When Did You Become a Sox Fan?

[harmony]

I wonder if I'm remembering the same game. We lived in a two story house, and for some reason, there was a bell hooked up from the downstairs bedroom up. Every time the RS scored in that inning, my father would ring the bell, knowing that my brother and I were also listening to the game. Was it against the Yankees? For some reason, I associate Earl Wilson with that memory--but obviously he wouldn't have been pitching that late in the game (unless that was his no-hitter, which it wasn't!)

Earl Wilson pitched 30 complete games for the Red Sox:

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilsoea01.shtml

[jad]

Earl Wilson pitched 30 complete games for the Red Sox:

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilsoea01.shtml

 

Well, statistics are better than memory! But according to what you sent me: he pitched only 13 for the RS over his career, and when Williams was playing, he pitched only 2. Since you have better access to this, do me a favor: see if you can look up those two and see if one of them was the game we were talking about. If you could demonstrate that my memory is better than my off-hand remarks, that would be very cool!

[Bellhorn04]

I wonder if I'm remembering the same game. We lived in a two story house, and for some reason, there was a bell hooked up from the downstairs bedroom up. Every time the RS scored in that inning, my father would ring the bell, knowing that my brother and I were also listening to the game.

 

Love it.

[Jack Flap]

My earliest kid-memories of the Sox are of the later Clemens and Vaughn era, I of course loved Pedro and Nomar in the late 90's but really got hooked in as a young teenager in 2003.

[Maxbialystock]

I find just about any criticism of Femwy is legit.

 

They have put a s*** ton of make-up on the pig as it were but the place is cramped and uncomfortable unless you are in a luxury seat.

 

Still, when you walk up a ramp ( I'm thinking right field bowl ) and see that huge mass of green and you just look around. Well, you know you are someplace special.

 

Well said. Absolutely true.

[Kimmi]

Boy am I jelly. I have never been there. Everyone I know who has been there says that it is an awesome place to see a game.

 

Have fun Kimmi.

 

Thanks. I'm going to wear my Sox gear. That might not go over too well. LOL

[Kimmi]

I wonder if I'm remembering the same game. We lived in a two story house, and for some reason, there was a bell hooked up from the downstairs bedroom up. Every time the RS scored in that inning, my father would ring the bell, knowing that my brother and I were also listening to the game. Was it against the Yankees? For some reason, I associate Earl Wilson with that memory--but obviously he wouldn't have been pitching that late in the game (unless that was his no-hitter, which it wasn't!)

 

That's pretty cool.

[cp176]

I was a fan long before 1967 but I sure would like to get a copy of the documentary being broadcast Sunday night about that special season. It was absolutely magical. the whole concept of a tight pennant race. The idea that only one team wins a pennant and the brilliance of Yaz!!! That entire season will stand out as a life changer for me. Those of us who lived through it and saw are pretty fortunate. Yaz's catch in the third game of the season is imprinted in my mind's memory forever.

[Fisk]

Became a fan in 1972, my grandfather would give me a dime every game the sox won. Fisk was rookie of the year and my favorite player.

The sox finished a half game back of the Tigers in the division, because of the strike they did not play an equal amount of games. This was the beginning of 32 years of heartbreak.

[a700hitter]

Became a fan in 1972, my grandfather would give me a dime every game the sox won. Fisk was rookie of the year and my favorite player.

The sox finished a half game back of the Tigers in the division, because of the strike they did not play an equal amount of games. This was the beginning of 32 years of heartbreak.

That was a tough end to the season. Aparicio kept stumbling around the bases on what should have been an inside the park home run by Yaz. He ran back to third base and they were both on third base. Yaz gave him a shove to send him home because he thought that he would still make it. That was the end of their chances right there. I didn't look at the season as too heartbreaking, because there was a lot of talent on thatteam and El Tiante came back from the dead to hurl shutout after shutout.

[Fisk]

Lots of young talent on the team with Evans, Fisk, Oglive, Beniquez, Miller, CURTIS, Mcglothlin, Lee, Griffin, and Cooper.

[moonslav59]

Became a fan in 1972, my grandfather would give me a dime every game the sox won. Fisk was rookie of the year and my favorite player.

The sox finished a half game back of the Tigers in the division, because of the strike they did not play an equal amount of games. This was the beginning of 32 years of heartbreak.

 

That was the first real heartbreak year for me too. That was a very good team. The absurdity of finishing 1/2 game behind was just too much for a fragile young mind to comprehend.

 

I cried in 1975. We had so many chances. The Ed Armbrister play is still chiseled into my mind. Some great memories too, though: Fisk& Bernie Carbo's blasts, El Tiante, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice (out for the playoffs of '75). More heartbreak with Bucky f***ing Dent, the easy non Stapleton play at 1B...

 

These years hardened me as a sports fan. I'd seen championships with my other favorite teams: Packers, Bucks and Bruins, but baseball has always been my favorite sport (to play and watch). Maybe that's why I have more sympathy for GMs and managers and a few last place finishes here and there.

 

Just give me some rings here and there, and I can be very forgiving on the inbetweens.

 

[a700hitter]

That was the first real heartbreak year for me too. That was a very good team. The absurdity of finishing 1/2 game behind was just too much for a fragile young mind to comprehend.

 

I cried in 1975. We had so many chances. The Ed Armbrister play is still chiseled into my mind. Some great memories too, though: Fisk& Bernie Carbo's blasts, El Tiante, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice (out for the playoffs of '75). More heartbreak with Bucky f***ing Dent, the easy non Stapleton play at 1B...

 

These years hardened me as a sports fan. I'd seen championships with my other favorite teams: Packers, Bucks and Bruins, but baseball has always been my favorite sport (to play and watch). Maybe that's why I have more sympathy for GMs and managers and a few last place finishes here and there.

 

Just give me some rings here and there, and I can be very forgiving on the inbetweens.

 

Watching a completely noncompetitive team was very rare for me as a fan, watching a last place team 3 of 4 years was something that I had never experienced. It sucked, and I cut Ben no slack I might have cut him slack if 2013 was our first championship, but it was the 3rd.

 

Would I rather be a Marlins fan with 2 championships surrounded by years of complete futility or a Red Sox fan with the heartbreak? I choose the Red Sox. There was plenty of fun and excitement most years, and the team was almost always competitive after 1966.

[moonslav59]

That 1972 team had finished way back in 1971, but their pitching turned things around, sound familiar?

 

1972 SP'ing numbers: 3.46 ERA

 

Tiant 12-5 1.88

Pattin 17-12 3.16

McGlothen 8-7 3.41

J Curtis 10-8 3.63

S Siebert 12-12 3.80

Ray Culp 5-8 4.46

 

Tiant also pitched out of the pen for 24 games (2.05 ERA)

Others included:

IP PItcher ERA

84 Bill Lee 3.20

58 Gary Peters 4.06

37 Newhauser 2.43

31 Bob Bolin 2.93

29 Ken Tatum 3.07

8 Bob Veale 0.00

 

 

[moonslav59]

. There was plenty of fun and excitement most years, and the team was almost always competitive after 1966.

 

Agreed, but it seems somehow finishing so close but never winning it all hurt more than maybe never coming close.

 

I've seen some horrible streaks from my other teams. The Bucks have been good here and there, but haven't won since 1971. My Packers had some horrific years- long stretches of futility.

 

The Sox have stayed pretty competitive, but they never were the favorites until Henry came aboard. Just about every year they made the WS was unexpected.

 

While we didn't finish in last place too often, until Ben & Co., we did have some mediocre to bad stretches.

 

We finished in 5th or 6th place in 3 out of 4 years from 1980-1983 and 4th place or worst in 5 out of 6 years from 1980 to 1985. The lone better year was a 3rd place finish in 1982. (7 team division back then.)

 

We also finished 7th, 5th and 4th from 1992-1994.

 

What a strange streak we've had the last 6 seasons (5 team division):

 

5th 2012

1st 2013 (Championship)

5th 2013

5th 2014

1st 2016

1st 2017 (so far)

[a700hitter]

Agreed, but it seems somehow finishing so close but never winning it all hurt more than maybe never coming close.

 

I've seen some horrible streaks from my other teams. The Bucks have been good here and there, but haven't won since 1971. My Packers had some horrific years- long stretches of futility.

 

The Sox have stayed pretty competitive, but they never were the favorites until Henry came aboard. Just about every year they made the WS was unexpected.

 

While we didn't finish in last place too often, until Ben & Co., we did have some mediocre to bad stretches.

 

We finished in 5th or 6th place in 3 out of 4 years from 1980-1983 and 4th place or worst in 5 out of 6 years from 1980 to 1985. The lone better year was a 3rd place finish in 1982. (7 team division back then.)

 

We also finished 7th, 5th and 4th from 1992-1994.

 

What a strange streak we've had the last 6 seasons (5 team division):

 

5th 2012

1st 2013 (Championship)

5th 2013

5th 2014

1st 2016

1st 2017 (so far)

The last day of the season hurt a few times, but then there was hope for the following season. Last place, is just totally disinteresting almost from April. No excitement, nothing to anticipate. No chance at anything.

[a700hitter]

Agreed, but it seems somehow finishing so close but never winning it all hurt more than maybe never coming close.

 

I've seen some horrible streaks from my other teams. The Bucks have been good here and there, but haven't won since 1971. My Packers had some horrific years- long stretches of futility.

 

The Sox have stayed pretty competitive, but they never were the favorites until Henry came aboard. Just about every year they made the WS was unexpected.

 

While we didn't finish in last place too often, until Ben & Co., we did have some mediocre to bad stretches.

 

We finished in 5th or 6th place in 3 out of 4 years from 1980-1983 and 4th place or worst in 5 out of 6 years from 1980 to 1985. The lone better year was a 3rd place finish in 1982. (7 team division back then.)

 

We also finished 7th, 5th and 4th from 1992-1994.

 

What a strange streak we've had the last 6 seasons (5 team division):

 

5th 2012

1st 2013 (Championship)

5th 2013

5th 2014

1st 2016

1st 2017 (so far)

If DD wins the division 2 years in a row with the Red Sox, he will have done something that hasn't been done in my lifetime. Theo didn't. The futile Ben didn't.

[Fisk]

92-94 teams were tough to watch.

[a700hitter]

92-94 teams were tough to watch.

We had a crackhead running the ship-- Butch Hobson. I was glad that they went on strike in '94.

 

Edit: Crackhead Hobson was so out of it that he forgot to take his little kid home from the ballpark one day. He didn't remember until he got home and his wife asked for the boy.

 

And Hobson was a highly regarded manager at the time. The Red Sox fired Joe Morgan for fear of losing Hobson to the Yankees. LOL!! And then people wonder why I have no regard for managers.

Edited July 8, 2017 by a700hitter

[southpaw777]

Ill start by saying that the red sox were always on the tv/radio at my house, my grandmothers house, my friends houses, etc., so I grew up with them but never really paid too much attention...until one night. I do remember the one game that stood out which made me really start my fandom with these Boston Red Sox...I was young, (5yo) and remember waking up hearing my dad and uncles screaming downstairs. So I got up and I went downstairs to see what was going on. now, sometimes it could get a bit loud and rowdy at my house, so I was prepared for anything. What I saw was them all screaming with excitement, and they all had their arms up in the air. They grabbed me, put a Sox cap on me (so big it covered my face) and pulled me into their victory circle as we all jumped up and down because the sox won. It was pretty cool. I was one of the guys. When the excitiment got somewhat under control, I saw these replays on tv of this big guy on the Sox waving his arms and hopping up and down, kind of like what my dad and uncles were doing...my Uncle kept saying "Pudge is the man!" "hes the man!" ...I saw the ball that this giant of a man hit go over the majestic green wall the kept calling "The Green monstah"...every player and fan at Fenway, and the ones in my living room, were going absolutely balistic. The room smelled like potato chips, pizza, and spilled beer...i couldnt sleep the rest of the night. The Sox just won what felt like the World series...unfortunately very soon after I would learn about something called "The curse of the bambino"

And so My 40+ year journey with the Boston Red Sox began...

[Bellhorn04]

My memories of Ken Coleman's voice and names like Sonny Siebert and Ray Culp are still so vivid that it's downright eerie.

[dannycater]

I remember little things about the late 60s/early70s Sox, but it was the 75 Sox that really had me hooked. Playing baseball, collecting Sox cards (Freddy Lynn rookie four-square card), and scoring games off the TV. Made a bet with my elementary school teacher 75 cents and he won with the Reds (and I paid him with 3 quarters, which for me was a lot back then). Basically I was born a Sox, Celtics, Bruins, Patriots fan, and when the Pats won in 01, the Bruins in 11, and the Sox in 04,07,13, I can tell you that nothing pissed me off more than watching bandwagoners jump on from other teams, other locales, and then have people say I'm a bandwagoner. No I suffered through the agonies and the many special great moments of the pre-Brady/Bellichick Pats, the pre-Francona/Epstein Sox, etc. Go Sox!

[royf19]

My first game was in 1969 -- still have the program -- when I was 5, so I clicked on 1960s. I was a Sox fan ever since I could remember. I remember Tony C playing for the Sox (before the comeback attempt in 1975), which would likely be the '69 or '70 teams. My first big memories of really knowing and following the team is the 1971 team. I remember George Scott and remember him being traded. I remember Duane Josephson at catcher, and guys like Billy C., Phil Gagliano, John Kennedy. I also remember Jim Longborg pitching for the Sox, which which is '71 and prior and the first big memories of staring pitchers are Sonny Siebert and Ray Culp.

 

My favorite player is Carl Yastrzemski.

 

Like Danny, I was born a Red Sox fan along with Bruins, Celtics and Patriots, in that order when I was a kid. After Bird-Parrish-McHale retired the C's and Pats flipped, though we're splitting hairs. I'm passionate about all four teams. I never understood how Boston fans -- I'm talking about fans who grew up in Massachusetts -- play one team against the other.

 

My first big memories of watching the Red Sox were watching Ken Coleman and Johnny Pesky on Channel 4 and listening to Ned Martin wth Dave Martin on the radio -- early 1970s. I never completely got used to Ken Coleman being on radio and Ned Martin being on TV when Coleman came back in 1979 and he went to radio with Martin going to TV.

[dannycater]

roy, in '75, I went to an Angels game that I'll never forget in Anaheim after we moved out to the Left Coast. Tiant v. Tanana. It was a great pitching matchup and both threw 4-hitters except Tanana struck out like 13 or 14 batters. But here's the thing that I'll never forget about that game. Tony Congilario pinch hit for...Fred Lynn. Yup. Lynn struck out like 3 times and in the 9th Johnson sent up Tony C who I think also struck out. Frankie was sick awesome back then when he had an explosive fastball to go with his slider. Him and Nolan Ryan. Angels just had little else those years and some offense, but not enough. Lynn goes on to win ROY, MVP...but he really did get pinch hit for in that game.

[dannycater]

Oh yeah, I had a Sparky Lyle poster on my door when was in Boston. But those who know me, know that's part of the aura. I was a big time Lyle fan, I think because of the first name and he was pretty good too. Oh if they only held on to him....75,78...arggggggh. I can't remember who they traded him for, some guy whose name escapes me.

[moonslav59]

roy, in '75, I went to an Angels game that I'll never forget in Anaheim after we moved out to the Left Coast. Tiant v. Tanana. It was a great pitching matchup and both threw 4-hitters except Tanana struck out like 13 or 14 batters. But here's the thing that I'll never forget about that game. Tony Congilario pinch hit for...Fred Lynn. Yup. Lynn struck out like 3 times and in the 9th Johnson sent up Tony C who I think also struck out. Frankie was sick awesome back then when he had an explosive fastball to go with his slider. Him and Nolan Ryan. Angels just had little else those years and some offense, but not enough. Lynn goes on to win ROY, MVP...but he really did get pinch hit for in that game.

 

You sure it was 1975?

 

I looked at all 3 games we played at CAL, and found none with Tiant or Tanana.

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197508140.shtml

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197508130.shtml

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197508120.shtml

[dannycater]

Maybe it was 74? I'm old, moon.

[moonslav59]

Maybe it was 74? I'm old, moon.

 

Me too, and i've found my long term memory to be lacking.

 

BTW, Lynn did not play in CAL in '74.

[dannycater]

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197505100.shtml

 

moon? Here it is...I didn't make this stuff up, but thank you for checking on the other series to make me think I'm senile...:-)

 

May 10, 1975

Edited July 16, 2017 by dannycater

[a700hitter]

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197505100.shtml

 

moon? Here it is...I didn't make this stuff up, but thank you for checking on the other series to make me think I'm senile...:-)

 

May 10, 1975

That was Tony C's next to last game.