![]() The ball sailed into the 23-foot net above the Green Monster, the 37-foot wall in left field. "Deep to left!" Bill White, Yankees broadcaster shouted, " Yastrzemski will not get it!" Yaz backed up. The wind and destiny moved the ball higher to its date with the Green Monster. Dent borrowed a bat from Rivers.Īll set, Dent swung at the next pitch the ball cleared the infield heading out to the left field wall. Mickey Rivers, the on-deck-batter, pointed out that there was a crack in the handsome infielder's bat. There was a brief delay as the Yankees trainer tended to Dent. The two were locked in, locked up.ĭent fouled the second pitch off his foot. Just hoping to make contact, the 5'-9" Yankee peered out at Torrez, the 6'-5" Red Sox pitcher. Fred Stanley, the only other available mid-infielder, was slotted to come in and replace Brian Doyle, who had been hit for earlier in the inning.ĭent stepped in. Regular second baseman Willie Randolph was injured. But the Yankees were out of infield replacements. For the last 20 games he had batted a puny. A fine defensive shortstop but not much of an offensive threat, he had hit but. All was just foreshadowing for Earl Russell Dent out of Savannah, Georgia. That's how the top of the seventh began for the Yankees. Mike Torrez, a former Yankee, was the Boston pitcher.Ĭhris Chambliss singled. New York's 24 game winner Ron Guidry gave up two runs to Boston through six - a home run to Carl Yastrzemski and a Jim Rice RBI single. Losing 14 of 17 in September, the Sox made a late-season run winning their last eight games, catching the Yankees on the last day of the season. After Billy Martin was fired as manager, Bob Lemon led the team to a 52-21 record. The Yankees were down to the Sox in the AL East by 14 games on July 19. Don Zimmer, then Boston's skipper, changed the Yankee shortstop's name to "Bucky Fucking Dent." Red Sox fans had even more salty phrases.ĭent's home run was the headline grabber in that one-game playoff game between the historic rivals at Fenway Park before 32,925. I didn't know I had hit a homer until I saw the umpire at first signaling home run with his hand. But there were shadows on the net behind the wall and I didn't see the ball land there. The mother of all such moments will always remain what happened on Octo"When I hit the ball," Bucky Dent recalled, "I knew that I had hit it high enough to hit the wall. Head to head, for bragging rights and the top of the heap in the AL East. Two special series in May 2003 - with the arch rivals doing it one more time. Here they go again - the team from the Bronx and the one that plays in the Fens. The Dartmouth College professor paid tribute to the Bucky Dent home run game with the following detailed / informative essay: Harvey Frommer is the author of more than thirty (30) sports books. Dent's shocking blast was the biggest blow in a 5-4 win over Boston and put the Yankees in postseason." Dent lofted a 1-1 pitch from Torrez, the Boston starter, over the Green Monster-the 37-foot wall in left field-to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. 243 hitter with four home runs during the season, came to the plate with two out. Chris Chambliss and Roy White reached safely on singles and Dent, a. They described the moment with this entry, "The Yankees were down 2-0 when the seventh began but had rallied. Kodak, in association with The Sporting News, once selected Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments and the "Bucky Dent Home Run Game" finished fourteenth (14th). U-HP–Don Denkinger, 1B–Jim Evans, 2B–Al Clark, 3B–Steve Palermo. SB–Rivers 2 (25,2nd base off Torrez/Fisk,2nd base off Stanley/Fisk). SH–Brohamer (4,off Guidry) Remy (14,off Guidry). HR–New York Dent (5,7th inning off Torrez 2 on, 2 out) Jackson (27,8th inning off Stanley 0 on, 0 out), Boston Yastrzemski (17,2nd inning off Guidry 0 on, 0 out). 2B–New York Rivers (25,off Torrez) Munson (27,off Stanley), Boston Scott (16,off Guidry) Burleson (32,off Guidry) Remy (24,off Gossage). Game played on Monday, Octoat Fenway ParkĮ–None.
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