“Long Live Their Fame and Long Live Their Glory and Long May Their Story be Told”……

Posted on April 22, 2013 by fenwaypark100

A year to the date that the Red Sox celebrated Fenway Park’s 100th birthday, the Fenway Faithful participated in a different kind of pre-game ceremony. A ceremony that was a combination memorial service/tribute to remember and honor the fallen and acknowledge the heroic efforts of law enforcement, first responders and simple citizens; all of whom played their parts in caring for and treating the wounded and in apprehending the faceless cowards responsible for their acts of terror.

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As the city’s secular cathedral, Fenway Park became the chosen venue in which the community paused, mourned, honored and remembered taking the city’s, indeed the region’s, official collective first step toward healing.

In times of turmoil and crisis, we turn to traditions and rituals to emote, to process, to grieve and to heal. There is no other sport that is more steeped in tradition than baseball and there is no other city which surpasses Boston nor is more steeped in their baseball team. So to borrow the words of the Great Emancipator, ‘it is all together fitting and proper that we should do this”.

There were prayers for young lives stolen…..

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Martin Richard, Sean Collier, Lu Lingzi and Krystle Campbell.

 There was acknowledgement of heroic acts of compassion and courage,

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Steven Byrne who was wounded shielding others from the blast, waves to the crowd. He had just been released from the hospital.

There were expressions of gratitude.

And there was of course, traditions; some old, some new, some old with a new twist.

First there was the uniforms.

The traditional Red Sox on the front of the home jerseys was changed to Boston with the Boston Strong patch displayed over the heart!

The symbol of the city’s determination and strength was emblazoned on the Green Monster where I suspect it will be for a long time, like maybe forever.

There appeared the embodiment of determination which is indicative of the Marathon and the city.

Police commissioner Ed Davis shakes hands with Boston marathon participant Dick Hoyt prior to the start of a game between the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park. (Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports)

Dick Hoyt (with his son Richard) shakes hands with Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. Dick has run 31 Boston Marathons pushing Richard in his wheelchair. Monday was to be his last, however because of the bombing he was unable to finish. Next year he will run again in honor and memory of this years victims.

Seventy-two year old Neil Diamond showed up to lead the “Faithful” in Sweet Caroline, bringing with him “love from all over the country”.

And as for the game? Well the script could not have been written better in Hollywood.

Daniel Nava celebrates at home with Johnny Gomes (5) following his three run homer in the eighth.

Daniel Nava!

A kid who didn’t make his college team and became the manager just so he could be around the team and practice.

A kid who, in 2007, was signed by the Red Sox after playing for the Chico Bandits in California’s independent Golden Baseball League which had been formed just two years earlier.

A kid whose signing bonus was one American dollar!

A kid who, in his first major league at bat, on the first pitch he ever saw, hit a grand slam home run into the Red Sox bullpen off Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton.

A kid who came to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning on the 101st birthday of Fenway Park with his team losing 2-1 and blasted a three run homer into that same bullpen, propelling his team, his city to victory!

A kid who now has woven himself forevermore into the patchwork quilt of Boston, the Red Sox and Fenway Park history.

So on Saturday April 20, 2013, the city of Boston took a step forward, a step toward healing. The lives of  Martin Richard, Sean Collier, Lu Lingzi and Krystle Campbell will now be incorporated into the tradition that is the Boston Marathon. And their names will, with Daniel Nava’s be forevermore woven into that same patchwork quilt of Boston, the Red Sox and Fenway Park history!

You are and will forever remain a part of us!

In Memory

Martin Richard, Sean Collier, Lu Lingzi and Krystle Campbell

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Patriots Day, The Boston Marathon, The Red Sox and Fenway Park…..

Posted on April 16, 2013 by fenwaypark100

 Yesterday the Fenway Faithful emerged from Fenway Park as they have every Patriots Day for near a half century. The mood was light as they made their way to and through Kenmore Square, many on their way to Copley and the finish line of the Marathon. The Sox had battled back from a blown save and finished off a sweep of the Rays with a walk-off 3-2 win.
Boston is a city steeped in tradition and Patriots Day, the Red Sox and the Boston Marathon are woven within the fabric of that tradition. Yesterday faceless cowardice attempted to kill that tradition with murderous hate, terror and fear!
What faceless cowards do not understand is that tradition does not simply whither away and crawl off into the night. What faceless cowards do not understand is that tradition will take their act of hatred and weave into its own fabric of honor, of remembering, of tradition.
What faceless cowards do not understand is that this great city will bleed, will weep, will grieve as we heal and as we mourn and we will endure.
What faceless cowards do not understand is that we are emboldened and what they have done is unified a people and in the midst of their hate they have, once again, brought out the best in us!

This morning I repost last years story about this special day, in honor of the innocents lost, the wounded and in memory of a simpler time…..

What do

Johnny Kelley (the Elder), 1935 and 1945.

Mike Timlin, 2004.

Johnny Kelley (the Younger), 1957

Josh Beckett, 2007

Bill Rogers, 1975, ’78′, ’79′, ’80′.

Clay Buchholz, 2008.

Timothy Cherigat , 2004.

Dice K Matsusaka, 2011, and

Wesley Korir, 2012.

all have in common? It’s simple really, they all won on Marathon Day!

The Boston Marathon ran its first race in 1897 and yesterday marked the 54th year in a row that the Red Sox played at Fenway Park on the same day the race was run; and it was the 44th time that the game started at 11 AM.

You see Marathon Day also happens to be Patriots Day. That day is big doings in Boston for it is the day that marks the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

Perhaps you have heard of it? If not, it took place on a green a bit northwest of Boston on April 19, 1775 and it began a small event that had a slight impact on history. I think it was called the American Revolution or something like that. But I digress.

Patriots Day is a holiday in the state of Massachusetts and until 1969 it was celebrated, strange as it may seem, on April 19th. In 1969 a law was passed that now celebrates the day on the third Monday in April every year giving the residents of Massachusetts a three-day weekend.

It is a day steeped in tradition and since 1969 that tradition has included the Red Sox playing at Fenway Park in a game that starts at 11:00 AM. I’m sure you are wondering why 11 AM, a lot of visiting players probably wonder why too.

The Boston Marathon started in Hopkinton Massachusetts at noon and ended in Kenmore Square, 26 miles away, hence a marathon.

Fenway Park is in Kenmore Square and back in the day the Marathon winning times were in the two-hour 15 to 20 minute range so they would be hitting the finish line at between 2:15 and 2:25. Well also back in the day, a baseball game that lasted three hours was a very long game however even if the game was also a marathon, it would end at right around two PM affording the Fenway Park patrons time to spill out of Fenway, walk down the hill over the Brookline Avenue bridge and watch the winner hit the finish line. Pretty good plan don’t cha think?

A while back the finish line was moved a mile up the road to the Prudential Center in Copley Square, baseball games got longer and longer and the Fenway Patrons could, if timing were right, catch a glimpse of the leaders with a mile to go. In 2005 it all changed and now there are varying starting times for various groups of participants and the Fenway patrons have zero chance of seeing the leaders unless they leave the game in the third inning or so.

But tradition is tradition and they can still saunter down the hill and catch the battlers, the everyones who run the Boston Marathon because it is the Boston Marathon, the oldest one in the country.

Yesterday the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Red Sox 1-0 in a great duel of pitchers between Daniel Bard and James Shields. The game took three hours and eight minutes, perfect for the back in the day time to see the Marathon come through.

Daniel Bard threw eight straight balls in the 7th inning yesterday, four of them to Rays third baseman Evan Longoria accounting for the games only run.

The Red Sox are now 4-6 in fifth place in the AL East, two games behind the division leading Baltimore Orioles.

On April 16th 1912, they defeated the Philadelphia Athletics 9-2 at Shibe Park. They were 4-1 and in first place by 1/2 game and they headed home to open their new ball park which was slated for April 18th. Oh and on Marathon Day, Patriots Day 1912, a young man named Mike Ryan, had himself quite a day!

And so it is and so it was at this time in Fenway Park history, Patriots Day.

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Patriots Day, The Boston Marathon, The Red Sox and Fenway Park…..

Posted on April 16, 2013 by fenwaypark100

Yesterday the Fenway Faithful emerged from Fenway Park as they have every Patriots Day for near a half century. The mood was light as they made their way to and through Kenmore Square, many on their way to Copley and the finish line of the Marathon. The Sox had battled back from a blown save and finished off a sweep of the Rays with a 10 inning 3-2 win.
Boston is a city steeped in tradition and Patriots Day, the Red Sox and the Boston Marathon are woven within the fabric of that tradition. Yesterday faceless cowardice attempted to kill that tradition with murderous hate, terror and fear!
What faceless cowards do not understand is that tradition does not simply whither away and crawl off into the night. What faceless cowards do not understand is that tradition will take their act of hatred and weave into its own fabric of honor, of remembering, of tradition.
What faceless cowards do not understand is that this great city will bleed, will weep, will grieve as we heal and as we mourn and we will endure.
What faceless cowards do not understand is that we are emboldened and what they have done is unified a people and in the midst of their hate they have, once again, brought out the best in us!

fenwaypark100's avatarfenwaypark100

What do

 Johnny Kelley (the Elder), 1935 and 1945.

Mike Timlin, 2004.

Johnny Kelley (the Younger), 1957

Josh Beckett, 2007

Bill Rogers, 1975, ’78’, ’79’, ’80’.

Clay Buchholz, 2008.

 

Timothy Cherigat , 2004.

 Dice K Matsusaka, 2011, and

Wesley Korir, 2012.

all have in common? It’s simple really, they all won on Marathon Day!

The Boston Marathon ran its first race in 1897 and yesterday marked the 54th year in a row that the Red Sox played at Fenway Park on the same day the race was run; and it was the 44th time that the game started at 11 AM.  

You see Marathon Day also happens to be Patriots Day. That day is big doings in Boston for it is the day that marks the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

Perhaps you have heard of it? If not, it took place on a green a bit northwest of Boston on…

View original post 524 more words

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Billy, Lee and Me…..

Posted on April 15, 2013 by fenwaypark100

This is Billy…..

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This is Lee….

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And this is me…..

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Billy was born in San Diego California in 1945, Lee was born in Albany, New York in 1944 and I was born in Boston in 1953. Our lives would intersect on Friday April 14, 1967 in Yankee Stadium and then would serendipitously converge again in April of 2013.

Sunday April 14th marked the 46th anniversary of that intersection and a very special day in Red Sox history. It was Billy who, on that day, took center stage when in his major league debut he shutout the Yankees losing a ho-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning. I wrote about it a couple of weeks back.

  https://fenwaypark100.org/2013/03/22/billy-rohr-on-the-threshold-eight-hits-in-the-game-all-of-them-belong-to-boston-ken-coleman/

Lee has been a Yankee fan since the days when Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle patrolled the outfield together. He was listening to the game on the radio when Mickey ruined his knee catching his cleats on a Yankee Stadium drain going after a fly ball.

Mickey Mantle (prone) and Joe DiMaggio in 1951, Mantle’s rookie year.

Mickey was Lee’s favorite player but in deference to his grandfather, who was a diehard Red Sox fan, he became a huge fan of Ted Williams. He rooted for Ted but Mickey and his pinstripes were where his heart lay.

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 Ted and Mickey, two all time greats.

He made his first trip to Yankee Stadium in 1955. Boarding the train from Albany, he made his way to “the Stadium.” His memory of the specifics of that game have long since left him except that Mickey, walked twice, bunted once and was called out on strikes. It was his first pilgrimage.

It was in Juinor High music class where he watched, on a 12 inch black and white TV,  Don Larsen pitch his perfect game in the 1956 World Series.don-larsen1-595x395

Don Larsen pitching his way to immortality October 8, 1956.

In 1960 he watched his first ever baseball game on a color TV at his buddy’s house as Pittsburgh Pirate second baseman Bill Mazeroski broke the hearst of Yankee fans with his game winning home run in the seventh game of the ’60’ Fall Classic.

He had his own car in 1961 and it was on its radio that he listened as Roger Maris hit his 61st home run off of Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard in the season’s last game.

 Maris hits number 61, October 1, 1961 at Yankee Stadium.

After graduating  high school, Lee gave college a whirl but left to join the Marine Corps in 1963.

Around this same time, Billy was tearing things up at Bellflower High School; hurling four no-hitters and captaining his basketball team. An outstanding athlete, his special talents on the mound opened the door to a professional career and it was the Pirates who came a calling. The Red Sox drafted him from them in 1963 and Billy’s course with destiny was set.

Billy Rohr number 30.

As for me, well, I watched Mazeroski’s home run on a TV as well. It was a black and white one and it was at Tom’s Barber Shop in lower Jackson Square in East Weymouth Massachusetts.

Unlike Lee, I was delighted by this home run. It is my first TV baseball memory!

In 1961 I was one of 19,582 patrons at Fenway Park for a Memorial Day baseball game between the Red Sox and Yankees. The Bronx Bombers lived up to their reputation that day as they clubbed the Red Sox 12-3 with what was, at the time, a record seven home runs in the game.

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 Maris hit home run numbers 10 and 11, on his way to 61 in ’61’. Mantle (third from left) hit numbers 12 and 13 on his way to 54 in ’61’. Skowron (Mantle’s right) added a couple of homers that day as well and for good measure Yogi Berra hit one.

Billy’s trek to the mound at Yankee Stadium on April 14, 1967 would take him through Wellsville New York, Winston-Salem North Carolina and Toronto Canada.

Lee’s trek toward April 14, 1967 would take him to the deck of carriers in the Caribbean, the Mediterranian, the Atlantic, artillery field training and then to Chu Lai Vietnam.

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Lee in Chu Lai 1967.

My trek toward April 14, 1967 would take me through the halls of East Junior High School to the soda fountain at Reidy’s Drug Store in East Weymouth Massachusetts and an eight transistor radio.

As Billy was breaking camp in Winter Haven Florida to head to Boston and the big leagues, Lee was receiving orders that his time in Vietnam was done. He left on March 26th and headed to California and the El Toro Marine Base. He was discharged on April 4th and arrived back home in Albany New York on the following day, his Mom’s birthday! His buddies tracked him down and told him they had a ticket for him for Opening Day at the Stadium, Friday the 14th.

He and his buddies along with Jackie Kennedy Onassis and her two little ones were in the crowd as Billy Rohr worked his magic on the mound. Two hundred miles north, I was huddle around that eight transistor radio with my high school buddies listening as Tom Tresh came to bat for the Yankees, setting up Carl Yastrzemski’s catch for the ages. Our hearts sank as Elston Howard singled to right ending Rohr’s bid for immortality!

I met Lee a couple of years ago at the Capris Isle Golf Course in Venice Florida. he’s a snow bird now and he spends his winters among we Venetians. We play every Sunday morning and Lee follows this blog. After my story on Billy Rohr, he emailed me….”believe it or not, I was at that game, I never gave Rohr another thought, until today.”

A couple of weeks ago I communicated with Mr. Billy Rohr. We spoke on the phone and exchanged some emails. He wrote about his moment at Yankee Stadium, his “fifteen minutes.”. He’s a gracious gentleman and a successful attorney with a practice in California and he is forevermore linked to that day in Yankee Stadium and the magic it ignited for the Impossible Dream Red Sox.  He too is a passionate golfer.

So it is appropriate that on April 14, 2013, forty six years to the day of Billy Rohr’s major league debut that Billy and Lee and Me were on the golf course!

BLMLeeMe

Lee and me.

Rlationships, relationships, relationships!

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Lets Have at It…..

Posted on April 8, 2013 by fenwaypark100

The Red Sox will open Fenway Park’s 101st year and their 102nd season this afternoon when Clay Buchholz takes to the hill against the Baltimore Orioles. There are smiles from the Fenway Faithful as the Sox have taken both series from the Yankees and highly touted Toronto Blue Jays. They come home in  first place with a 4-2 record well ahead of last years horrid pace.

Me thinks the Blue Jays will spend 2013 learning the Red Sox lesson of last year which is simply, a team filled with all-stars does not a team make! But that’s for another day.

The torch has been passed to a new generation of Red Sox. Born in this winter, tempered by the battles of seasons played, disciplined by the fight through the minors and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of the past decade of Red Sox success!

Will Middlebrooks, freshly off his three homer game yesterday, leads this new crew in sporting the number 16 on his back. A number indicative that he is here to stay. Gone is his number 64 and he joins illustrious company as he dons 16, the same number worn by the Red Sox first ever Cy Young Award winner, Jim Lonborg in 1967.

Middlebrooks became the 26th Red Sox player to hit three homers in a game in yesterday’s 13-0 romp over the Blue Jays. He felt just a few feet short of hitting number four when he flied deep to left in his last at bat.

There is a lot to like about this team! They are battlers, dirt eaters, hard-nosed and seem to be old-fashioned baseball players. There are kids who are here who can flat-out play and they are exciting and fun to watch.

Jose Iglesias is a defensive wizard at short who appears to have overcome his “can’t hit” knock as he comes in to Fenway’s home opener having gone 2-5 yesterday and watching his average DROP to .529. Yikes!

Jackie Bradley Jr. has generated enormous excitement with his glove in left and his wheels.

These kids coupled with the likes of Dustin Pedroia who is, well, Dustin Pedroia, a healthy and rejuvenated Jacoby Ellsbury, the additions of players like Victorino, Gomes, Napoli and back up catcher David Ross seem to have created a chemistry mix not seen at Fenway since 2008!

Add to the mix the return of John Farrell and the departure of Mr. Sweetheart oops Valentine and there is reason for excitement!

Lester is 2-0 this year and Blue Jay announcer and former catcher Buck Martinez noted during yesterday ‘s broadcast, his “swing and miss stuff is back….he hasn’t had it the past couple of years but it’s back today.”

Two starts does not a season make, however the Jon Lester I watched yesterday was the Jon Lester I watched three years ago! He dominated the lineup which many have said will rule the AL East this year! Buchholz shows signs that he may be back and early indications are that the bullpen has lights out potential .

There are 156 games to go and a lot can happen. I’m not one for making predictions about who will make the playoffs, win pennants and World Series for my answer is always the same, because it always is the same. The team(s) which get the best pitching in August and September will win! It’s really a simple game which begins and ends with those guys in the middle of the diamond!

But I will say this, the 2013 Red Sox will compete, something they have not really done much of the past couple of years!

Let’s Have At It!!!!!

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Rolling Out 2013 and Looking Ahead…..

Posted on April 2, 2013 by fenwaypark100

Sunday night the Major League baseball season began its historic 2013 season when the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers battled in an American League game to open the ’13’ campaign. That’s right, the Astros are now in the American League, as the team to be named later in the Milwaukee Brewers joining the Senior Circuit in 1998. A full house showed up as the Astros made their A.L. debut with a win.

Yesterday the schedule began in earnest with 20-year-old Bryce Harper hitting two dingers and 25-year-old Clayton Kershaw joining Bob Lemon as the only pitchers in history to both homer and spin a shutout on opening day. Lemon did the trick for Cleveland at home in 1953 against the White Sox.  

As for my Red Sox, they opened up in the Bronx where 22-year-old left fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. made his major league debut contributing significantly to the Red Sox 8-2 win without getting a base hit; scoring twice, knocking in a run, saving a run with a great catch and allowing another to score utilizing his speed.  

All apropos as the today’s story is about the future!

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Last week I had the honor of traveling to Cary North Carolina in the company of about 30 other men, some young, some well, not quite as young and a couple just a bit older, I’m one of the bit olders. The purpose of the journey was to participate in USA Baseball’s second annual National High School Invitational baseball tournament.

Sixteen teams gathered from all over the country to compete in this baseball extravaganza and what a festival of America’s pastime it was! I saw a few young men play who, in a matter of a few months, will be very wealthy young men. I saw high school baseball at its absolute finest and the Venice High School team was among the best of the lot!

The Indians of Venice entered the week ranked second in the country in the Baseball America prep poll. It is the highest rank they have ever attained and although very flattering, frankly it doesn’t mean all that much. For the only poll that matters is the one after the season has ended and that has been the focus of the coaching staff and players as they have gone about their daily business.

They disposed of Tennessee’s Christian Brothers High School their first game 5-1 behind junior pitcher Brandon Elmy which brought them face to face with Cathedral Catholic of California. It was a classic matchup as they entered the tournament ranked three in the nation.

The Indians came out swinging, scoring four in the second inning and with a lead of 5-3 put the ball in the hands of the kid they call simply, “Coop”, tacked on a couple of runs and made their way to the final four with a 7-3 win.

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Miami bound Cooper Hammond dominated Cathedral with four innings of dazzling relief work. Something the Venice Indians have grown accustomed to the past couple of years.

This set up the following days matchup with another California powerhouse, Harvard Westlake High School.

VHS Westlake

This day belonged to Harvard as the Indians bats could not get untracked and they took it on the chin 6-0.

All that remained was a battle for third place and a confrontation with Woodland High School of Texas the following morning. Woodland came into the tournament the number one ranked team in the nation and they had lost to yet another California team, Mater Dei, the tournaments reigning champ.

The game would be played at 8:30 AM on Saturday.

There are two things to know about tournament baseball. The obvious one is that a team will always get deep into their pitching. The other is that an 8:30 AM start time for young men 16, 17 and 18 years old is, to say the least, not optimum.

The early morning game was as much as anything a test of their metal!

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It was a chilly North Carolina morn as the Indians lined the field to begin their quest for a winning tournament. It was a battle of public school squads with the Indians throwing, for the first time this season, junior Ryan Miller.

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“Mils” acquitted himself well, throwing 53 pitches in 4 2/3 innings, 37 for strikes and left leading 2-1.

Hammond came into the game with a runner on second and two outs. A single into left field tied the game and a series of miscues put Woodland ahead 3-2. A pall fell over the Indians when a lead off double by Danny Raynor in the bottom of the fifth, did not result in them tieing the score but they were far from done. They plated three runs in the sixth with the key hit coming from a most unlikely source, pitcher Cooper Hammond.

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In “Coop’s” first at bat of the season, he stroked a two run double providing himself and the Indians the margin of victory.

The Indians finished the tournament 3-1 won and captured third place out of the sixteen teams. Mater Dei repeated as the tournament champs beating Harvard Westlake. It is a testament to Venice High School baseball and what they have come to expect of themselves that in their week in North Carolina they defeated the top ranked team in the nation, the number three ranked team in the nation and although gratified, they came home a little disappointed.

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The Indians receive the accolades of the USA Baseball staff following their win on Saturday over Woodland.

My thoughts as I look back on a terrific week of baseball….

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Catcher/Third Baseman Mike Rivera is the straw that stirs the drink. He walks the walk and all he cares about is winning!

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“Coop” is not only exceptionally talented, he possesses the immeasurable intangibles which make him a winner.  

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Colten Lightner showed his metal, battling a stomach flu for two days and contributing to the Indians success both at bat and on the field.

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There is no more even keeled high school player I have ever seen than Brandon “Elmo” Elmy.

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 Center fielder Danny Raynor quietly goes about his business, contributing key hits along the way and playing solid defense.

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This is a special group of individuals who understand what it means to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Each knows their role and understands that each of them is a contributor to the success of this team!

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“Yesterday’s dead and tomorrow is blind” and Mike Rivera summed it all up at the post game press conference. ” I don’t care what I do as long as we win a state championship”!

One day at a time!

Back to Work!

 

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Posted on March 31, 2013 by fenwaypark100

fenwaypark100's avatarfenwaypark100

Ninety two years ago today in a three-decker apartment on Cottage Street in East Boston, Remo Coradini Sinibaldi was born.

He grew up as a “Dump Rat” which was the moniker the residents of Cottage Street put on themselves because of the area’s proximity to the East Boston landfill. At the age of eight he contracted rheumatic fever, an infection of the heart which in those days called for complete bed rest and you either lived or died. Well, he lived, although in the same epidemic he lost his older sister Amelia.  

This left his heart permanently damaged and with a life expectancy of between 40 and 50 years. That was before the days of antibiotics, heart surgery and valve replacements. Despite his ailment which limited him physically, he served his country in WW II and again during the Korean Conflict. He married Mary Kelly, fathered Ruthann, Willie, Yours truly and Nancy. He was Papa to…

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“Billy Rohr, on the Threshold, Eight Hits in the Game, All of them Belong to Boston”…..Ken Coleman

Posted on March 22, 2013 by fenwaypark100

He pitched a total of 60 2/3 innings covering 27 games with two teams in two seasons. He had a total of eight career starts, 19 relief appearances in which he garnered a grand total of one save! He had two complete games, struck out a total of 21 guys, walked 32 batters and had a career ERA of 5.64. He had two complete games and he threw one shutout!

It’s that one shutout that all the fuss is about!

1967RohrGameStub

 The Red Sox traveled “to Yankee Stadium for an early April game, and a kid pitcher from Toronto knocked on the door of fame.”

It was opening day at Yankee Stadium and it was a symbolic matchup of southpaws with Whitey Ford slated to go for the Yankees against Red Sox rookie, Billy Rohr. Ford was in his 16th season with 234 wins under his belt. He had pitched in 11 World Series, had six World Championship rings and won 10 World Series games. He was destined for the Hall of Fame and was but seven games and 37 days removed from retirement.

Twenty-one year old Billy Rohr was making his major league debut!

Whitey Ford retired on May 21, 1967 with a career record of 236-106 including 45 career shutouts. He won the 1961 Cy Young Award when he was 25-4. He was inducted into Cooperstown in 1974.

Billy Rohr came within one out of a no-hitter in his major league debut.

 Billy Rohr pitched his last game in the major leagues on June 26, 1968 at the age of 22. His record was 3-3 in 27 big league games.

The Yankees had fallen from glory finishing in 10th place in 1966. The Red Sox were not much better as they finished in ninth place in ’66’, a half game ahead of their Bronx rivals. They were teams heading in different directions and this game, on this day would prove to be a watershed mark towards that effort.

Billy Rohr graduated from Bellflower High School in San Diego in 1963. A standout athlete in both baseball and basketball he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates for $25,000 within days of his graduation.

1967Rohr1963BellflowerHSYearbook01j

 Rohr was 26-3 at Bellflower High School including four no-hitters!

1967RohrBasketball1963BellflowerHSYearbook01i

 He was also the captain of the basketball team.

 The Red Sox drafted him from the Pirates organization in November of 1963 and the following season Rohr began his trek to Fenway and Red Sox folklore the following year. Impressing in the New York Penn League, the 1965 season found him at Winston-Salem where after two months of dazzling the Carolina League with a 7-3 mark and a 2.93 ERA, he was promoted to triple A Toronto.

That promotion proved particularly propitious as it was there the young lefty’s path crossed with his new manager, a guy named Dick Williams.

Dick Williams Boston Red Sox 249

Dick Williams played 13 years as a utility player on five teams. He retired from the Red Sox following the 1964 season and managed their Triple A team in Toronto in ’65’ and ’66’ before taking the helm of the Red Sox in 1967 at 36 years of age.

Rohr was 14-10 at Toronto and the following spring made the big club out of spring training. When the 100-1 Red Sox headed north out of Winter Haven Florida in April of 1967, William Joseph Rohr was their number three starter.

He spent the night before his first start pouring over the Yankee hitters with fellow starter Jim Lonborg and on the following day when he took the mound, his catcher was a 28-year-old rookie himself, also making his major league debut, Russ Gibson!

                                   

Russ Gibson toiled 10 years in the minor leagues before making the Red Sox in 1967.

The 21-year-old rookie pitcher took the ball from his 36-year-old former journeyman, rookie manager and headed toward the Yankee Stadium mound to throw to his 28-year-old rookie catcher; each unknowing they were about to cross over into the mystic where fantasy meets reality, where miracles are commonplace and “Impossible Dreams” are realized!

Twenty-two year old rookie Reggie Smith, playing in his ninth major league game, led off  for Boston and the switch hitting second baseman deposited a Whitey Ford fastball into Yankee Stadium’s left field bleachers giving the Red Sox and Rohr a 1-0 lead.

 

Reggie Smith finished second in the 1967 Rookie of the Year balloting behind Twins rookie second baseman, Rod Carew.

The first 10 Yankees went down and then Yankee right fielder Bill Robinson walked with one out in the fourth. The Yankees first base runner was followed by Rohr’s first strikeout as he got Tom Tresh. Joe Pepitone walked and Elston Howard stepped in with two on and Rohr induced a fly ball to 22-year-old Tony Conigliaro in right, preserving both his nascent ho-hitter and the Red Sox 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, after Horace Clark had flied to 27-year-old Carl Yastrzemski in left to start the inning, Bill Robinson stepped in again and rifled a line drive off of Rohrs shin. The ball ricocheted to Foy at third who fired it to 23-year-old first baseman George Scott just in time to get Robinson, preserving the lanky lefty’s no-no.

The two leftys both posted 1, 2, 3 innings in the seventh and as the Sox came to bat in the eighth, they held on to a 1-0 lead and Rohr was clinging tight to his no-hitter!

Twenty-four year old third baseman, Joe Foy, hit a two run homer in the eighth giving Rohr and the Sox some breathing room and the drama meter spiked when Mickey Mantle was announced as a pinch hitter leading off the Yankee eighth. Rohr got him on a fly to right and then made an error allowing pinch hitter Lou Clinton to reach. He walked Horace Clarke but got Bill Robinson to hit into an inning ending double play.

He was three outs from a no-hitter in his major league debut! Three outs away from doing what no pitcher in major league history had ever done, three outs away from immortality!

Tom Tresh led off the ninth inning and he scorched a ball to left field in the direction of Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz went back and….well forget me telling you about, let Ken Coleman do it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BoD1xEJSXo

Following “one of the greatest catches we’ve ever seen” Joe Pepitone flied to Conigliaro in right and now only Elston Howard stood between Rohr and history. The Yankee catcher slammed history’s door in the kids face with a single to right center and Rohr had to settle for a one hitter when third baseman Charley Smith flied to Conigliaro to end the game.

Billy Rohr delivers a Yankee Stadium pitch on April 14, 1967. His day !

Baseball history is replete with stories of players who, for an ever so brief moment in time, entered into the halls of the illustrious, brushed with immortality, realized the impossible; and in so doing etched their names in the games granite of greatness!

A week later, on April 21st, Rohr took to the mound at Fenway Park against the same Yankees. He delivered a complete game 6-1 win with, guess who, Elston Howard knocking in the Yanks’ only run with an eighth inning single spoiling the kids bid for back to back shutouts.

He never won another game for the Red Sox; and by June he was back in the minor leagues. He returned in September and pitched one inning in relief against the Orioles in a 10-0 loss, surrendering four runs, four hits and he walked two.

He never pitched for the Red Sox again and in April of 1968, a year and 12 days from the day he flirted with immortality, he was sold to the Cleveland Indians.

1967RohrwithCleveland

Rohr made 17 relief appearances with the Indians in 1968.

He never started another big league game, spent 1969 in Portland in the Pacific Coast League and in 1970 was traded to the Tigers. He never made it to Detroit, and played in the minors bouncing between the Tigers and Montreal Expos organizations before leaving the game for good in 1972. He was 26 years old!

Billy Rohr pitched in only 27 games in his big league career, 10 with Boston and all of them in 1967. He was 2-3 with the Red Sox in 42 1/3 innings. On its surface many would say, a nondescript entity in a long list of what might have beens. However Billy Rohr is a transcendental figure serving a duplicitous role in Red Sox history and Fenway folklore.

On one level his glorious effort in his Yankee Stadium debut serves as a microcosm of the Red Sox franchise from 1919 to 2004; earmarked with flashes of spectacular brilliance, heart pounding excitement, outstanding effort and resounding accomplishments but in the end falling excruciatingly short.

And at yet another his performance that day served as some mystical portal through which he and his Cardiac Kid mates passed on their way to forever transforming a franchise and in the process rescuing a team, a ball park, indeed a city.

 When Billy Rohr came to celebrate Fenway Park’s 100th birthday, he was welcomed with the fervor and warmth often reserved for the all time greats. It was an appropriate and heartfelt expression and well deserved for on April 14, 1967 in Yankee Stadium in front of 14,375 fans in the Bronx, for two hours and 11 minutes, he was precisely that…..

 an all time great!

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Just Shaaaaadup Will Ya…..

Posted on March 11, 2013 by fenwaypark100

Carl Crawford’s chirping! 

The Dodger left fielder is chirping about how these days,

turned into,

these days and left him longing for,

these days.

In an interview with CBSSports.com, Crawford had this to say about his, not so happy days in Boston, “That smile turned upside down quick….I think they want to see that in Boston. They love it when you’re miserable…Burying people in the media, they think that makes a person play better.” He wrapped it up in a nut shell when he said, “that media was the worst thing I’ve experienced in my life.”

In all fairness to him, there are real elements of truth in what he said. There are members of the Boston media who absolutely revel in negativity with talk show host John Dennis and Globe sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy coming to the top of my mind.

Last year WEEI morning host John Dennis was complaining after Josh Beckett pitched eight innings of five hit ball in a 12-2 win against David Price and the Rays. His complaint? He only had one strikeout.

As for Shaughnessy, I’m not sure he’s gotten over the Red Sox winning two World Series. After all they rendered the curse moot and pretty much put his book on the back burner. Don’t believe me? Check how many references he made to the Curse of the Bambino in his columns before 2004. Frankly, there are times when I wonder why any athlete in Boston would ever even talk to this guy or at least punch him in the mouth first. I don’t think he’s ever worn a jock strap.

That said, let’s get back to Crawford! First between the lines.

He could run!

He could hit!

And he could field!

Living in the Tampa Bay Area I got a good look at Carl Crawford for a lot of years with the Rays. His athleticism is sick and he was a joy to watch on the baseball field. He four times led the league in stolen bases and triples and in fact he’s a triples machine leading all active players with 114 career three baggers, the rarest hit in baseball.

He was a great clubhouse guy, loved and appreciated by his teammates, he accommodated the Tampa Bay media and their fans and he was loved by one and all. And in 2008 when the Rays became a force in the American League, he stepped up his play; especially in the ALCS against the Red Sox, getting 10 hits, hitting .345 and knocking in four runs. He added two home runs in the World Series against the Phillies and established himself as one of the game’s elite players!

All of this set up his gargantuan payday which he garnered from Theo Epstein and the Red Sox.

Crawford signed a seven-year $142,000,000 contract with the Red Sox following the 2010 season.  

 To say that he flopped in Boston would be an understatement of significant proportions. But just for the helluva it, let’s look at some numbers. In Tampa he played nine seasons average .296 with 35 stolen bases a year and 11 triples. Spending a good deal of his time in the leadoff spot, he averaged 66 RBI and 85 runs scored. He was a four-time all-star, won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award and was the MVP in the 2009 All Star game. Not really a power guy, he averaged 11 home runs a year and he played an average of 155 games a year!

All of this was good enough to earn him a contract worth 20 million of these per year for seven years from Tampa’s Eastern Division rival Red Sox.

Carl’s numbers in Boston were, shall we say, significantly diminished from his days as a Ray. He averaged .260, his triples fell to five a year and his stolen bases went from 35 to 12! He scored 88 runs during his entire Boston tenure and injuries plagued him to where he averaged 80 games a year.

Now I must say that I am not surprised that Mr. Crawford failed in Boston. Frankly when he was a free agent, I questioned his ability to play in the northeast, whether it be Boston, New York or Philly. I questioned his ability, not on the diamond, but off. I questioned his ability to go from a city where his team was literally a pastime to a city where his team would be a passion. Where media members (many of them boors and clowns) would question every at bat, every syllable uttered, every mistake made! I questioned his ability to deal with a fan base which would want every bit of his 20 million dollars a year value delivered and delivered yesterday!

 I questioned his ability to deal with this,

and this, night after night after night!

Well he couldn’t! A fast start for him the first year was the key. Had he produced right away he would have been a darling but it was not to be. The reality is the guy simply couldn’t handle,

the microscope.

I have never met Carl Crawford, don’t know him, but I know folks who do and they say what a great guy he is. I don’t doubt that one bit. However in this instance he has fallen into the trap that has, unfortunately become America these days. When it all goes bad point the finger someplace else!

The reality is, from this perspective, he chased the dollars and who could blame him who among us would not. He did not go to the Red Sox blind. He knew Boston, he’d been a part of it from the third base dugout. He knew what he was getting himself into and when he

fell and landed on his head, he attacked. Too bad, I would have preferred something like this, ” I didn’t play well, I didn’t fulfill the expectations my previous play indicated but now I’m looking forward to getting myself healthy and showing the Dodgers I can still play”. I would have even liked something like, “Boston’s a tough town if you don’t deliver”. or how about, “I thought I knew what it was like but you really can’t until you live it.”

But wait, that would have involved taking some measure of personal responsibility! God forbid. Well for my money, if you don’t want to do that Carl then do me a favor will ya? Just shaaaaadup!

Please!

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Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota Florida…..

Posted on March 8, 2013 by fenwaypark100

On March 18th, my latest work will be released and as always when I get involved with baseball research I come away a bit wiser, a lot more entertained and I hope that is captured by the readers in this pictorial trip through Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota Florida.

9868SPRIcvr.indd

I was amazed to learn how the various forces came to bring spring training to my adoptive state. Of course it did not hurt that my Red Sox actually trained in both cities, Bradenton in 1928 and 29 and Sarasota from 1933 through 1958. This added a special measure of interest

Joe_Cicero_(Red_Sox)_3

Joe Cicero was a 17-year-old Red Sox phenom when he was in Bradenton Florida in 1929. He made it to the bigs in September of that year and would not return to the show until 1945 with the Phillies; becoming the answer to a trivia question.

Ted, above in 1957, at Payne Park in Sarasota. He trained there for all but the war years and 1959 and 1960. It is said that when the Red Sox moved to their spring headquarters tp Scottsdale Arizona in 1959 he considered retirement because he would no longer be able to salt water fish during spring training.

Payne Park Sarasota circa 1950.

I will be hitting the bricks again soon with a stop at the Venice Florida Public Library on March 15th from 2-4 PM and then to WSRQ 1220 AM and 106.9 FM in Sarasota for a radio stint with The Nilon Report from 5-6 PM that same day!

nilon report header

It is also streamlined at this link.

http://sarasotatalkradio.com/the-nilon-report2/

April 6th I will take my wares to the Venice Book Fair in downtown Venice. It will be right next to the Gazebo and the Farmer’s Market so you localites stop by. I will be there from 10-3 and will have all three books available. Even a few of the out of print Babe in Red Stockings.

The Gazebo in Centennial Park Venice Florida

On the 13th of April I will be at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Sarasota from 3-6 PM. I will be signing both the Spring Training and Fenway Park books.

And then it’s off to Boston, just in time for Spring. I will return to the Jordan Rich Show in the wee hours of Saturday morning May 4th and talk the Spring Training book and baseball with Jordan from 1-3 AM.

The incomparable Jordan Rich.

Store Image

The next day, or the same day really, I will be at the Derby Shoppes in Hingham Massachusetts to sign copies of the Spring Training book at Barnes and Noble from 3-5 PM.

So visit me here

http://www.amazon.com/Raymond-Sinibaldi/e/B007TTJMAY/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_2

and make plans to drop by somewhere and say hi. And if you can’t do that give a listen.

Whatever you do, make sure you pick up a copy of Spring Training in Bradenton and Florida and take a walk through the evolution of the game in Bradenton’s McKechnie Field (the oldest still operating spring training facilty in the country). Sarasota’s Payne Park and Ed Smith Stadium. You’ll learn something…..

I promise!

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