From back in that magical year of 1967 where Carl Yastrzemski won the triple crown in baseball. But Yaz was more than just hitting (And he continued his torrid pace down the stretch when Boston needed him, and on into the World Series), and here he makes a great catch. It's a short clip, little more than 30 seconds (A commercial it is not), but it is in colour.
Things To Look For:
The date is April 14th, 1967 vs. The New York Yankees.
This is the Boston Red Sox third game of the season. You can't see that, but I can!
The catch was made at Yankee Stadium. One-handed!
And it was off Tommy Tresh, who's career was winding to a premature halt. See Tom had suffered a torn cartridge in his right knee about a month earlier in the spring. It's sad watching this clip, from that perspective. The Red Sox had given a trade of left fielders, Tresh for Yaz, some thought earlier. Tresh was certainly in Yaz's class from 1962-1966. But from here in '67 to the end of his career in the spring of 1970, things went downhill fast.
As you see from the catch, the old auxiliary scoreboard shows a no-hitter is being thrown. That was by Billy Rohr. Things would also fall apart fast for him, too, pretty much after this game. Before Billy's career even really got started. And by the way, he did not get the no-hitter. This was his first major league start, game for that matter. After Tresh flied out, Joe Pepitone also flied out, but to right. So just one out away from a no-hitter, it was Yankee Elston Howard with a single. It was the only hit the Yankees got in their 2-0 loss.
Joe Foy is playing third for Boston, Rico Petrocelli was the shortstop. Catching is Russ Gibson. Ironically enough, it was Gibson two-run home run that was the game's only scoring. Petrocelli made the iconic catch that clinched only a tie for the pennant for Boston. True.
The losing pitcher in this game was Whitey Ford. Again, not in this clip. Also pitching his first game of '67 And like Tresh and Rohr, Ford was on his way out. Unlike them, he was still pitching great. By the end of the month, his ERA was an amazing 1.35 (Getting a shutout of his own his next start). Oh, it started to rise...All the way to 1.64 by May 21st. But as he would explain years later in his book Slick, his elbow was paining him that much. So he retired after lasting just one inning that May game.
And since it's the Yankees of 1951 to 1968 in this clip, where is the Mick you ask? Mickey Mantle played in this game, but it was only a cameo. In the bottom of the eighth, he batted for shortstop John Kennedy and flied out to right. The end for him was just a season away. Obviously, he's not in the clip.
The play-by-play I thought was by Joe Garagiola. But the discussion on youtube there seems to be some doubt. One person says it is Ken Coleman. I'll go with Garagiola on my listening and watching from this era and beyond.
This appears to be the oldest surviving colour tv clip involving either the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees. Don't quote me!
References
Ford, Whitey, & Phil Pepe, P. (1987). Slick. New York: W. Morrow.
MLB. “Yastrzemski Makes Amazing Catch In Left.” YouTube. Major League Baseball. 16 Sept. 2014, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQgowJXJWAI>.
Retrosheet. Web. 9 Aug. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Things To Look For:
The date is April 14th, 1967 vs. The New York Yankees.
This is the Boston Red Sox third game of the season. You can't see that, but I can!
The catch was made at Yankee Stadium. One-handed!
And it was off Tommy Tresh, who's career was winding to a premature halt. See Tom had suffered a torn cartridge in his right knee about a month earlier in the spring. It's sad watching this clip, from that perspective. The Red Sox had given a trade of left fielders, Tresh for Yaz, some thought earlier. Tresh was certainly in Yaz's class from 1962-1966. But from here in '67 to the end of his career in the spring of 1970, things went downhill fast.
As you see from the catch, the old auxiliary scoreboard shows a no-hitter is being thrown. That was by Billy Rohr. Things would also fall apart fast for him, too, pretty much after this game. Before Billy's career even really got started. And by the way, he did not get the no-hitter. This was his first major league start, game for that matter. After Tresh flied out, Joe Pepitone also flied out, but to right. So just one out away from a no-hitter, it was Yankee Elston Howard with a single. It was the only hit the Yankees got in their 2-0 loss.
Joe Foy is playing third for Boston, Rico Petrocelli was the shortstop. Catching is Russ Gibson. Ironically enough, it was Gibson two-run home run that was the game's only scoring. Petrocelli made the iconic catch that clinched only a tie for the pennant for Boston. True.
The losing pitcher in this game was Whitey Ford. Again, not in this clip. Also pitching his first game of '67 And like Tresh and Rohr, Ford was on his way out. Unlike them, he was still pitching great. By the end of the month, his ERA was an amazing 1.35 (Getting a shutout of his own his next start). Oh, it started to rise...All the way to 1.64 by May 21st. But as he would explain years later in his book Slick, his elbow was paining him that much. So he retired after lasting just one inning that May game.
And since it's the Yankees of 1951 to 1968 in this clip, where is the Mick you ask? Mickey Mantle played in this game, but it was only a cameo. In the bottom of the eighth, he batted for shortstop John Kennedy and flied out to right. The end for him was just a season away. Obviously, he's not in the clip.
The play-by-play I thought was by Joe Garagiola. But the discussion on youtube there seems to be some doubt. One person says it is Ken Coleman. I'll go with Garagiola on my listening and watching from this era and beyond.
This appears to be the oldest surviving colour tv clip involving either the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees. Don't quote me!
References
Golenbock,
Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees,
1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.
Golenbock,
Peter. Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated
History of the Boston Red Sox. Chicago, IL: Triumph Books, 2005. Print.
Ford, Whitey, & Phil Pepe, P. (1987). Slick. New York: W. Morrow.
MLB. “Yastrzemski Makes Amazing Catch In Left.” YouTube. Major League Baseball. 16 Sept. 2014, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQgowJXJWAI>.
Retrosheet. Web. 9 Aug. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major
League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/.
Web. 9 Aug. 2015.
“Tom Tresh.” Society For American Baseball Research. Society For American Baseball Research, <https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a1f535cd>.
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