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THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 6 ...
"THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM"
The Sox brawl
with the Yankees as Lonborg wins his ninth, 8 to 1
June
21, 1967 ... Jim Lonborg won his ninth game of
the year, being the Yankees, 8 to 1 at Yankee Stadium, but his habit
of hitting batters this year, started a melee on the field in the
second inning. Lonborg had the game won in the first inning when
Tony Conigliaro hit his seventh home run of the year, with two men on, and the
Red Sox had a 4 to 0 lead against Thad Tillotson.
The inning ended very quietly, but in the second inning, Reggie Smith singled
to right and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Lonborg struck
out and Mike Andrews walked. Tillotson threw three high pitches, all inside to
Foy. The third one hit him on the left temple, not hurting him, and he walked
down to first base without incident. Andrews moved over to second and
Yastrzemski got the second of his three singles to score a run.
But the Yankees half of the second inning producing an outpouring of players
from both benches. Lonborg retaliated to Foy getting hit, by hitting Tillotson.
He came to bat with two out and a man on first. Lonborg's first pitch hit him in
between the shoulder blades. This was the ninth hitter of the year that Lonborg
had hit. As Tillotson headed for first, he stopped and motioned toward Lonborg,
indicating that he would get even when Jim came to bat. That brought Foy across
the field and when Tillotson got the first base, Foy challenged him. As this was
happening, Joe Pepitone led a surge of Yankee players from the dugout. Seeing
that, Rico Petrocelli raced across the infield and it started.
The Red Sox had added another run on George Scott's home run in the third.
Lonborg came to bat in the fourth inning and Tillotson threw one close to him,
but it was called a strike and Jim eventually fanned. Mike Andrews then walked
and Foy singled to center. Yaz got his third single of the night and his 50th
RBI, giving the Red Sox an 8 to 0 lead.
The Yankees did get a run off Lonborg in the fifth on a hit batter, two
walks, and an error by Mike Andrews.
The final incident happened when Yankee manager, Ralph Houk, was tossed out
of the game by umpire Bill Haller. Tony Conigliaro had hit a ball down the
third-base line, and beat it out. While Mickey Mantle, who was playing first
base, was trying to get Yastrzemski going to third, out came Houk to beef about
the play at first. Houk carried on, tossed down his cap, and kept yelling for a
few minutes. He finally cooled off and walked off the field. |
