In the summer of 1967, the Red Sox were in a torrid pennant race with the Twins, Tigers and White Sox. After finishing next to last in 1966, no one would have ever predicted that the Red Sox would be sitting on top of the American League standings one year later.
In the 1st game of a Sunday doubleheader, Jose Tartabull made ‘The Throw‘ from RF to home plate to nail Ken Berry who was trying to tag up from 3B. This was a critical game in the pennant drive of 1967, and this play is probably the highlight of Tartabull’s career. He went on to play in all 7 games of the World Series that year, starting in 3 of them. He is also the father of Danny Tartabull, who was an All-Star and played 14 seasons in the big leagues.
In 2001, that famous throw was immortalized in a fiction novel entitled “Tartabull’s Throw” written by Henry Garfield.
I distinctly remember watching that game on a Sunday afternoon at the beach house that summer. There was only 1 weekend left before school resumed. I feel lucky to have witnessed one of the greatest plays in Boston Red Sox history as it happened.
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