Page 282 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 275
a single. e Boston faithful gave Tony C. a three- minute standing ovation (one of his four during the day). With a 2-and-2 count on third sacker Rico Petrocelli, Conigliaro broke for second base. Just as shortstop Robin Yount cut o catcher Darrell Porter’s throw, Yaz raced home on a delayed double steal to score the game’s rst run. “I was supposed to hold up and get caught in a rundown so Yaz could score,” said Conigliaro after the game. “But when I saw the throw was bad I kept heading for second base.”4 e Red Sox scored another run in the second when second baseman Doug Gri n collected the club’s third single of the inning, driving in right elder Dwight Evans.
e third inning proved to be the turning point of the game. Yount put the Brewers on the board with a solo home run. In the bottom half of the frame, with Yastrzemski (double) on second and Evans on rst (walk), catcher Bob Montgomery and Slaton engaged in a classic confrontation. According to Peter Gammons of the Boston Globe, “Monty” fouled o “nine straight two-strike pitches” before drilling a two-run double to left eld.5 e next batter, shortstop Rick Burleson, lined a single to drive in Montgomery, giving Boston a 5-1 lead and driving Slaton from the mound.
Bill Castro, a 23-year-old reliever in his rst full season in the majors, relieved Slaton. In what was described by Lou Chapman of the Milwaukee Sentinel as a “brilliant performance,” Castro shut down the Red Sox by tossing no-hit ball over the nal 51⁄3 innings. His only blemish was a walk to Evans in the fth inning.6
But the game belonged to Tiant, who put a damper on Aaron’s debut, stole Conigliaro’s thunder, and kept the Brewers o balance with his unorthodox, whirling delivery. “El Conquistador” went the route yet, ac- cording to sportswriter Tim Horgan of the Boston Herald American, “detested every minute of it,” and had trouble staying loose and unleashing his fastball.7 “I was so cold in the fth inning, I couldn’t even feel my legs,” said Tiant. “I hate this weather, especially the wind. Anybody has to be lucky to go nine innings
in this stu .”8 e Cuban-born right-hander with stylish sideburns and a Fu Manchu mustache sur- rendered a run-scoring single to Porter in the seventh, but was at his best in the nal two frames. With one out, two men on, and the tying run at the plate, Tiant erased Aaron and Scott on two pitches (both sliders) in the eighth. e Brewers connected for two more hits in the ninth, but with runners on the corners and one out, El Tiante induced light-hitting second baseman Pedro Garcia to hit into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.Tiant completed the game in 2 hours and 24 minutes and improved his record to 35-15 at Fenway Park since he was released by the Atlanta Braves and signed with Boston in May 1971.
“ e Red Sox played good, sharp, daredevil baseball, of the very sort that once made the Impossible Dream (of 1967) materialize,” wrote Tim Horgan approvingly.9 Boston’s victory, 5-2, was a team e ort which included a successful hit-and-run and double steal, an attempted suicide squeeze, as well as good defense and pitching. In light of Conigliaro’s emotional return, Aaron’s historic appearance, and Tiant’s show-stealing per- formance, Ray Fitzgerald of the Boston Globe called the game “one of the most dramatic opening days in Fenway Park history.”10
Notes
1 Clif Keane, “Conigliaro, Aaron spice Red Sox-Brewers opener,” Boston Globe, April 8, 1975, 29.
2 Ray Fitzgerald, “Captain Carl spells it out,” Boston Globe,” April 9, 1975, 29.
3 Larry Cla in, “Too Many Sox Ifs — Picks Yanks,” Boston Herald American, April 8, 1975, S3.
4 Tim Horgan, “When Tony’s Around, ings Happen,” Boston Herald American, April 9, 1975, 37.
5 Peter Gammons, “In Fenway drama: Tony, Tiant, upstage Aaron, Brewers, 5-2,” Boston Globe, April 9, 1975, 29.
6 Lou Chapman, “Red Sox Steal Aaron’s Show,” Milwaukee Sentinel, April 9, 1975, 1.
7 Horgan.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Fitzgerald.