Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 by Barry Wilner & Ken Rappoport

Author:Barry Wilner & Ken Rappoport
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
Published: 2008-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Red Sox didn’t have a joyride into the World Series, either. They needed seven games to down the California Angels, coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the AL Championship Series, becoming only the seventh team to mount such a rally. Their comeback was as impressive as what the Mets staged in Game 6 at Houston.

But the final two games were romps of 10-4 and 8-1 at Fenway Park behind ace Roger Clemens and the power hitting of veterans Jim Rice and Dwight Evans.

It was extremely noteworthy how the Sox put away the Angels, because Boston’s well-documented history of folding in such circumstances hovered over the team and its fans like a plague. The Sox hadn’t won baseball’s prime prize since 1918, with some monumental chokes leading many to believe the team was cursed.

Perhaps this was the squad to break through, particularly after the way it had arisen to win Game 5 of the ALCS. These Sox were the first in franchise history to capture a win-or-go-home contest with a division, pennant, or World Series title on the line since the team moved into Fenway Park. That was in 1912.

The Angels, who never had been to the World Series, had some of California’s finest vintage from Sonoma on ice for their celebration after going up three games to one.

Boston led 2-1 through five innings when Dave Henderson replaced injured center fielder Tony Armas. A few moments later, with a man on base, Henderson leaped up the wall for a long fly ball off the bat of Bobby Grich. The ball hit his glove, bounced off it and over the fence. Home run. Angels lead 3-2.

“I went up, the ball hit the heel of my glove, and when my wrist hit the top of the wall the ball got away,” Henderson explained. “It was kind of a fluke thing. I thought I had it all the way.”

Henderson threw his arms up and bowed his head. Sox pitcher Bruce Hurst kneeled down near the mound, refusing to watch Grich circle the bases—or look out toward Henderson.

When the Angels added two more runs and took a 5-2 lead into the ninth behind powerful right-hander Mike Witt, the Sox appeared doomed.

“No Knute Rockne speeches,” McNamara said. “I just said a few words that I thought were appropriate to a few individuals.”

One of those individuals was Don Baylor. The veteran, no stranger to succeeding in difficult situations, delivered a two-run homer off Witt with one out, making it 5-4. But Witt recovered to get Evans, and the Angels stood one out from the pennant.

To get that out, manager Gene Mauch brought in left-hander Gary Lucas to face lefty batter Rich Gedman.

With all the fans on their feet, yelling, clapping, stomping—yes, even in Anaheim they can get that excited—Lucas nailed Gedman with an errant pitch.

In came closer Donnie Moore. Up came Henderson. How juicy: the goat of a few innings earlier with a chance for redemption.

The count reached 2-2.

“We’re ballplayers. We fail most of the time,” Henderson said.

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