Page 29 - 1975 BoSox

22 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL
an out, the Indians chose not to make a point of it. He got his rst major-league hit the very next day, pinch-hitting with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in a game the Indians were winning with ease, 9-2. Evans singled to left o Gaylord Perry. He added another hit the following day, starting in left eld and going 1-for-3 with a single.
On September 20, Evans had himself a breakthrough day, playing left in both games of a doubleheader against the visiting Orioles. Dwight was 2-for-4 in the rst game, with a couple of singles and two RBIs. He was 2-for-4 in the second game as well, but the two hits were a seventh-inning triple o Mike Cuellar and an eighth-inning home run o Eddie Watt. In 57 September at-bats, Evans batted .263 and helped keep the Red Sox in the pennant race; this was the year they fell just a half-game short of the Tigers.
e following year, Evans was the regular right elder most of the season, playing 119 games, 94 of them in right. He was still nding himself in his rst full season of major-league ball, batting just .223 and with only 32 RBIs, but he showed some power with 10 home runs, and made only one error all year long. 1974 fea- tured another 10 homers, but a .281 average as Evans drove in 70 runs. His defense, and especially his throw- ing arm, was what kept him in the lineup.
In 1975, he had another good year playing a solid right eld while Fred Lynn and Jim Rice joined him to form one of the all-time great out elds. Evans was involved in a league-leading eight double plays. ough he was sub-par in the League Championship Series, Evans batted a strong .292 in the World Series and drove in ve runs. His dramatic ninth-inning two-run home run tied up Game ree, a contest the Red Sox lost in the 10th. As always, it was on defense where Evans excelled; his catch of Joe Morgan’s long y ball in the 11th inning of Game Six was one of the most spectacular in World Series play. After tracking down what looked like an extra-base hit and snaring the ball, he red to rst base and doubled o Ken Gri ey to retire the side.
Evans told Jennifer Latchford and Rod Oreste, “I think all great plays are always anticipated... I was actually, before that pitch thinking if the ball is hit in the gap...I’ve got to go into the stands. Of course, I didn’t end up doing that, but that’s what went through my mind, and then when the ball was hit, I was actually prepared for it. It wasn’t the best catch I ever made, but it was the most important catch I ever made.”4
Looking back on that Series, Evans said, “We had a team that we thought, ‘We’re going to be back in the next ve years three or four times.’”5
e next season, Dewey hit .242 with 17 home runs in 146 games, and won his rst Gold Glove award for his defensive play. In 1977 he battled a knee injury all year, spending much of the season on the disabled list. It was a shame, since he hit better than he ever had, nishing with 14 home runs and a .287 average in just 73 games.
e 1978 season saw the Red Sox leap out to a com- manding lead, and then give it all away in September. ey fought back to tie the Yankees and force a single- game playo for the pennant. Boston might have done better, but Dewey was a little woozy for the nal month of the season following an August 28 beaning. Even in the playo game, he rode the bench, only coming in for a last-ditch ninth-inning pinch-hit role, in which he ied out to left eld. It was his rst ap- pearance in a week. One wonders if a playo game would have been necessary had Evans been better able to contribute that nal month. He hit .247 with a (thus far) career-high 24 home runs on the season, but hit just .164 with one home run in September.
After two more fairly typical seasons (.274 BA, 21 HR, 58 RBIs in 1979, and .266, 18 HR, 60 RBIs in 1980), Dwight Evans reached his 29th birthday with eight seasons under his belt. He was part of a great out eld, but clearly the third wheel amongst two of the better players in the game. His reputation was as a good hitter and a great right elder. Beginning with the 1981 season, though, Evans underwent a remarkable o ensive transformation, and was one of the best all-around players in the league for the next several years.