1965 Boston Red Sox – 62-100

It's hard to believe that in only 2 years this team would win the AL pennant in what was termed the "Impossible Dream" year.  If '67 was a dream, '65 was a nightmare.  The everyday lineup was already capable of winning a pennant.  Yaz was in his 5th season and finally began to escape from the large shadows cast by Theodore S Willams.  Hitting .312 with 20 homers would be a pretty darn good season for anyone, but not in Boston, where Yaz suffered in comparison to his predecessor.  Playing the other corner OF slot was a 20 year old phenom named Tony Conigliaro, know better to the locals as "Tony C".  What 20 year old could hit 32 homers and knock in 82 runs in just 138 games of action.  This guy was the real deal and sadly a beaning 2 years later would begin the end of a career that surely was destined for Cooperstown.  On a team with young stars like Tony C and Yaz the RBI leader, shockingly, was Felix Mantilla (92).  The journeyman middle infielder also chipped in with 18 homers.  The team .251 batting average was 2nd in the AL and the 165 HR's was 1st, which tells you where the problem rested...

Pitching...was the achilles heel of this team for sure, unless you look at it from an offensive point of view, since these hurlers could hit.  Earl Wilson might have been 13-14 with a 3.98 ERA, but his 6 HR's at the plate made him a true long ball threat.  Unfortunately he also gave up 27 of those long balls to the opposition.  Bill Monbouquette had the best ERA (3.70) of the staff, but that would translate to a 10-18 record.  A young Jim Lonborg (23 yrs old) would show some flashes of brilliance, but not enough to forecast his Cy Young 1967 performance.  Hard throwing Dick Radatz had an off year coming out of the pen.  His 9-11, 3.91, 22 save, 121 k's in 124 IP, show a guy who could throw heat, but could not be counted upon to save the day more than half the time.

This is a team that is definitely going to take advantage of the weak KOD11 pitching, but will their pitching hold up enough to win more than they will lose ?  Tough to say.  This was definitely the low point for a franchise that now sells out every home game.  Back in the dark days of the early/mid 60's Fenway Park couldn't draw flies, which is probably why no one saw 1967 coming.  Only 650,000 people came through the turnstiles that whole season, which is about what they draw now in a couple of home stands.