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White recalls rivalry with Boston
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BY SCOTT WALSH
When baseball fans think about the rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, one of the first things to come to mind is the one-game playoff between the teams on Oct. 2, 1978 to decide the American League East Division title.
Of course, that is the game that featured Bucky Dent’s famous home run, which helped the Yankees win, 5-4, and complete a comeback from a 14-game deficit as late as July 19.
That playoff game might have never happened, however, if not for a four-game series the teams played at Boston’s Fenway Park in early September.
The Yankees came to town trailing the first-place Red Sox by four games. When they left, the teams were tied for first as the Yankees swept all four games, outscoring the Red Sox, 42-9, and outhitting them, 67-21.
It was a series that was dubbed the “Boston Massacre.”
“That was just an unbelievable series,” Roy White said. “It was like an avalanche, the way we came in and scored runs and dominated every game.”
White is one of former Yankees players who will participate in the Legends Reunion on Aug. 16 at PNC Field. The
Please see WHITE, Page C6
event, co-sponsored by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and the Times-Tribune newspapers, will feature a five-inning baseball game between a team of ex-Yankees against a team of former Red Sox.
In the series opener on Sept. 7, 1978, the Yankees raced to a 12-0 lead over the first 3� innings on their way to a 15-3 victory. In the next game, the Yankees again started fast, leading 8-0 after 1� innings before winning, 13-2.
Pitcher Ron Guidry dominated the third game of the series, tossing a two-hit, complete-game shutout. The Yankees scored all their runs in the fourth inning for a 7-0 win. Then in the series finale, the Yankees jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 1� innings and completed the sweep with a 7-4 victory.
“I don’t think anybody thought going in that we would win those four games so easily; you would have thought they would have been some real nail biters,” said White, who batted 8-for-15 in the series with six runs scored and three RBIs. “But they were blowouts. I think there was one game we batted around three times before they even got to the bottom of their order. It was a pretty memorable series for us.” Interestingly, of the 67 hits the Yankees had in the series, only two were home runs.
“We had a team that could score runs in a number of different ways. We didn’t need the home run,” White said. “In that Boston Massacre, we must have hit the (left-field) wall like 20 times — line-drive doubles, hard singles. Just base hits.”
On the final day of the regular season, the Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians and the Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays to create a tie for first place at 99-63 and set up the one-game playoff at Fenway Park.
Boston led, 2-0, in the seventh inning when, with two out, Chris Chambliss singled. White followed with a single. After pinch-hitter Jim Spencer flied out, Dent stepped to the plate and drilled a 1-2 pitch from Mike Torrez into the screen above the Green Monster for a three-run home run.
“I knew at least it was going to hit high off the wall,” White said of Dent’s home run. “I was running hard from first and watching (left fielder Carl) Yastrzemski to see if, maybe he missed the carom, I’d have a chance to score from first. But there was no sound of the ball hitting the wall, and Yastrzemski’s head just kind of dropped down. Then I knew the ball went over the wall.”
After winning the playoff game, the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant, then defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games to win the World Series.
Over the years, White has done baseball card and memorabilia shows and other functions with his one-time Red Sox rivals. But the Legends Reunion is believed to be the first time the former Yankees and Red Sox greats will play an exhibition game against each other.
“I’m looking forward to it. Scranton is a great baseball town,” the 64-year-old White said. “There’s never been a Yankees-Boston type of Old Timers’ game like this; it’s the first event of its kind. I think it’s going to be a blast and a lot of fun. I don’t think you’re going to see some serious baseball because a number of us are over 60 and won’t be running around there too fast. But I think the fans are going to have a good time.”
Contact the writer: swalsh@timesshamrock.com
Of course, that is the game that featured Bucky Dent’s famous home run, which helped the Yankees win, 5-4, and complete a comeback from a 14-game deficit as late as July 19.
That playoff game might have never happened, however, if not for a four-game series the teams played at Boston’s Fenway Park in early September.
The Yankees came to town trailing the first-place Red Sox by four games. When they left, the teams were tied for first as the Yankees swept all four games, outscoring the Red Sox, 42-9, and outhitting them, 67-21.
It was a series that was dubbed the “Boston Massacre.”
“That was just an unbelievable series,” Roy White said. “It was like an avalanche, the way we came in and scored runs and dominated every game.”
White is one of former Yankees players who will participate in the Legends Reunion on Aug. 16 at PNC Field. The
Please see WHITE, Page C6
event, co-sponsored by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and the Times-Tribune newspapers, will feature a five-inning baseball game between a team of ex-Yankees against a team of former Red Sox.
In the series opener on Sept. 7, 1978, the Yankees raced to a 12-0 lead over the first 3� innings on their way to a 15-3 victory. In the next game, the Yankees again started fast, leading 8-0 after 1� innings before winning, 13-2.
Pitcher Ron Guidry dominated the third game of the series, tossing a two-hit, complete-game shutout. The Yankees scored all their runs in the fourth inning for a 7-0 win. Then in the series finale, the Yankees jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 1� innings and completed the sweep with a 7-4 victory.
“I don’t think anybody thought going in that we would win those four games so easily; you would have thought they would have been some real nail biters,” said White, who batted 8-for-15 in the series with six runs scored and three RBIs. “But they were blowouts. I think there was one game we batted around three times before they even got to the bottom of their order. It was a pretty memorable series for us.” Interestingly, of the 67 hits the Yankees had in the series, only two were home runs.
“We had a team that could score runs in a number of different ways. We didn’t need the home run,” White said. “In that Boston Massacre, we must have hit the (left-field) wall like 20 times — line-drive doubles, hard singles. Just base hits.”
On the final day of the regular season, the Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians and the Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays to create a tie for first place at 99-63 and set up the one-game playoff at Fenway Park.
Boston led, 2-0, in the seventh inning when, with two out, Chris Chambliss singled. White followed with a single. After pinch-hitter Jim Spencer flied out, Dent stepped to the plate and drilled a 1-2 pitch from Mike Torrez into the screen above the Green Monster for a three-run home run.
“I knew at least it was going to hit high off the wall,” White said of Dent’s home run. “I was running hard from first and watching (left fielder Carl) Yastrzemski to see if, maybe he missed the carom, I’d have a chance to score from first. But there was no sound of the ball hitting the wall, and Yastrzemski’s head just kind of dropped down. Then I knew the ball went over the wall.”
After winning the playoff game, the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant, then defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games to win the World Series.
Over the years, White has done baseball card and memorabilia shows and other functions with his one-time Red Sox rivals. But the Legends Reunion is believed to be the first time the former Yankees and Red Sox greats will play an exhibition game against each other.
“I’m looking forward to it. Scranton is a great baseball town,” the 64-year-old White said. “There’s never been a Yankees-Boston type of Old Timers’ game like this; it’s the first event of its kind. I think it’s going to be a blast and a lot of fun. I don’t think you’re going to see some serious baseball because a number of us are over 60 and won’t be running around there too fast. But I think the fans are going to have a good time.”
Contact the writer: swalsh@timesshamrock.com
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