It’s easy and less painful to forget about the Red Sox history before 2004, since most of the memories are bitter and a reminder of how the Yankees always used beat us. However, today is the anniversary of the best Red Sox moment before the 2004 postseason: Carlton Fisk‘s home run in the 1975 World Series.
The 1975 season was historically great for the Red Sox. They were fueled by a rookies like Fred Lynn who won the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year and Jim Rice, who finished second in the AL MVP voting and third in the AL ROY. The captain and leader of the team, Carl Yastrzemski was expected to have another solid season after he finish in 1974 with a .301 average and played for 148 games. Even though the team collapsed in August of 1974, the expectations were high for the Red Sox for the 1975 season.
Boston didn’t let down Red Sox Nation and they went on to the World Series, facing the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati was lead by all-time hits leader Pete Rose and the 10-time Gold Glove winner Johnny Bench, two of the best players of all time. The Red Sox won the first game of the Series, while the Reds managed to win Game 2, 3 and 5 to force a Game 6. This game would end up going down as one of the greatest game of baseball history.
The Red Sox scored fist with a three-run homer from Lynn and retained the lead until the fifth inning, when Ken Griffey hit a long drive to deep center field with two men on base. Lynn almost caught Griffey’s drive, but he hurt his ribs and remained in the game. Griffey ended up with a triple while both runs scored, and Bench singled to tie the game.
After the Reds scored three more runs to take the lead, the Red Sox were looking for hope on Bernie Carbo to pinch-hit and tie the game. With Lynn and Rico Petrocelli on base, Carbo hit a long drive to center field and tied the game. The score remained the same until the 12th inning, when Fisk stepped to the plate.
With Pat Darcy being the eight pitcher the Reds have used in the game, Fisk hit a long drive to left field, and it stayed fair. The image of Fisk waving at the ball and rounding the bases will always remain in Red Sox fans for generations.
It’s been four decades since that home run, and we still remember it fondly. I wasn’t even born yet and reading or watching videos related to that moment always give me chills.