Oh Rats! How Boston's Fleeting Triumph in the 1975 WS and a Giant Rodent Were Behind the (Accidental) Birth of the 'Reaction Shot'

"If it stays fair.....Home Run!"

With the current Red Sox in a state of disarray, I thought that the 36th anniversary of Game 6 in the 1975 World Series might be worth revisiting.

Back in 1975, it was a little unusual to be playing baseball this late in October. However, the series had been postponed by rain for three straight days in Boston and Game 6 didn't get underway until October 21st.

Although the Red Sox got out to a quick 3-0 lead that night, the Big Red Machine managed to tie things up and then take a 6-3 lead thanks to a home run by George Foster in the 7th and a solo shot from Ceasar Geronimo in the 8th.

In the bottom of the 8th, Bernie Carbo belted a 2-out, 3-run homer to tie the game up at 6-6 [Years later, Carbo would later claim he showed up to the ballpark high for Game 6- NANESB!] but the Red Sox would manage to squander a bases-loaded nobody out situation in the 9th, sending Game 6 to extra innings.

In the top of the 11th, Boston outfielder Dwight Evans would make an outstanding diving catch of Joe Morgan's line drive seemingly headed for the right field seats to begin a double play.

I wouldn't be surprised if many of the regular visitors to this blog knew what happened next, when Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk led off the bottom of the 12th inning. 'Pudge' took the first pitch for ball one off of Cincinnati's Pat Darcy. Then he took the next pitch deep where it soared into the misty night sky before ricocheting off the left-field foul pole for a walk-off home run to seal the Red Sox win for Game 6.

What stood out about Fisk's homer wasn't so much the distance or his timing. Rather, it was his body language- caught thanks to NBC cameraman Lou Gerard, who was filming from inside the Green Monster- the Vermont native wearing #27 earnestly waving the ball fair as he jumped sideways down the baseline at 12:33 AM on October 22nd, 1975.

Years later, NBC sports director Harry Coyle explained that Gerard's filming of the exhuberant Fisk making his way down the baseline was purely by accident. If the ball was hit anywhere near him, Gerard was supposed to track the ball with his camera. Well- the ball hit the right field foul pole on the Green Monster. So what happened?

Lou says to me, "Hey, Harry, there's a rat right here next to me and it's moving closer.'

"Well, it was a misty night and, with Lou looking a rat in the eye, it was tough to pick up the ball. So when Fisk swung, Lou stayed with him at the plate and got the whole bit -- Fisk frantically trying to wave the ball fair and then the home-run trot," Coyle said. "Give that rat credit, not me, for what may have been the greatest shot in televised sports."

Think the rat story is mere exaggeration or hyperbole?

Boston Globe photo

Then ask yourself this: Why do you think the hawks that nest in Fenway Park are so well-fed?

Election Day Chowdah Update- Giant Wait Over; No Doubting Thomas; Moss on the Move Again

WORLD SERIES: A month after barely squeaking past his former team to win the NL West pennant, Bruce Bochy's San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions.

Unlike Game 1, The Cliff Lee-Tim Lincecum matchup on Monday night had both starters carrying a shutout into the 7th inning. In the top of the inning, Lee gave up back to back singles to Cody Ross and Juan Uribe but appeared to be working his way out of the two on/nobody out jam he found himself in after Aubrey Huff sac-bunted to move the runners over and Pat Burrell struck out. However, Edgar Renteria belted a 2-0 Lee offering into the stands at left center field to make it a 3-0 San Francisco lead.

Texas would get a run back in the bottom of the 7th with solo homer off the bat of Nelson Cruz, but Lincecum and closer Brian Wilson would shut them down to give San Francisco the 3-1 win, giving the Giants the World Series win, 4 games to 1 over the Rangers.

The San Francisco Giants had made three prior appearances in the World Series; 1962, 1989 [the earthquake series- NANESB!] and 2002- all of them losing efforts. This is the first World Series title for the baseball Giants since 1954, 4 years before the Giants and Dodgers moved out to the West Coast.

Monday night's win snapped the longest World Series drought (56 years) in the National League outside of the Windy City.

Sparky Anderson: 1934-2010

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Former Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson has passed away at his Thousand Oaks, CA home on Thursday. With 1331 wins as Tiger's manager, Anderson was the all time leader in wins for Detroit and was at the helm from 1979 through 1995. Anderson also was manager for 'The Big Red Machine' in Cincinnati for their back to back World Series wins in 1975-76 and elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.


NHL: The pessimist in me knows that Tim Thomas' white-hot start in net is too good to last, but I didn't think it would be this good to start off with.

Despite allowing more than one goal for the first time this season, the veteran keeper's streak continued through Wednesday night at Buffalo's HSCB Arena. And of course, lots of offense helps as well....and that's exactly what Thomas got.

The Bruins opened up the scoring with a shorthanded goal from Brad Marchand three and a half minutes into the first and was followed up with another shorthanded tally from Patrice Bergeron and an even-strength one from Blake Wheeler to make it a 3-0 game before the end of the 1st.

Michael Ryder made it a 4-0 game about 2 minutes into the 2nd before Buffalo got on the board with a power-play goal from Drew Stafford. Buffalo managed to cut the Bruins lead in half with an even-strength, unassisted Andrej Sekera goal in the third before Milan Lucic tallies an empty-netter for the 5-2 win.

The win brings Boston's record to 7-2-0, one point behind Montreal for first in the Northeast division. The Bruins will travel to Washington DC to take on the Caps on Friday night next.

NBA: You know, I hate to say it, but apparently Kevin Garnett is kind of a dick. Yeah, I know the NBA never had the reputation of being the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in the first place, but good God, man....

After Tuesday night's 109-86 win at Detroit [between KG and Barney Frank, the Bay State seems to have cornered the market on sore winners this month- NANESB!] the C's travelled back to the Garden to host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. The Bucks forced overtime, where Paul Pierce was kept busy with 12 points and breaking the 20,000 career points milestone in Boston's 105-102 OT win. Pierce has 28 points altogether along with making all 11 free throws, getting 5 rebounds on the night and a pivotal steal late in the game.

The Celtics will next host the Chicago Bulls on Friday night- the game will be broadcast on ESPN at 8PM Eastern time.

NFL: Well, Randy Moss is on his third team in less than a month. The Tennessee Titans claimed the WR off of waivers after being cut by the Minnesota Vikings earlier this week. The Vikings acquired Moss from New England in October in exchange for a 3rd round draft pick.

35 YEARS AGO TODAY.

Red Sox Nation's most memorable moment prior to 2004.

Quicke Cuppa Sports Chowdah Update- Phil In The Blanks, Doc Holliday Throws No-No in NLDS Game 1; Pats Gather No More Moss

AP Photo

And there we were watching history with the sound off.

Long story short, I get together with some friends at the friendly neighborhood cantina for some Sam Adams and so I can show them the pricey and tax-free goodies I picked up while I was in New Hampshire last month. There's a flat screen over the bar that's showing the NFL network, and almost as an afterthought I ask the bartender if they can change it to the Reds/Phillies game. The barkeep obliged and we tuned in just in time to see Shane Victorino steal third and come home on a Chase Utley sac-fly in the bottom of the first.

By the time the bottom of the second rolls around, it's pretty clear that Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez isn't long for this game as he put two runners on with two away and facing his counterpart, Roy Halliday. The Philly starter helped out his own cause with the lumber when he hit an RBI single to shallow left to make it a 2-0 game. Volquez then walked Jimmy Rollins to put the Philly ace at 2nd and load them up once again. Shane Victorino then hit a 2-RBI single in which a jacket-wearing Halliday scored from 2nd before Reds manager Dusty Baker decided to pull Volquez for Travis Wood.

For those of us at the cantina who no longer had a dog in the fight, our attention began to turn to the more mundane such as the pricey shit I purchased in New Hampshire (did I mention it was tax-free) and vacation pictures that came out alot better than I thought. With the sound off, none of us gave the game on the TV much thought....until I happened to look up and see that TBS was flashing a graphic that pointed out the last time a postseason starter threw 7 no-hit innings was the Red Sox's Jim Longborg in Game 2 of the 1967 World Series against St. Louis. We figured that they wouldn't bother pointing that out unless Halliday was throwing a no-no.

Sure enough he was. The only runner he allowed was Reds outfielder Jay Bruce with a 5th inning walk. Halliday successfully continued mowing 'em down into the 9th, where he faced Reds 2B Brandon Phillips. Phillips chopped an 0-2 offering in front of home plate and sprinted towards first as Philly C Carlos Ruiz tore off his mask and deftly plucked the ball up from next to the bat laying down on the infield and managed to throw to 1B Ryan Howard in time for the final out of the game.

This marks the first postseason no-hitter since October 1956 when Don Larsen threw a perfect game for the Yankees against the then Brooklyn Dodgers in the '56 World Series.

OTHER MLB PLAYOFF GAMES: DJ Kitty was unable to weave his magic for Game 1 down in Tampa Bay. Cliff Lee got out of some early jams against the Rays and the Rangers win game one of that series 5-1.

The Yankees came from behind to win the first playoff game at Target Field in Minnesota by a 6-4 score.

Game one of the Division series between the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves get underway tomorrow night at 9:35PM Eastern time.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Not surprisingly, there's been some managerial shakeups with the end of the regular season upon us. Ken Macha's been dismissed as Brewer's manager while the Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager John Russel after 3 seasons. In New York, Mets GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel were fired on Monday.

NFL: The biggest bit of sports news before Roy Halliday got Brandon Phillips to ground out in the 9th inning was the departure of WR Randy Moss from New England. The mercurial wide receiver departed for the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday in exchange for their 3rd round draft pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. So now he's the Viking's problem.

Moss was likely dissatisfied with his current contract status (a 3 year deal that would've finished up at the end of the year) while Brady, Banta-Cain and Gostowski among others received contract extensions. This in turn lead to all sorts of speculation about his future in New England and reportedly some loud exchanges with teammates and coaching staff. On the Minnesota end of the deal, Brett Farve was reportedly lobbying the Viking management to put in an offer for Moss.

Randy Moss is expected to start in time for the Monday Night game against the NY Jets and will return to Foxboro with the Vikings on Halloween [I used to scoff at the notion that the NFL is scripted, but nowadays, I sometimes pause- NANESB!].

Personally, I'm not glad to see him go, but if he doesn't want to stay then why bother forcing the issue. The Krafts managed to get a few relatively drama-free years from Moss, which was a few more than I anticipated when the trade from Oakland was announced in 2007.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: The Buffalo Bills traded RB Marshawn Lynch to the Seattle Seahawks for a pair of undisclosed draft picks earlier this week.