Boston Red Sox Memories:All-decade 1960’s Red Sox team

The 1960s produced some notably Boston Red Sox players and here is my personal inventory for an All-Star team for that decade.  A subjective exercise.

The first article I wrote covered the 1950s and this will focus on the 1960s which is a watershed in Boston Red Sox history.

In 1961, Ted Williams was gone and the Red Sox were in decline. There was a new look as baseball expanded and two teams were added to the American League. Boston managed to finish sixth (76-86), a mere 33 games behind the usual you know who.

Roger Maris was the highlight of the 1961 season with his breaking of Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record – asterisk attached. The Red Sox also had an award winner in a tall right-handed pitcher Don Schwall who won Rookie of the Year honors going 15-7. Schwall never came close to that first season.

The Red Sox had a managerial switch every two seasons starting with Pinky Higgins to Johnny Pesky to Billy Herman. None had a whiff of .500 until Dick Williams came to manage in 1967 and that became The Impossible Dream season and a turnaround in Boston baseball. No more decades of failure.

First Base

The “Boomer” holds down first base and that is right-handed-hitting George Scott. Scott was physically intimidating but around the bag, he was quite smooth winning eight Gold Glove Awards in his career.

That career began with a bang, hitting 27 home runs and driving in 90 RBI in 1966. Scott – a free swinger – also led the AL in whiffs (152). In 1967, he hit .303 with 19 home runs. In 1968, Scott had one of the worse seasons I have witnessed, hitting just.171 with no power or run production. A match for the awful 2018 of Chris Davis.

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Scott swung a big bat he called “Black Beauty” and wore a batting helmet on defense. His huge necklace was another accouterment that he was noted for. Scott was a jovial type and would often interact with the fans while he was sequestered at first base. Colorful, jovial, and a player and fan favorite.

Scott had two tours of duty with Boston.  The first ended when Scott was traded to the Brewers and then a return to Boston in 1977 when Scott made the All-Star team and hit 33 home runs. And Scott’s home runs were not cheap – this guy could put the hammer down. Scott is also in the Red Sox Hall of Fame.

Honorable Mention: As good as Scott was with the glove the opposite was a right-handed egotist Dick Stuart. Stuart could hit the ball a long way and kick it even longer when in the field. Quite possibly the worse defensive player I have ever seen, but I’ll include him but give the real honors to another holdover from the 1950s and that is lefty-hitting Pete Runnels who won two batting titles with the Red Sox.

Second Base

If you think second base has been confusing the last two seasons for the Red Sox it was even more problematic in the 1960s. Chuck Schilling, Felix Mantilla, George Smith, Dalton Jones, and my pick since he lasted the longest – Mike Andrews.

Andrews was another in the expanding list of farm products that made a difference. It took five years on minor league toil including one with Williams in Triple-A before Andrews came to play second base for the Red Sox, with a slight detour. The original second baseman was to be Reggie Smith and by the end of April, Reggie was shipped back to center field.  Andrews hit .263 in 1967 and by 1969 became an All-Star.

Andrews was not a spectacular defensive player and in 1973 that became a focal point for his signing an affidavit – forced upon him by owner Charlie Finley – claiming he was injured and that was responsible for two crucial errors in the World Series. Teammates and manager Williams stepped up as did Commissioner Kuhn and Andrews was reinstated. Finley ordered Andrews benched for the rest of the series and he never played an MLB game again.

Honorable Mention: I will go with Schilling who finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1961.  A right-handed hitter and smooth fielder who never recovered his first-year talent (.259) after a severe wrist injury in 1962.

Third Base

This will be a bit backward since the honorable mention is an overlap from the previous decade – Frank Malzone. Malzone was still a solid player through the first half of the decade even making two All-Star teams (1963-64) but I will go to a player that shows talent wasted in Joe Foy. Yes – it should be Malzone, but Foy is a lesson to be learned.

Foy was given the third base job by manager Williams and became an incessant target of Williams for the next few seasons. Was it Foy’s lack of conditioning? His sloppy play at third base? Or – as some have suggested – race?

Foy was a powerfully built right-handed hitter who hit .262 in his 1966 rookie year. Foy had a great eye at the plate and drew 91 walks that inaugural season – second-most in the AL. After that season the walks diminished and so did the batting average. In 1967, Foy did slam 16 home runs and make 27 errors. Despite his accumulation of weight, Foy could still move and swiped 26 bases in 1968 and another 37 with the Royals the following season. Why the Royals?

There were rumors about Foy that went beyond his conditioning and some of that surfaced later when he was with the Mets. But for the expansion draft to fill the roster of the new Royals, the Red Sox had Foy available and he was gone. The Royals traded Foy to the Mets for Amos Otis in a historically successful trade. From the Mets, Foy went to the Senators for a year and then gone.  Drugs and weight. Foy died of a heart attack at just 46 years-old.

Shortstop

The Red Sox were on a youth movement in the 1960s and unlike the 1950s the results were spectacular. In the 1950s, shortstop was a wasteland but in 1965, Rico Petrocelli locked the position down. In 1967, Rico became an All-Star and two years later repeated that honor with a 40 home run season tossed in.

Petrocelli’s fielding is often overlooked but he was excellent with exceptional quickness especially to his left. Rico’s arm was among the best I have seen and in later seasons easily made a transition to third base. A right-handed pull hitter who took full advantage of Fenway Park with almost twice as many home runs at home as on the road. Of special note is Petrocelli was an outstanding basketball player in Brooklyn New York and was All-City. A member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame.

Honorable Mention: Eddie Bressoud was not flashy but made all the plays at short. A solid four years in Boston hitting .270 and making the 1964 All-Star team. Eddie had some sting from the right side with 57 home runs and 208 RBI in his Boston years. Got to play against the Red Sox (0-2) in the 1967 World Series.

Catcher

The 1960s had many who served and I can say that most would be ideal backup catchers and not first-string guys. That said I’ll go with defense and Mike Ryan who twice led the NL in CS% after he left Boston.  Ryan would make Sandy Leon look like a hitter since Ryan hit just .193 in an eleven-year career. With Boston, Ryan was just above the Mendoza Line with a feeble .201 in four seasons.

In 1967, Ryan split catching duties with Elston Howard as the long time Yankee was brought in to provide veteran leadership in the pennant race. Howard hit just .147 so the Red Sox did not get much generated on offense from their catching corp. But defense they had.

Honorable Mention: Bob Tillman played 30 games for the 1967 Red Sox and hit (no surprise) just .188.  A right-handed hitter that was once considered a power prospect that never materialized. Tillman still slammed 49 home runs in eight Boston seasons.

Outfield

The easy pick is left field and Carl Yastrzemski who was actually considered a disappointment until 1967.  At one time the Red Sox contemplated trading Yaz to the Phillies for Johnny Callison. In 1967, Yaz had the most incredible season I have ever seen. If a play needed to be made or a clutch hit he did it.  Pure Roy Hobbs or Joe Hardy.

The center fielder for me is Reggie Smith, a switch-hitting five-tool talent who was second in the Rookie of the Year race in 1967. Smith had played for Williams the previous season in Toronto (Triple-A) and won the International League batting title. Outspoken and often abrasive, Smith was a catalyst on the field. He could be volatile and once raced into the stands to confront a fan. With Boston, Smith played eight seasons hitting .281 and twice was an All-Star.

Right field belongs to ill-fated Tony Conigliaro. Conig led the AL in home runs (32) as a 20-year-old. In 1967, Conigliaro was hitting .287 with his usual power (20 home runs) when he went down on an inside fastball by Jack Hamilton. Conigliaro was the perfect fit for Fenway Park with his powerful right-handed swing. Would he have hit 500 home runs? 600? Quite possibly.

Honorable Mention: The player that took Conigliaro’s place was Ken Harrelson who was actually fired by Athletics owner Charles Finley and became a free agent. Harrelson hit just .200 with three home runs and did nothing in the WS (.077). In 1968, Harrelson hit 35 home runs and led the AL with 109 RBI.  By early 1969 the flamboyant, colorful, outspoken, and outrageous Harrelson was gone.

Closer

The right-handed closer is Dick Radatz known as “The Monster” based on his intimidating physical presence. Radatz’ star flared bright and quickly faded after five seasons in Boston but what a stay it was. Fans would wait for Radatz to enter the game and the earlier the better as Radatz would pitch multiple innings quite often. One game in relief Radatz pitched nine innings against the Yankees before getting the win in the 16th.

From 1962-65, Radatz pitched 538.1 innings and struck out 608. His pitch was a fastball that was reported be like hitting a bowling ball when you connected. In that same four-year period, Radatz had 98 saves and a 49-32 record.  Blow a save and you stayed in. The arm finally gave out and so did his career.

The left-handed bullpen closer is Sparky Lyle who captured 69 saves in his five Boston years before being traded to the Yankees for Danny Cater (who?). Lyle’s go-to pitch was a slider that was actually taught to him by Ted Williams. Lyle missed out on the 1967 World Series with a sore arm and was replaced by 19-year-old Ken Brett. Lyle’s real MLB gravy days were with the Yankees, but that brings about too many sad repressed memories.

Honorable Mention: Righty John Wyatt was a key to the 1967 season with 20 saves – a high number back in that era – and a 10-7 record.  Wyatt had been around the baseball;l block when Boston picked him up from K.C. in 1966 and by 1969 Wyatt was gone but for that one season Wyatt was outstanding.