Bad times had to come...
THE YAWKEY'S ERA (1933 - 2002)
But the bad times seemed to be over when, in 1933 Tom Yawkey bought the ballclub and began to buy some of the hottest players around the league. Pitchers Lefty Grove from the Philadelphia Athletics, an Hall of fame considered one of the greatest of all time, and Wes Ferrell, someone able to win 20 games in his first four major league seasons, helped the rotation.
Infielder Joe Cronin, who served also as manager duty, and power bat Jimmie Foxx, the youngest ever to reach 500 home runs (second only to Alex Rodriguez that accomplished this milestone in 2008) helped the offense.
Once again the Red Sox were competitive at the top level. Unfortunaly not enough for the World Series.
In 1939 Yawkey purchased the contract of outfielder Ted Williams from the San Diego Padres in the minor League. Williams is considered one of the greatest hitters of all time for his ability to hit for both power and high average. After his retirment he wrote a book “The Science of Hitting” that is still read by a lot of young players. Ted used to bat lefty to the opposite side so right-field bullpen in Fenway Park were built to help him and is called "Williamsburg".
Ted Williams in action
With Williams in their team, the Red Sox reached the 1946 World Series, but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals beacuse of the "Williams Shift", a defensive tactic in which the shortstop switched to the right side of the infield to make Williams harder to hit opposite to the side. Ted just hit 5 for 25 in his first and only trip to the Series for this defensive plane.
The Red Sox had a lot of other good players during the 1940s, including Dom DiMaggio (the younger brother of the more famous Joe DiMaggio) and Johnny Pesky (he gave the name to the right field foul pole in Fenway, the so called "Pesky's Pole" after an hard hit).
With the 50’ coming the wins didn’t arrived for Boston. Neither the return from the war of Williams helped. He still was one of the best around the league but his teammate weren’t at his level. In these years all the team began to sign african-american players but Yawkey didn’t want any black person in his lineup. So superstars like Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays went somewhere else until 1959 when, last club in the major, the Red Sox promoted African descent Pumpsie Green from their Minor League system.
Things didn’t changed a lot during the following years, neither with some great player like Carl "Yaz" Yastrzemski,
A Carl "Yaz" Yastrzemski picture
an incredible outfielder and Tony Conigliaro, a young rookie able to hit 24 homers in his first season and the youngest ever to reach the milestone of 100 taters. His careers ended unfortunately too soon after an hard pitch taken in his left eye. After a long injury he never came back to the old sharp.
In 1967 the Red Sox accomplished one of the best season in Major League History, winning the American League after a long battle with the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, who finished tied back to Boston by one game. The Red Sox however lost the World Series in 7 games against the Cardinals. This season is still remember like “The Impossible Dream”.
This team was very good and played well for the years to come but was never able to win their division until 1975 when they won the American League thanks also to Fred Lynn who took both the American League Rookie of the Year award and the MVP award. In the 1975 World Series, Boston faced the Cincinnati Reds, one of the powerfull team ot this era. The Reds won in 7 games although pitcher Luis Tiant won games 1 and 4. Game 6 played in Boston is one of the most memorable game baseball history. The Sox were down 6–3 in the bottom of the eighth when Bernie Carbo hit a three run homer off Red’s Rawly Eastwick to tie the game. In the top of the eleventh inning, right fielder Dwight Evans made a spectacular plays against Joe Morgan’s line drive and doubled Ken Griffey Senior at 1st base to save the tie. The Red Sox ultimately prevailed in the bottom of the twelfth inning when Carlton Fisk hit a deep, long ball which passed towards the left field foul pole above the Green Monster. The ball hit probably six inches to the fair side of the foul pole and bedlam ensued at Fenway as Fisk rounded the bases to win the game 7–6. Footage of the Fisk home run is shown again and again on ESPN classic.
Carlton Fisk in action
The Red Sox lost game 7, 4–3 even though they had an early 3–0 lead. Starting pitcher Bill Lee threw a slow looping curve which he called a "space ball" to Reds first baseman Tony Perez who hit the ball over the Green Monster and across the street. The Reds scored the winning run in the 9th inning.
In 1978, the Red Sox and the Yankees were once again involved in a tight race in their division. The Yankees were able to tie the Red Sox after an early big deficit in July and in September, after completing a sweep of the Red Sox in a serie known as "The Boston Massacre", the situation was set for a one game playoff tiebraker. The Red Sox lost 5-4 after a great game, decided by a solo shot by Yankees superstar Reggie Jackson.
After this season the Red Sox did not reach any postseason for the next seven years. This until 1986 when the team won the American League title after a battle against the California Angels.The club had his fortune in a strong pitching led by Cy Young winner and MVP of the season Roger Clemens,
Roger Clemens in action
and by a powerful lineup with Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans and Don Baylor. In the World Series Boston played against the NY Mets in one that is considered one of the most incredible debacle in sports history. After 4 games the two rivals was tie at 2. Boston took game 5 after a strong performance by pitcher Bruce Hurst. Everything was set for game 6 at Shea Stadium in the Queens where Boston had the opportunity to win the World Title and forget the curse. The game started well for the Red Sox with a strong performance of Clemens. After 7 innings Roger left for reliever Shirardi who allowed a run for the tie. The game went to extra innings and Boston took the lead 5 to 3. With 2 outs in the bottom ot the 10th inning the Red Sox were just one out away to take series and title. Barret was named player of the game by the tv broadcaster and all the fans around the world were ready to start the party. But the impossible happened. Schiraldi allowed three singles and a wild pitch for tie the game when Mookie Wilson hit a slow, not dangerous, ground ball to first base. The ball passed through the first baseman Bill Buckner's legs, allowing Ray Knight to score the winning run. Buckner was charged with one of the most incredible error in history and was considered the responsible for the loss.
Bill Buckner in action
The Mets however took game 7 concluding one of the most devastating lost in the history of the Red Sox.
In the next years Boston wasn't able to make any run in the postseason except 1988, when they were swept by Oakland in the American League Champonship, and 1995 when they lost to the Cleveland Indians.
In these years several great player where aquired or promoted from an healty farm system, like Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez, the anchor of the pitching staff during this period. But also great others players leave for other destination like the powerfull first baseman Mo Vaughn and Roger Clemens.
In 1999 Boston finally changed his fortune in the postseason. In fact the Red sox won the first round against the Indians. Anyway the impact ended in the American League Championship Series with a discussed 4-1 lost against the alltime rivals Yankees, with many referees call at the limit of normal, all in favor of New York .
