October 2nd, 1978
A.L. East Tie Breaker
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
Fenway Park, Boston
This
game should never have even taken place. In the middle of July, the Yankees
trailed the Red Sox by 14 games in the standings. To make things worse, Yankee
manager Billy Martin had lost control of the team. He was feuding with his
players, the media, and even owner George Steinbrenner. He was fired and
replaced by Bob Lemon. The change in managers seemed to have a positive affect
on the Yankees as they went on a 53-21 run in their final 74 games.
The
Red Sox meanwhile, went the other direction and finished their last 74 games
with a 38-36 record. Boston actually fell behind the Yankees by one game with a
week to go in the season. And even though New York pulled of a 6-1 record in
the final week, the Red Sox did them one better and went 7-0. The teams
finished with identical 99-63 records, meaning there would be a one-game
division tie-breaker for the American League East Championship, to be held at
Fenway Park on Monday afternoon, October 2nd.
Ron
Guidry (24-3) would start on the hill for Yankees while the Red Sox would go
with Mike Torrez (16-12). The Red Sox jumped to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the
second when veteran first baseman, Carl Yastrzemski hit a solo shot off of
Guidry.
From
there, the two pitchers settled into their grooves and runs were hard to come
by. In fact, Torrez had shut out New York through six and his teammates would
reward him in the bottom of the inning. Jim Rice singled to centre, knocking in
Nate Burleson and Boston increased their lead to 2-0. Needing only nine outs to
win the division, it appeared the Red Sox would escape after their
season-ending swoon.
With
one out in the top of the seventh, Yankee first baseman Chris Chambliss
singled. Then outfielder Roy White singled. Torrez buckled down and got the
second out on a fly ball, bringing light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent to the
plate. Dent would forever solidify a spot in Yankee lore when he smacked a
three-run home run over the Green Monster giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead. They
added a fourth run later in the inning when Thurman Munson doubled in Mickey
Rivers.
Reggie
Jackson would then extend the lead to 5-2 with a solo home run in the top of
the eighth. But in the bottom of the inning, the Red Sox would close the gap to
5-4 on RBI singles by Yastrzemski and Fred Lynn.
In
the bottom of the ninth, it was the Yankees who were three outs away from
completing the comeback when their closer, Rich “Goose” Gossage, ran into
trouble. He surrendered a walk and single with one out. A sacrifice fly moved
the tying run to third and brought Yastrzemski back up to the plate with two
out.
But
Yaz hit a lazy pop fly to third base. The Red Sox rally died as Graig Nettles
squeezed the third out, giving the Yankees a 5-4 win and the division. They
would go on to defeat the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS and then take care of
the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
For
Red Sox fans, it was a tough loss to swallow. Having squandered such a huge
lead left the team devastated. They wouldn’t return to the postseason until
1986. However, suggesting Boston choked would be disrespectful to the Yankees’
comeback. What New York managed to achieve, after a first half full of turmoil,
was a great accomplishment.
And
this tie-breaking game symbolized their entire season and their never-give-up
attitude.
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