The Red Sox, Champions of the American League after winning its Eastern Division and beating the 3-time defending World Champions, the Oakland Athletics, in the AL Championship Series, trail the Cincinnati Reds, Champions of the National League after winning its Western Division and beating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS, 3 games to 2, and must win to force a Game 7.
The Sox haven't won the World Series in 57 years, including a loss as recently as 1967. The Reds haven't won the World Series in 35 years, including 2 Series losses in this decade already. Boston is looking for its 1st title since 1918; Cincinnati, for its 1st since 1940. Both teams need it badly. Something's gotta give.
Just 14 years later, not 46 years as we now have, Shaughnessy wrote, "Game Six has taken on a life of its own in the years since it was played, and it gets larger and more thrilling in each retelling. Some distance allows that there may be other contenders for the title of The Greatest Game Ever Played, but by any measure, 1975's Game Six will stand as one of the top ten games in World Series history, and one that came at a time when baseball needed it most." Now, 68 years old, Shaughnessy was right.
In The New Yorker magazine, Roger Angell wrote, "Game Six... what can we say of it without seeming to diminish it by recapitulation or dull it with detail?" Roger, one of the greatest writers ever on the subject of baseball, and now 101 years old, was wrong on this one: The details are necessary.
Due to the rain, Sox manager Darrell Johnson was able to start Luis Tiant, winner of Games 1 and 4, on full rest. Reds manager Sparky Anderson started Gary Nolan. Fred Lynn, who, that season, became the 1st player ever to be awarded his league's Rookie of the Year and its Most Valuable Player award in the same season, hit a home run that gave the Sox a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning, and Tiant pitched shutout ball through 4.
But, as they would say in English soccer, Three-nil, and they fucked it up. The Reds got 2 men on in the 5th, and Ken Griffey Sr. sent Lynn to the wall. Lynn crashed, telling NBC's Bob Costas years later that he'd hurt his ribs, and that, for a moment, he was barely conscious and couldn't feel his legs. Griffey's triple scored 2 runs, and then Johnny Bench singled Griffey home to tie the game. A 2-run double by George Foster in the 7th and a solo homer by Cesar Geronimo in the 8th gave the Reds a 6-3 lead, with just 6 outs to go for the title.
Typical Boston choke, leading to a Reds win? As ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!" Six-three, and they fucked it up. In the bottom of the 8th, Reds reliever Pedro Borbon (who, like Griffey, would later see his son and namesake play in the major leagues) gave up a single to Lynn and a walk to Rico Petrocelli.
Sparky brought in Rawley Eastwick, who struck out Dwight Evans and got Rick Burleson to line out to left. He got 2 strikes on Bernie Carbo, a former Red, pinch-hitting for pitcher Roger Moret (who had relieved Tiant in the 8th), but Carbo drove one to dead center, and tied it up.
In the bottom of the 9th, Denny Doyle drew a leadoff walk. Carl Yastrzemski singled him over to 3rd. Sparky brought in reliever Will McEnaney, and had him intentionally walk Carlton Fisk. Did Sparky have a premonition? If so, it didn't help him later on.
Due to the rain, Sox manager Darrell Johnson was able to start Luis Tiant, winner of Games 1 and 4, on full rest. Reds manager Sparky Anderson started Gary Nolan. Fred Lynn, who, that season, became the 1st player ever to be awarded his league's Rookie of the Year and its Most Valuable Player award in the same season, hit a home run that gave the Sox a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning, and Tiant pitched shutout ball through 4.
But, as they would say in English soccer, Three-nil, and they fucked it up. The Reds got 2 men on in the 5th, and Ken Griffey Sr. sent Lynn to the wall. Lynn crashed, telling NBC's Bob Costas years later that he'd hurt his ribs, and that, for a moment, he was barely conscious and couldn't feel his legs. Griffey's triple scored 2 runs, and then Johnny Bench singled Griffey home to tie the game. A 2-run double by George Foster in the 7th and a solo homer by Cesar Geronimo in the 8th gave the Reds a 6-3 lead, with just 6 outs to go for the title.
Typical Boston choke, leading to a Reds win? As ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!" Six-three, and they fucked it up. In the bottom of the 8th, Reds reliever Pedro Borbon (who, like Griffey, would later see his son and namesake play in the major leagues) gave up a single to Lynn and a walk to Rico Petrocelli.
Sparky brought in Rawley Eastwick, who struck out Dwight Evans and got Rick Burleson to line out to left. He got 2 strikes on Bernie Carbo, a former Red, pinch-hitting for pitcher Roger Moret (who had relieved Tiant in the 8th), but Carbo drove one to dead center, and tied it up.
In the bottom of the 9th, Denny Doyle drew a leadoff walk. Carl Yastrzemski singled him over to 3rd. Sparky brought in reliever Will McEnaney, and had him intentionally walk Carlton Fisk. Did Sparky have a premonition? If so, it didn't help him later on.
Lynn flew to left, and Foster threw home. Doyle tagged up and broke for home, because he thought Sox 3rd-base coach Don Zimmer was telling him, "Go, go, go!" In fact, Zim was saying, "No, no, no!" Doyle was out at the plate. Had he scored, winning it for the Sox right there, this would still have been a superb game, but not the legendary game that it became -- except within New England. Outside those 6 States, few baseball fans would have ranked it as an all-time great game. Instead, it went to extra innings.
Dave Concepcion singled and stole 2nd with 1 out in the top of the 10th, but Sox reliever Dick Drago stranded him. Pat Darcy sent the Sox down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th.
Pete Rose led off the top of the 11th, and turned to Sox catcher Fisk, and said, "Can you believe this game?" (Some sources have Rose's comment as, "Some kind of a game, isn't it?") Fisk may not have taken kindly to that, because Drago -- who would bean Thurman Munson in a Yanks-Sox game at Fenway 3 years later -- hit Rose with a pitch.
Griffey bunted, and, unlike the Ed Armbrister play in Game 3, did not even appear to interfere with Fisk, who threw Rose out at 2nd. With Griffey on 1st and 1 out, Joe Morgan, who would be named the NL's MVP that season and the next, drove the ball to right field, and at Fenway the right-field fence was, and remains, only 3 feet high. Evans reached over the fence to make a great catch, and then started a double play, throwing to Yaz, who threw to Burleson who had run over to cover 1st, to eliminate Griffey and end the Reds' rally.
The Sox went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th. In the top of the 12th, Tony Perez and Foster singled off Rick Wise, but Wise stranded them.
At 12:34 AM on October 22, 1975, Fisk led off the bottom of the 12th against Darcy, and hit a 1-0 pitch down the left-field line. It had enough distance. But would it be fair? Or would it be foul? Fisk, thinking it would actually influence the flight of the ball, waved his arms to his right. The ball hit the pole near its top, for a home run. Final score, Boston 7, Cincinnati 6. The Series was tied, and would go to a Game 7.
John Kiley, the organist at Fenway Park (and also at the Boston Garden, thus the answer to the corny old trivia question about "the only man to play for the Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins"), played George Friedrich Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Then he played "Stout-Hearted Men." Then he played "The Beer Barrel Polka." ("Roll out the barrel, we'll have a barrel of fun.") Then he played "Seventy-six Trombones" from the Broadway musical The Music Man. (I have no idea why he played that one.)
The shot of Fisk thinking he can wave the ball fair, which I've dubbed the Fenway Twist, is the most familiar clip in the history of televised sports. (As they had with every World Series since 1947, NBC was televising it, although they would begin to alternate with ABC starting with the 1977 season, until 1989.)
From seeing this clip so much, and hearing so much talk about Game 6 of '75 from Red Sox fans, a reasonable person might have asked (through 2004 anyway), "Wait a minute. The Red Sox haven't won the World Series since 1918. That means... they lost Game 7! So why do people make such a big deal about this homer?" Well, it won one game, not a World Series, but it was still one of sports' greatest epics.
Game 6 of the 1975 World Series has been called "The Greatest Baseball Game Ever Played" by many people. Certainly, it is in the discussion, along with Game 8 in 1912 (Game 2 was tied when called due to darkness), Game 7 in 1924, Game 7 in 1960, and Game 7 in 1991, and also with the 1951 Giant-Dodger Playoff and the 1978 Yanks-Sox Playoff.
Dick Stockton, born in Philadelphia but grew up in Queens, then the 32-year-old lead broadcaster on Sox games for WSBK-Channel 39, and previously for Boston Celtics games on WBZ-Channel 4, then an NBC station, was the lead broadcaster for NBC in this Series.
Dave Concepcion singled and stole 2nd with 1 out in the top of the 10th, but Sox reliever Dick Drago stranded him. Pat Darcy sent the Sox down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th.
Pete Rose led off the top of the 11th, and turned to Sox catcher Fisk, and said, "Can you believe this game?" (Some sources have Rose's comment as, "Some kind of a game, isn't it?") Fisk may not have taken kindly to that, because Drago -- who would bean Thurman Munson in a Yanks-Sox game at Fenway 3 years later -- hit Rose with a pitch.
Griffey bunted, and, unlike the Ed Armbrister play in Game 3, did not even appear to interfere with Fisk, who threw Rose out at 2nd. With Griffey on 1st and 1 out, Joe Morgan, who would be named the NL's MVP that season and the next, drove the ball to right field, and at Fenway the right-field fence was, and remains, only 3 feet high. Evans reached over the fence to make a great catch, and then started a double play, throwing to Yaz, who threw to Burleson who had run over to cover 1st, to eliminate Griffey and end the Reds' rally.
The Sox went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th. In the top of the 12th, Tony Perez and Foster singled off Rick Wise, but Wise stranded them.
At 12:34 AM on October 22, 1975, Fisk led off the bottom of the 12th against Darcy, and hit a 1-0 pitch down the left-field line. It had enough distance. But would it be fair? Or would it be foul? Fisk, thinking it would actually influence the flight of the ball, waved his arms to his right. The ball hit the pole near its top, for a home run. Final score, Boston 7, Cincinnati 6. The Series was tied, and would go to a Game 7.
John Kiley, the organist at Fenway Park (and also at the Boston Garden, thus the answer to the corny old trivia question about "the only man to play for the Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins"), played George Friedrich Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Then he played "Stout-Hearted Men." Then he played "The Beer Barrel Polka." ("Roll out the barrel, we'll have a barrel of fun.") Then he played "Seventy-six Trombones" from the Broadway musical The Music Man. (I have no idea why he played that one.)
The shot of Fisk thinking he can wave the ball fair, which I've dubbed the Fenway Twist, is the most familiar clip in the history of televised sports. (As they had with every World Series since 1947, NBC was televising it, although they would begin to alternate with ABC starting with the 1977 season, until 1989.)
From seeing this clip so much, and hearing so much talk about Game 6 of '75 from Red Sox fans, a reasonable person might have asked (through 2004 anyway), "Wait a minute. The Red Sox haven't won the World Series since 1918. That means... they lost Game 7! So why do people make such a big deal about this homer?" Well, it won one game, not a World Series, but it was still one of sports' greatest epics.
Game 6 of the 1975 World Series has been called "The Greatest Baseball Game Ever Played" by many people. Certainly, it is in the discussion, along with Game 8 in 1912 (Game 2 was tied when called due to darkness), Game 7 in 1924, Game 7 in 1960, and Game 7 in 1991, and also with the 1951 Giant-Dodger Playoff and the 1978 Yanks-Sox Playoff.
Dick Stockton, born in Philadelphia but grew up in Queens, then the 32-year-old lead broadcaster on Sox games for WSBK-Channel 39, and previously for Boston Celtics games on WBZ-Channel 4, then an NBC station, was the lead broadcaster for NBC in this Series.
A 22-year-old writer from Quincy named Lesley Visser was part of The Boston Globe's coverage. Stockton and Visser would both go on to become key cogs in CBS Sports' programming. Supposedly, they met on this night. Other sources say they met at another Boston-based event in 1982. Either way, they married in 1983, but got divorced in 2010, and each has since married someone else.
And, of course, this game has also been cited in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, discussed by the characters played by Robin Williams and Matt Damon.
Of course, as Shaughnessy pointed out in his book, in the 1986 World Series, Game 6 would prove disastrous for the Red Sox. So now, if you're in New England, or in the presence of a Red Sox fan anywhere else, and you say the words, "Game Six," they have to ask, "Which one?"
*
October 21, 1975 was a Tuesday. It was midweek for football. The NBA and the ABA wouldn't start their seasons for another 2 days. But 3 games were played in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 5-5 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-1 at the St. Louis Arena. From 1977 to 1983, the Arena was named the Checkerdome, because the Blues were owned by St. Louis-based Ralston Purina, whose logo was (and is) a "checkerboard square."
In the World Hockey Association that night:
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the New England Whalers, 6-1 at the Colisee de Quebec.
* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Indianapolis Racers, 2-1 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 7-0 at the Winnipeg Arena.