The road to 10,000 Red Sox victories, Part 2: From 4,000 to 7,000

Welcome back to the past On Friday we walked down the earliest stretches of Red Sox memory lane to revisit their first th th and th victories In part two we soldier on through the end of the Ted Williams era into the Carl Yastrzemski years and far beyond No July - Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park Connie Mack Stadium Red Sox manager Lou Boudreau President of the United States Dwight D Eisenhower Boston s th and th victories were won exactly years apart on July and There was an element of full circle-ness for the Boston ball club on that day in Philadelphia Particular years earlier then known as the Americans they had defeated the Athletics for their first-ever mastery Now they were the Red Sox and it was the A s who were on the cusp of changing their name In the early decades of the th century the two clubs had been the crown jewels of the American League Led by Connie Mack their part-owner since their inception in and manager for their first seasons the A s won the World Series in and Long before legendary NBA coach Pat Riley trademarked the term Three-peat and tried to lead the Lakers to one the A s may have completed the sports world s first four-peat if not for the Red Sox who snatched the pennant and won the championship But by the s the A s were in trouble Unlike Boston s new young millionaire owner Tom Yawkey who had money to burn Mack required to shed salary While Mack and other owners tightened their belts amidst the Great Depression Yawkey acquired several Philly stars including Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove July wasn t the last time the Red Sox would play the A s in Philadelphia but the end was drawing near During the season a heartbroken Mack gave his sons Earle and Roy permission to sell his beloved club By they had a new owner and a new home in Kansas City Further completing the Boston-Philadelphia circle the Red Sox completed their th win under manager Lou Boudreau who ultimately departed Boston after the season to helm the A s for their first three seasons in Kansas City Looking at the A s currently playing in a minor league ballpark in Sacramento as they construct a new ballpark in yet another city it s hard to believe they were once Boston s rival dynasty on the east coast The contrast between the club that abandoned Philadelphia and Shibe and the club that plays at Fenway to this day is stark But without Yawkey the Red Sox may very well have met a similar fate Between May and the end of the season they played in a charred dilapidated Fenway which had last its left field bleachers to a fire in May When Yawkey took over in he not only repaired the ballpark but made several upgrades Twice in fact as a second fire ravaged the newly-upgraded outfield seats on Jan Though they never managed to win a championship in Yawkey s lifetime and will forever be remembered as the last club to integrate the Red Sox and Fenway survived and remained because he decided they should And as a end you re reading this No Aug - at Baltimore Orioles Memorial Stadium Red Sox manager Billy Herman President of the United States Lyndon B Johnson As we reach the halfway point of this retrospective it s worth pointing out that despite multiple lengthy peaks and valleys in their franchise history the Red Sox reached each thousandth success with particular measure of consistency it takes between - seasons for them to reach a new benchmark That was particularly impressive in the aftermath of the Babe Ruth sale when the Red Sox failed to compile a single winning season from - Win No was also the club s first in the expansion era With the additions of the California Angels and a new Washington Senators the previous Senators having relocated to become the Minnesota Twins in the Red Sox now had to contend with nine AL rivals not seven Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski poses in at an unknown location AP Photo On Aug the Red Sox with a - record were in the cellar once again Their hosts the Baltimore Orioles were en direction to a World Series championship So unsurprisingly it was a close one It was also the first of the thousands to be won at night despite owner Tom Yawkey leading his beloved Fenway Park into the modern age of baseball back on June Several Red Sox and Orioles legends faced off at Memorial Stadium that summer evening Luis Aparicio led off for Baltimore with Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson batting third and cleanup This win is also unique because of who did not play Carl Yastrzemski whose games played in a Red Sox uniform will likely stand as the franchise record until the end of time appeared in of his association s games in This wasn t one of them After falling to the Orioles - in the th inning the night before the Red Sox flipped the script Led by Joe Foy who went for with a double run and two RBI the Red Sox scored all three runs off Orioles starter Frank Bertaina knocking him out of the challenge after just innings A young Tony Conigliaro played right field Despite issuing five walks Jim Lonborg pitched shutout innings and was picked up by Bill Short and Don McMahon who recorded two outs apiece to finish off the soon-to-be champs The following year a Red Sox roster with plenty of of those same players put together the Impossible Dream season No May Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park Red Sox manager Don Zimmer President of the United States Jimmy Carter The circumstances of win No and No were oddly identical Fenway Park doubleheader Chicago White Sox With -year-old Yaz now playing first base Carlton Fisk behind the dish and a legendary outfield contingent in Jim Rice Fred Lynn Dwight Evans and Bernie Carbo Red triumphed over White twice that day Jerry Remy acquired from the California Angels the previous December was just beginning to forge a bond with the Red Sox that would remain until his passing in Former Boston Red Sox stars Carlton Fisk waving and Carl Yastrzemski are introduced prior to the home opener at Fenway Park Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill Boston Herald But whenever anyone in Boston thinks about the Red Sox they unfortunately only remember the brutal period that punctuated the season s sentence Finishing with a - record to match the Yankees the rivals went to a tiebreaker The Red Sox may have triumphed in both ends of the doubleheader on that day in May but in the battle that mattered most of the triumph belonged to a man named Bucky Dent Or Bucky Expletive Dent as he was known from that day on As Yankees-related postscript Boston s manager in went on to be a central figure in yet another chaotic moment in baseball s greatest rivalry A quarter of a century later the Red Sox and Yankees met in the ALCS When Pedro Martinez threw a pitch near Karim Garcia s head and sparked a bench-clearing brawl during Challenge Don Zimmer charged at the Red Sox pitcher Martinez instinctively tossed the former Boston skipper and then-Yankees coach at the time to the ground No April - Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park Red Sox manager Joe Morgan President of the United States George Bush Win No was another one-run close shave This time over the Milwaukee Brewers who were back then an American League East group It wouldn t be an early s Red Sox triumph without Roger Clemens though it wasn t necessarily his best work Rocket struck out but allowed all three Brewers runs on eight hits and a walk over his innings By comparison Brewers starter Chris Bosio exited after five scoreless innings of two-hit ball only to watch Don August give up all four runs three earned in the sixth Red Sox star Roger Clemens prepares to make a pitch during a event in Boston AP Photo Wade Boggs leading off and play third collected two of Boston s seven hits and plated a run in the contest Dwight Evans batting fifth as the designated hitter was the holdover from win No back in The Red Sox entered the s on a high note They finished that season with an - record for the AL East crown But like any Red Sox band since October brought little elation and no glory But back for a moment to this final thousandth preeminence of the th century It may very well have been the last one at Fenway too Boston s ballpark was already a dinosaur when the Red Sox triumphed over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers - early in the season And when Major League Baseball gave the Red Sox the All-Star Event they did so under the assumption that the emerald jewel of Boston wasn t long for this world Instead by the time the Red Sox reached their th triumph early in the new millennium the ball club and its ancient cathedral were on the cusp of achieving something even greater But for that story you ll have to wait for Part