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Red Sox History: Reviving bad memories of Red Sox – Yankees duels

By Rick McNair

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 27: Xander Bogaerts #2 of the Boston Red Sox plays defense during the first inning of a game against the New York Yankees on June 27, 2021 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JUNE 27: Xander Bogaerts #2 of the Boston Red Sox plays defense during the first inning of a game against the New York Yankees on June 27, 2021 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /
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American baseball team the Boston Red Sox in Sarasota, Florida, 8th March 1949. Among them are Ted Williams (left), Bobby Doerr, Vern Stephens, Tex Hughson and Dom DiMaggio (right). (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
American baseball team the Boston Red Sox in Sarasota, Florida, 8th March 1949. Among them are Ted Williams (left), Bobby Doerr, Vern Stephens, Tex Hughson and Dom DiMaggio (right). (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) /

Red Sox comeback is all for naught

The 1949 Red Sox won 96 games, but the New York Yankees won 97. That was all due to the final two games of the season. Two games to be played at Yankee Stadium, with Boston holding a slim one-game lead. A place few expected them to be in.

On July 4th, the Red Sox were in fifth place and dragging 12 games out. Slowly they chipped away until New York came to Fenway Park for three games in late September. Boston pushed aside the Bombers and took over first place. Then came the last two games of the season. Just win one in New York.

The first game was a heartbreaker for Boston when Johnny Lindell – a .239 hitter – slammed an eighth-inning home run to break a 4-4 tie. Joe Page hurled 6.2 innings of one-hit ball to pick up the win.

The final game was another loss. New York scored a run in the first and added four more in the eighth. Boston in the ninth finally got to the Yankees Vic Raschi with three runs, but that was it.

What is often passed over in Red Sox lore is the excellent second-half comeback. The real issue is Boston had far too many teams built for Fenway Park, and this one was typical, playing just .455 on the road. Still, they did sweep New York in a crucial series but then blew it all in the final two against the Yankees.

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