The 1978 Red Sox went toe to toe with the 1941 squad in an offensive donnybrook in Game 4 and outlasted them to the tune of 13-6 to take their ALDS 3-1. The '78 squad will now move on to face the 1998 New York Yankees in the ALCS.
The fireworks erupted early as the junior squad threw four runs on the board in the second inning battering '41 starter Earl Johnson for 6 hits in a 26 pitch frame. The runs all were deemed unearned due to a throwing error by Bobby Doerr on what looked like a sure double play off the bat of George Scott. Carlton Fisk came in to score on the play after leading off the inning with a single. Johnson should have been out of the inning as Dwight Evans followed by flying out to right, but the '78 squad tacked on three more runs courtesy of a Rick Burleson RBI double and two other RBI singles.
The senior squad bailed Doerr out over the course of their next two trips to the plate. Johnny Peacock cut the lead in half with his two-out RBI double in the bottom half of the second, and then it was the '78 club's turn to get sloppy. The first two batters of the third reached on a fielding error by George Scott and a throwing error by Butch Hobson. Both unearned runs would come in to count as Ted Williams and Jimmie Foxx notched RBI singles to even the game at 4-4. For "Teddy Ballgame", it would be his first of three RBI in the contest, and Williams ended the series batting .471 driving in 5 runs.
The see-saw affair continued and the '78 Red Sox countered in the fourth to edge ahead 5-4 on yet another unearned run. '41 Red Sox third sacker Jim Tabor committed a throwing error on a Butch Hobson grounder, and Hobson came in to score on a Jim Rice single. A swift reply was issued by Ted Williams in the fifth as he wrapped a two-run shot around the Pesky Pole to give the '41 Red Sox their first lead of the game. This lead lasted all of a New York minute as Butch Hobson drilled a rocket over the fence in deep center to tie the proceedings once again in the sixth.
The '78 Boston bullpen was huge in allowing the offense to regroup as Dick Drago came on in the sixth and blanked the '41 team for 3 innings to pick up the win. Bill Campbell finished things off in the ninth and between these two, the '41 club only managed one hit in the final four stanzas. No walks were issued, and Drago punched out 4 batters.
The '78 Red Sox pulled away for good scoring seven times in the next three innings. Jim Rice started the seventh with a ground-rule double and scored off Carl Yastrzemski's deep fly to right field to make it 7-6. Yaz's legacy in Boston is somewhat overshadowed by his left-field predecessor, Ted Williams, but in this series, he rose out of Ted's shadow. Yaz belted three home runs in Game 3 and batted .400 in the ALDS driving in 8 runs. The eighth was a total mess for the '41 squad as reliever Nels Potter surrendered a double, single, and issued a walk to load the bases with no one out. He then plunked Jerry Remy to force in a run. After getting a force out at home, Potter then walked Jim Rice to give the '78 Red Sox their second run without having put the ball in play. Jack Wilson came on for the '41 squad, and the juniors scratched out two more runs which would be charged to Potter and the '78 edition now had a comfortable 11-6 lead. Rick Burleson added a two-run blast off Wilson in the ninth to close the book on the contest.
So, the road to the World Series has two storied rivals in the ALCS with 20 years between each franchise edition. The '78 Red Sox (108-54) would probably be cast as the underdogs against the 1998 Yankees (110-52), but their records in my dream season show that there isn't a great disparity between these two powerhouses. Over in the National League, it's an all Pittsburgh affair in the NLCS with the surprising 1944 Pirates taking on the 1990 Pirates. The '44 squad (89-73) eliminated the heavily favored '77 Dodgers (96-66) in five games, and they'll have their hands full as the '90 Pirates were the best team in my fantasy season with a 117-45 record.
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