Kaplan: Elston Howard made the difference for ’67 Red Sox
From Dave Kaplan at The National Pastime Museum on August 2, 2017:
It was a chaotic summer of hippies, racial strife, and an intensifying antiwar movement. A young fighter named Muhammad Ali resisted the draft, and a recent graduate named Benjamin Braddock resisted the advice of his elders. Young people all over were taking a stand, believing they could change the world.
And so in 1967, in an old, decaying place that seemed resistant to change (Fenway Park), the youngest team in baseball was improbably capturing the nation’s attention. The resurrected Red Sox, 100–1 shots at the start of the season and ninth-place finishers the previous year, were enmeshed in the greatest American League pennant race ever staged.
They were led by one great hitter (Carl Yastrzemski), one great pitcher (Jim Lonborg), and a cast of brash kids imbued with the spirit of their caustic rookie manager, Dick Williams.
Read the full article here: https://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/elston-howard-made-difference-67-boston-red-sox
- Related link: Get your copy of SABR’s new book, The 1967 Impossible Dream Red Sox: Pandemonium on the Field
Originally published: August 3, 2017. Last Updated: August 3, 2017.