Page 281 - 1975 BoSox

Six Games of Interest
Boston Red Sox 5, Milwaukee Brewers 2 April 8, 1975 at Fenway Park
By Gregory H. Wolf
LEADING UP TO THE OPENING Day game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Red Sox at Fenway
Park on April 8, 1975, much of the media attention had focused on two players making notable appear- ances. Hank Aaron, acquired in the o season by the Brewers, was making his American League debut after 21 seasons in the National League. Tony Conigliaro, one of the brightest young stars in base- ball before he was almost blinded by a tragic beaning in 1967 during Boston’s improbable run to the pennant, made his rst big-league appearance in 31⁄2 years. Said Carl Yastrzemski, “If some of Tony’s determination doesn’t rub o on us, there’s something wrong with us. It’s a great story having him come back to baseball.”1
e excitement surrounding Aaron and Conigliaro contrasted sharply with the tense atmosphere prevail- ing in the Red Sox dugout. Team captain and rst baseman Yastrzemski chewed out his teammates in a pregame speech. “[We had] the worst attitude I ever saw in spring training. If it keeps up, we’ll nish in lastplace.Welaidbackandwaitedtogetbeatinevery game and we did get beat.”2 Yaz was still steaming from the club’s late-season collapse in 1974. Boston had been poised to take the AL East crown but an 8-20 skid transformed a seven-game lead in the stand- ings into a ve-game de cit by September 22. Sportswriter Larry Cla in of the Boston Herald American o ered an even harsher assessment of the team: “[T]he Red Sox have too many question marks
to win anything. ey had their big chance last year and faded down the stretch. ey won’t come that close in 1975.”3 e Brewers harbored few title aspira- tions; rather, skipper Del Crandall hoped the return of Aaron, his former teammate on the Milwaukee Braves from 1954 to 1963, would catapult the club to its rst winning season since its relocation from Seattle in 1970.
On a cool, 52-degree, sunny, yet windy day, 34,055 spectators packed Fenway Park, celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of the Red Sox franchise. Rene Rancourt, who had developed into a Boston institution, sang the national anthem, while 87-year-old former Red Sox out elder Du y Lewis (a member of Boston’s 1912, 1915, and 1916 World Series winners) threw out the rst pitch. At 2:06 P.M., home-plate umpire Marty Springstead yelled, “Play ball!”
Boston manager Darrell Johnson, booed in the pregame introduction, tabbed 34-year-old Luis Tiant, a 20-game winner the previous two seasons, to start his third consecutive season opener for the Red Sox. Tiant escaped a jam in the rst inning after walking designated hitter Aaron and slugging rst baseman (and former Red Sox player) George Scott, when the wind kept Don Money’s long y ball to left eld from being a three-run homer.
e Red Sox wasted no time energizing their fans. With two outs in the rst and Yastrzemski on rst base, Conigliaro got the green light for a hit-and-run and lined Jim Slaton’s outside pitch to right eld for
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