The Boston Red Sox have a fan base and teams that create
memories unlike most sports teams. Often, the two inform and feed off the
other. Herb Crehan’s The Impossible Dream 1967 Red Sox: Birth of
Red Sox Nation (2016, Summer Game Books) celebrates the 50th
anniversary of one of those greatest collaborations, which was so memorable it
spawned a team name for the history books and launched an identity for those on
the sidelines that persists to this day.
Coming in to the 1967 season the Red Sox had little to look
forward to. Mired in the second division since 1959, the team had some great
young players like Carl
Yastrzemski, Jim Lonborg
and Tony
Conigliaro but had not been able to see it translate to any sort of success
in the standings. With rookie manager Dick Williams
at the helm there wasn’t necessarily an expectation that was going to change
overnight. As it turned out, that was wrong because Boston went on to win 92
games (many in an exceedingly exciting fashion) and took the heavily favored
St. Louis Cardinals to seven games in the World Series before finally conceding
the end of their magical season.
Crehan pivots back and forth from detailing the season and
highlighting 13 of the most memorable figures from the 1967 team—from what they
did that year to how their career and lives turned out afterwards. From the MVP
performance from Yaz to the iron man exploits on the mound of Lonborg, the squad
is rife with stories both good and bad. It was such an exciting year that fans
were driven to a frenzy, which have remained a strong force ever since.
The fiery Williams ruled the team absolutely but was not
always successful in reaching his players. The weight struggles (and
confidence) of players like George Scott
and Joe Foy
impacted their play on the field but somehow did not become issues that
derailed the success of their teammates. Williams was blunt if nothing else,
and his methodology and the way it worked (or didn’t) in such cases were major
storylines that season.
Second baseman Mike Andrews
was a nice player but was never a star. Nevertheless, he was a major
contributor in 1967 and went on to have a lasting impact in the Boston community
through his work with the Jimmy Fund Charity.
Undoubtedly the biggest story on that year’s team was when
star outfielder Conigliaro was hit in the face during a game by a pitch and
went on to miss the rest of the season and all of 1968. Once looking like a
potential future Hall of Famer, the 23 year-old suffered diminished vision, and
while he had a couple of productive years upon his return, he was never the
same again and out of baseball by the time he was 30. Crehan lingers on the “what
might have been” with the slugger, who passed away at the age of 45—his life
snuffed out too soon much like his baseball career.
The writing style of The
Impossible Dream is formulaic in a baseball book sense. An aggregation of
statistics, interviews and follow up are all staples of the genre. That being
said there is a reason why they are used so often, and the author does a good
job here of combining everything into a cohesive narrative.
It’s hard to believe that the 1967 Boston Red Sox are
turning 50 this year. The iconic team is one of few to gain such lofty status
in history despite not winning it all at the end. This was due to the
combination of dynamic and memorable players, and story lines that captivated a
fan base in such a way that they would never be the same again. An impossible
dream, indeed!
Disclaimer: I was provided with
a free copy of this book, but received no payment or other consideration for this
review.
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