1978 American League East tie-breaker game

Background

Main article: 1978 New York Yankees season, 1978 Boston Red Sox season

The Yankees and Red Sox had combined to win the past three American League (AL) pennants. The Red Sox lost the World Series in 1975, the Yankees lost in 1976, and then won in 1977. Heading into 1978, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Baltimore Orioles, who had also challenged for the AL East championship in 1977, all expected to contend for the AL East title. The Orioles and Red Sox had tied for second place in 1977, games behind the Yankees. The young Detroit Tigers, with Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell, also appeared ready to challenge for the AL East.

The Red Sox signed Mike Torrez, who won two games in the 1977 World Series for the Yankees, as a free agent during the offseason. The Yankees, meanwhile, acquired Goose Gossage and Rawly Eastwick to join Sparky Lyle, 1977's AL Cy Young Award winner, in their bullpen during the offseason. The Red Sox had once led the division by ten games; the Milwaukee Brewers were in second place, while the Yankees were in third. The Yankees experienced injuries to Willie Randolph, Catfish Hunter, Bucky Dent, and Mickey Rivers, and fell to fourth place in the division, as Baltimore moved into third. After a shake-up engineered by owner George Steinbrenner, with Munson moving from catcher to right field, the Yankees fired their combustible manager Billy Martin on July 24, replacing him with Bob Lemon. The Yankees had lost four of five after the All-Star break, including a three-game sweep by Kansas City in New York which ended with a club suspension of Reggie Jackson; at , they trailed Boston by 14 games on the morning of July 19. However, New York finished the season in their last 73 games, while the Red Sox went over the same time frame. This included a four-game sweep of Boston in Fenway Park in early September, in which the Yankees outscored the Red Sox by a composite score of 42–9; the series was dubbed "The Boston Massacre" by the sports press. By the end of the four games on Sunday, September 10, the two teams were tied for first place at , with twenty games remaining.

The Yankees took the AL East lead three days later and did not lose it until the final day of the season. The margin was up to games after another win over the Red Sox on Saturday, September 16, but results were different the next day, the first of Boston's dozen wins over the final two weeks. Clinging to a one-game lead with seven remaining, New York won six straight, but dropped the finale at home to struggling Cleveland on Sunday, October 1. Boston won their final eight games to catch the Yanks; after the Indians' win, a 9–2 complete game victory by left-hander Rick Waits, the Fenway Park video screen flashed the happy news: "THANK YOU RICK WAITS, GAME TOMORROW."

The game

The tie-breaker game was the first in the AL since 1948, when the Indians defeated the Red Sox for the pennant at Fenway Park, and the first in the majors since the advent of the division system in . started on three days of rest, less than usual, and Torrez started the game for the Red Sox. and had a 16–12 record, but contributed to the Red Sox struggles late in the season with six consecutive losses. Game time was 2:30 p.m. EDT, televised nationally on ABC.

Carl Yastrzemski hit a home run in the second inning, and Jim Rice drove in Rick Burleson with a single in the sixth inning, giving the Red Sox a 2–0 lead. Dent then hit a fly ball that cleared the Green Monster wall in left field for a three-run home run to give the Yankees a 3–2 lead.

Torrez was removed from the game after walking Mickey Rivers. Reliever Bob Stanley came in, and after Rivers stole second Thurman Munson drove him in with a double. But the Yankees would hold off the Red Sox, thanks in part to a heads-up defensive play by right fielder Lou Piniella with one out in the bottom of the ninth. With Burleson on first base, Jerry Remy hit a line drive to Piniella in right field, but Piniella was blinded by the late afternoon sun and could not see the ball. However, he pretended to field the play normally, pounding his glove as though he would easily catch the ball, then stabbed at the ball on a bounce as it almost passed him. This prevented Burleson from advancing to third base; when Rice followed with a deep fly to the outfield, Burleson could only move up to third base instead of scoring the tying run.

Batting with two out and two men on, Yastrzemski popped out to third baseman Graig Nettles in foul territory for the game's final out, and New York won the game, 5–4. Guidry improved his record to , while Torrez took the loss; Gossage recorded his 27th save.

Line score

Box score

Broadcast coverage

This game was televised regionally by the respective teams' rights holders, WSBK-TV in Boston and WPIX in New York City. ABC Sports picked up the contest for national viewers, and thus provided alternate coverage of the game on its New York and Boston affiliates. Keith Jackson and Don Drysdale called the action in the ABC booth.

On radio, the CBS Radio Network offered national coverage of the game, with Ernie Harwell doing play-by-play and Win Elliot working as a color commentator. Locally in the home markets, WINS in New York City and WITS in Boston fed the game to the teams' respective radio networks.

In the Red Sox' broadcast booth, Dick Stockton and Ken "Hawk" Harrelson worked the television side while Ned Martin and Jim Woods were heard on radio. In the Yankees' booth, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, and Frank Messer alternated play-by-play on both radio and television, and were backed up on radio by Fran Healy.

Aftermath

For the third straight year, the Yankees went on to face the Kansas City Royals in the 1978 American League Championship Series. The Yankees won the best-of-five series for their third consecutive pennant. New York defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series to win their second consecutive championship, and 22nd overall.

The loss by the Red Sox was seen as a manifestation of the Curse of the Bambino, long thought to be the reason behind a decades-long litany of failures for the Red Sox after owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees on January 5, 1920. Described as a "shocking blast" by the Sporting News, Dent's home run silenced the Fenway Park crowd. For the light-hitting Dent, it was just his fifth home run of the 1978 season. It sealed Dent's reputation among Yankee fans, while inspiring the permanent nickname "Bucky Fucking Dent" in New England. Twenty-five years later, in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series, Aaron Boone received similar treatment by Red Sox fans after he hit the home run in the bottom of the 11th inning that clinched the pennant for the Yankees, but the Yankees later lost to the Florida Marlins in the World Series, which went six games.

Guidry and Rice were considered candidates for the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award for their strong seasons. Lemon was named AL Manager of the Year.

On June 6, , Dent, manager of the Yankees, was fired during a series in Boston. Although Red Sox fans got retribution for Dent's home run, it was an outrage to them. In fact, it was an outrage to both Yankees and the Red Sox as both sides blasted Steinbrenner for doing the deed—his 18th managerial change in as many years—in Boston.

References

;Bibliography

;Inline citations

References

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