From Ninth Place to the World Series
The Boston Red Sox lost the 1967 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, but the way they got there is why the year is remembered in New England. They had finished ninth in the ten-team American League in 1966, and they began 1967 with long odds against them. The preseason odds on a Red Sox pennant were reportedly 100 to 1, and almost no one expected them to contend.
The club had not won a pennant since 1946 and had not won a World Series since 1918. Attendance at Fenway Park had slumped in the mid-1960s. That context explains why the 1967 team was so celebrated: it came out of nowhere.
Dick Williams
The architect of the change was manager Dick Williams, who took over for the 1967 season. He had managed in Boston’s farm system, and he came in with a stern, demanding style. He insisted on fundamentals, on better defence and on a more disciplined approach, and he was not afraid to push players, including established ones. Within a few weeks of the start of spring training, Williams had made it clear that the old habits would not be tolerated.
The team he had was young, with a core of talented hitters and pitchers. Carl Yastrzemski, the left fielder, was the best of them. George Scott at first base, Rico Petrocelli at shortstop and Reggie Smith in the outfield were among the other regulars. The pitching was led by Jim Lonborg, who developed into the team’s ace that season.
Why It Was Called the Impossible Dream
The nickname came from “The Impossible Dream,” a song from the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha, which was popular in the period. The Red Sox adopted it informally, and the phrase became a shorthand for the season. It suited a team that overcame long odds, and the Impossible Dream Red Sox label has remained attached to the club ever since.
Lonborg’s Cy Young Season
Jim Lonborg won 22 games in 1967 and led the American League in strikeouts. He won the American League’s Cy Young Award; 1967 was the first year the award was given separately in each league. He had a strong September, and he pitched the pennant-clinching game on the last day, defeating the Twins on 1 October.
In the World Series he won Games 2 and 5 and started Game 7 on two days of rest. That winter he injured his knee in a skiing accident, which affected his career afterwards. That ending has made the 1967 season a high point rather than the start of a long run.
Tony Conigliaro
The darkest moment of the season came on 18 August 1967. Tony Conigliaro, a young outfielder from the Boston area, was one of the most exciting players in the league. He had already hit a lot of home runs at an early age and was a local favourite. That night at Fenway Park, a pitch from Jack Hamilton of the California Angels struck him in the face.
The injury was severe. Conigliaro was taken from the field and hospitalised, and he missed the rest of the season and all of 1968. The beaning is often mentioned in later discussions of batting helmet safety.
He returned in 1969 and played well, but problems with his vision continued, and his career was shortened. The story is generally told with sympathy, as a reminder that the glow of the pennant race coexisted with real loss for one player.
His absence also had a practical effect. The Red Sox needed another outfielder for the pennant stretch and acquired Ken Harrelson, whom the Kansas City Athletics’ owner Charlie Finley had released after a public dispute. Harrelson hit well down the stretch and became a popular figure in Boston.
The Pennant
The Red Sox were involved in a four-team pennant race against the Twins, Tigers and White Sox. The race went to the last weekend, when Boston beat the Twins on Saturday and again on Sunday, 1 October. When Detroit lost the second game of a doubleheader the same day, the Red Sox finished a game ahead of both the Twins and the Tigers.
Fenway Park’s crowds that September were reportedly some of the most excited in its history. Many people in New England remember where they were when the pennant was clinched, which is one reason the team continues to be treated with affection.
What the Season Left Behind
The Red Sox did not win the World Series, and the franchise went on waiting. It would not win a championship until 2004. But the 1967 team is often credited with reviving interest in baseball in Boston, bringing back crowds, and establishing a new generation of fans. The season also gave the club a version of its own mythology: a story of long odds, a determined manager, an ace who pitched too often and an outfielder whose career was changed in an instant.
It is a story in which the drama carried as much weight as the result, which is why it is still told.