Where ’67 still feels impossible
That may not sound like many until you consider the Sox used 39 players during that magical season and only 20 are still alive.
They share a special bond, one that picks up instantly even after years without seeing each other in person, in some cases.
“Such a great year; such a memorable year,” Rico Petrocelli said. “Winning, that’s part of it. But we’re close. We love each other.”
It’s no exaggeration to say the ’67 team saved baseball in Boston.
The Sox averaged 89 losses from 1960-66 and were near the bottom of the American League in attendance every year. They averaged only 10,014 fans during the 1966 season and there was talk the franchise would leave Fenway Park.
A year later, an estimated 5,000 fans greeted the Sox at Logan Airport in late July when they returned from a road trip riding a 10-game win streak. That’s how quickly things changed.
“They couldn’t let us get off the plane,” Jim Lonborg said. “They had to divert us to some terminal somewhere. For us to see that joy and that happiness out there amongst all the fans, for me that was the turning point for how our team felt about this town.” Petrocelli laughed at the memory.
“The year before they’d come meet us and they had shotguns,” he said.
Lonborg started Game 162 at Fenway. In a game the Sox had to win, he allowed one earned run over nine innings in a 5-3 victory against the Twins in front of a delirious crowd of 35,770.
Lonborg spent the night before in a Copley Square hotel room he borrowed from teammate Ken Harrelson. Seems his bachelor pad near Charles River Park was no place to get a good night’s sleep.
“I’ll tell you what, it was fun being single that year,” said Lonborg, still regal at 81.
That the Sox lost a seven-game World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals and Bob Gibson didn’t diminish what they accomplished. It was just the start.
Petrocelli went on to play with Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn, and Jim Rice. Then came Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens, a line that continued to 2004 and beyond. The roots of that championship and the three since trace back to 1967.
“That season changed the whole thing around forever,” said Gary Bell, a folksy righthander who was 12-8 with a 3.16 ERA after being obtained in a June trade with Cleveland.
On Tuesday, Bell, Lonborg, and Petrocelli sat at the front of the room and fielded questions from Sean McAdam, who has covered the Sox since the 1980s.
Darrell Brandon, Dave Morehead, Billy Rohr, Jose Santiago, and George Thomas also were in attendance.
Carl Yastrzemski, true to form, made an appearance and said hello to his old teammates before quickly leaving.
Yastrzemski was the runaway winner of the American League MVP that season, hitting 44 home runs and driving in 121 runs while winning a Gold Glove in left field.
At a time when the regular season determined who advanced to the World Series, Yastrzemski hit .417 over the final month of the season and carried the Sox to the pennant.
He has been one of Boston’s biggest — and most elusive — celebrities ever since.
“It was good to see him; it’s been a few years,” Petrocelli said. “He meant everything to us that season.”
Most of the group also attended a dinner at Smith & Wollensky on Monday night. Drinks were had and stories were told. “A night beyond all nights,” Lonborg said. As the program broke up, many of those in attendance stopped the players to ask for photos or to explain what that season meant to them.
“Boston is still like a second home for me,” said Santiago, who made the trip from Puerto Rico.
“The people here embraced us and we did something special. None of us will ever forget it.”