Page 76 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 69
Bench’s at-bat), but second baseman Denny Doyle did not see the grounder. Right elder Evans elded the ball and overthrew third, leaving runners at second and third with nobody out. Tony Perez was up next, and drove a 1-and-2 pitch to deep left for his second homer of the night. e Reds won the game, 6-2.
Cleveland made one more appearance in the World Series. On October 22, in the ninth inning of the seventh game, he was brought in to face Johnny Bench with Pete Rose on third and Joe Morgan on second after Jim Burton had given up a run to put the Reds on top, 4-3. Cleveland walked Bench to load the bases. Next up was Game Five hero and new nemesis Tony Perez. is time, Cleveland got Perez to y out to end the threat and was in line for the win if the Sox could score two runs in the bottom of the ninth. But the Reds held on to win the game, 4-3, and the Series.
e 1976 Red Sox looked to repeat as American League champions but could only manage third, more than 15 games behind rst-place New York. Cleveland, mostly a reliever now, nished 10-9 but with an ERA of 3.07, nearly a half-run better than the league average. He pitched 170 innings and gave up only three home runs all year (all at Fenway Park).14
In 1977 the Red Sox won 97 games but nished in a tie for second with Baltimore. Cleveland’s won-loss record improved to 11-8 but his ERA ballooned to 4.26. He pitched 1901⁄3 innings in 36 games with 27 starts and nine complete games. It was to be the last year Cleveland would have more starts than relief appearances. He did have a couple of historic appear- ances. On September 9, in the second game of a doubleheader against Detroit at Fenway Park, future Tiger institutions Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell made their major-league debuts and predictably both got their rst major-league hit on the same day and both came against Cleveland (Boston won the game anyway, 8-6). Later in September, on the 25th, Cleveland “scattered” 18 hits as he pitched a complete game and earned a 12-5 victory over the Tigers in Detroit.
e 1977 Red Sox had three young starters — Bob Stanley, Don Aase, and Mike Paxton — who needed work to mature. Reggie Cleveland volunteered to go to the bullpen to allow the Red Sox the exibility of getting more starts for the three young guns.15 It was a sel ess thing to do. It was neither the rst nor the last time that Cleveland, whom Don Zimmer called “a real pro,” put the team rst.16
At the start of the 1978 season, Boston had 11 pitchers and Zimmer wanted 10. Twenty-seven-year-old rookie Jim Wright was out of contract options and Cleveland was the odd man out. His contract was sold to the Texas Rangers on April 18 for $125,000.17 Cleveland, for his part, was relieved. He told reporters, “Not knowing what was going to happen was driving me nuts. Now I know I have a chance to start. I’m very happy to go to Texas. It’s a good ballclub which can score runs and it’s a good place to play.”18
Cleveland was used exclusively in relief for the Rangers, appearing in 53 games. He got o to a slow start because he had not been used much by Boston. e turning point of his season came on April 28 against his former team. Cleveland pitched four solid innings, giving up only one unearned run, striking out three, and walking none. He earned his rst victory when Richie Zisk hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th. Cleveland earned saves in his next three appear- ances, gaining self-con dence and the con dence of his manager. Cleveland ended the 1978 season just 5-8 but with an impressive 3.08 ERA and 12 saves. He was the best reliever on the team and earned the Rolaids Award signifying that accomplishment.
Although Cleveland was successful in Texas, his stay would be short. e cash-strapped Brad Corbett traded him after the season to Milwaukee for pitcher Ed Farmer, minor-league in elder Gary Holle, and $200,000.19 Brewers GM Harry Dalton, who once thought Cleveland “too fat to pitch in the major leagues,” had wanted him since at least the beginning of 1978.20 Dalton and the Brewers were high on Cleveland as a starter, at one point insisting he would pitch 200 innings for the team. But it was not to be. Cleveland, who had moved his family to Texas and