 | The Cavalier daily Friday, October 6, 1967 |  |
Lonborg, Bosox Win
One-Hit Shutout, 5-0
UNDER A THREATENING SKY, miracles returned to
Fenway Park yesterday as the Red Sox wonder men,
Jim Lonborg and Curl Yastrzemski, turned in brilliant
performances to hypnotize the St. Louis Cardinals by a
5-0 score and even the 1967 World Series at one game
apiece.
Of the 93 pitches he served up yesterday, Lonborg would
probably like an opportunity to throw only two of them
over again. Up until the seventh inning, people were getting
ready to reserve a place for Lonborg in the record books
next to Don Larson. But, Curt Flood, Cardinal center
fielder, worked the Red Sox 22-game winner to a 3-2
count and then fouled off the next two pitches; Lonborg's
next pitch just missed the outside corner and Flood
became the first St. Louis runner as a loud gasp of disbelief
rose from the stands.
BUT THERE WAS STILL the no-hitter to work on. In
the eighth, Tim McCarver and Mike Shannon grounded up
sharply. Julian Javier, who earlier in the game made the
outstanding defensive play of the Series, stepped in and
ripped Lonborg's first pitch into the left field corner
for a double. The Boston partisans rose in a standing
ovation to their pitcher who was making his first World
Series start. Lonborg became the fourth player in history
to pitch a Series one-hitter.
Most Valuable Player shoe-in Carl Yastrzemski, who
spent a half hour after Wednesday's 0 for 4 game taking
extra batting practice, put the Bosox ahead in the fourth
with a solo line-drive homer seven rows deep in the right
field seats. In the seventh, Jose Tartabull and Dalton
Jones stood on two of the sacks as they waited for Cardinal
reliever Joe Hoerner to make his way in from the bullpen
to face Yastrzemski. The Red Sox left fielder welcomed the
new hurler with a 450-foot blast which soared over the
Boston bull pen deep into the right-centerfield stands.
THE 5-0 RED SOX LEAD looked unsurmountable at
that point—and was. The crowd's attention turned back
to pitcher Lonborg for the heart-breaking eighth inning.
After the game, he commented, "Sure, I was disappointed
to lose the no-hitter. But, then, winning the
game has to be the biggest thrill of my life. I just can't
say enough about the way that infield of ours backed
me up with such great plays all through the game. And
Carl Yastrzemski just has to be the greatest hitter I've
ever seen."
No one who watched the game could do anything
but agree with Lonborg. The Boston infield of Dalton
Jones, Rico Petrocelli, Jerry Adair, and George Scott
provided flawless defense and kept Lonborg on the road
to a perfect game with great plays on more than one
occasion.
It was all Gibson and Brock in the opener and all
Lonborg and Yastrzemski in the second game. Saturday's
third game, to be played in the most beautiful
of the new parks, Busch Memorial Stadium, may continue
the pattern when Gary Bell of the Sox faces either
Steve Carlton or Nelson Briles of the Cards.—John Marshall.
| The Cavalier daily Friday, October 6, 1967 | |