Page 309 - 1975 BoSox

302 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL Game Six:
October 21, 1975, at Fenway Park, Boston
Red Sox 7, Reds 6
It is not just hindsight that has created the impression that the whole country was waiting for Game Six of the 1975 World Series. Everyone really was waiting because the teams hadn’t played for four days. After the rain nally subsided, the teams picked up Tuesday night where they’d left o ursday. e Reds still had a one-game advantage, but the Red Sox were back home.
As if the resumption of baseball — and this captivating World Series — weren’t enough, the three straight cancellations allowed for reshu ing the pitching sta so Luis Tiant could start on ve days’ rest. Tiant had been masterful in going the distance in his rst two starts against the Reds: a brilliant 6-0 shutout in the opener followed by a perhaps even more impressive e ort in Game Four while throwing everything but the kitchen sink (and 163 pitches) to hold o the Reds for a 5-4 win. Now the Red Sox just needed El Tiante to beat a 108-win team for the third time in October to keep Boston’s hopes alive for its rst world cham- pionship in 57 years.
It looked good early, too. Fred Lynn clubbed a three- run home run in the bottom of the rst to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. Cincinnati’s Gary Nolan went just two innings before Sparky Anderson pinch-hit for him. Anderson, seeking his rst World Series title in his third try, seemed to be managing as though his team were down three games to two instead of leading by that same margin. But his carpe-diem managing style paid o in the fth.
After Cesar Geronimo ied out, Ed Armbrister, whose bunting was one of the subplots of the Series, swung away, or, more accurately did not swing and worked out a walk. After Pete Rose singled Armbrister to third, Ken Gri ey’s triple put Cincinnati within a run. As Tiant did so brilliantly in Game Four, he made his best pitches with runners in scoring position, getting Joe Morgan to pop up. But Cincinnati’s “Great
Eight “lineup had no holes. Johnny Bench banged a drive high o the Green Monster to score Gri ey. Bench stopped at rst, but the lead was gone.
By the home fth inning, Clay Carroll was Cincinnati’s fourth pitcher. e rst Reds hurler not to pitch from behind all night, Carroll allowed a leado single and then retired the next three. Pedro Borbon followed with two scoreless innings. Tiant, on the other hand, persevered on sheer will alone. e Reds had multiple baserunners in the fourth, fth, and sixth innings before starting the seventh with consecutive singles. Tiant kept Johnny Bench and Tony Perez in the ballpark with deep y balls, but George Foster followed with a two-run double. When Cesar Geronimo led o the eighth with a home run inside the right- eld foul pole, Darrell Johnson nally came out to remove his ace. Tiant walked o the mound before the game was over for the rst time in ve starts and just the second time since August. He’d thrown 111 pitches, 52 shy of his last outing, and received a long ovation.19 ere was no basking in the cheers with his club down three runs, further proof of how hard it is for a pitcher to beat a team three times in a short series. Valiant e ort, even if it seemed to be for naught. Red Sox fans, to a person, were despondent. e Series seemed over. But this night had not even begun its his- toric phase.
Pedro Borbon, the only Reds pitcher to bat on this night, grounded out against Red Sox reliever Roger Moret, who set down the Reds in order. Borbon got into trouble immediately in the home eighth. A hit and a walk brought Captain Hook to the mound once more, Anderson signaling for his top reliever, Rawly Eastwick. With the tying run at the plate, he fanned Dwight Evans and got Rick Burleson to line out to left. at brought up a pinch-hitter: dgety, curly- haired veteran Bernie Carbo. Something told Anderson to go out and bring in the southpaw to face the lefty-