Common Denominator: Rico Petrocelli

"Put the squeeze on Harmon Killebrew for his first major league putout. Caught the popup on the last day of 1967. Caught the popup off the bat of Mickey Mantle in his last plate appearance."

Rico Petrocelli had joined the Boston Red Sox to stay in 1965. His actual major league debut had come on September 21st of 1963. September was to be a day that Rico would be most remembered for.

But there he was in the top of the third inning, as Boston was facing Minnesota at home. The Twins were closer to greatness than the Red Sox were, alas. Boston's big gun was Carl Yastrzemski, who took over from some chap named Ted Williams in 1961. Yaz would stay with Boston until 1982, and it was Jim Rice, another Hall-of-Famer who would be behind Rico (Now a third basemen) when he joined the team in 1974.

So Rico would brush shoulders with greatness a-plenty in his career.

But in 1963, it was just a one-off, perhaps. Petrocelli made the catch off Harmon Killebrew for the second out in the top of the third frame, and pitcher Bill Monbouquette fanned Don Mincher to end it. Petrocelli had gotten into the offence in the bottom of the second, doubling home Russ Nixon to get Boston on the board. The game was all Minnesota, who won easily, 13-4.

So Rico had to spend 1964 in the minors. The next year, he back on the Red Sox, hitting thirteen home runs and finding the Green Monster an inviting target at Fenway Park. The rookie, and his team, would make steady progress.

'64 saw a new face on Boston in Tony Conigliaro, who wasted no time in proving he belonged in the bigs. Tony hit 24 home runs as a rookie. Then, as Rico hit a modest total the next year, Tony C. lead the league with 32 round-trippers. The Red Sox had quite an outfield to compliment Conigliaro, who was stationed in right. Yaz, left. Lenny Green in centre, who hit .276.

Rico's progress was steady. He would hit between twelve and eighteen home runs from his sophomore year until 1968. It wasn't until the end of the decade that he put together an eye-popping year. There had been little trouble in holding down his position at short for Boston. And his numbers were more than good enough for job security.

But the bad news was Rico's team. Petrocelli's Boston Red Sox lost 100 games in 1965. Then 92 more in 1966.

Then came 1967.

Things just seemed to click for the Red Sox that year. You had Carl Yastzremski in left, who carried the team in his shoulders that year. Home runs? 44. Tops in the league (Well, tied with Harmon Killebrew). RBIs? 121. Topps in the league. Batting average? .326. Tops in the league. Yaz had himself a Triple Crown. Did I mention the left fielder also led the league in runs scored and on-base percentage? It was that kind of year.

Boston wasn't without setbacks, however. Tony Conigliaro twice got hit by pitches that season. The first hadn't been too bad, back in the spring. But then Jack Hamilton of California hit him in the left eye in August, damaging both his vision and his cheekbone, which was fractured. Tony would miss the rest of 1967. All of 1968. It was debatable whether Conigliaro would ever come back, so Boston went out and got Ken Harrelson to fill in the void.

And with pitcher Jim Lonborg sailing along, it appeared that Boston had a real shot at their first pennant since 1946. They'd had heartbreak not long after that. After losing to St. Louis in a tough World Series in '46, the Boston Red Sox had just narrowly lost out on a return trip to the Fall Classic in both 1948 and '49. The team would fall on hard times in the 1950s, and the 1960s hadn't appeared to offer anything different. It was crucial for the Red Sox to cease the moment in '67.

That, they did. Leading the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on the last day of the season, it was Jim Lonborg looking for win # 22 of 1967. He'd come a long way from just 9-17 as a rookie in 1965. But now, with Tony Conigliaro back with the team on the bench for some inspiration, the kids that had come up from the mid-sixties were hitting their stride. 

On this wonderful day, the first of October, Boston was merely looking to complete a tie for the American League pennant. But really, with so little to look forward for the longest of time, just seeing Lonborg and Yaz work their magic in 1967 had to be something for the Fenway faithful.

Rico Petrocelli, for his part, had a hit and a bases on balls on this afternoon. No RBIs or even runs scored. But, you know what? No one remembers that. Jim Lonborg gave up a single to Ted Uhlaender to start the top of the ninth, but erased him on a double play. When Rich Rollins up, the Red Sox fans were on the edge of their seats.

And you should have seen it when Rollins popped up to shallow left. There was Rico Petrocelli with the squeeze. Everyone was happy in Boston. And even happier when the California Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 later that day. The Red Sox had the pennant!

The Red Sox, if you were wondering, basically had a rematch of the 1946 World Series at hand. The St. Louis Cardinals would be a tough opposition. Pitching, they had Bob Gibson. Hitting, they had Lou Brock.  And like 1946, the October Finale went the distance. Rico, Yaz and Jim Lonborg rallied the Red Sox from 3-1 down in the Fall Classic, to game seven at home. Petrocelli started off slow, but was the man in the sixth contest, swatting two home runs. And it was one awesome bottom of the fourth inning in that game. Down 2-1, Boston ended up 4-2 up by the time the inning had ended. Petrocelli, Yaz and Reggie Smith all took poor Dick Hughes outta the park.

You'd think that Boston would win, but Bob Gibson and Lou Brock had been lights out all year for the Cardinals. In this deciding game, Gibby was too tough. First two times up, Rico Petrocelli struck out. Bob Gibson was even helping out his own cause. He'd gone yard in the top of the fifth off Lonborg.

By the time Rico made it up to the plate for the third time, it was too late. The score was 7-1 for the visitors. A bit of a last-ditched rally was started by Petrocelli. He led off the bottom of the eighth with a double. Bob Gibson made a mistake by throwing a wild pitch. Dalton Jones, batting for Elston Howard (Acquired from the New York Yankees that season), walked. But Bob Gibson settled down, getting the next three men to hit grounders, limiting the damage to one run. Yastrzemski led of the bottom of the ninth with a single, and it was only the third hit of the ballgame for Boston. Bob Gibson got Ken Harrelson to hit into a double play and fanned George Scott. Petrocelli had to settle for just a .200 batting average to go along with his two round-trippers, and three RBI.

Well, the Red Sox had nothing to be a shamed of. They'd come a long way. When your the laughing stock of the league in 1965, and two years later make it to game seven of the World Series, you are heading in the right direction.

Boston clearly missed Tony Conigliaro in 1968, though. Plus, Jim Lonborg had a skiing accident. The team wasn't quite the same. However, it's not as if they weren't still a good, young ballclub.

It was just that the Detroit Tigers were even better than they'd been in 1967. A year later, led by Denny McLain's 31 regular season wins, they ran away with the pennant. While Boston was merely left in Detroit's wake, they were still good enough to win 86 games. Suddenly, it seemed like the American League, one year before division play began, was tight. Real tight. At least for second. Minnesota, with 79 wins, had to settle for seventh. Other teams, like Oakland, were improving. The Athletics, like the Red Sox, had once been easy pushovers. But no more.

Well, Boston did get an encouraging result from Ken Harrelson that season. Hawk put it all together: 35 home runs, 109 runs driven in! A .275 batting average is just fine by a slugger. Yaz was still Yaz. He hit 23 home runs and was the only regular player in the American League that year to top .300. It was a year when offence was so low, the All-Star game ended 1-0, the only run scoring on a double play. The Junior Circuit hit a collective .230 in '68. Each team averaged fifteen shutouts.

Well, the way 1968 went down, it wasn't quite the way a Red Sox rival player wanted to go out. Another team that improved from 1967 was the New York Yankees. Funny, back in 1964, the team had won 99 games, and then took Bob Gibson and company to a game seven of their own. Mickey Mantle was doing it all to keep the aging Yankees going. He hit three home runs in that Fall Classic.

But age and injuries got to not only Mantle, but the rest of the Bronx Bombers. Plus, a lot of the veterans had been traded away come 1968. The team had finished below .500 three years in a row.

It seemed, though, a bit like old times for New York that season. Though their cross-town buddies the Mets won 73 games (Which, believe me, was huge), the Yankees could once again laugh at them.

As the season winded down, New York didn't seem that good. They seemed just about .500 or lower. Actually, the Yankees were just 70-70 on September 4th. Then, they caught fire.

The team somehow won ten games in a row to serve notice that the dog days were behind them (And two season later, the Bronx Bombers were up over 90 wins). They couldn't be taken lightly any more. The first place Tigers brought them down to earth by beating them all three games of a series. Then the Red Sox did the same right after.

New York had to settle for just going 1-2 vs. Cleveland from September 24th to 25th, managing only a doubleheader split. When Boston beat them badly, 12-2 at Fenway, on the 27th, it appeared that the Yankees were just playing out the string.

So the Yankees were merely 81-79 as they took the field on September 28th. However, they'd officially clinched .500 on the season, and seemed to want to remind the Red Sox that 1967 was last year. This year, things were more level for the two clubs.

Jim Lonborg was back on the hill for Boston. 1967 really was, last year. How the mighty had fallen! Jim was 6-9 on the season. Batting third on New York, was Mickey Mantle. The first basemen had some issues that season, battling the affects of eighteen long seasons in the bigs.

Mantle would finish 1968 hitting just .237. He wasn't happy about that. "...to think you're a .300 hitter and end up at .237 in your last season, then find yourself looking at a lifetime .298 average - it made me want to cry," he would say years later in his 1985 book, The Mick. However, it's not as if there weren't any highlights.

The big issue with Mantle is, his knees were so bad by this point he couldn't really be effective in double headers. Even if the first game was a great game, there would be little more from number seven in the nightcap.

There was still some jump left in him. Mantle stole six of eight bases for a 75 percent success rate. Not bad for a 36-year old with bum knees. But, ask yourself why he could only play first base? Even if he could have run, his arm wasn't what it once was, either. As far back as 1962, he started playing some games in right field. His last season playing 100 games in centre, his position he'd held with New York since 1952, was 1964. That season saw Mickey play all seven World Series games in right, while Roger Maris took over in centre. One key part of the The St. Louis Cardinals' scouting was to run on Mantle's arm, which they felt wasn't so strong. But oddly enough, all these problems aside, Mantle played 93 games in centre two years later. Plus four more in left. He didn't make a single error.

'66, however, was the last year Mickey played any position in the outfield. He moved to first base the following year, and Joe Pepitone went to centre. Not that Pepi adjusted to it very well.

Well, Mickey managed to hit 22 more home runs on a Yankee team that wasn't much worth writing home about that season. That upped his total to 518 home runs. Was there reason to come back? He'd hit a more-than respectable .288 in 1966, adding 23 home runs in only 108 games. Eleven of his games that year were strictly as a pinch-hitter.

But the batting average dropped to just .245 in '67. However, that didn't tell the entire story. Mantle was able to get into 144 games that season, quite an improvement. That wasn't the only are Mickey was better in. He also scored 63 runs compared to just 40 in 1966. True, his RBI total fell by one from 56 to 55, but Mickey's on-base percentage actually went up from .389 to .391. A big reason for that was the bases on balls. Mantle went from just 57 in 108 games to 107 in 144 games. Mantle would finish second in that stat to Harmon Killebrew's 131. In addition, #7 would finish fifth in on-base percentage, trailing Hall-of-Famers Carl Yastrzemski, Al Kaline, Killebrew, and Frank Robinson.

So I guess it depends on how you look at it. Mantle's eye was still sharp, evidentially. Defensively, he wasn't going to be the help he'd been back in his glory years. Mantle was a gold-glove winning centre fielder in 1962, taking home his third regular season Most Valuable Player that year.

Yaz upped his on-base percentage from .418 in 1967 to .426 the next season, even though his batting average was just .301. Mickey Mantle might have regretted coming back, but eye stayed sharp. Only Carl Yastrzemski had more walks (119) than Mantle in 1968. Mickey finished with 106 free passes.

Okay, so the batting average was a lousy .237. Lousy, when the league average was .230? Well, okay, Mantle was a better-than-average hitter? Perhaps. His on-base percentage was .385 in '68, and only Yaz and Frank Robinson were higher.

Impressively, the Yankees' first basemen got into games. June 2nd, July 7th and September 13th were the only times that season where Mantle played a relatively full opener and batted more than once in the nightcap of a doubleheader. The knees just weren't going to allow it.

This was probably most frustrating to Mickey on May 30th. In the first game of a doubleheader against Washington, he was about ten years younger: 5-5, 2 home runs, 5 runs batted in, 3 runs scored! Amazing, for a 36-year old. The problem was, it was just one game, one win. Mantle was needed in the second game, which New York lost 6-2, the only time you saw Mantle was in the on-deck circle as Gene Michael batted in the bottom of the ninth. There were two outs, and a man on first. But Darold Knowles made Michael his third strikeout victim of the inning, and the contest ended. New York managed ten hits against the Senators, but didn't get enough clutch blows.

It wasn't long after that Mantle actually made a fine double play against California. It was on June 7th.  Second game of DH, ironically. Mickey sat out the first game, which New York won, 4-1. So, what about the nightcap? It was in this contest where Jim Fregosi of the California Angels was on third base with no one out and Roger Repoz was on first. Top of the eight inning. The batter, Don Mincher, hit a grounder to first. Mantle looked home, where Fregosi headed. Jim was trapped! Mickey ran across the field...Tossed to Bobby Cox, the third basemen...Bobby tagged Jim on the back with the ball in his right hand. Ropez decided to salvage third. Too late. Cox tossed to third base where Mantle was happy to greet Ropez with the tag!

See it at 30:46 of this vid below:

Not a bad play, says I. Alas, despite hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the first, all this from the great number seven was not enough. It was California with a 8-4 win.

Mantle couldn't have been too happy come September. When the Yankees lost 6-3 to the Baltimore Orioles on the fourth, it looked bad. Mickey was staring at a 0-4 day, dropping his batting average on the season to just .223.

You know what? The Mick actually helped key the ten-game winning streak I mentioned earlier. Although only able to play in seven the contests, it was one last effort on Mantle's part. A bit of a team slump followed. However, Mickey's average was back up to .245 by September 20th. It was on that day that Mickey went yard for the second straight day. Number eighteen on the season and number 536 on his career. Against Boston and pitcher Jim Lonborg. But after hitting five home runs in August, The Mick had to settle for just two in September. The surge of September 7th to 20th saw Mantle hit .486, drive in six runs, score eight and walk seven times compared to just six strikeouts. His on-base percentage in the eleven games was .558.

So New York cooled off, and so did Mantle. Rico Petrocelli, by the way, was not even in the lineup in the 4-3 Red Sox win on the 20th. Meanwhile, Boston was doing alright. They upped their record to 84-72 by beating New York 5-1 on the 22nd. But here is where it was the Red Sox turn to cool off. Mickey Mantle might not have had any problems with the Washington Senators, at any point in his career, including 1968, but Boston sure did. 6-5 and 10-2 losses followed before the Red Sox salvaged the last contest, 1-0.

On the 27th of the month, Rico's team beat Mickey's team 12-2 at Fenway. Neither player had an RBI, but Petrocelli scored two runs. Now the Yankees were just 81-79 compared to the Red Sox, 86-74.

September 28th, 1968. Mel Stottlemyre vs. Jim Lonborg.

Stottlemyre had once been the ace of the Yankees' staff. He'd come up late in the 1964 season, helping New York to a pennant courtesy of a 9-3 record. Then he became the ace in '65, as he won 20 games. Whitey Ford, who'd retire two seasons later, also won 16 contests that year. Al Downing was not too bad at 12-14. However, Jim Bouton was just 4-15, after winning 18 contests in '64.

Bill Stafford, who'd won 14 games in 1961 and '62, and had bounced back from a tough (4-8) 1963 to go 5-0 the next year, tried to return to his role as a starter. It was a case of "Good ERA, bad win-loss record". Stafford, if you eliminate his 1963 season, always had a very good earned run average: 1960 (2.25), 1961 (2.68), 1962 (3.67), 1964 (2.67)! He didn't always get good run support, as you'd think those numbers would produce better than records of 3-1, 14-9, 14-9 and 5-0, right? Well, for Bill Stafford, his team wasn't helping him in 1965. ERA? 3.56. W-L record? Just 3-8. The kid (He was only 26) was just 43-35 despite a career earned run average under 3.50. New York would trade him to Kansas City the next season. It seemed like Stafford symbolized what Yankee pitchers went through in the declining years.

It was bad for Stottlemyre, too. He went from a twenty-game winner to a twenty-game loser in '66 (12-20). Then, Mel was just 15-15 despite 2.96 earned run average in 1967. Al Downing was just 14-10 despite an ERA of of 2.63. They were the only two aces left left from the glory years come next season, unless you want to count Jim Bouton. Bouton had been as equally frustrated as Bill Stafford had been. Good earned run average, 2.69 in '66, and only a 3-8 record. Jim's arm had been damaged, and he was only able to appear in 53 games in his last three years with the Yankees.

Stottlemyre had been rolling along all year. The kid was bound and determined to hold this adrift ship together. It was a grand effort on his part. By September 13th of 1968, he was a twenty-game winner. Mel didn't stop there. He made the Cleveland Indians look like a "AAA" club on 24th. 9 innings, 4 hits, a 5-1 win.

So Mel's outing on the 28th would see him going for win number 22 on the season. Jim Lonborg had fallen a long way for the Red Sox, but would try and stop him.

New York, eager to end their 1-9 stretch coming into this afternoon contest (Which started at 2:04), wasted no time in getting men aboard. It was Horace Clarke that looked at ball four. Jake Gibbs flew out to Carl Yastzemski in left. The putout is scored "7". Speaking of which...

Mickey Mantle was next. The Fenway Faithful gave him a standing ovation, no doubt sensing the end. Lonborg got ahead of him with a fastball that Mantle swung on and missed. Mantle clearly was past it, as he you could see the pain he was in after he swung.

But still, The Mick battled. The next pitch was on the outside (Mantle was batting from the left side of the plate, of course, which Lonborg a right-handed pitcher). A few pickoff attempts by the pitcher before the second pitch kept Clarke at first, but the New York second basemen was bound and determined to get into scoring position.

Mantle caught up to the next pitch, fouling it out of catcher Russ Gibson's hand. It is too bad that Gibson was behind the plate, as this occasion would have been fitting if it were Elston Howard catching for Boston. But all the ex-Yankee had done recently had been playing on September 8th, 11th and 27th (The 12-2 Boston win over New York). But of those contests, only the game on the 8th saw Ellie, now 39 years old, play port to stern. Howard would next appear with Boston on the 30th of September, but only as a defensive replacement behind the plate.

Jim Lonborg missed outside again, evening the count at 2-2. Horace Clarke took a big lead off first, and was off and running as the next pitch was thrown. Mickey Mantle popped it up in shallow left-centre, just to the left behind second base. Rico Petrocelli back-peddled, and settled under it for the catch with the sun blaring down on him.

Roy White batted next, and Clarke stole second. No matter. Lonborg fanned White.

"Ralph [Houk] sent Andy Kosco in to replace me," the Yankee star would write in The Mick, "I sat back and watched the kid limber up. I knew I had reached the end of the line."

While Mantle was out of the game, the Yankees would make him proud. Rico Petrocelli, ironically, popped out to short left his first time up, where shortstop Tommy Tresh made the catch. Mel Stottlemyre retired the Red Sox's shortstop all three times up. New York trailed, however, 3-0 after five innings.

Stottlemyre would leave the game for a pinch hitter, despite allowing just three runs on three hits. So with the big slugger and ace out of the equation, New York seemed doomed.

In the top of the seventh, Roy White and Joe Pepitone walked. Tom Tresh, who was battling leg injuries himself that got his batting average for 1968 below .200, gave it a ride to centre. While Reggie Smith made the catch, both runners advanced. The Yankees were poised to get on the board. Bill Robinson then gave it a bit of a ride to right, which Ken Harrelson made the catch on. But again, both runners advanced. The shutout was gone and Joe Pepitone was on third. And now with two outs, Bobby Cox doubled home Pepi. 3-2. Two runs on just one hit.

This was where conceivably, New York could have let Mel Stottlemyre bat for himself, as Cox represented the tying run. But there was no way that the Yankees would allow their ace to hit in a one-run game. Mel had once hit an inside-the-park grand slam (In 1965), but would watch as Rocky Colavito grabbed some lumber.

Rocky was up for the last time himself in the big leagues. Jim Lonborg fanned him. It would be up to Lindy McDaniel to keep New York in this. McDaniel did the job.

But what the visiting team needed was two more runs. Andy Kosco did what Mantle would have wanted him to do: He blasted a game-tying home run in the eighth! Meanwhile, the Yankees' star reliever had himself a pair of 1-2-3 innings. How would this afternoon contest end?

Joe Pepitone, of all people, would do the honours. He hit a home run off Jim Lonborg in the top of the ninth. New York had the lead for good. Rico Petrocelli was the last out of the game, grounding out to Tom Tresh at short. Mickey Mantle's replacement would make the last putout of the game, as Lindy McDaniel had his third 1-2-3 inning!

The two teams played again the next day, and again it was New York with a 4-3 win. So the Yankees finished 1968 with a record of 83 wins. Not bad. Andy Kosco would go 2-4 at the dish, filling in for Mickey Mantle just fine. Rico Petrocelli, for his part, would double and later score in the eighth inning, as the home team tried to overcome a 4-1 deficit. 

Rico Petrocelli would finish 1968 with just 12 home runs and 46 RBI. Every batter in the American League seemed to have an off-season that year. But Petrocelli would rebound big time the next season, setting a shortstop record by hitting 40 home runs (Not until Alex Rodriguez hit 57 in 2002, would any one else just to the left of second base top that). He continued to play for the Red Sox until being released by Boston in the spring of 1977.


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