Page 43 - 1975 BoSox

36 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL
a candidate for AL Rookie of the Year, and placed fourth in the voting. Chris Chambliss of the Cleveland Indians won the award; the Boston baseball writers named Gri n the Red Sox rookie of the year.
For Gri n 1972 was a very good year. Once again he was placed on the All-Star ballot. He had a sensational spring, both with the bat and in the eld. “I have ceased to be amazed at the plays he makes. He did something spectacular every day,” said manager Kasko.18 “He gets to balls I cannot believe he can reach,” added Luis Aparicio.19 “He’s positively uncanny at playing the hitters. When I saw him moving, I moved with him in right eld, and you would be amazed how often Gri n moved the right way,”said Reggie Smith.20
Hard luck followed Gri n in 1972, just as it had the year before. He was benched early in the season due to a slump, but came back strong, and was hitting well until early August, when he was hit by a Gaylord Perry pitch that broke his hand. Gri n was on the disabled list from August 9 to September 1, missing 25 games. When he returned he had trouble gripping the bat, a ecting his hitting.
Gri n won a 1972 Gold Glove award. And despite the broken hand, he improved his batting average to .260, and his 15 sacri ce hits tied him for third place in the league with three other players. In spite of turmoil in the clubhouse, the Red Sox nished second in the AL East, just a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers. If it had not been for the unbalanced schedule after the players strike at the start of the season, the Red Sox might have played the same number of games as the Tigers. Had they played one more game, and won, they would have been tied for rst place.
e 1973 season was a year of promise for the Red Sox. ey had a seasoned team returning, one bolstered by the pitching of Luis Tiant, Marty Pattin, John Curtis, and Lynn McGlothen. e in eld was an established one with Gold Glove winner Gri n, Luis Aparicio, Rico Petrocelli, and Carl Yastrzemski. Gri n again appeared on the AL All-Star ballot, but back problems that cropped up during spring training
plagued him throughout the year. On top of that, in May he was hit by pitcher Billy Champion of the Milwaukee Brewers and su ered another fractured hand, serving a stint on the disabled list from May 25 to July 13. It was a very unfortunate injury for Gri n, at a time when he was playing his best ball, batting .289 and only recently installed in the leado spot. His elding had been superb.21
Gri n’s second broken hand had a deleterious e ect upon the 1973 Red Sox. Neither John Kennedy nor the new sub acquired from the Yankees, Mario Guerrero, had the elding range or prowess to compare with Gri n. Worse, the fracture may have been in- tentional; it appeared to have been the product of a feud between the Red Sox and Brewers, principally involving Bill Lee of the Red Sox and the Brewers’ Ellie Rodriguez. In the game at Fenway when Gri n was injured, three Red Sox players were hit by pitches, Carlton Fisk (helmet), Orlando Cepeda (shoulder), and then Gri n. It nearly led to a brawl on the eld.22
Injuries were taking their toll on Gri n. It was becom- ing more a matter of how long he might last than how well he might play. After the 1973 season, Boston replaced Kasko with Darrell Johnson from their minor- league system. ey also dealt young out elder Ben Oglivie for seasoned utility in elder Dick McAuli e of the Tigers, in order to spell the oft-injured Gri n at second. Peter Gammons wrote, “McAuli e will ll in at third and second, where a backup job often is needed since Doug Gri n usually gets hurt and has trouble with several right-handed pitchers.”23
Gri n had played in 113 games for the 1973 Red Sox, batting.255, and may have had his best season in the eld, making only six errors on 584 total chances, for a .990 elding percentage, his best in the majors. He placed second to Bobby Grich of the Orioles for the AL Gold Glove award. Gri n ranked third in sacri ce hits with 13, and 10th in sacri ce ies with six. Boston nished second in the AL East again, eight games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
On April 6, 1973, Gri n participated in the rst major- league game featuring a designated hitter, against the