Page 44 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 37
New York Yankees. Ron Blomberg of the Yankees established baseball immortality by being the rst DH. ( ere were other designated hitters that day, but the Red Sox Game had the earliest start.) Gri n distinguished himself in that game with four hits, two RBIs, and a stolen base.
Gri n longed for an injury-free 1974 season, and was o to a tremendous start, but he pulled a muscle. Petrocelli was also hurt. ough the year started with great hopes, manager Darrell Johnson was soon forced into constantly juggling lineups to replace injured players. On April 30 Gri n was beaned by a Nolan Ryan fastball that knocked him unconscious. e beaning left Gri n with a concussion and temporary hearing loss, and likely caused the premature end to his career.
Gri n had been playing exceptional baseball before the beaning. He was on a tear, having hit safely in 15 consecutive games, and was batting at a .347 clip.24 e incident was a terrifying one, reminiscent of the Tony Conigliaro beaning in 1967, and it truly inter- rupted the rhythm of the surging Red Sox. “Gri n’s injury was the most serious blow su ered by the Red Sox in the rst month. It capped a period when they played as though possessed by disruptive devils,” wrote Peter Gammons.25 Gri n was on the DL for two months, from April 30 to July 1.
e Red Sox were again faced with questions regarding players and eld positions following the Gri n injury. Rookie Rick Burleson, a shortstop, was asked to platoon at second base with veteran Dick McAuli e in Gri n’s absence. Before Gri n returned to action, catcher Carlton Fisk su ered a signi cant knee injury and was lost for the balance of the season.
Gri n returned to regular action in mid-July and in his rst game back, he got a double and scored the winning run against Baltimore. e Orioles didn’t treat him lightly: he was crunched at second base by a Don Baylor slide, and was brushed back by a high, inside pitch from Bob Reynolds. He wasn’t a ected by the brushback, he said. e following month, Gri n faced the man who put him on the DL, Nolan Ryan.
Gri n got two hits o Ryan that day. But he may have lost a bit of his edge.Tim Horgan later reported, “To his everlasting credit, he dug right in against the Angels’ amethrower as soon as he’d recuperated, but he never did regain the form that made him one of the few constants in the Red Sox in eld.”26
e Red Sox nished third in 1974, seven games behind division-leading Baltimore and ve behind the Yankees, with an 84-78 record. Gri n played in only 93 games of the injury-plagued season, but played well, batting .266, with another good year in the eld.
During the o season Darrell Johnson openly discussed possible trades involving several players including Gri n, but nothing materialized. Gri n was still su ering with back trouble and was heading for surgery, which made any trade talks involving him doubtful. Johnson had planned to move Burleson to second base and trade Gri n for a shortstop, but Gri n’s back injury made him “untradeable,” remarked GM Dick O’Connell.27
Various maneuvers were made by the Red Sox in the spring of 1975 to adjust for injuries. ey continued to hope that highly regarded shortstop Steve Dillard would overcome his own injuries and be able to play regularly. Mario Guerrero’s name continued to come up, and Burleson appeared destined for second base. Gri n seemed not to have a place, although the message was unclear. Manager Johnson told Tim Horgan of the Boston Herald: “I wish I could say Doug is still our second baseman. But I don’t know myself where he stands. I’ve got to have a Burleson available. If Doug is all right, then it’s simply a matter of who’s the best man at the position.”28
e Red Sox fueled the re further, if not adding to the dilemma, by mentioning a newly acquired player from the Baltimore farm system, Kim Andrew, as a possible replacement for Gri n. Player personnel director Haywood Sullivan, manager Johnson, and coach Don Zimmer were all very high on Andrew, a player more noted for his hitting than his elding. As it developed, Andrew was used sparingly and never panned out for the Red Sox.29