'67 Sox were there from start to finish

They were there en masse on Opening Day. They were there for the beginning of the World Series. And they also showed up a few times in between.

Nobody could blame the 1967 Red Sox for feeling like major partners with their 2007 brethren as the team honored the 40th anniversary several times during the past season.

All of those who showed up on Opening Day threw out the collective first pitch. Jim Lonborg threw out the first pitch for the Red Sox playoff opener. And, of course, Captain Carl Yastrzemski threw out the first pitch for the World Series opener.

Lonborg joked about the many visits after throwing out the first pitch on Oct. 3.

"We've been around here so much I was hoping the fans weren't sick of seeing us," said Lonborg.

Williams, of course, wasn't joking. He was extremely appreciative.

"I was up there three different times and I had a ball every time," said 1967 Red Sox manager Dick Williams. "All you had to do is count how many guys were there to understand how much we appreciated it. We really started things (the 1967 team). I really believe that we helped make baseball important in Boston."

Williams would have a tough time getting an argument about when this craziness, which turned a 162-game baseball season into 162 do-or-die-100-meter dashes, all began.

"I have to say, it was our year, 1967," said ex-Red Sox shortstop and third baseman Rico Petrocelli, still featuring those boyish cheeks and that humble-as-pie personality. "I believe the Red Sox Nation was born that year, when baseball became something special."

Yastrzemski wasn't sure about the "seed" of Red Sox Nation being planted 40 years ago, but he was sure about the team's support before 1967 and since.

"How many fans were there on Opening Day (in 1967)? Eight-thousand?" said Yaz. "That was a lot of people. It was a very different place to play around here my first six years. It's no fun playing baseball when you're 30 games out."

But everything changed after the All-Star break in 1967. The Red Sox went on a 10-game winning streak. Fenway was bustling. In July, crowds swelled to about 25,000. In August, they began topping 30,000. The standing-room-only sellouts started in September.

There were many reasons the stars were in alignment that summer.

The Sox, while close a few years, had not won a pennant in 21 seasons. Better yet, a year earlier, they were a ninth-place team in a 10-team league.

Yaz was on a run of epic proportions, taking his place among league leaders in batting average (.326), homers (44) and RBIs (121). Lonborg was having one of the greatest seasons for a Red Sox pitcher since Babe Ruth. And the Sox were among four teams | including the White Sox, Tigers and Twins | within three games of first for most of August and September.

While Yaz, George "Boomer" Scott, Petrocelli and Lonborg played memorable roles in waking up a dormant baseball community, Petrocelli says a lion's share of the credit goes to one man.

"Dick Williams," said Petrocelli of his then-rookie manager. "It started in spring training. He didn't say we would win a pennant, but he did say we would win. He said if we did things the right way, which was his way, we would be a better team. If you missed a cutoff, you heard about it. If you didn't move a guy over (with a sacrifice), you heard about it.

"I was here in 1965 and 1966. Yaz was here. It wasn't like that at all," said Petrocelli. "Dick made us accountable. I really believe the fans fell in love with our style of play ... and the winning. That was all Dick."

But lest we or the Red Sox organization forget the beginning, the year and, especially, the team that changed baseball in New England, Williams remembers this constant.

"The fans always knew baseball," said Williams. "I don't know anything about planting seeds, but I do know the fans loved us. They carried us. I realize the crowds are huge around here these days, but it was for us, too. Some of my greatest memories in baseball were right here."

Yaz, who rarely grants interviews these days, says the current Red Sox ownership deserves a lot of credit for acknowledging what the 1967 team meant to New England.

"Not only did it bring the franchise back to life, but I think it changed the whole attitude in the Red Sox organization," said the 68-year-old Yaz, who lives in Boxford. "I think the organization became winners. I think after '67 you expected to go out and win. I thought we were going to have a dynasty in '67. But Conigliaro got hit, Lonborg had a skiing accident, José Santiago popping his elbow at the beginning of the '68 season. You don't replace players like that.

"The (2007) Red Sox are a tremendous team," said Yaz. "I like the way they play the game. They are very unselfish."

But the best part is the winning, again, said Yaz.

"So much has been written about not winning a World Series," he said. "Twice in four years; it's nice not to hear that any more."

Bill Burt is executive sports editor. You can e-mail him at bburt@eagletribune.com.

Did you know ...

The average age of the eight positions players on the 1967 team was 24 years old.

Tony Conigliaro, only 22 at the time, had hit 104 homers before being beaned by Jack Hamilton. He hit only 62 homers after the eye injury.

The Red Sox had nine consecutive losing seasons before 1967.

Haverhill native Mike Ryan led the team in starts at catcher for the Red Sox with 79.

Attendance at Fenway Park more than doubled from 10,000 per game in 1966 to 21,000 in 1967.

The Red Sox signed free agent slugger Ken Harrelson on Aug. 28, 1967, who was released by the Kansas City Royals, to replace Tony C in right field.

Jim Lonborg's best year of his career was '67, when he was 22-9 with a 3.16 ERA, winning the AL Cy Young Award. He was 68-65 with the Sox and 89-72 after leaving the Sox.

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