Boston Red Sox: Most memorable games in franchise history
By Drew Athans
Carlton Fisk’s home run in Game Six
The 1975 World Series pitted the Red Sox against the Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds. It proved to be an epic seven game tilt that to this day is considered one of the greatest World Series of all time. Even though the Red Sox came out on the wrong end of yet another World Series and failed to end their championship drought, Sox fans look back on this series for a variety of reasons, perhaps none more so than the events that transpired just after midnight on October 22, 1975.
Game Six was played after being delayed three days due to torrential rain in Boston. Once it started on October 21, it was a back and forth affair that was tied after nine innings. Heading into the bottom of the twelfth inning, both teams had their chances to win the game without coming through.
Stepping up to the plate, Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk hit the second pitch he saw deep to left field. Watching as it soared into the night sky, television cameras caught him jumping and waving the ball fair before it hit the foul pole for the game-winning solo home run.
It’s become an iconic moment in baseball and Red Sox history and capped off what is widely considered to be one of the greatest games in World Series history. My dad (who is a Yankees fan, believe it or not) had told me when I was a kid that he was watching this game and it was even more exciting at the time than the film footage conveys.
While the Red Sox ended up losing the World Series in the late innings of Game Seven the next day, Fisk’s home run and the Game Six victory remain one of the greatest in team history. The left field foul pole was named the Fisk Pole in 2005 to commemorate the moment… clearly the win meant something, and continues to, all these years later.