Though the Red Sox had prevailed on opening day, they still could play like the Sox we’d known and booed for so many years. On Thursday the 13th, they blew a 5-3 lead entering the ninth and fell 8-5 to the White Sox in a sloppy contest Starter Darrell Brandon did a fair job, leaving after five innings with a 4-3 advantage. Boston had done little off Chicago starter Bruce Howard until the sixth, when Yaz singled and the White Sox, according to Clif Keane, “started to bobble the ball like trained seals.” A pair of infield errors allowed Carl to score and cut the Chisox lead to 3-2. Rico Petrocelli, still hot, then lined one off Howard’s ankle for the tying run. Howard was then replaced by Dennis Higgins, who gave up a hit to Mike Ryan for the one-run lead. Rico, who was 5-for-6 in the series, then doubled to start the eighth, moved to third on a grounder and scored on a Ryan suicide squeeze bunt. This was the way Dick Williams had promised the team would play.
Alas, it was not yet over. The crowd of 3600, pretty average for a weekday day game in the mid-60’s then saw their team self-destruct in the ninth. A single and error by Tony C (Conig could sometimes be erratic in the field) put a runner on second. Joe Foy then bobbled one. After a strikeout, Reggie Smith, out of position at second because of an injury to Mike Andrews, threw low on a grounder to fill the bases. The circus continued when Foy overthrew second while colliding with baserunner Tommy Agee to cut the lead to one and keep the sacks filled. Williams chose to stay with journeyman reliever Hank Fischer (today there would already have been a closer in the game) and the righty surrendered three more hits to make the final count 8. All five runs off Fischer were unearned.
The next day at Yankee Stadium has become part of 1967 folklore. Before a small crowd of 14,000 fans, including Jacqueline Kennedy and her son John, Whitey Ford opposed Boston rookie Billy Rohr in his first major league appearence. It is said that Rohr told teammate Dennis Bennett he was “a nervous wreck before the game.
Since the contest is so historic, I will quote Alexander Edelman of the Society for American Baseball Research and broadcaster Ken Coleman. “By the sixth inning,” writes Edelman, “with everyone fully concious of what Rohr was doing (a no-hitter), Yankee right fielder Bill Robinson slashed a hard grounder up the middle, striking Rohr off the left shin, which he clutched in pain as the ball ricocheted directly to Foy at third base…trainer Buddy Leroux rushed out with manager Dick Williams, ready to pull the young pitcher from the game….he told catcher Russ Gibson that if Rohr showed any signs of deviating from his usual pitching motion, to have the rookie yanked immediately…Rohr limped for the rest of the game.”
As Rohr got the last out in the sixth innning and headed for the bench, he found himself sitting in solitude. No one talked to him as he iced his leg by himself on the right side of the dugout….And so, in his first major league start, Billy Rohr sat, by himself, marooned in a sea of people, all alone to realize what was taking place.”
“In the top of the eighth, Foy homered to give the Sox a 3-0 lead. Mickey Mantle pinch hit later that inning and flied out. Rohr then committed an error, but got Robinson to hit into a double play. Three outs away.”
Edelman goes on to say that as Rohr got ready to pitch to Tom Tresh to start the ninth,he paused and looked straight at all his infielders. Ken Coleman thought he was “establishing a magical bond with each of his teammates, a connection that could, in some wordless way, preserve the no-hitter. On a 3-2 pitch, Tresh hit one far toward left. Yaz had been playing in to prevent a bloop hit.
Coleman’s call of the play has been preserved on record and stands as one of the most dramatic broadcasts in team history: “Fly ball, to deep left, Yastrzemski is going way back, way back…and he dives and makes a TREMENDOUS CATCH!…One of the greatest catches we’ve ever seen by Yastrzemski.” The play seemed to typify the fact that 67 would not be just another year. Joe Pepitone flied out, and the entire Yankee Stadium crowd was up, cheering for Rohr. Elston Howard was the next hitter. After just missing on a 1-2 pitch (many say it was a strike), Gibson signaled for a curve, and Howard was ready. “With one swift, sad strike,” writes Edelman, “Howard looped a shot over second baseman Smith’s head, where it landed in front of a disappointed-looking Tony C. When Howard reached first base, he was surprised to heear boos and hoots….Howard was left stranded on first as Charley Smith flied out, ending the game.”
Though very disappointed, Rohr would receive a personal visit from Jackie and John, talk on the phone with his idols Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, make a brief appearence on the Ed Sullivan Show, and receive a small raise is salary. A telegram from Boston mayor John Collins read: “May today’s victory be the first of hundreds in your major league career.”
As most fans know, that did not happen. But Rohr’s performance showed people that this was not your father’s Red Sox team.
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