The 'Impossible Dream' season was a magical ride and revived hope

Page 3 of 3 -- Yastrzemski went 3 for 4 with two home runs and four RBIs to lead the 5-0 equalizer, so Nelson Briles nailed him with a fastball on the right leg in the first inning of Game 3. ``He threw at me,'' said Yastrzemski, and the Red Sox clubhouse vibrated with insults toward the righthander, who had gone 14-5 during the regular season for manager Red Schoendienst.

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Briles was unruffled as he scattered seven hits - three by Jones - in a complete game, 5-2 win with help from Mike Shannon (2 for 3, HR, 2 RBIs) and the usual Brock performance (2 for 4, 2 runs).

When Gibson came back on three days' rest to blind the Red Sox, 6-0, in Game 4 - a five-hit, six-strikeout performance that was played in 2 hours, 5 minutes - it appeared a hopeless cause. Only that was made to order for an unheralded group of players who had been dubbed ``The Cardiac Kids,'' and in Game 5 Lonborg outpitched a young lefthander named Steve Carlton. Nursing a 1-0 lead, Lonborg got two insurance runs in the ninth. Maris homered in the ninth, just the third St. Louis hit, to account for the 3-1 final.

In two games, Lonborg pitched 18 innings and yielded four hits and one run, an performance worthy of Gibson's, but his magical Cy Young season had seemingly ended. As the Red Sox headed to Fenway for Game 6, it seemed Williams would pin his hopes on rookie righthander Gary Waslewski, then, if a Game 7 were necessary, go to Santiago. Waslewski, 25, who had started just eight games and gone 2-2 in the regular season, came through, allowing four hits and two runs in 5 innings to keep the Sox in it until the bats woke up.

And awaken they did. Petrocelli homered twice, Yastrzemski and Smith once each, and Boston broke a 4-4 tie with four runs in the eighth to win Game 6, 8-4, putting the Red Sox in position to host the deciding game of the World Series for the first time since 1918, when they beat the Cubs in Game 6, 2-1, behind Carl Mays.

There had not been a Red Sox World Series triumph in 49 years, but to end that streak, Williams took a gamble. He turned to Lonborg, who had pitched brilliantly twice on three days' rest. But on Thursday, Oct. 12, Lonborg agreed to come back after just two days' rest.

Gallant? No question. But revisionists have criticized the decision because the 22-game winner was roughed up for 10 hits and seven runs in six innings, more support than Gibson would need. Working on his usual three days' rest, Gibson was immense - again. Not only did he hit a home run, but he limited Boston to three hits, struck out 10, and hardly seemed to notice that Boston was able to scrape together runs in the fifth and seventh innings that made for a 7-2 final.

For the Series, Gibson pitched 27 innings, gave up 14 hits, struck out 26, walked five, posted an ERA of 1.00, and won three games. His team had hit just .223 and the great power hitter, Orlando Cepeda (3 for 29, .103), struggled mightily, but Gibson's shoulders were wide, his fastball unhittable, his talents enough to carry St. Louis past a relentless team that captivated a town's imagination like never before.

``We've got a lot of things to look forward to,'' said Yastrzemski, whose MVP/Triple Crown season had carried into the World Series (10 for 25, .400, 3 HRs, 5 RBIs). ``We're going to be pennant contenders for the next five to 10 years.''

A similar sentiment was offered in consolation by my father on the ride home late that afternoon of Game 7, another day in which he had given his blessing to time at Fenway Park in lieu of sixth-grade classes. I was hardly devastated, because while the Red Sox had not won the World Series, I never felt they had to. They had already provided a regular season of charm and magic out of which had come a lifetime of heroes.

Most especially the man driving the car.