As an aging, lifelong member of Red Sox Nation, I am one of the dwindling number of fans who can boast of seeing both Carl Yastrzemski and David Ortiz hit World Series home runs for the Red Sox. Yastrzemski (Yaz) and Ortiz (Big Papi) are inarguably the two biggest figures of the last 60 years of Boston baseball, with Yaz sparking the Red Sox revival in 1967 and defining the era of close calls and heartbreak that lasted until Big Papi’s bat broke an 86-year curse and ushered in a new era of Red Sox championships.
As an 8-year-old attending my second-ever Red Sox game at Fenway Park, I sat in right field behind the bullpens as Yaz blasted two home runs in Game 2 of the 1967 World Series v. the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2013, my daughter and I sat high above the action along the right field foul line as we watched Big Papi hit a 2-run go-ahead home run over the Green Monster in Game 2 against those same Cardinals. Game 2 in 1967 was a day game in the first week of October while Game 2 in 2013 was a night game on October 24th.
Fittingly for their stories (and this story), the Red Sox won Game 2 in 1967 (a 1-hit shutout), but lost the series in seven games, and lost Game 2 in 2013 (on a bizarre late-inning play) but went on to win the series in six.
The two beloved Hall-of-Famers share so much in common as baseball superstars, but it is the differences that make each the man that defined their time. The tale of two icons is in many ways a tale of two cities, two ways of life, two mindsets, and two outlooks on life.
Yaz, stoic, private, moody, aloof, driven and competitive, raised on a potato farm on Long Island. Big Papi, outgoing, fun-loving, effervescent, driven and competitive, raised in Santo Domingo, the capital of and largest city in the Dominican Republic.
Yaz, a consummate defensive left fielder as well as the first American League player to amass 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. Big Papi a designated hitter.
Yaz pitching Kahn’s kielbasa. Big Papi, like America, runs on Dunkin’.
Yaz
Yaz was the quintessential Red Sox player in the era of close calls, heartbreak, but no championships.
In early 1967, he preserved a no-hitter with an unbelievable 9th-inning diving catch in Yankee Stadium, only for it to be lost one out later.
He gave the Red Sox an early lead with a home run in the 1978 tiebreaker playoff game against the Yankees but ended the game with a popup and the Sox trailing by one.
No slouch in the postseason, he batted .400 and .310 in his two World Series appearances in 1967 and 1975. But again, made the final out in Game 7 of the ’75 Series, again with the Sox trailing by one run.
The final at-bat of his career, a mighty swing and a popout.
Big Papi
The David Ortiz era, in sharp contrast, was all about championships, duck boat parades, and the belief, to quote Yogi Berra, that “it ain’t over till it’s over.” Big Papi led the Sox to World Series championships in 2004, 2007, and 2013. And with virtually none of the World Series stress of the previous era – sweeps in 2004 and 2007, a six-game win in 2013.
His postseason calling card was home runs, walk-offs, and of course, walk-off home runs.
Walk-offs in consecutive extra-inning games in the 2004 American League Championship Series (ALCS) with the Sox facing elimination.
A walk-off HR deep into the night to clinch the Division Series in 2003.
A game-timing grand slam in Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS with the Sox four outs away from going down 2 games to none, losing the first two games at home. And unlike that no-hitter in 1967, the Sox went on to win the game (and ultimately the series).
A stirring mid-game dugout speech when the 2013 World Series seemed to be slipping away.
An iconic speech on the mound the first game back after the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013.
My Life
I spent my first 36 years as a Red Sox fan in the first era and the last 24 in the second. It’s fun to win, but I enjoyed baseball and loved the Sox through both. It would be easy to surmise that the first was a time of sorrow, heartbreak, and waiting for the other shoe to drop; with the second characterized by joy and hope springing eternal, as they say. But it’s more complicated than that.
Along with the realization that they’re never going to win it all, comes calm and the ability to enjoy each and every game for what it is: 2-3 hours nightly of background distraction on the radio and a great summer day at the park when you’re lucky enough to attend a game in person. The sports radio cry, “they’re ruining our summer” didn’t really catch fire until after the Sox started winning World Series. Moderation, my friend. Moderation.
I’ve enjoyed and learned from Yaz’ example as well as from Big Papi’s.
The next Red Sox icon may be one of the young players brought up from the minor leagues this summer or an 8-year-old sitting in the stands. I don’t know who the next Red Sox icon will be and what the era they represent will hold. You never do.
That’s life and that’s baseball.
October baseball!
Image by bambang adi waluyo from Pixabay
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