As Red Sox Nation prepared to celebrate their first division title in 11 years, one cloud remained in the sky-the status of Tom Seaver.
The magic number was reduced to 4 as the Rocket Man put down the Jays 3-2 for his 24th win before 44,000 (that’s right-44,000) fans in Toronto. Roger went 8 innings, allowing 7 hits, walking one and fanning 5 before giving way to closer Calvin Schirlaldi. Dave Sax and Rich Gedman homered early for a 2-0 lead, and Dwight Evans’ 25th provided the winner in the fifth. It was the most wins for a Sox hurler since Mel Parnell notched 25 in 1948.
The Brewers did not cooperate in the Bosox party, pounding Oil Can for an 8-5 victory. Boston led 2-0 until the fourth, when Milwaukee hit them with a 4-spot, helped by two errors. Rick Manning’s three-run homer sparked another four-run uprising in the fifth, chasing the Can. One bright spot was a 4-for-5 night for Wade Boggs that tied him with Don Mattingly for the batting lead.
At approximately the same time, Oil Can spoke to the media for the first time since his suspension, and it was obvious that his anger had not completely gone away. In an interview with Mike Madden, Boyd revealed that the pain was still there “because it’s still there in the back of my mind. It never dies, man, it never dies. Don’t get me wrong because I want nobody to think I’m no angel…..You’re not, I’m not, none of us is not, all of us has done something wrong…I’m OK until I reminisce, especially when I get some beers in me, and then it’s all in the back of my head.” Despite some reassuring statements by certain writers, all was still not well for Dennis Boyd.
After a rainout and off day, the Sox fell again, this time to the Jays at home, 1-0 in 12 innings. Roger shut out Toronto for 9, allowing 8 hits, but was matched by starter Jimmy Key and star reliever Mark Eichorn, who won this 14th to go along with 10 saves. Jesse Barfield’s 36th homer of the year made a loser out of Schiraldi, who saw his mark fall to 4-2. The same day, a generally positive article abaout John McNamara’s role in the Sox resurgence featured a rather surly response. Asked about what he deserved for his efforts during the 86 season, Mac snorted “Manager of the Year? To hell with Manager of the Year.”
When Bruce Hurst shut out the Jays 2-0 on Saturday the 27th, the magic number became one. At the end, before 33, 358, the lefthander from Utah raised his hand and leaped. He had brought his record to 13-7 (a career best) with a 2.87 ERA, including 162 strikeouts and only 47 walks. Marty Barrett was quoted as saying “I’m just as confident in Bruce as I am in Roger.” Toronto’s Jim Clancy also pitched a complete game, but fell victim to an Evans homer in the fifth, and singles by Barrett, Don Baylor, and Bill Buckner in the seventh. The game was over in 2:14, a time seldom if ever seen today.
The one pall over the Sox week was the condition of Seaver. “It’s too soon for him to start working off the mound,” team doctor Arthur Pappas remarked. Larry Whiteside wrote that riding a bike was giving Tom no pain. But rather ominously, he quoted Seaver as saying “I can’t run yet….and I’m not sure when I will try.”
The Red Sox stood at 82-61, 8 over the Jays and 9 1/2 over the Yankees. The Orioles, in a harbinger of the future, had fallen to last at 72-83. The Mets, meanwhile, with 102 wins, had long since clinched.
Looking at the Sox averages, several things stood out. The three top starters-Clemens, Hurst, and Boyd- were a combined 51-21; the rest of the staff was 31-40. Without Seaver, starter number 4 was Al Nipper and his 5.51 ERA. The bullpen was pretty much Schiraldi against the world. Steve Crawford’s stats were OK, but the S-boys-
Bob Stanley, Joe Sambito, and Sammy Stewart-plus Tim Lollar-had a combined ERA close to 5.
Peter Gammons had once written that the top teams say “You can never have enough pitching”, while the Sox always say “We should have enough”.
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