Sox 67

There must be some in the generation that began in the 80’s who think that the Sox led the league most of the way in 67. That is far from true. Dick Williams’ team would scuffle for two and a half months to stay near .500, which is only what the manager had promised.

After Bill Rohr’s near no-hitter the Townies lost the next two games to the less-than-formidable Yankees, the second one an 18-inning affair. They were shut out on 4 hits the next day by Yankee ace Mel Stottlemyre, a sinkerballer who had gone 12-20 for the last place Yanks in 66 but still made the All-Star team. Sox starter Dennis Bennett also pitched well but gave up the only run of the game in the fifth on a walk and hits by John Kennedy and Horace Clarke. Stottlemyre ran his scoreless streak to 18 innings. Both hurlers threw complete games,which rarely happens today.

The following game was reminiscent of many contests that the Sox had lost to equally bad opponents, as were the 67 Yankees. New York, no longer the Bombers, eked out a 7-6 win in 18 innings in a contest that took more than 5 hours to play. There were 35 hits, 20 by the Sox, and 5 errors. Joe Pepitone singled in the winner in the 18th off Lee Stange, seventh Boston hurler, driving in Jake Gibbs, who had walked and stolen second.

Jim Lonborg threw 5 innings and left with a 6-3 lead, but reliever Bill Landis quickly gave it up. Two walks began the frame, and Ruben Amaro’s bunt loaded the bases. After a strikeout, Landis walked Tom Tresh to plate a run. Don McMahon replaced Landis, but an infield hit and error by McMahon knotted the contest at 6.

The teams then went scoreless through the next 8 innings on a cold and windy day as only a few of the 12,000 fans remained. Boston had opportunities to score eight times, the Yanks five. The Sox left 21 on the bases. Glumly, Williams said: “Believe me, it was harder than an ordinary game to lose. I’d 10 times rather get the stuffing (I’m sure he used a stronger word) knocked out of me than play 18 innings and lose.”

There were some bright spots, however. Reliever Dan Osinski hurled 6 shutout innings, allowing only 4 hits. Yaz and Tony C each had 5 safeties, with Yaz banging two triples and a double. Rico Petrocelli had 4 and rookie catcher Russ Gibson 3.

Just the same, Williams did not hesitate to act. The team had an off-day in Chicago, preparing for a one-game series with the White Sox, but Dick had 17 members of the team up early for a workout. Two targets of Dick’s displeasure were George Scott, who went 1-for-8 in the 18-inning game, and Joe Foy, who made a costly mistake on a bunt to help the Yanks tie the game. Dick announced that Scott was being benched because of his .182 average with no extra base hits.

Boston’s slump continued, however, in the Chicago contest, a 5-2 defeat. Bruce Howard got a complete game win, shutting the Red Sox out until the ninth, when hits by Conigliaro, Reggie Smith, and Tony Horton produced one run and Petrocelli’s groundout another. Bucky Brandon hurled 7 innnings and gave up all five runs.

Both Foy and Scott appeared to be in Williams’ doghouse. Joe, who would battle weight problems his entire career, denied the charge that he had put on 10 pounds since the season began. Dick announced after the Patriots Day twinbill had been rained out that Dalton Jones would be at third in the upcoming Yankee series. A column by Harold Kaese cautioned Williams to “cool off a little”. But that would not be a part of Williams’ mentality, not in April or any other month.

Interestingly, only 2 games separated the first-place Yankees at 4-2 from the Sox and Twins, both 2-4. In the NL, six games separated the 6-0 Cardinals from the 1-7 Giants.