Bosox Back in Pennant Race with sweep of Jays as Williams makes triumphant return to Fenway

9/12 – 9/14 – Fenway Park

3:26 -  73ø, - 10mph Right to Left
GAME 1 - Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 2 (10 inn)

Mel Parnell was tossing good ole’ country hardball for 7 innings until Aaron Hill led off the 7th with a line shot double off Green Monstah, to break up the no hitter.  Parnell still had the shutout going until the 9th when Hill struck again…this time with a 2 run homer over the fabled wall.  Parnell was dazed, but he was not shaken.  He was able to get it back in gear  and fan 3 of the next 4 batters he faced, including the heart of the Blue Jay lineup (Vernon Wells & Alex Rios) in the top of the 1oth.  In the bottom of the inning Dom DiMaggio led off with a single but was forced at second when Don Gernert was incapable of executing the sacrifice bunt.  A pair of wild pitches by Jose Batista put Gernert on 3rd with one out.  That facilitated intentional passes to both Evers and Vollmer to create a force at all bases and a possible inning ending DP.  Jason Frasor was brought on board to face George Kell and promptly walked him and forced in the winning run to give Parnell (3-2, 2.45) the much deserved win.

3:15,  78ø,  15mph Out to LF
GAME 2 - Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3

Dick Brodowski (2-0, 1.80) followed up where Parnell left off and gave Red Sox nation second great pitching performance in a row.  Brodowski went the distance and gave up only 2 runs in the top of the 5th.  On a day when Faye Throneberry went 3 for 4 and had a homer with 2 RBI’s that wasn’t the biggest story.  Neither was Dom DiMaggio’s resurgence (3 for 5).  The real story was the return of one Theodore Samuel Williams.  On military leave from the Marine Corps, Williams was activated just before game time in the hopes that he could possibly get a key pinch hit at bat.  With the Sox up 3-2 and in desperate need of a insurance run all eyes in Fenway turned to the bat rack in the home dugout.  The crowd noise changed drastically when they saw a tall familiar looking fellow wearing the red # 9 looking for lumber.  Once he emerged from  the dugout a huge roar from the crowd began to envelope Fenway.  By the time he reached the batters box that roar morphed into a 5 minute standing ovation.  Only days before this man was shooting down North Korean MIG’s and now he was going to have to shoot down a 90 mile per hour fastball.  Blue Jay reliever Jose Batista was completely intimidated and walked Williams on 4 straight pitches to force in Faye Throneberry.   The noise at this point matched that of any World Series clinching game.  Yes Red Sox nation, there is life in Boston !

3:29,  71ø,  Light Rain
GAME 3 - Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

How could the Sahx top the emotion of yesterday’s game ?  How could they top the heroic Ted Williams weekend return to Fenway ?  It seems impossible to think it was possible.  Only Hollywood could make it possible !  Well the Blue Jays were up 3-1 going into the bottom of the 7th.  Josh Towers was cruising for the Jays, but he’s a 6 inning pitcher and so for the 3rd straight day Jose Batista (0-2, 4.67) was brought in from the pen to hold down Boston.  For the 3rd straight day Batista was kerosene on a fire.  Walks and wild pitches are the recipe for Batista’s failure and he followed the recipe to a T.  Dom DiMaggio hit a sac fly to tie the game up at 3.  Faye Throneberry walked to lead off the 8th and stole second with one out.  Fred Hartfield hit a pinch hit single to put runners at the corners and Vern Stephens  was given an intentional pass as he pinch hit for the pitcher.  With back up catcher Del Wilber due up the crowd began to stir.  That same momentum that began to build yesterday started again as ole #9 strolled to the on deck circle.  That momentum turned into an ovation even greater than the day before.  With 1 out and the bases loaded is it fair to expect this man to deliver again ?  Could one reasonably expect him to be able to do the hardest thing in all of professional sports:  hit a baseball coming in a 90+mph ?  Mere mortals can not be expected to do such things, but God’s are relied upon to deliver miracles.  T.S. Williams is one of the baseball God’s.  Lefty Scott Schoeneweis delivered a 1-1 slider, the hardest pitch for a lefty, to this baseball immortal and with one quick crack of the bat the ball wound up a frozen rope into right field to score Throneberry with the go ahead run.  The sound was deafening, and the emotional outpouring was genuine, but the great man standing on 1st base would not doff his cap.  God’s do not salute those that revere them.  Boston’s win moved them back to .500 and back into the AL East race.  Unfortunately for them they will not have #9 back on the bench as his weekend pass calls for his return to the Marine Corps.