Page 301 - 1975 BoSox

Game One:
October 11, 1975, at Fenway Park, Boston
Red Sox 6, Reds 0
With four days between the end of the League Championship Series and the start of the World Series, there was ample opportunity for hyperbole, bluster, and even gamesmanship. In the wake of Boston’s sweep of three-time world champion Oakland in the American League Championship Series, Reds manager Sparky Anderson wondered whether Luis Tiant’s herky-jerky delivery was a balk.1 Umpire Nick Colosi, a National League ump, by the way, called a balk on Tiant when the Reds got their rst baserunner in the fourth inning. at was just one storyline for the start of a provocative World Series — and another outstanding start by a pitcher on an epic roll.
A reclamation project when the Red Sox signed him after his release in May 1971, the former All-Star won an ERA title and Comeback Player of the Year in 1972, then turned in successive 20-win seasons. Tiant stumbled in August 1975, missing two September starts to rest an aching back — and his ERA soared to 4.36—before Darrell Johnson sent him back to the mound against Detroit to help New England regain its breath after Boston lost three games o its lead in a week.2 With the lead at ve games, El Tiante — living with his parents after an appeal was made to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to allow an extended visit — tossed a three-hitter to win, 3-1. For the month, Tiant allowed just that one run in three complete-game victories as the Red Sox won the American League East title by 41⁄2 games. Boston’s re-established ace beat Oakland postseason warhorse Ken Holtzman in Game One to set the tone for the ALCS. A week later, Tiant matched Don Gullett zero for zero for six innings of the World Series opener.
Tiant looked to nally be in trouble in the seventh. After a leado single by George Foster, Dave Concepcion followed with a bloop to left eld, but minder of the Monster Carl Yastrzemski made a diving
catch. Foster, determined to get to second base, was gunned out stealing by Carlton Fisk. Moments later, Ken Gri ey doubled. For the second time in the game, Tiant intentionally walked Cesar Geronimo to face Gullett, and for the second time Tiant retired his opposing number as second baseman Denny Doyle grabbed Gullett’s line drive to end Cincinnati’s best threat.
e designated hitter was still a year away from imple- mentation in the World Series, and Darrell Johnson didn’t think twice about his ace taking his turn at bat against Gullett to start the home seventh. Tiant had registered just one plate appearance in the three seasons since the DH rule took e ect in the American League, and Tiant fanned his rst time up against Gullett. He walked his second time up, but the specter of Tiant at the plate with a runner on third in the sixth inning no doubt played a role in third-base coach Don Zimmer’s decision to have Fred Lynn tag up on eighth- place hitter Cecil Cooper’s short y ball to center eld. Geronimo, who tied for the National League lead in double plays with ve in 1975, converted another when he nailed Lynn at the plate. It was the second time an inning had ended with a Red Sox runner tagged out at home by Johnny Bench. e rst inning had concluded with Dwight Evans thrown out by Concepcion trying to score from second on an in eld single.
Tiant, a .164 career hitter in nine pre-DH seasons, rapped a single to left amid roars of “Loo-ie, Loo-ie” at Fenway. e leado hit from the beloved El Tiante seemed to rouse the entire team. Tiant hustled to second on Dwight Evans’s bunt, as Gullett’s throw bounced o the sliding Cuban. With Joe Garagiola spinning tales of the colorful Tiant throughout NBC’s Saturday-afternoon World Series coverage, the Red Sox pitcher’s tour of the bases took the mantle of an
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