On Saturday, August 22, 1976, the Red Sox lost to the Oakland Athletics 7-6 in 11 innings. My father and I were two of the 27,526 fans in attendance. I was 12 years old.
Athletics - 000 204 000 01 - 7 15 0 Red Sox - 100 005 000 00 - 6 15 2I have written about this game before. Earlier this year, I (finally) converted the color slides I took that day. Here are some of them, taken from a blue wooden seat in Section 17:
The Red Sox take the field!
L to R: Butch Hobson 3B (4), Rick Burleson SS (7), Carlton Fisk C, Cecil Cooper 1B (15), Denny Doyle 2B (5), Fergie Jenkins P (31), Yaz LF (8), Dwight Evans RF (24).
Yaz in left field before the first pitch.
Yaz on deck.
Yaz was also pictured on the program being sold at the park that day (lower right).
The Red Sox wished Yaz a happy 37th birthday with a message on the brand new video board.
The day's lineup. Rice batted anywhere from 4th to 7th that season.
Yaz hikes up his pants and gets ready to hit.
Top of 3rd: Phil Garner has been caught stealing, Fisk-to-Burleson.
Scoreboard, after three innings. It looks very small and quaint now. Note that uniform numbers for the umpires are provided.
Fred Lynn, on deck.
Bill North takes a strike.
Tom Murphy warming up for the top of the sixth. He would record only two outs and allow four runs.
Jim Willoughby arrives via the bullpen car in relief of Murphy. This car was (and probably still is) housed in the Twins souvenir store across Jersey Street from the park.
Final score. Unfortunately, the previous ten innings of the linescore were removed so the 11th to 20th innings (if necessary) could be displayed.
I'm very surprised that in my old post about this game, I said nothing about the Angels/Yankees score. The Angels won 11-8 - and it was in extra innings. We had been watching all afternoon as the Angels kept scoring, eventually taking an 8-0 lead. In the ninth inning, the "0" next to N.Y. went down and I distinctly recall a measure of anticipation over what number would appear. Not everyone was aware of this development, of course, but it must have been a decent amount because when an "8" went up, there was low murmur that could only have been a heady mix of Are you kidding?/Jesus!/WTF? (My memory has that game at the bottom of the scoreboard where KC/MIL is.)
I also mentioned in that post that while I was at Fenway on September 9, 1978, which was Game 3 of the infamous Boston Massacre, I have nothing from that day. I was wrong. It turns out that when I converted the 1976 slides, I found a bunch of slides I had taken at that 1978 game. I'll post some of those shots on that anniversary.
5 comments:
I was 9 years old in '76 and that lineup is the one I remember most from my childhood, also with Rico Petrocelli at 3B and George Scott at 1B. Nauseating two and a half hour bus rides up to Fenway from central Connecticut with a church group. The late 70s were heady times for a young Sox fan.
This is so awesome! Unseen photos of Fenway from my favorite era! Thanks.
I think your seat was more like section 19 (meaning closer to home plate), based on the angle. Like sec 19, row 13, seat 2, something like that. Do you have a stub?
Bullpen Car resides inside Gate A now, where they let people sit in it and get pics taken.
Nauseating two and a half hour bus rides up to Fenway from central Connecticut with a church group.
Having your one game each year be 5 hours on a bus, the Red Sox lose, 5 hours on a bus was not ideal either!
I think your seat was more like section 19 (meaning closer to home plate), based on the angle. Like sec 19, row 13, seat 2, something like that. Do you have a stub?
I think I have an old stub, but it may be from a 1983 game. Looking at a seating chart, Section 19 seems too much behind the plate. I'm not a betting man, but I'd put money down on 17.
I think you'll really like the 1978 pix. I must have walked down to the edge of the box seats because I got close-ups during infield practice and when the players play catch in front of the dugout. Two Remy sightings! And some of the shots confused me, so there may be be a mystery for you to solve.
This is great! Nice shots.
I don't know, man, here's a comparison of your angle from the North pic vs. a pic from as far LEFT in section 17 as you can get. You really *were* practically behind the plate, at least for that shot and a few others. Some I can believe 17. But some where you see the plate, mound, baselines, etc, are very far left of 17. And here it is from the other side, you can really see how the third base line points right into 17. (The dotted line is right behind home plate, between 20 and 21.)
I look forward to the mystery and the pics!
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