After the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox were swept in mid-September weekend series, both clubs turned it up a notch to start the penultimate week of the 1967 season.
The Red Sox, after dropping three to the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park, headed to Detroit for two games against the Tigers, who had taken over first place with the Twins and Red Sox getting swept.
The sellout crowd at Tiger Stadium excitedly anticipated a win in the Monday night opener on September 18, when the Tigers took a 5-4 lead into the ninth. But Boston slugger Carl Yastrzemski drilled a one-out home run off Fred Lasher to force extra innings and Dalton Jones slugged a leadoff shot in the 10th off Mike Marshall to give the Red Sox a 6-5 comeback win.
The Red Sox came from behind again on Tuesday, erasing a 2-1 deficit by scratching for three runs in the ninth. In front of another large Tiger Stadium crowd, Yastrzemski, a candidate for the Triple Crown in 1967, scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
Boston moved on to Cleveland and scored two more one-run victories to extend its winning streak to four games. On Wednesday, September 20, the Red Sox once again pulled out a dramatic victory, 5-4, when Reggie Smith singled home Yastrzemski with two outs in the ninth. On Thursday, Boston defeated Cleveland, 6-5, before heading to Baltimore for a weekend set against the Orioles.
Minnesota opened the penultimate week with a four-game, home-and-home series with the last-place Kansas City Athletics. The Twins also won in dramatic fashion on Monday in Kansas City, as Jim Kaat and 21-year-old A’s righthander Jim “Catfish” Hunter worked nine scoreless innings before Ted Uhlaender delivered a two-run single in the 10th for a 2-0 Twins win.
Kaat was at his best in September. After starting 1-7 (6.38 ERA) in 1967, the 6-foot-4 southpaw claimed his fifth straight September victory with his 10-inning shutout. He improved to 14-13 on the season, lowered his ERA to 3.37, and would win his next two starts before facing the Red Sox on the last weekend of the season.
The Twins rolled to an 8-2 win on Tuesday before returning to the Met for their final two matchups with the A’s. On Wednesday, Tony Oliva and Bob Allison powered two-run homers in support of Dean Chance’s 19th victory, a 6-2 decision. In Thursday’s finale against the A’s, lefty Jim Merritt took a no-hitter in the seventh and allowed just two hits in a 4-0 win that allowed the Twins to finish the day tied atop the American League with Boston at 86-66.
Competition between the two clubs also included exciting individual races, as Yastrzemski chased the Triple Crown while Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew pursued the home-run and RBI titles. At the start of the penultimate week, prior to Monday’s games, Killebrew and Yaz were tied at 39 homers each while Yaz held a slight lead in RBIs, 105-101.
Over the final two weeks, Killebrew produced at a level that might have clinched those two offensive categories—and a pennant for the Twins. From Monday, September 18 through the end of the season, a stretch of 12 games, he batted .488 (20-for-41) with five homers and 12 RBIs.
Yastrzemski wouldn’t be outdone. In that same 12-game stretch, he hit .523 (23-for-44) with five homers and 16 RBIs. He finished in a tie with Killebrew for the home-run crown, which was good enough to claim the Triple Crown.
Much like the competition between Killebrew and Yastrzemski, the 1967 pennant race would go down to the final day with the Twins and Red Sox going head-to-head on the final weekend of the season.
I will post about the 1967 Twins and their wild AL pennant race down to the final days of the season, culling stories from the upcoming and tentatively titled The Glory Years of the Minnesota Twins: Rock ‘n’ Roll, War and Peace, the Civil Rights Movement and Baseball in the 1960s. I also post on my author page on Facebook.
The Red Sox, after dropping three to the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park, headed to Detroit for two games against the Tigers, who had taken over first place with the Twins and Red Sox getting swept.
The sellout crowd at Tiger Stadium excitedly anticipated a win in the Monday night opener on September 18, when the Tigers took a 5-4 lead into the ninth. But Boston slugger Carl Yastrzemski drilled a one-out home run off Fred Lasher to force extra innings and Dalton Jones slugged a leadoff shot in the 10th off Mike Marshall to give the Red Sox a 6-5 comeback win.
The Red Sox came from behind again on Tuesday, erasing a 2-1 deficit by scratching for three runs in the ninth. In front of another large Tiger Stadium crowd, Yastrzemski, a candidate for the Triple Crown in 1967, scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
Boston moved on to Cleveland and scored two more one-run victories to extend its winning streak to four games. On Wednesday, September 20, the Red Sox once again pulled out a dramatic victory, 5-4, when Reggie Smith singled home Yastrzemski with two outs in the ninth. On Thursday, Boston defeated Cleveland, 6-5, before heading to Baltimore for a weekend set against the Orioles.
Minnesota opened the penultimate week with a four-game, home-and-home series with the last-place Kansas City Athletics. The Twins also won in dramatic fashion on Monday in Kansas City, as Jim Kaat and 21-year-old A’s righthander Jim “Catfish” Hunter worked nine scoreless innings before Ted Uhlaender delivered a two-run single in the 10th for a 2-0 Twins win.
Kaat was at his best in September. After starting 1-7 (6.38 ERA) in 1967, the 6-foot-4 southpaw claimed his fifth straight September victory with his 10-inning shutout. He improved to 14-13 on the season, lowered his ERA to 3.37, and would win his next two starts before facing the Red Sox on the last weekend of the season.
The Twins rolled to an 8-2 win on Tuesday before returning to the Met for their final two matchups with the A’s. On Wednesday, Tony Oliva and Bob Allison powered two-run homers in support of Dean Chance’s 19th victory, a 6-2 decision. In Thursday’s finale against the A’s, lefty Jim Merritt took a no-hitter in the seventh and allowed just two hits in a 4-0 win that allowed the Twins to finish the day tied atop the American League with Boston at 86-66.
Competition between the two clubs also included exciting individual races, as Yastrzemski chased the Triple Crown while Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew pursued the home-run and RBI titles. At the start of the penultimate week, prior to Monday’s games, Killebrew and Yaz were tied at 39 homers each while Yaz held a slight lead in RBIs, 105-101.
Over the final two weeks, Killebrew produced at a level that might have clinched those two offensive categories—and a pennant for the Twins. From Monday, September 18 through the end of the season, a stretch of 12 games, he batted .488 (20-for-41) with five homers and 12 RBIs.
Yastrzemski wouldn’t be outdone. In that same 12-game stretch, he hit .523 (23-for-44) with five homers and 16 RBIs. He finished in a tie with Killebrew for the home-run crown, which was good enough to claim the Triple Crown.
Much like the competition between Killebrew and Yastrzemski, the 1967 pennant race would go down to the final day with the Twins and Red Sox going head-to-head on the final weekend of the season.
I will post about the 1967 Twins and their wild AL pennant race down to the final days of the season, culling stories from the upcoming and tentatively titled The Glory Years of the Minnesota Twins: Rock ‘n’ Roll, War and Peace, the Civil Rights Movement and Baseball in the 1960s. I also post on my author page on Facebook.