Thursday, May 18, 2023

1976

18 May 1976, Tue Daily News (New York, New York) Newspapers.com

This really did become huge, huge news in my world. It's going to lead to my portraying Howard "Mr. C" Cunningham in a Concord Elementary third-grade play, which is the kind of thing that will really stunt a kid.

10 comments:

  1. "Once you buy a prize, it's yours to keep."

    I get it that Wheel of Fortune has been a much bigger deal since they moved away from the shopping sprees at the end of a puzzle, but I, for one, have never regained interest in the program.

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  2. Tony Kornheiser is forever saying that The Boston Globe’s of the 1970s and ‘80s is the best sports section in the history of American newspapers, and, boy, oh, boy, have I ever come to believe he is correct.

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  3. The Friday, May 21, 1976, section starting on Page 25 is so fun and interesting.

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  4. First there are the photos that top the page—frames of a play at a plate in New York last night. I was watching this game on BackToBaseball.com: Red Sox and Yankees, first of a series. New York, the Eastern Division leader, was ahead, 1-0, in the bottom of the sixth inning. Boston, the defending A.L. pennant winners, has been playing better of late in MLB76 after spending its first month in last place.

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  5. The photos by an unidentified United Press International shooter are consecutive or nearly consecutive frames of a play at the plate. Here’s how Peter Gammons in his game story below sets up the moment: “The situation was … runners on first and second and two out and Otto Velez singled to right. As Bill Russell once roamed the middle for the Celtics, so (Dwight) Evans roams right field, and he charged the ball, straightened and fired it to the plate.”

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  6. “Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk makes fist (left photo) after being bowled over by Yankees’ Lou Piniella trying to score from second on single. Dwight Evans’s throw reached Fisk in ample time. Right photo, Fisk’s hair stands on end as he pushes Piniella after tagging him out. Umpire is Terry Cooney.”

    Cooney’s mouth is agape—as are those of multiple fans you can see in the background of the second picture.

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  7. Gammons reports that Fisk tagged Piniella out and then tagged him a second time—in the jaw. Fisk says Piniella was “kicking and wailing away.” Piniella says he thought the ball came loose and he was trying to get his foot on home plate.

    “(A)ll Piniella could remember as Fisk pushing his glove in Lou’s face,” Gammons writes. “Fisk remembers little, and saw nothing of what happened to (pitcher Bill) Lee."

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  8. Replies
    1. Bill Lee went 17-11 in 1973, 17-15 in 1974, and 17-9 in 1975. He was 29 years old in 1976. But after this event, he would have only one other year in his career where he was truly healthy -- 1979, when he went 16-10 for the Expos. For the Red Sox, he would go 5-7 in 1976, 9-5 in 1977, and 10-10 in 1978 -- and it seems very likely that his health cost the BoSox dearly in all three seasons.

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  9. The Boston Globe also has a picture of Carl Yastrzemski with an ice pack on his right leg, injured in the fracas. But the Boston captain is happy in the picture from the locker room after the game. He ended up with two home runs, a single and four runs batted in as the Red Sox exploded for two, two and four runs in their final three inning halves after the brawl. Yaz, in shorts and sandals, appears to be relaxing with a cigarette and beer.

    With the 8-2 win, the Red Sox moved into a tie with the Tigers for third in the A.L. East, five games behind the Yankees (and two behind the Orioles).

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