Rick Wise ended up the winning pitcher in a game many (myself included) have dubbed "The Greatest Game Ever Played". Well, at least at Fall Classic time. Game six of the 1975 World Series. Started with a flyball from Pete Rose to Carl Yastrzemski, ended with a majestic home run from Carlton Fisk. Right off the foul pole in left.
Wise did not start the game. The Boston Red Sox, down three games to two at home, had to beat the Cincinnati Reds in game six and seven in order to win it. They started Luis Tiant (winner of games one and four) this game. For four innings, he stopped the Reds. A three-run home run by Fred Lynn gave Boston a 3-0 lead.
But the Reds wanted to wrap it all up tonight. They tied it in the top of the fifth. Ken Griffey scored Ed Armbrister and Pete Rose. A long single off the Green Monster by Johnny Bench tied the game. Two innings later, the Reds pushed across two more runs on a George Foster double. A solo home run by Cesar Geronimo in the top of the eighth finished Tiant, and gave the Reds a 6-3 lead. Just eight more outs to go. The Reds managed two get two outs in the bottom of the frame. But a dramatic pinch-hit three-run home run by Bernie Carbo tied the game, and sent the faithful at Fenway into a frenzy!
Roger Moret had a scoreless inning for Boston. Dick Drago added three scoreless frames of his own. But really, what Drago got was a game-saving catch from Dwight Evans in right in the top of the eleventh. The Red Sox, avoided the bullet, but had to be mad at the fact they hadn't won it themselves in the bottom of the ninth. They had the bases loaded and nobody out for Lynn. Lynn flied out to Foster in left, who gunned out Denny Doyle at the plate, trying to score the winning run.
Rick Wise pitched the top of the eleventh, after Boston went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eleventh. He gave up a one-out single to Tony Perez, and then another single to Foster. However, the next two Cincy batters went down without either base runner advancing. So when Carlton Fisk came up in the bottom of the inning, and belted Pat Darcy's second pitch of the inning (He'd gotten six straight Red Sox out in the tenth and eleventh) off the left-field foul pole, Wise was the winning pitcher. The Red Sox and their fans were so ecstatic (and relieved), that probably no one was going to remember the winning pitcher, in relief.
The Reds recovered from this (And another 3-0 lead by Boston the next game) to win game seven. Wise did not pitch in it.
No doubt, it's all about Fisk when you talk about the 1975 World Series. And for very good reason. Wise had started game three in Cincinnati and gotten routed. He did not take the loss. He and the Reds had an interesting history. On June 23rd of 1971, he no-hit Cincy right there in Riverfront Stadium (Pete Rose was the final out of that game). And his bat did some damage, too. He smacked two home runs!
Then, facing Don Gullet of the Reds on July 3rd of the next season, he hit another home run. Clearly, there was something special for Rick Wise versus Cincy. And while it's Fisk with the walk-off, it's The Wise Guy with the relief win.
References
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major
League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/.
Web. 29 Jun. 2015.
Wise did not start the game. The Boston Red Sox, down three games to two at home, had to beat the Cincinnati Reds in game six and seven in order to win it. They started Luis Tiant (winner of games one and four) this game. For four innings, he stopped the Reds. A three-run home run by Fred Lynn gave Boston a 3-0 lead.
But the Reds wanted to wrap it all up tonight. They tied it in the top of the fifth. Ken Griffey scored Ed Armbrister and Pete Rose. A long single off the Green Monster by Johnny Bench tied the game. Two innings later, the Reds pushed across two more runs on a George Foster double. A solo home run by Cesar Geronimo in the top of the eighth finished Tiant, and gave the Reds a 6-3 lead. Just eight more outs to go. The Reds managed two get two outs in the bottom of the frame. But a dramatic pinch-hit three-run home run by Bernie Carbo tied the game, and sent the faithful at Fenway into a frenzy!
Roger Moret had a scoreless inning for Boston. Dick Drago added three scoreless frames of his own. But really, what Drago got was a game-saving catch from Dwight Evans in right in the top of the eleventh. The Red Sox, avoided the bullet, but had to be mad at the fact they hadn't won it themselves in the bottom of the ninth. They had the bases loaded and nobody out for Lynn. Lynn flied out to Foster in left, who gunned out Denny Doyle at the plate, trying to score the winning run.
Rick Wise pitched the top of the eleventh, after Boston went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eleventh. He gave up a one-out single to Tony Perez, and then another single to Foster. However, the next two Cincy batters went down without either base runner advancing. So when Carlton Fisk came up in the bottom of the inning, and belted Pat Darcy's second pitch of the inning (He'd gotten six straight Red Sox out in the tenth and eleventh) off the left-field foul pole, Wise was the winning pitcher. The Red Sox and their fans were so ecstatic (and relieved), that probably no one was going to remember the winning pitcher, in relief.
The Reds recovered from this (And another 3-0 lead by Boston the next game) to win game seven. Wise did not pitch in it.
No doubt, it's all about Fisk when you talk about the 1975 World Series. And for very good reason. Wise had started game three in Cincinnati and gotten routed. He did not take the loss. He and the Reds had an interesting history. On June 23rd of 1971, he no-hit Cincy right there in Riverfront Stadium (Pete Rose was the final out of that game). And his bat did some damage, too. He smacked two home runs!
Then, facing Don Gullet of the Reds on July 3rd of the next season, he hit another home run. Clearly, there was something special for Rick Wise versus Cincy. And while it's Fisk with the walk-off, it's The Wise Guy with the relief win.
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
2005. Print.
Golenbock,
Peter. Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox. Chicago,
IL: Triumph Books, 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec,
David et all. 20th Century Baseball
Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's
Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Retrosheet. Retrosheet. Web. 29 Jun. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Youtube. Youtube. Web. 29 Jun. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>.
