Page 119 - 1975 BoSox

112 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL
the ninth to replace starter Bill Lee after Lee sur- rendered a rst-pitch leado double to Johnny Bench. With the tying run on second, Drago got Tony Perez to ground out to short but Bench advanced to third. George Foster ied to left but much too shallow to challenge the arm of Carl Yastrzemski. With two down, Dave Concepcion bounced a good pitch over Drago’s head. Doyle elded it but couldn’t make a play as Bench scored the tying run.
On the next pitch, Concepcion took o for second and despite Fisk’s throw and Doyle’s tag, the lead run was in scoring position. Ken Gri ey fouled o two of Drago’s fastballs before he lined a double to left, scoring Concepcion. After Drago walked Cesar Geronimo intentionally, he got pitcher Rawly Eastwick to ground to second, forcing Geronimo. After the Red Sox were retired in the bottom of the ninth, Drago su ered the loss and the Series was tied at a game apiece.
After sitting out all three games in Cincinnati and waiting out three days of rain, Drago was next sum- moned into Game Six with the score tied to start the ninth inning. Drago easily disposed of the three future Hall of Famers: Joe Morgan, Bench, and Perez. Sitting in the dugout during the bottom of the ninth, Drago probably thought he was going to even his Series record as the Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs. However, this situation just added to the drama of this legendary game as the Red Sox failed to score, sending the game into extra innings.
In the 10th, Drago didn’t have it as easy. After retiring Foster, he faced his Game Two nemesis Concepcion, who singled and again stole second. Drago hitched up his belt and struck out Geronimo before pinch- hitter Dan Driessen ied out to Bernie Carbo in left. e Red Sox went down 1-2-3 and quickly Drago was back on the mound for his third inning of work. A cursory look at a scorebook for this inning would indicate a fairly routine three-batter, three-out inning: a hit by pitch, a force out, and a double play. However, it was anything but routine and required two outstand- ing plays by two Gold Glovers. After Drago nailed leado batter Pete Rose with a fastball, Gri ey tried to sacri ce him to second, but Fisk threw to second
base to force Rose. On a 1-and-1 pitch, Morgan lined Drago’s o ering deep to right, where Dwight Evans pulled the drive out of the rst row of fans and in- stinctively threw quickly — if not accurately — towards rst. Yastrzemski elded it and ipped to an alert and hustling Rick Burleson covering rst to record the third out.7 In the bottom of the 11th, Drago was pinch- hit for and, when the Red Sox didn’t score, it ended his chance to win the greatest game in World Series history.
In the o season, even championship teams try to better themselves. e Red Sox, however, made a move that didn’t help them at all. On March 3, 1976, they sent Drago, their best reliever, to California, ostensibly for three players who would never play an inning for Boston: John Balaz, Dick Sharon, and Dave Machemer. e term “ostensibly” is used because it was reported that Drago was sent to the Angels as “the player to be named later” for Denny Doyle (acquired the previ- ous June). e Red Sox still sent minor-league pitcher Chuck Ross to the Angels two days later to make everything look more legitimate. Drago pitched for the Angels for a year and a half. In 1976 he appeared in 43 games, all in relief, going 7-8 with a 4.42 ERA. e next season he appeared in 13 games for the Angels with a record of 0-1 and a 3.00 ERA before being traded on June 13 to the Baltimore Orioles for Dyar Miller. Drago pitched well for Baltimore, appearing in 36 games and going 6-3.
After the 1977 season, Drago became a free agent and rejoined the Red Sox. He spent the next three years on teams that were never quite good enough to get into the postseason though they couldn’t have come any closer in 1978. (Drago was 4-4 with a 3.03 ERA that year.) e most important game Drago appeared in during this second stint with Boston was on October 2, 1978 — the Bucky Dent playo game. He came on in relief of Andy Hassler with two outs in the top of the ninth and Paul Blair on rst. After keeping the speedy Blair close with three throws to rst, Drago got urman Munson to hit a grounder in the hole that third baseman Frank Du y missed cutting o , but Burleson elded it, just forcing Blair at second.