Sox 67

At Fenway on the night of May 12, 1967, Sox backup catcher Bob Tillman had one of the most embarrassing moments a player could have, from little league up to the majors. Trying to throw a runner out at second base in the eighth inning of a 5-4 loss to Detroit, Tillman beaned his pitcher, John Wyatt. The Tiger runner was Hall of Famer Al Kaline. As described by Clif Keane: “Finally Bob let fly and as he did, Wyatt turned to see how good Bob’s marksmanship was. It was perfect-the ball hit John on the back of the head and bounced all the way to the batters circle between the plate and first base.’ Kaline eventually scored the winning run.

Wyatt, Boston’s top reliever (he would be a closer today)  was unhurt and finished the game. Little was said about the play in Keane’s story, but I’m sure that Tillman, a good guy who also had the reputation as being one of baseball’s slowest runners, was looking for a hole to crawl into at that moment.

The Sox defeat to the first place Tigers was charged to Bucky Brandon, whose record fell to 0-4. Detroit jumped to a 3-0 lead, aided by a Rico Petrocelli error and a homer by Norm Cash. Boston would cut it to 3-2, but a miscue by Mike Andrews and Tillman’s play gave former Soxer Earl Wilson all the runs he needed. Wilson, who went to Detroit in the infamous trade for Don Demeter, threw 8 innings and gave up all four tallies to run his record to 4-2.

The loss was the Bosox’ seventh in ten games. They had just returned from a 3-6 road trip to California, Minnesota, and Kansas City, winning one game in each town. In the Twin Cities, Mudcat Grant and Dean Chance pretty much silenced Sox bats. In the third game, however, Boston rallied from a 5-1 deficit against Jim Kaat (whose September injury would play a large part in the Impossible Dream) with four in the fourth, capped by Tony Horton’s two-run pinch double to tie the score.They plated four more after two were out in the seventh, as Rico singled in a pair and a costly error by Twins rookie Ron Clark let in two more.. The contest ended at 9-6, with reliever Dan Osinski picking up the win.

The Townies then went to KC  to face the lowly A’s, only a few years away from finding huge success in Oakland. The opposing starters- Lew Krausse, Chuck Dobson, and Blue Moon Odom- were all winless, but the Sox could take only one game. A split in a twi-night doubleheader did not come easy, as Boston needed a five-run rally in the ninth inning of the “nightcap” to salvage one contest. Krausse got his first victory of the year in game 1 as disappointing reliever Don McMahon surrendered the deciding run. The Athletics appeared headed for a sweep in game 2, entering the ninth with a 2-0 advantage. Tillman, who could be a clutch hiitter at times, singled in Tony C to cut it to 2-1 against star reliever Jack Aker, who later walked Joe Foy to force in the tying run. Carl Yastrzemski, as he would do many times, then cleared the bases with a double off Bob Duliba. Wyatt picked up his second victory by setting Kansas City down in the ninth.

Billy Rohr, an April hero, was becoming a May worry, as for the third straight time he was unable to last three innings as KC took the rubber game, 7-4. The former Yankee killer was given a 3-0 lead, but the home squad bounced back to tie it in the third, sparked by Rick Monday’s two-run single. Boston took a 4-3 lead entering the seventh, but KC rebounded against Osinski and McMahon, aided by some fielding misplays. Rohr’s stats in the last three games were alarming- 12 runs on 15 hits in 7 2/3 innings.

The Sox were now fifth with an 11-13 record- 5 1/2 games behind the Tigers. Yaz was second on the team to Conigliaro with a .300 mark, but only two homers. Kaline was leading the league with 7 home runs and 18 rbi’s.

Tillman passed away in 2000 at the age of 63.