39 Years Ago Tonight

The way the Red Sox 2014 season has progressed, it seems like ages ago that the Olde Towne Team was in the World Series [despite being defending World Series Champions- NANESB!]. And if one season feels like an eternity, imagine the anguish Red Sox fans [before there was a Red Sox Nation- NANESB!] felt during that 86 year wait.

That's not to say the organization didn't have their moments in those 86 years. Despite the lopsided deal that sent Babe Ruth to New York, the Red Sox could boast the game's all time best hitter in Ted Williams. Outfielder Carl Yastrzemski would go on to be baseball's only Triple Crown batting winner for 45 seasons until Detroit's Miguel Cabrera won those honors in 2012.

However, it was During the 1975 World Series against Cincinnati's Big Red Machine, a native son of New England managed to provide even more dramatic flair to what some baseball historians consider the best-ever World Series.

I'm talking, of course, about Bellows Falls, VT native Carlton Fisk's walkoff extra-inning homer in Game 6 of the '75 World Series that was made even more memorable by the Red Sox catcher's copious body English caught on camera. Fisk took Cincinnati reliever Pat Darcy's second pitch into the netting of the Green Monster to end the game with a 7-6 win in the bottom of the 12th for Boston and tied the series up at 3-3.

Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Red Sox got to a World Series title for nine years. The Big Red Machine would later go on to win Game 7 after trailing early 3-0. Interestingly, both Fisk's iconic homer and the Reds win took place on the same day, as Game 6 started on October 21st but went beyond midnight due to extra innings.

Years later, Fisk would joke that he liked to tell people the Red Sox won the Series that year 3 games to four.

38 Years Ago Today

And 28 years before they put seats on the Green Monster.

To be fair, Game 6 of the 1975 World Series between the Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds actually began on October 21st, 1975 but went into extras.

While the timekeeping may not have been as detailed or meticulous back then, it's well known that it was past midnight when Reds reliever Pat Darcy took to the mound in the bottom of the 12th to face leadoff hitter Carlton Fisk.



The thing is that as much as Fisk's walkoff homer propelled him into Red Sox lore, Boston still lost the series in 7 games, the fleeting triumph doing nothing to stem the rise of a cottage industry of 'curse' folklore that persisted until 2004.

In 1975, the NFL was only a few seasons into their merger with the nascent American Football League and this whole 'Super Bowl' thing. There was real concern at the time that football's meteoric rise would marginalize baseball and replace it in a number of markets once considered safe. The 1975 World Series, put those concerns to rest pitting the upstart Red Sox against what many say was the best baseball team in the postwar years- Cincinnati's Big Red Machine.

It will be another National League powerhouse in the Midwest that the Red Sox will face tomorrow- a somewhat familiar one, as Boston and St Louis have already met three times in the World Series since the end of WWII. In fact, out of all the current members of the National League Central, the only club Boston hasn't faced in the World Series is Milwaukee.

Yet, to look at the 2013 Boston Red Sox, with their 12 walkoff wins and defiant bravado in the face of the carnage that was wrought on another Boston sports institution one fateful April afternoon, one can't help but sense that this may very well be only the beginning of something special.

This Day in Red Sox History- Oct 22nd, 1975; Fisk Waves it Fair

Before the 2004 and 2007 World Series and historic comeback in the 2004 ALCS, this was the closest the Red Sox came to World Series triumph since the roaring twenties: The iconic image of Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk using all the body english he could muster to wave fair a fly ball he hit off of Cincinnati reliver Pat Darcy in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 6 in the 1975 World Series.

So engrained is the image in the psyche of Red Sox Nation [before they even started selling plastic cards- NANESB!] that the fact that the Cincinnati Reds would win the deciding Game 7 the following night was almost an afterthought. Fisk himself joked that he liked to tell people that the Red Sox won the World Series that year 3 games to 4.

It would be another 11 seasons before the Red Sox got anywhere near a deciding game in the World Series, and that too would evaporate with a ground ball rolling between the wickets of one Bill Buckner- at which point certain Boston sportswriters began what amounted to a cottage industry with talk of a curse.

Whether or not there was some otherworldy voodoo or hexes at work, all that came to an end 8 years ago with the Red Sox advancing to the World Series on an improbable comeback when they were three outs away from getting swept in the best-of-7 ALCS by their hated archrival, the New York Yankees. From there, Boston swept the St Louis Cardinals for their first World Series title in 86 years. The curse was gone- but one look at the animated Fisk makes one wonder if there ever was a curse to start off with.

JOHNNY PESKY: 1919-2012

Legendary former Red Sox infielder and manager Johnny Pesky passed away at a hospice in Danvers, MA on Monday. He was 92.

As both a player and a manager, Pesky wore many hats and many uniforms, but the popular infielder would always find his way back to the Hub, where even during Boston's 2004 and 2007 championship runs, he became a fixture around the Red Sox clubhouse.

Born as John Michael Paveskovich in Portland, OR to Croatian parents in 1919, Johnny Pesky was part of the Red Sox minor league system for two years before making his big league debut in 1942 with Boston. His first year, he set a club record for hits by a rookie with 205- a mark that stood until shortstop Nomar Garciaparra's arrival in 1997.
Pesky, like many of his contemporaries at the time, gave some of the prime years of his playing career to serving his country at the height of World War Two. According to Springfield Republican sportswriter Garry Brown, both he and teammate Ted Williams underwent flight training at Turners Falls, MA in rural Franklin County in 1942 as part of the US Navy's V-12 program.

His first full season back with the Red Sox was in 1946 where they captured the American League pennant only to lose to the St Louis Cardinals in seven games. Pesky was arbitrarily blamed for allowing the pivotal run- Enos Slaughter's 'mad dash'- to score in Game 7 by hesitating to throw home on Harry Walker's base hit, even though the grainy footage filmed at the time exonerated him.

Never a power-hitter, the right-field foul pole 302 feet away from home plate at Fenway Park bears his name because according to various sources, most of his 17 career home runs wrapped around the pole at short right field.

In 1952, the Red Sox did the unthinkable and traded Pesky to the Detroit Tigers, where he was batting .275 in three seasons with Detroit. Pesky's last full season in the bigs was spent with the Washington Senators in 1954 where he appeared in 49 games. He retired from the game with 17 homers, 404 RBI and a career .307 batting average between Boston, Detroit and Washington.

Even with his playing career over, Pesky still was actively involved with the Red Sox by 1961, managing their AAA club out of Seattle. By the end of the 1962 season, owner Tom Yawkey had offered Pesky a chance to return to Boston as manager. A number of second place finishes and some of his own players undermined Pesky and he departed with a few games remaining in the 1964 season. From 1965 to 1967, Pesky was first base coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates and managed their AAA affiliate in Columbus in 1968.

By the 1969 season, Pesky had once again returned to Boston, this time in the booth, but by 1975, he was in uniform once again as a coach. In fact, he can be seen prominently in the background of footage and still photos of Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk 'waving' the ball fair during Game 6 of the 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.

When manager Don Zimmer was fired by Tom Yawkey in 1980 with nearly a week remaining in the season, Pesky was appointed interim manager. The following season, he came back as the clubs bench coach. In 1990, he was named the interim manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox when the minor league club's manager, Ed Nottle, was fired in June.

Pesky was present in St Louis for the clinching Game 4 of the 2004 World Series in which the Red Sox snapped an 86 year World series drought and figured prominently in the 2005 Opening day ceremonies in which he was given a championship ring along with members of the 2004 squad and raised the championship banner along with Carl Yastrzemski. Pesky was also invited to raise the 2007 World Series Champion banner on the opening day of the 2008 season. That same year, his #6 was retired by the Red Sox in a late-season ceremony at Fenway.

Off the field, Pesky's friendship with former teammates Dom DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr is the subject of David Halberstam's 2003 book The Teammates. In 2010, a statue depicting the quartet from the 1946 Red Sox was unveiled outside of Fenway Park. Williams had passed away in 2002 while Dom DiMaggio- the younger brother of Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio- died in 2009.

Doerr and Pesky- both born and raised on the West Coast- were on hand for ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of Fenway park earlier this season.

Within an hour of the announcement of Johny Pesky's passing, condolances for Pesky's family and the Red Sox organization poured in from all over the big leagues.

Honored to have had an opportunity to meet one of the biggest ambassadors of the Redsox Mr. Johnny Pesky #pesskkkkyyy
— Darnell McDonald (@MacDime54) August 13, 2012

One of my career memories was hugging and kissing Johnny pesky after we won it all in 04, God Rest and God Bless his gentle soul, I miss you
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) August 13, 2012

Rest in peace Johnny Pesky-he can't be replaced-my condolences to his family-Jerry
— Jerry Remy (RemDawg) (@Jerry_Remy) August 13, 2012

"The national pastime has lost one of its greatest ambassadors today." - Commissioner Bud Selig on passing of Johnny Pesky.
— MLB (@MLB) August 13, 2012

RIP Johnny Pesky. You will be missed in the clubhouse and by #RedSoxNation.
— Jacoby Ellsbury (@JacobyEllsbury) August 13, 2012

While Monday is a travel day for the Red Sox (who will continue their road trip in Baltimore on Tuesday night), in the Bronx, the New York Yankees observed a moment of silence in honor of Johnny Pesky with an image of him on the park's video scoreboard before their game against the Texas Rangers.

Tribute to Johnny Pesky at Yankee Stadium tonight. twitter.com/metsgrrl/statu…

— Caryn / metsgrrl.com (@metsgrrl) August 13, 2012

Johnny is survived by his son David.

Oh Rats! How Boston's Fleeting Triumph in the 1975 WS and a Giant Rodent Were Behind the (Accidental) Birth of the 'Reaction Shot'

"If it stays fair.....Home Run!"

With the current Red Sox in a state of disarray, I thought that the 36th anniversary of Game 6 in the 1975 World Series might be worth revisiting.

Back in 1975, it was a little unusual to be playing baseball this late in October. However, the series had been postponed by rain for three straight days in Boston and Game 6 didn't get underway until October 21st.

Although the Red Sox got out to a quick 3-0 lead that night, the Big Red Machine managed to tie things up and then take a 6-3 lead thanks to a home run by George Foster in the 7th and a solo shot from Ceasar Geronimo in the 8th.

In the bottom of the 8th, Bernie Carbo belted a 2-out, 3-run homer to tie the game up at 6-6 [Years later, Carbo would later claim he showed up to the ballpark high for Game 6- NANESB!] but the Red Sox would manage to squander a bases-loaded nobody out situation in the 9th, sending Game 6 to extra innings.

In the top of the 11th, Boston outfielder Dwight Evans would make an outstanding diving catch of Joe Morgan's line drive seemingly headed for the right field seats to begin a double play.

I wouldn't be surprised if many of the regular visitors to this blog knew what happened next, when Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk led off the bottom of the 12th inning. 'Pudge' took the first pitch for ball one off of Cincinnati's Pat Darcy. Then he took the next pitch deep where it soared into the misty night sky before ricocheting off the left-field foul pole for a walk-off home run to seal the Red Sox win for Game 6.

What stood out about Fisk's homer wasn't so much the distance or his timing. Rather, it was his body language- caught thanks to NBC cameraman Lou Gerard, who was filming from inside the Green Monster- the Vermont native wearing #27 earnestly waving the ball fair as he jumped sideways down the baseline at 12:33 AM on October 22nd, 1975.

Years later, NBC sports director Harry Coyle explained that Gerard's filming of the exhuberant Fisk making his way down the baseline was purely by accident. If the ball was hit anywhere near him, Gerard was supposed to track the ball with his camera. Well- the ball hit the right field foul pole on the Green Monster. So what happened?

Lou says to me, "Hey, Harry, there's a rat right here next to me and it's moving closer.'

"Well, it was a misty night and, with Lou looking a rat in the eye, it was tough to pick up the ball. So when Fisk swung, Lou stayed with him at the plate and got the whole bit -- Fisk frantically trying to wave the ball fair and then the home-run trot," Coyle said. "Give that rat credit, not me, for what may have been the greatest shot in televised sports."

Think the rat story is mere exaggeration or hyperbole?

Boston Globe photo

Then ask yourself this: Why do you think the hawks that nest in Fenway Park are so well-fed?

This Day in History- The SS Edmund Fitzgerald is Lost With All Hands

	Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Today marks the 35th anniversary of the sinking of the ore carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior during a November gale. All 29 officers and crew members were lost that day.

Up until a few years prior to her demise, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship to ply the Great Lakes and earned the nickname 'The Mighty Fitz'. Built in 1957 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works of River Rogue, MI, the Mighty Fitz was 729 feet long and tipped the scales at a hefty 26,600 deadweight tonnes.

The ship's final load turned out to be taconite from the Duluth-Superior area en route to a Detroit-area steel mill, when the November gale hit. Following not far behind was the freighter SS Arthur M. Anderson. Captain McSorely of the Mighty Fitz was in radio contact with Captain Cooper of the SS Arthur M Anderson until approximately 7:10 local time. Although there was no distress signal, Captain Cooper reported to the Coast Guard that the Fitzgerald had disappeared from his ship's radar and he had lost radio contact with them.

In the midst of a punishing gale, the Arthur M Anderson, the Coast Guard and two additional freighters began a search of the missing vessel, but their efforts only yielded debris and lifeboats. Five days later, the wreck site was located by a US Navy aircraft with a magnetic anomaly detector flying over Lake Superior.

The cause of the wreck was through to have been the cargo hatches topside giving way and the ship taking on water with each successive wave.

Some three decades later and a well known Gordon Lightfoot tune later, family members and friends of the 29 sailors on board the Edmund Fitzgerald find themselves in the unusual position of having to remind people that the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald wasn't a work of fiction as some have thought.

35 YEARS AGO TODAY.

Red Sox Nation's most memorable moment prior to 2004.

Ebony & Ivory- The Birthday of Two Legenday Bombshells

June starts off with a couple of notable birthdays that provide me the perfect opportunity to adorn this humble blog with plenty of eye candy.

The beginning of June marks what would've been the 84th birthday of Norma Jean Mortenson- more famously known to the world as Marilyn Monroe.

While certainly not the first pin-up, Monroe remains perhaps the most iconic and recognizable to this day. While working for a munitions factory during WWII, she was discovered by an Army photographer writing an article for Yank magazine who recommended that she apply for work with the Blue Book modelling agency.

Best known for appearing films such as Some Like it Hot, The Seven Year Itch and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the voluptuous blonde also had the distinction of appearing in the first issue of Playboy magazine as the first Playmate of the Month in 1953 [the first issue was undated, since Hefner was uncertain his endeavor would be successful- NANESB!]. In Februaury 1954, she went to Korea to entertain thousands of GIs with the USO at the height of the Korean war.

June 3rd marks the birthday of dancer and entertainer Josephine Baker. Born in St. Louis in 1904, Baker would go on to perform as a Chorus Line dancer in New York at the height of the 'Harlem Renaissance' in the 1920s. However it was in Europe, where Baker first began performing in 1925, where she found fame. In 1937, she married Frenchman Jean Lion and became a French citizen. When the Germans invaded France, Baker fled to her chateau in southern France, and would frequently travel between there and North Africa during the war. Her status as an entertainer allowed her to travel to neutral countries throughout the War, eavesdrop on Axis diplomats at parties and pass along encrypted messages to the French Resistance that were encoded in sheet music for her show. After the war, she was awarded the Croix de Guerre- France's highest military honor- for her work with the Resistance.

Baker was one of the few women speakers at the March on Washington in 1963, at the height of the civil rights movement. According to one biographer, she was approached in Europe by Martin Luther King's widow after his assassination and asked to lead the Civil Rights movement.

Baker would return to the United States two years before her death, opening up to a standing ovation in Carnegie hall in 1973. She slipped into a coma in her French Chateau and passed away in April 1975, just days after a retrospective revue in her honor in Paris.

This Day in History, October 22nd 1975.

(AP/Boston Globe)

Today marks the 34th anniversay of Carlton Fisk's 12th-inning walk-off home run off of Reds reliever Pat Darcy in the bottom of the 12th inning in Game 6 of the World Series . According to most baseball writers and fans who were around to witness it live, Game 6 was the stuff of legends. However, Game 6 itself started on October 21st, 1975 with Luis Tiant starting for Boston and Gary Nolan starting for Cincinnati but it was going on 12:30 AM by the time it was the bottom of the 12th at Fenway Park. The iconic footage of Fisk waving the ball fair as he sprinted out of the batter's box was quite inadvertent- the NBC camreaman positioned inside the Green Monster wanted to track the trajectory of the ball, but instead remained still and kept the camera on Fisk while a large rat was crawling across his feet.