~ The Old Sachem ~ The ’75 Red Sox

By Bill Stewart

A tribute to the 1975 Red Sox to the tune “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”:

Take me out to the Fenway

Let me cheer with the crowd

Buy me some pizza and ice-cold beer

I don’t care if I never leave here

For it’s root, root for the Red Sox

And beat those damn Yankees again

For it’s Yaz, Lynn, Rice and the crew

Up at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox had a very good season in 1973, finishing second behind Baltimore. They ended April in sixth place, moved up to fourth in May, and remained there through June and July. In August they went 18-13, which brought them to second place, and remained there, finishing behind Baltimore. The great finish led to speculation about 1974.

They again started slowly, finishing in sixth place in April, and climbed to second in May. The Sox moved to first in June and remained there through July and August, then dropped to third in September and remained there at the season’s finish. Carleton Fisk tore up his knee at the end of June, which really hurt both offense and defense. Rich Wise was in the starting rotation behind Luis Tiant and Bill Lee, but broke a finger on his pitching hand when his wife unexpectedly closed the door. That ended all hope of a pennant for the second year in a row.

Once again, Hopes were high in 1975 after two very good seasons. Rick Burleson at shortstop, Tony Conigliaro as a designated hitter, Dwight Evans, Carleton Fisk, Carl Yastrzemski and Rico Petrocelli formed a tremendous team, and pitching was pretty talented, too. Tiant, Lee, Wise and Roger Moret formed a spectacular ensemble to the Sox pitching. They started the season in April in a tie for fifth place and jumped up to first in May with a record of 23 wins and 18 losses. They moved to 41 and 31 in June, 63 and 42 in July, 79 and 54 in August, and finished with 95 and 65, and the American League pennant by 4 ½ games over Baltimore.

The season had started when Luis Tiant didn’t show up in Florida for spring training. He was upset that he was only making $70,000 and he thought he was worth much more. After meeting with owner Tom Yawkey, Yawkey and El Tiante agreed to $90,000, and Luis showed up in Florida. With Fisk and Wise back, the team looked to a sunny future. In addition to the strong lineup the year before, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice played exceptionally in Florida.

The opening day lineup was Juan Beníquez at left field, Fred Lynn in center field, Carl Yastrzemski at first base, Tony Conigliaro as designated hitter, Rico Petrocelli at third, Dwight Evans in right, Bob Montgomery catching, Rick Burleson at short, Doug Griffin at second, with Tiant pitching. It was a notable day, as this was the first time that Hank Aaron played in the American League for the Milwaukee Brewers after playing 20 years in the National League.

For the season, Fisk led the offense with an average of .331 and 19 homers. Yastrzemski batted .269 with 14 homers, Jim Rice at .309 with 22 homers and Fred Lynn at .331 and 21 homers. In the postseason they swept the Oakland A’s in three straight in the championship series to advance to the World Series against Cincinnati.

The Red Sox scored first in six of the seven World Series games, only to have the Reds come back to win four of those games. The first two games were in Fenway Park, the Sox winning the first 6-0, and the Reds won the second 3-2. Moving on to Riverfront Stadium, the Reds won the first 6-5 in 10 innings. The Sox won the next 5-4. The fifth game was also in Riverfront with the Reds winning 6-2. The Red Sox took game six 7-6 in 12 innings in Fenway. The win was the result of a game-ending home run by Carleton Fisk. The Reds won the series 4-3 in the seventh game at Fenway.

The series is often listed as the greatest World Series ever, with the two teams never to obtain a victory until the end. Pete Rose was selected as the Series MVP. It was Cincinnati’s third Series in six years – losing to Baltimore in 1970 and in 1972 to Oakland.

The Red Sox have nine World Series titles and played in the series 13 times. Recently they have finished last in the American League East three times in the last four years. The fans are now awaiting the Sox to rebound and at least win the American League.

  (Editor’s Note: Bill Stewart, better known to Saugus Advocate readers as “The Old Sachem,” writes a weekly column about sports – and sometimes he opines on current or historical events or famous people.)