Editor’s note: Throughout the summer, The Eagle-Tribune will be doing short question and answer sessions with a member of the 1967 Red Sox, honoring the 40th anniversary of The Impossible Dream season. A portion of the story ran in all Eagle-Tribune Publishing newspapers.
Rico Petrocelli turns 64 on June 27.
That means two things. One of our most memorable Boston sports heroes is getting old. And two, 40 years ago, when this region of the country first started going bonkers about baseball, Petrocelli was in his early 20s.
I caught up with the longtime Nashua resident between several events involving the 1967 team the past two weeks and asked him many questions, all relating to the incredible 1967 season:
Bill Burt: It seems like it has been a never-ending party the last few weeks for the 1967 season. What has the experience been like for you?
Rico Petrocelli: “I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I can’t tell you how much fun it has been with most of the guys. Everybody has stories. Honestly, other than going through it in 1967, I don’t remember having this much fun. The fans and the Red Sox organization have been great to us. They’ve really gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. They’ve gone out of their way to make sure all of the guys came back, like Reggie Smith. … It’s been a joy.”
BB: OK, let’s get right to it | What was it like before the 1967 season around here?
RP: “You want the truth? It was bad, really bad. We weren’t even close to a .500 team. Our manager was Billy Herman, and I don’t blame him. He was a nice guy who knew his baseball. But we were a team built on one-dimensional players. We played for the big inning, the home run. And it seems when we didn’t get it, we lost. We only had a few good pitchers, too. It seems like we lost a lot of one-run games, and that can be very depressing.”
BB: Then comes the spring of 1967. Did you have any inclination in spring training that this team might be special?
RP: “No. I’d be lying if I said I did.”
BB: The obvious biggest difference was general manager Dick O’Connell naming Dick Williams the new manager. What did you know about Williams before he was put in charge?
RP: “I first met Dick at spring training in Arizona in 1963. That again at the big league camp in 1964. He wasn’t friendly at all. He kept to himself. He roomed with Billy Wagner back then, and Billy was the opposite of him. He was funny and talked all the time. Dick was serious. He had that look about him.”
BB: What did you think of Williams?
RP: “The only thing I realized early on was that it was different. We never really focused on anything other than doing things the right way. Dick was tough. He didn’t talk about pennants or World Series. If he did, we would have thought he was crazy. He was on us about hustling, hitting cutoffs, being at the right base, and so on. I just remember being as focused as I ever was on baseball.”
BB: At what point of the season did you start wondering about where this 1967 team might be headed?
RP: “For me, everything changed after the All-Star break. We had won 10 in a row, which didn’t put us in first place, but put us close. Remember, there were a lot of good teams in the American League back then. Minnesota won the pennant in 1965 and they had the same group of guys like Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and Tony Oliva, and they had pitchers like Jim Kaat and Dean Chance. The Detroit Tigers were awesome on offense with Al Kaline, Bill Freehan and Norm Cash. And the Chicago White Sox, people forget about them, they had the best starting staff in the league. It was the four of us banging heads, one game at a time.”The other great thing was Carl Yastrzemski was starting to get hot. He started hitting a lot of home runs and threw out a lot of runners on the bases. That’s a big lift for a team. Everything, though, started coming together during that winning streak. We just started saying, ‘Maybe we can do this.’ ”
BB: What do you recall about your play during the run in 1967, particularly after the All-Star break?
RP: “I got off to great start at the beginning of the year but got hit on wrist and missed a couple of weeks. Then I was out again and got out of my rhythm. But the last six or seven weeks I was in the lineup every day. I had 17 homers that year, which wasn’t bad for missing the time that I did.”
BB: You can’t talk about 1967 without talking about Carl Yastrzemski. Books have been written about what he accomplished and how clutch he was. Do you have another memory about Yaz not often mentioned?
RP: “I have so many, but the one that really sticks out for me was the game in Detroit when Yaz was going up against Mickey Lolich, who was a very good pitcher. He always threw inside to Yaz. Well, this one game he almost hits Yaz in the face and knocks him down.”So what does Yaz do? He just gets up and glares back. You could see he was ticked. On the next pitch, Yaz hit it nine miles to right field. I get chills just thinking about it. The whole bench went wild. The message was, ‘You can’t intimidate us.’ He never threw at Yaz again after that.”
BB: At what point of the season did you start wondering about where this
1967 team might be headed?
RP: “For me, everything changed after the All-Star break. We had won 10
in a row, which didn’t put us in first place, but put us close. Remember,
there were a lot of good teams in the American League back then. Minnesota
won the pennant in 1965 and they had the same group of guys like Harmon
Killebrew, Rod Carew and Tony Oliva, and they had pitchers like Jim Kaat
and Dean Chance. The Detroit Tigers were awesome on offense with Al Kaline,
Bill Freehan and Norm Cash. And the Chicago White Sox, people forget about
them, they had the best starting staff in the league. It was the four of us
banging heads, one game at a time.
“The other great thing was Carl Yastrzemski was starting to get hot. He
started hitting a lot of home runs and threw out a lot of runners on the
bases. That’s a big lift for a team. Everything, though, started coming
together during that winning streak. We just started saying, ‘Maybe we can
do this.’ ”
BB: There were many great memories, including the clincher, but is there
another game or moment that sticks out from that season?
RP: “The thing about us, especially in the second half, was we were
coming back and winning a lot of games. The game everyone seems to remember
most was the doubleheader against the Angels at Fenway (on Aug. 20). We won
the first game by a big amount (12-2) and then fell behind 8-0 early in the
second game. But we kept pecking away at the lead and it was 8-6 and then
we tie it 8-8. Jerry Adair hit a home run into the screen in the eighth
inning to win it. It was a wild game and everyone, the fans and the
players, went crazy afterward. After that game, we started to wonder if we
were destined.”
BB: What do you recall about your play during the run in 1967,
particularly after the All-Star break?
RP: “I got off to great start at the beginning of the year but got hit
on wrist and missed a couple of weeks. Then I was out again and got out of
my rhythm. But the last six or seven weeks I was in the lineup every day. I
had 17 homers that year, which wasn’t bad for missing the time that I did.”
BB: You can’t talk about 1967 without talking about Carl Yastrzemski.
Books have been written about what he accomplished and how clutch he was.
Do you have another memory about Yaz not often mentioned?
RP: “I have so many, but the one that really sticks out for me was the
game in Detroit when Yaz was going up against Mickey Lolich, who was a very
good pitcher. He always threw inside to Yaz. Well, this one game he almost
hits Yaz in the face and knocks him down.
“So what does Yaz do? He just gets up and glares back. You could see he
was ticked. On the next pitch, Yaz hit it nine miles to right field. I get
chills just thinking about it. The whole bench went wild. The message was,
‘You can’t intimidate us.’ He never threw at Yaz again after that.”
BB: What was it like around Boston as you guys prepared for the finale
against the Twins?
RP: “The city was crazy. The fans were at the park hours before we got
there. Dick (Williams) knew it was going to be crazy and he mentioned to us
that it’s important in these types of emotional games to be aggressive in
all facets. It really settled us down. All we had to do was play hard and
we felt like we would win, especially with Jim Lonborg pitching.”
BB: Most baby boomers went through their childhoods making believe that
they were catching the popup to clinch the pennant in 1967, imitating you.
Do people still bring it up today?
RP: “I hear it all the time. Isn’t that amazing. That entire day |
before, during and after the game | was one of the most amazing days of my
professional life. People bring up the popup, but really it was the
everything. The fans were so emotional because of all the tough losses.”
BB: What were your thoughts about the 2004 Red Sox, who finally broke
the curse?
RP: “That meant so much to all of us who wore the uniform, especially
afterward when Curt Schilling went out of his way to mention a lot of us
former players, and that this was for us, too. I was sick of that curse
talk, like everyone else was. Other than what we did in 1967, beating the
Yankees in the playoffs was one of the most exciting experiences for me,
too. The organization handled itself wonderfully, including all of us. It
is something I’ll never forget. Curt Schilling will always be big in my
book.”
BB: What about Jim Lonborg and his contribution to what happened that
year?
RP: “What a season he had. If not for Yaz, we’d still be talking about
Lonborg’s great season (22-9, 3.16 ERA, 246 K’s, 273<1/3> innings). He took
on the responsibility of being our No. 1 guy. He never backed off that.
When he got hit hard, he’d always bounce back. That’s the sign of a great
pitcher. He had excellent control. His fastball moved, tailing in to
right-handers. He wasn’t afraid to throw it inside. (Pitching coach) Sal
Maglie deserves a lot of credit, too. He helped Jim a lot with his breaking
pitch and really pushed him to throw inside.
“The only regret with Jim is he didn’t really have that No. 2 guy behind
him like the other teams had. That’s why we had to pitch him so much. It
was one of the greatest pitched seasons in Red Sox history, even to this
day.”
BB: What was it like going up against the Cardinals Bob Gibson in the
World Series?
RP: “It was not much fun going against him. He had three pitches | a
fastball about 96 mph, a great slider and then a changeup. The fastball had
you on edge. He was a great athlete. You had to battle him. You might get a
run or two off him, but rarely did he give up a big inning. Unlike Lonborg,
though, Gibson had some very good pitchers on his staff, guys like Steve
Carlton and Dick Hughes.”
BB: Do you have a fondest memory of 1967, besides the winning the
pennant?
RP: “I’ll never forget when we came home from the road after the long
winning streak. There were 15,000 or so fans waiting for us at 1 in the
morning. The place was mobbed. It caught us all off guard. I realized then
how crazy this area was for a winner.”
BB: Dick Williams was around the last two weeks. Has he changed much?
RP: “If he has, not much. A few years ago at a Red Sox fantasy camp, our
team was playing against his. You would have thought we were in the World
Series. Dick is telling this 70-year-old guy to slide at home plate. He
thought it was the World Series. That’s just how he is.
“I remember going to the mound when he was managing, just to hear what
he had to say. He was crazy. He used to kill Danny Osinski. He would throw
every four-letter word in the book at him. Dick couldn’t ever accept
walks.”
BB: What are your thoughts on the 2007 team?
RP: “They have what it takes to get to the World Series, without a
doubt. They are a well-rounded team, plus they have depth. They can
withstand an injury or two. Look at what happened when Josh Beckett was
out. They survived. We have expectations with this team. The key is to get
into the playoffs. Once they get there, I believe they have exactly what
you need in pitching depth, with three very, very good starters, and of
course Tim Wakefield. And to have Jonathan Papelbon to close, they are
going to be tough to beat.”
