CSPRING TRAINING 1975 | ONTINUED FROM PAGE 51
He’d been called up to the big leagues for the first time the previous
August. When I asked him if he felt ready at that time to play every
day in the big leagues, he said, “I was ready long before that.”
The power he showed in exhibition games offered further proof
his time had come
Lynn had been a second-round selection in the 1973 draft after
three years of playing in the fabled USC baseball program. Because
of the strong competition he had faced at USC, Lynn went directly
to the Red Sox Double-A minor league club in Bristol, CT. He hit
well there and showed advanced defensive skills.
He moved up to Pawtucket in Triple-A in 1974, and excelled at the
plate and in the field. His fine play earned him a call up to Boston
in mid-September where he hit .419 in 51 plate appearances. His
outstanding play the following spring caused Yankee manager Bill
Virdon, a former outfielder, to declare, “He Lynn might just be the
best young outfielder I’ve ever seen.”
Then there was Dwight Evans, who had played in Boston the three
previous seasons, winning the starting right-field job outright in
1974. He was still just 23, and welcomed the attention drawn by
the newcomers.
“I couldn’t have been happier,” he said. “I thought I had been in
the spotlight more than warranted, and now I could concentrate
on improving my game without distraction.”
QUESTION MARKS
While Rice and Lynn were the sensation of the 1975 Red Sox
training camp, one-time Sox prodigy Tony Conigliaro was in Winter
Haven, attempting an unlikely comeback. Conigliaro had been one
of the game’s most promising sluggers, a home run champion at
age 20 in 1965, until being beaned in 1967, the damage done to his
eye causing him to miss all of the 1968 season.
He returned in 1969, winning the AL Comeback Player of the Year
Award and followed with an outstanding 1970 season in Boston,
hitting a career-best 36 home runs while driving in 116 runs. But he
was traded to the Angels for the 1971 season, struggled, and then
suddenly retired at age 26 in midseason.
Now, four years later, he was in Winter Haven, attempting another
comeback. It took him a little time to get his timing back, but
then he began hitting the ball with authority, just as he once had.
Surprised? Not Tony. “I knew I would be fine,” he said.
Another Red Sox player coming back from an injury was All-Star
catcher Carlton Fisk. The previous June, his left knee had been
torn apart in a ferocious collision at home plate with Cleveland’s
Leron Lee. Fisk, who underwent major knee reconstruction, had
been warned he might never play again, but he spent the entire
off-season rehabbing, determined to be ready for spring training.
The Red Sox and Pudge were patient as he eased into playing shape
and he didn’t start his first game until March 11. He was back in
the lineup for the next game but a pitch by Tigers pitcher Fred
Hollsworth fractured Fisk’s right forearm.
Carl Yastrzemski.
The prognosis was that he would miss at least the first two months
of the season. Red Sox backup catcher Bob Montgomery, who had
filled in admirably for Fisk the previous season, was pressed back
into service once again.
An injury in 1974 had kept top-of-the-rotation starter Rick Wise
from winning the 15 to 18 games that the Red Sox had expected
from him. “I pitched a complete game on a cold damp April day in
Boston and hurt my arm,’’ he said. “The X-rays in Boston didn’t
pick up the problem but the X-rays back home identified a triceps
tear.
“Once the problem was identified I put together a rehab program
and reported to Winter Haven with a healthy right arm. I pitched
well in spring training and I knew I would have a good season.”
On a positive note, veteran third baseman Rico Petrocelli reported
that he was completely recovered from his beaning in September,
1974. Petrocelli, one of only three holdovers from the pennantwinning
1967 Red Sox team Carl Yastrzemski and Conigliaro were
the others said, “I haven’t felt this good in four years. I’m ready
to go.”
Yaz simply showed up, played hard, and if he was hurting he didn’t
tell anybody.
52 RED SOX MAGAZINE