Page 285 - 1975 BoSox

Boston Red Sox 6, New York Yankees 1 June 26, 1975 at Fenway Park By Greg erion
AS THE RED SOX PREPARED to host the New York Yankees in the rst of a four-game series at Fenway
Park, there was a sense of wariness in the air. Less than a week earlier, Boston held a three-game lead over New York. After losing two out of three at Baltimore and three straight to the Cleveland Indians, the Red Sox had fallen a game and a half behind NewYork,whichhadtaken rstplaceona ve-game winning streak. e closeness of the race and the Yankees — always a good draw — combined to bring out 34,293 attendees, the largest crowd of the year.1
Save for nishing a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers in the strike-shortened 1972 season, the Red Sox had not done well since winning the pennant in 1967. ey had four third-place and two second-place nishes, but nothing to seriously challenge the almost perennial division champion Baltimore Orioles. e season had started out with great promise, fueled to a great extent by two exciting rookie out elders, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, who were demonstrating an ability to hit for both power and average. A little over a week before, Lynn had hit three home runs and driven in 10 runs during a 15-1 thrashing of Detroit, serving notice of his talent. But now a slump — was Boston destined to fall back in the pack as in previous years? e Yankees, who narrowly missed a division cham- pionship the previous season, two games behind Baltimore, were in town and on a roll.
While there was some concern over the Red Sox’ recent travails, close observers of the game were less wary about Boston’s chances as the game began. Luis Tiant, the Red Sox ace (10-6), would be facing Pat Dobson (8-5). Knowing fans could claim a degree of comfort in this matchup. Dobson’s record against
Boston going into the game was a mediocre 8-10, Tiant’s record against the Yankees was 19-8, including a streak of seven straight wins at home going back to 1972.2 ere was also cause for optimism in the return of Carlton Fisk to the lineup. Fisk had been out of baseball almost exactly a year, having su ered severely torn knee ligaments in a play at the plate in June 1974. After recovering from surgery, and further plagued byabrokenarmduringspringtraining,Fiskhadmade his rst appearance of the season in the Cleveland series three days before.
Tiant’s early performance belied past success. He opened the rst by hitting Bernie Williams and walking Roy White. Chris Chambliss then lined a pitch to deep right eld. Bernie Carbo made a great catch before slamming his chin into the wall in front of the Yankees bullpen, biting his tongue and collaps- ing, momentarily stunned. Williams, seeing Carbo lying on the ground, scored from second on Chambliss’s unusual sacri ce y. Having almost given up a three- run homer somehow refocused Tiant as he retired the next two batters without incident and would prove most e ective the rest of the game.
e Yankees held their slim lead until the bottom of the fourth, when the Red Sox struck. Rick Burleson and Carl Yastrzemski singled o Dobson. at brought Lynn to the plate. Lynn was in the midst of a fantastic rookie year; he entered the game leading the majors in slugging at .614, was batting .341, and was tied with Graig Nettles of the Yankees for the league lead in RBIs. Lynn tripled past Williams in center to put Boston in front. One batter later, Cecil Cooper singled to give Boston a 3-1 lead. Tiant retired the side in order in the fth, continuing his mastery over New York.
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