Page 103 - 1975 BoSox

96 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL
Johnson had Wise start Game ree, and the Big Red Machine got to him the second time through the order. Johnny Bench hit a two-run homer in the fourth, and both Dave Concepcion and Cesar Geronimo homered to lead o the fth. Wise was tagged for ve earned runs in 41⁄3 innings. e Red Sox eventually tied the game but the Reds won it in the bottom of the tenth after the controversial Ed Armbrister bunt.
Wise’s only other appearance in World Series play got him a win. He was the fourth Boston pitcher of the night in Game Six, and held the Reds scoreless (despite a couple of singles) in the top of the 12th. He never had to come out to throw the 13th, thanks to Carlton Fisk’s home run leading o the bottom of the 12th.
Wise pitched well in ’76 and ’77, but it wasn’t always the happiest Red Sox clubhouse. ere was a rift between manager Don Zimmer and a number of players like Bill Lee, Bernie Carbo, and Ferguson Jenkins.“We had our di erences,”Wise acknowledged diplomatically. “A lot of times it was Zimmer’s way or no way.” Nonetheless, Wise said he held good memories. “I had my highest winning percentage of any of the teams that I was with when I was with the Red Sox and of course had an opportunity to get in the World Series. ose are the big things I remember most, my great teammates and the fun I had ... how fun it is to play in Boston.”
At the very end of spring training 1978, Wise was packaged in a six-player trade, sent to Cleveland with utilityman Ted Cox, catcher Bo Diaz, and pitcher Mike Paxton for pitcher Dennis Eckersley and catcher Fred Kendall. It was the second time Wise had been traded for a future Hall of Famer — rst Carlton, then Eckersley. He’d requested a trade at the end of the 1977 season, after Zimmer had consigned him to bullpen work, but had enjoyed a very good spring training so was surprised at the timing. And he didn’t learn of the trade from the Red Sox. “It kind of bothers me that no one from the Red Sox called me. I still haven’t heard from them. I don’t think that’s right because I gave them four good years.”9
A 9-19 record, leading the AL in losses, made 1978 a down year, but Wise rebounded to pose a 15-10 record in 1979. He opted for free agency on November 1, and less than three weeks later he hooked on with the San Diego Padres, where he nished his career with three injury-plagued seasons. In 1982 Wise appeared in just one game, coming in to throw the last two innings on April 10 against the Dodgers, and was released just six days later. ere was a lot of turnover with the Padres, and manager Dick Williams wanted his own players. He shed most of the veterans. “My arm was still good,” Wise said. Released when he was, after the rosters were set, he couldn’t nd another team to hook on with. “ at was a pretty rude release. I’d never talked to any sportswriters. No one called me about my feelings. I just walked out of the stadium and that was it.” Wise had a guaranteed contract with the Padres that paid him all the way through the 1984 season, so he took advantage of the unexpected time o and spent the rst summer with his family in 20 years.
In 1987 Wise was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.
His life after his playing days was not as comfortable as he had planned. A lengthy article in the Hartford Courant reported that his agent had cost him over $3 million and Wise had been forced to declare bank- ruptcy.10 e Wises had to live with Rick’s sister Pam, and he had to accept support from the Baseball Assistance Team. His wife, Susan, returned to nursing school and became licensed in Oregon.11
But Wise had never really left the game. After some time o , he said, he felt himself becoming stagnant, so he sent out résumés. e Oakland A’s o ered him a position working for them in A-ball, and he accepted. At the time of his 2005 interview he had coached for 21 years. “I’ll just say that I’ve coached at every level in the minor leagues, in a liate ball and this is my sixth year in independent ball,” Wise said. In 2003 and 2004 he was the pitching coach working with Butch Hobson on the Nashua Pride, and in 2005 he became the pitching coach for the brand-new Lancaster Barnstormers, based in Lancaster,