1946. 1967. 1975. 1986.
Perhaps, it's a little Puritanical to wallow in those years of failure; a psychologist might insist that it was unhealthy. It seems important, though, to remember who we were and just how good things are now. Those were teams that just weren't quite good enough or lucky enough. They were teams that broke your heart and tested your faith.
1946: The Sox had won game one, lost game two, won game three, lost game four, won game five, and lost game six. If they were to continue with their pattern, then they should have had game seven in the bag. Going into the eighth inning in St. Louis, however, the Cardinals led 3-1. Rip Russel pinch hit for the Sox and got a single. Catfish Metkovich pinch hit and hit a double, which moved Russel to third. Wally Moses struck out. Johnny Pesky lined out. Down by two, tying run in scoring position, and two outs, Dom DiMaggio tied the game with a double. But hurt his hamstring on the play and had to be pinch run for. Ted Williams ended the inning with a popfly to second.
Bottom of the eighth. Enos Slaughter started it off with a single. Sox pitcher Bob Klinger then got two outs, a popfly he handled himself and a fly ball to left. Harry Walker came to the plate and hit a double to centerfield. Remember that Dom DiMaggio, who was an excellent centerfielder, had been removed from the game. His replacement, Leon Culberson, wasn't the fielder DiMaggio was and didn't have his arm. He threw the ball in to Pesky and Pesky threw home but Slaughter, who had been booking around from first, got there first.
That's not to say, of course, that the Sox didn't have their chances in the ninth inning. They led off the inning with a pair of singles and had the tying run at third with one out. But a foul ball off first and a ground out brought on the winter for the 1946 Red Sox.
1967: The 1967 Sox didn't do their best Keystone Kops impression during the World Series. There was no gaff that made it's way into bedtime stories throughout New England. The Sox lost game one, won game two, lost games three and four, and then won games five and six. And facing St. Louis' Bob Gibson in game seven, they were just out pitched.
1975: 1975 brought the return of the bumbling World Series Sox. Luis Tiant cruised to a complete game shut-out in game one. Bill Lee had allowed one run in eight innings in game two when he allowed a double to start the ninth inning. Dick Drago was called upon to relieve him and got two outs; then he gave up a single to tie the game and a double to blow the save.
Game three was all about Carlton Fisk. He got the first hit of the game in the second inning when he hit a home run. The Reds took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run home run from Johnny Bench. They added on in the fifth with two more home runs off of Rick Wise and a Joe Morgan sacrifice fly to make the score 5-1, Reds. The Sox got one back in the sixth on a Fred Lynn sacrifice fly and another back in the seventh on a Bernie Carbo home run. They tied it in the ninth, 5-5, on a two-run shot by Dwight Evans. In the bottom of the tenth inning, the Reds had a man on first and attempted to sacrifice him over to second. It was a bad bunt; the batter, Ed Armbrister, was lallygagging in the base path, Fisk's throw on the force out sailed over Rick Burleson's head, and the runners were on second and third with no outs because Armbrister wasn't called out on interference. The Reds won on a Joe Morgan single.
Luis Tiant came to the rescue again in game four, throwing a complete game for a 5-4 win. Game five didn't go as well; the Reds won 6-2. Game six returned to Fenway and the Sox lived to see another day in twelve innings thanks to a Bernie Carbo home run, a spectacular Dwight Evans catch and a relatively famous Carlton Fisk home run.
The Sox came up short again in game seven. The Sox scored three runs in the on a Yaz single and two consecutive bases-loaded walks. Bill Lee made it through six and two-thirds before tossing an eephus pitch that ended up in the stands and bringing the Reds two runs closer. They tied it in the seventh on a Pete Rose single. And won it in the ninth on a Joe Morgan single.
1986: Game one at Shea Stadium in 1986 was a pitchers duel; Bruce Hurst and Ron Darling traded zeros allowing one unearned (by Darling) between them. In game two, Clemens kept the Mets at bay while Dwight Gooden gave up six runs in five innings. Game three didn't go quite as smoothly as Oil Can Boyd gave up four runs in the first. The Sox couldn't match Ron Darling in game four and ended up losing 6-2. Bruce Hurst came to the rescue in game five, keeping the Mets to two runs in a complete game effort.
Game six was unfortunate. It was a sloppy game to start with; there were five errors between the two teams. Roger Clemens gave up two runs in seven innings and going into the bottom of the eighth the Sox had a 3-2 lead. Calvin Schiraldi relieved Clemens. He gave up a single, a bunt single, a sacrifice bunt, an intentional walk, and a sacrifice fly to tie the score. Okay. Fine. Whatever. We go to the top of the tenth. Dave Henderson hits a home run--Sox have the lead. Spike Owen strikes outs. Calvin Schiraldi strikes out. Wade Boggs doubles and Marty Barrett singles him in--the Sox lead is 5-3. Bottom of the tenth. Calvin Schiraldi gets two outs. He then gives up a single, and a single, and a single. Score: 5-4. Bob Stanley comes in to relieve Schiraldi. Stanley throws a wild pitch to Mookie Wilson and the score is tied. With his balky knees Bill Buckner should have been pulled for a defensive replacement. Bob Stanley doesn't get over to cover first and Wilson's single becomes infamous.
Game seven started out promisingly enough. The Sox scored three in the second and the Mets didn't tie the game until the sixth inning. Schiraldi gave up a home run in the bottom of the seventh, a single, an RBI single, and a sacrifice bunt. Joe Sambito in an effort to relieve Schiraldi gave up two walks to load the bases and a sacrifice fly before getting a ground out to end the inning. Mets lead 6-3. The Sox made some noise in the eighth; in the form of a single, a single, and a two-run double by Dwight Evans. Score: 5-6. During the bottom of the eighth, Darryl Strawberry hit a home run and Jesse Orosco had an RBI single. Final score: 8-5.
I am not a glutton for punishment. It's good to remember these things. Now, if you'll pardon me, I'm going to go drown my sorrows.
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