By the end of 1966, the Boston Red Sox were a team in serious trouble.
The Red Sox had not won a pennant in twenty years and had not posted a
winning record in eight. Pampered by their benevolent owner, Tom Yawkey,
the Red Sox had developed a reputation as a team that cared more about
having a good time than winning baseball games. The "Gold Sox" (or
"Jersey Street Jesters") were sometimes playing before fewer than 1,000
fans at Fenway Park. Yawkey, disillusioned, began seriously considering
selling the team or moving the franchise to another city.
Then, in 1967, a brash rookie manager named Dick Williams took charge of
a hungry, but very young and inexperienced team that did not know how to
win. A strict disciplinarian, Williams had no tolerance for nonsense,
and he taught the Red Sox how to play the game right. Yet, when he
predicted that the Red Sox would win more games than they'd lose in
1967, no one took him seriously. The Red Sox forged a 10-game, midseason
winning streak. Adopting the theme song from the hit Broadway musical,
Man of La Mancha, the 1967 Red Sox season became "The Impossible Dream."
The fans grew excited again and started flocking to Fenway Park or
tuning their radios to the broadcasts of the games. Over the season's
final six weeks, the Red Sox never led or trailed by more than 1 1/2
games. Three teams were still in the pennant race during their final
game. When that day was over, the Red Sox had become the first and only
team in major-league history to rise from ninth place to league
champion.
The Red Sox remain indebted to the 1967 champions, and they will be
indebted forever. Rico Petrocelli, one of Boston's most beloved athletes
and a twenty-four-year-old shortstop on that "Impossible Dream" team,
recaptures the thrills of that improbable season through his unique
anecdotes. Rico chronicles both the nightmare that threatened to swallow
an organization and the resurrection that would reinvigorate a team and
a city that share the same heart.
Now updated to include the Red Sox's successes since the 1967 season,
Tales from the 1967 Red Sox Dugout is a must-have for all BoSox fans.
