It is an interesting exercise to apply the current playoff system to other seasons from "back in the day" to see the clubs that would qualify for the postseason. As I perused campaigns of the past for my next Red Sox playoff replay, I settled on the rather nondescript season of 1970. Boston would have edged out the California Angels by one win and six percentage points for a final wildcard spot. In my 1970 replay, they will have to defeat the Oakland Athletics in order to advance to the ALDS to face the powerful Baltimore Orioles. The O's won 108 regular-season games and went on to win the world title in 1970 against the Cincinnati Reds. The other ALDS in the American League will see the Twins with home-field advantage taking on the New York Yankees. The National League wildcard game will feature the San Francisco Giants hosting the Chicago Cubs with the winner heading to Cincinnati. The Los Angeles Dodgers will travel to Pittsburgh to kick off the other NLDS.
With all those great Red Sox teams in the 70s, you may be wondering "Why pick 1970?" My motivation resided with a star right fielder who was hot on the comeback trail. Tony Conigliaro had his finest offensive season in 1970, cracking 36 homers and tallying 116 RBI. A local boy from Revere, Massachusetts, Conigliaro arrived at the majors in 1964 at the tender age of 19 and led the American League in homers the very next season. At the age of 22, he'd become the second-fastest player in major league history to reach the 100 home run plateau, second to Hall of Famer Mel Ott. It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that, one day, Conigliaro would join Ott in the hall, but his fast track to superstardom was derailed due to a horrific beaning in 1967.
After that well-documented incident on August 18th, 1967 involving California Angels' pitcher Jack Hamilton at Fenway Park, Conigliaro would miss the rest of the season and the entire 1968 campaign after being struck in the left cheekbone. The impact of the Hamilton fastball caused damage to the retina of Conigliaro's left eye. It seemed Conigliaro might rebound as he was voted American League Comeback Player of the Year in 1969, batting .255 with 24 homers and 82 RBI. Sadly, his career year in 1970 would be his last prolific contribution as a major league player. Ironically, he was shipped off to California for the 1971 season, which created a great deal of animosity between Tony's teammate and brother Billy and Carl Yastrzemski. Billy believed Yaz was to blame for having Tony dealt to California. The two men later mended the fences with Billy extending the olive branch to Yaz, but not surprisingly, Billy was traded after the 1971 season to Milwaukee. As for Tony, his eyesight deteriorated so much he announced his retirement from baseball after 74 games with the Angels. He did return to the Red Sox in 1975 as a 30-year-old DH in a second comeback attempt, but this ended after only 21 games with Conigliaro batting .123.
The 1970 season saw the debut of "Conig's Corner" as the Red Sox began closing off the section in center field with a blackout batter's eye for day games. The club also took the flag pole in center out of play as it had been in play since 1934. Tony and brother Billy combined for 54 homers which still stands as a single-season record for relatives playing on the same team. Carl Yastrzemski narrowly missed capturing a fourth batting title by fractions of a percentage point at .329 and smashed 40 homers for the second consecutive season. Seven Boston players hit 16 bombs, and the team hit a then-club record 203 dingers. The pitching staff was led by Ray Culp, Gary Peters and Sonny Siebert as the trio combined for 48 of the team's 87 wins.
So I hope to take this edition of the Sawx further than my last Red Sox playoff replay. Boston has had its share of "Bash Brothers" with some notable pairings being:Ted Williams and Jimmie Fox, Jim Rice and Fred Lynn (Gold Dust Twins), David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, Mo Vaughn and Nomar Garciaparra, and most recently Mookie Betts and JD Martinez. I look to resurrect the dynamic duo of Tony C and Yaz to complete some unfinished business and to once again contemplate what could have been for the talented slugger from Revere.
GREAT set of Teams from 1970 to have battling it out for the Championship ! I think you will have to be creating a couple of them as I don't recall all of them being in your already existing sets ? If so PLEASE upload so we can grab and enjoy them too !
ReplyDeleteSure will, Don.
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