red Sox won, 54. Any Opening Day win for the Red Sox is a good win.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019, was probably on many folks calendars as a bright day. The 2018 Red Sox had won 119 games, including the World Series, pretty much waltzing through the postseason. Opening Day was when the champions were to get their rings and see the World Championship flag raised on the center-field flagpole, and fans could just generally exult in the team having won four World Series in fifteen years. But they had entered the home opener after 11 games on the road and were 3-8. And then they lost this game, too. That they had scored the first run of the game, and then the second, didnt really matter all that much when the final score was posted: Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 5.

The Sox have a pretty good record in home openers: 72-51.

They also have a pretty good record in the twenty-eight home openers when they have hosted the Yankees: 15-13. But heres something unexpected: their record was 8-13 through 1960, but after the league expanded in 1961, they have won every one of the seven times theyve hosted the Yankees for the Fenway home opener: 1970, 1971, 1973, 1985, 2005, 2010 and 2011. Bring em back!

Here are our top picks for the best home openers in Red Sox history.

Mary Alden installing bunting at Fenway Park in preparation for Opening Day. Bill Nowlin photo.

1. April 10, 1998 (Red Sox 9, Mariners 7)

The Red Sox opened the year on the West Coastin Oakland, Seattle, and Anaheimand returned home with a 3-5 record. The home opener started at 3:12 on a Friday afternoon. It was both Good Friday and the first day of Passover, and the Red Sox elected not to serve beer at the ballpark. The Sox had lost two out of three to the Mariners and were now facing starter Randy Johnson. Neither team scored for the first three, but center fielder Damon Buford hit a two-run homer off Johnson in the bottom of the fourth. In the top of the sixth, however, Seattle unsettled Sox starter Brian Rose and put three runs across. They built on their lead, adding two more runs in the eighth and then two more in the top of the ninth. With the score 72, the park was emptying out. Heathcliff Slocumb relieved Randy Johnson. A single, a walk and a double gave the Red Sox a run. Another former Red Sox pitcher, Tony Fossas, faced one batter and walked him. The bases were loaded, and there was still nobody out. Seattle skipper Lou Piniella brought in future Red Sox reliever Mike Timlin. Nomar Garciaparra singled to center, making it 74. Bases still loaded. Then Timlin hit John Valentin, 75. A well-placed single might be all it took to tie things up. Piniella beckoned in lefty Paul Spoljaric to pitch to Mo Vaughn (who had struck out three times in the game and been hit by a pitch.) Second pitch: grand slam. Peter Gammons wrote in the Boston Globe that there were about 13,000 remaining of the 32,805 attendees. Those who stuck around to the end saw a finale theyll never forget.

And they heard something, too. Kevin Friend of BCN Productions had a new gig at Fenway; hed worked in a similar capacity at the Boston Garden for a few years. Now he was in charge of the music played in the park. The moment after Mo launched the ball into the right-field grandstand seats, Friend put on Dirty Water by the Standells. Aw-oh, Boston, youre my home! It became the Red Sox victory anthem. A new tradition was born.

2. April 6, 1973 (Red Sox 15, Yankees 5)

For most Red Sox fans, seeing the Sox give the Yankees a shellacking and win by ten runs has to rank right up there as a very satisfying way to kick off a season. This was, as it happened, the first major-league game to use a designated hitter (DH). In this case, the players designated to hit were New Yorks Ron Blomberg and Bostons Orlando Cepeda. Between them, they were 1-for-9. Cepeda was 0-for-6. Luis Tiant pitched for the Red Sox and faced Blomberg in the top of the first inning, with the bases loaded. Blomberg didnt hit; he walked, driving in a run. The Yankees took a 30 lead when Felipe Alou doubled behind him. Yastrzemski hit a solo homer in the bottom of the first, and Carlton Fisk hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second. The Sox scored another pair of runs in the second. When Fisk (who had been AL Rookie of the Year in 1972) came up in the fourth inning, he hit a grand slam. For some unfathomable reason, Fisk (who already had a double, two home runs, and six RBIs) was hit by a pitch when he came up to bat in the sixth. Fifteen runs on twenty hits. The Sox won the next three games from the Yankees, too.