May 31, 1977 – Red Sox 5, Yankees 1
- Sal Maiorana
- May 31, 2017
- 3 min read
BOSTON – The team that played in Queens stole the headlines from the guys who occupied the Bronx, something that rarely happened in 1977.
The stumbling, bumbling Mets were a veritable train wreck, mostly due to poor front office leadership and decision-making, but naturally, the field manager was made to be the scapegoat. So, Joe Frazier, who had managed the club about as well as the famous boxer of the same name might have, which is to say not well, was fired. He was replaced by a guy named Joe Torre. Yankee fans might remember him.
The Mets were 15-30 and basically out of the NL East race already, so they turned to the Brooklyn native in the hope that his fresh approach could reverse the team’s fortunes. “I feel I can relate to players,” said Torre, who was still an active player and had been with the Mets since 1975. “I have the feeling I can get into the players’ heads a little bit. We’re not as bad a team as the record indicates and we should be a representative team. May is a little early for a team to quit.”
Torre was placed in a difficult situation, taking over a club that was fractured by the players’ complete distrust of the hierarchy, specifically chairman M. Donald Grant. No one was more irritated than the Mets’ iconic pitcher, Tom Seaver, who had been embroiled in bitter contract battle which ultimately would lead to a summer-time trade to Cincinnati. “My dispute is not with the manager, it’s with management, and I don’t see this move changing my relationship with the chairman of the board,” Seaver said.
When he was asked about Torre, Seaver let it be known how much he respected the former National League MVP, and he made a prediction, though it took a while for it to come to fruition. “It’s the start of an outstanding career for him,” Seaver said. “I think he’ll be an excellent manager.”
As Yankee fans know, when he was hired by George Steinbrenner in 1996 to replace Buck Showalter, Torre hadn’t exactly distinguished himself in this role. One backpage headline screamed "Clueless Joe" in response to what was perceived as an uninspiring choice. In five years with the Mets his record was 286-420; in three years with the Braves he was 257-229; and in six years with the Cardinals he was 351-354. In those 14 seasons, he had just one playoff team, the 1982 Braves, who were swept 3-0 by the Cardinals in the NL Championship Series.
Then he came back to New York and changed boroughs and, well, things went a little better. Wearing pinstripes Torre’s record was 1,173-767 (.605 winning percentage) with 10 AL East division titles, six AL pennants, and four World Series titles.
Rick Burleson tags out Willie Randolph on a first-inning stolen base attempt.
While the drama at Shea Stadium was going down, at Fenway Park in Boston, the Red Sox earned a split of a two-game set with the Yankees as Reggie Cleveland, a true Yankee killer, improved his career record against the Bombers to 6-1 with a complete game.
“I don’t know, make up a story,” Cleveland scoffed when told of his success against the Yankees. “What can I say? I’ve always pitched well against them. There’s no explanation for it.”
Gil Patterson started for New York and gave up a solo homer to Jim Rice and a two-run bomb to Butch Hobson in the third. In between, Graig Nettles homered, but that wound up being the only mistake Cleveland made.
Cleveland toyed with Reggie Jackson. He went 0-for-4 and left seven runners on base including four in scoring position. “He made good pitches when he had to,” said Jackson. “I left seven men on base. I’m not swinging the bat bad. I got no excuses. I look good in the lobby. That’s where it ends.”
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