October second 1978 a day that will live in infamy.
A day that my hatred of the Yankees became solidified for all time. A day the term Bucky Fucking Dent was born. It was a Monday,a day that flew by, until 2:30. Then began the longest thirty minutes of my 11 years on this planet. You see the game started at 2;30, school let out at 3. I knew I had a snowball’s chance in hell of being allowed to stay home so I never bothered to ask. Mr. Pestritto, my Math teacher, was born in the Bronx sometime around the civil war ( I was eleven if you were over 30 you were old). I hated him and he me, for no other reason than he was a Yankee fan and I was of course a Sox fan, he’s dead now and i could care less. But I digress. When that bell struck three I was gone with Mr.Pestritto right behind me. You see not only was he my math teacher, he lived 6 houses down from me. I ran home and he ran to his Orange Oldsmo-bubble Omega in the Teachers Lot. On foot, I beat him back the mile to Basswood Drive.
Bucky Bleepin Dent
By the time I reached the TV Boston was up 1-0 my mother told me Yaz homered to give the sox the early lead, Jim Rice drove in Rick Burleson in the sixth 2-0 good guys. The Yankees Started Ron Guidry on, if I remember right, two days rest. The Sox went with Mike Torrez, I mean why not, Torrez had lost six straight and was the reason the sox were in this spot in the first place.
Torrez held the Yankees to two hits through six innings. With one out in the seventh, Chris Chambliss and Roy White both singled off of Torrez, and pinch hitter Jim Spencer flew out. Then Bucking Fucking Dent hit a fly ball that cleared the wall in left for a three-run home run to give the Yankees a 3–2 lead.
Today In 1978: "Deep to left!" ~ New York #Yankees shortstop Bucky Dent earns a new nickname after hitting a historic HR vs. the Boston #RedSox in an all-time classic American League East tie-breaker game at Fenway Park! #MLB #Baseball #History pic.twitter.com/940GlMmMaw — Baseball by BSmile (@BSmile) October 2, 2021
Torrez was removed from the game after walking Mickey Rivers. Reliever Bob Stanley came in, and after Rivers stole second Thurman Munson drove him in with a double. In the eighth inning, a home run by Reggie Jackson made it 5–2. The Sox cut New York’s lead to just one run in the bottom of the eighth against closer Goose Gossage on RBI singles by Fred Lynn and Yaz. But the Yankees would hold off the Red Sox for the 5-4 Win . with two out and two men on, Yastrzemski popped out to third baseman Graig Nettles in the ninth. There was no living with Pestreto after this. From October to June we waged Fargin War. I can still hear him saying “ Last Laugh Murphy.”
Last year (during the MLB shutdown), I talked to Jerry Remy and Dennis Eckersley about being a part of that 1978 Red Sox-Yankees playoff game and what might have happened if the Red Sox won. https://t.co/R1A9pWrrml — Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) October 4, 2021
Back to the present day
This Sox team shocked the baseball world getting off to the start they did. At the break Alex Cora had these over, now underachievers 1.5 up on the Rays and 8 up on the Jays and Yankees . Only the Giants held a better record in baseball. The trade deadline came and went. Boston was still a half game up on Toronto and 7.5 on the Evil Empire. Then the wheels came off and the Sox limped to this lowly state. A one game playoff, call it a wild card if you want. But this season has felt like 1978 for more than two months. All I’m asking is one more win. One win for 11 year old Murph. One last laugh for the kid in me. And i’ll forget the rest. And maybe the nightmares will end.
As always you can follow/give me grief o Twitter @Tmurph207