Page 298 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 291
nearly as smartly as the Red Sox’ Rick Wise in the early innings. Holtzman allowed three hits through the rst three innings; Wise just one.
Holtzman appeared to be on his way to a fourth shutout inning when Fred Lynn reached on an error and Rico Petrocelli drove him in with a two-out single. Wise surrendered only a Reggie Jackson single in the bottom of the fourth, but Yastrzemski cut o the ball before it reached the left- eld corner, whirled, and gunned down Jackson at second to preserve the 1-0 Boston lead.
When Holtzman agged in the top of the fth, the Red Sox roughed him up. Rick Burleson slashed a one-out double down the left- eld line, and one out later Denny Doyle drove him in with a single down the right- eld line. Carl Yastrzemski followed with a single to right to drive Holtzman out of the game, and Carlton Fisk greeted relief pitcher Jim Todd with the fourth hit of the inning, a bloop single that scored Doyle. Todd gave way to Paul Lindblad — and Lindblad promptly threw a wild pitch that allowed Yastrzemski to scamper home, before escaping the inning.
Armed with a 4-0 lead, Wise surrendered only a walk in the fth. He issued another free pass, to pinch-hitter Caesar Tovar, to open the sixth, then surrendered a single to Claudell Washington, and a run when Bando hit into a elder’s choice to score Tovar. Wise struck out Jackson to end the inning.
In the seventh Wise issued only a harmless walk, and led 4-1 heading into the eighth. Fisk led o the frame with a single, and moved to second on Lynn’s sacri ce bunt. One out later, Dwight Evans drew an intentional walk, and Cecil Cooper singled to center to score Fisk.
Wise started the bottom of the eighth with a 5-1 lead,
but tired. Tovar singled, moved to second on a ground-
out, and went to third when Denny Doyle fumbled
Washington’s grounder for an error. As the crowd at
the spacious stadium nicknamed the “Mausoleum”
came to life, Bando singled to score Tovar, and Jackson
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lashed a line drive to left-center. Yastrzemski sprang
to his left and sprawled out to snag the one-hopper. Washington scored, but Jackson was forced to hold at rst, preserving the possibility of a double play. With one out, two on, and a two-run lead, manager Darrell Johnson called on relief pitcher Dick Drago to replace Wise. e veteran closer escaped the jam by facing just one batter, forcing Joe Rudi to ground into a 6-4-3 twin killing.
e Red Sox went quietly in the top of the inning, and Drago returned for the bottom of the ninth. He retired the rst two batters of the inning, walked North, and induced pinch-hitter Jim Holt to ground out to end the game and close out the ALCS.
Wise picked up the win, Drago earned his second save, and Holzman su ered his second setback of the series.
With the win, the Red Sox moved on to an even bigger stage: the dramatic and memorable 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Sources
Books
Adelman, Tom. e Long Ball (Boston: Back Bay Books/Little Brown, 2003).
Epstein, Dan. Big Hair and Plastic Grass; A Funky Ride rough Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s (New York: omas Dunne Books/St. Martin Press, 2010).
Frost, Mark. Game Six; Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: e Triumph of America’s Pastime (New York: Hyperion, 1999).
Gammons, Peter. Beyond the Sixth Game (Boston: Houghton Mi in Company, 1985).
Golenbock, Peter. Fenway (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1992). Golenbock, Peter. Red Sox Nation (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2005).
Honig, Donald. e Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History (New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1990).
Stout, Glenn, and Richard Johnson. Red Sox Century: e De nitive History of Baseball’s Most Storied Franchise (Boston: Houghton Mi in, 2004).
Nowlin, Bill, and Cecilia Tan, eds. ’75; e Red Sox Team at Saved Baseball (Burlington, Massachusetts: Rounder Books, 2005).
Smith, Curt. Our House; A Tribute to Fenway Park (Chicago: Master’s Press, 1999).