Page 291 - 1975 BoSox

284 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL
When you come into Fenway Park and give up two runs as Palmer did tonight, you don’t mind. But the other guy pitched a great game.”4
“Palmer,” countered Tiant, “is the best pitcher in the league, and I went out there thinking this is a time to win, and win now. I’ve always wanted to pitch in the World Series, and I gured if we win now, well, it’s that much harder for them.”5 Asked about his “come- back,” Tiant added, “I don’t want to make excuses, but the back has been a problem. I just couldn’t throw as hard or to the places I had to. So this is very satisfy- ing. I had good stu , all my pitches. Fastball, curve, knuckle ... I threw ve knucklers, three for strikeouts.”6
One of the two hitting heroes, Fisk, had the best view in the house of Tiant’s mastery. “ ese last few days we’ve had 30,000 here,” said the catcher, “but it was like a morgue. But when Luis goes out there, it’s just a di erent than any other man. ere isn’t a player alive who can’t feel what he exudes from the audience.”7
Besides the obvious—the Red Sox now led by 51⁄2 games with 11 to go—Tiant’s performance also gave the team hope for what lay ahead, their rst postseason in eight years. “We were very concerned about Tiant,” admitted Boston pitching coach Stan Williams. “He had physical problems and they were causing mechani- cal problems. We were concerned it might be the end of the line. But he’s far from the end. ... Tonight they
had no idea what he was going to throw or where he was going to throw it.”8
So was it over? Were the Orioles dead?
“We still have a chance,” said Weaver, “and nobody in this room is going to give up.”9
“We still have a way to go,” cautioned Boston rst baseman Carl Yastrzemski, who was a quiet 0-for-4.10
e Orioles were hardly dead. But thanks to the dazzling Luis Tiant, Red Sox fans throughout the region slept much more soundly after September 16, 1975.
Notes
1 Peter Gammons, “Enter Tiant, Fisk, Rico ... Exit Orioles,” Boston Globe, September 17, 1975.
2 Gammons, “Enter Tiant.”
3 Gammons, “Enter Tiant.”
4 Clif Keane, “’About the Best I Have Ever Seen Tiant,’ Admits Weaver,” Boston Globe, September 17, 1975.
5 Gammons, “Enter Tiant.”
6 Peter Gammons, “Tiant Takes Over at Center Stage,” Boston
Globe, September 17, 1975.
7 Gammons, “Enter Tiant.”
8 Joe Giuliotti, “Tiant Rewards Faithful Fans,” Boston Herald, September 17, 1975.
9 Keane, “’About the Best.”
10 Giuliotti, “Tiant Rewards.”