Probably the greatest World Series game ever.

     The Red Sox were starved for a World Series - the last time they had won, America was fighting World War I and Babe Ruth was in a Sox uniform. The Reds were also a hard-luck team - they hadn't won since 1940 - but they had assembled "The Big Red Machine," a team stocked with players who would win 6 MVP titles in the 8 years between 1970 and 1977 (Bench won in 1970 and 1972; Pete Rose in 1973; Joe Morgan won in 1975 and 1976, and George Foster won in 1977).

   In 1975 baseball was out of favor with much of America, but this wonderful Series was a delight, helping to bring it back to the living rooms of the nation. Luis Tiant was magnificent in the Series opener, shutting out the much-favored Cincinnati Reds on five hits, with his father in the stands for the first time in 14 years. The Reds won the next two games, 3-2 (coming back from a 2-1 deficit in the ninth) and 6-5 (a dramatic 10th-inning win, with  Ed Armbrister arguably interfering with Carlton Fisk to cause the errant throw that set up the winning run).

     Game 4 went to the Sox - a less artistic, but still effective, Tiant threw 163 pitches and toppled the Reds again, allowing four runs on nine hits and pulling out a 5-4 win. Fred Lynn saved him in the 9th with an over-the-shoulder catch with runners at first and second. In Game 5, Cincy's Don Gullett retired 16 straight and 25 of 27 after Boston tagged him for a run in the 1st, and the Reds won 6-2.

   With their backs to the wall, the Red Sox started Tiant again in Game 6. They jumped to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, on a three-run homer by Fred Lynn, but the Reds tied it in the top of the fifth. In the seventh, the Reds finally got to El Tiante. Griffey started things with a single wide of first base and Morgan followed with a single to left. Tiant responded nobly, retiring the big guns - Bench and Perez - and getting to within one out of a Houdini act. But George Foster made it 5-3 with a solid drive to straightaway center field, where the ball hit the concrete at the farthest point from home plate, 400 feet away. Cesar Geronimo led off the eighth with a high home run past the right field foul pole, making it 6-3, and excusing Tiant to a standing ovation.

   It appeared that the Red Sox were slipping away, but they mounted a dramatic comeback in the 8th. In the home half of the 8th, with Fred Lynn and Rico Petrocelli aboard and two down, Boston pinch hitter Bernie Carbo hit a 400 foot home run  into the night off of Reds ace Rawley Eastwick and tied the game 6-6.

   In the bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox had a chance to win it with runners on first and third and nobody out. Reds manager Sparky Anderson then showed why he is called "Captain Hook": he sent for his seventh pitcher of the evening, Will McEnaney. Carlton Fisk was given a free pass to load the bases. Fred Lynn stood at the plate with Denny Doyle just 90 feet away with the winning run, no outs and the bases loaded.  On a 2-2 pitch Lynn lofted a fly to left field right down the line;  Foster camped under it, and Doyle prepared to tag up. When the catch was made,  Doyle broke for home - he mistook 3rd base coach Don Zimmer's screaming of "No, no, no" for "Go, go, go".

     Foster made the catch in foul territory, and cut him down with a perfect throw to Bench, who tagged him out for the double play. Finally, Rico Petrocelli grounded out to end the inning.

     The dramatics continue in to extra innings. After a scoreless 10th, Pete Rose led off the 11th and reached first by being hit by pitcher Dick Drago. The next batter, Griffey, tried a sacrifice bunt, but Fisk threw out Rose at second. With a runner on first, Morgan shot a pitch deep into right that seemed destined for the seats, but rightfielder Dwight Evans made a leaping, one handed catch two or three rows deep into the seats to save the day - then he ended the inning by throwing the ball back off line to Yastremski, who tossed it to Doyle to double up Griffey who was already at third.

   Finally, at 12:34 EST, Boston catcher Carlton Fisk led off the Red Sox 12th. Pat Darcy was on the hill for Cincinnati, the Series-record 8th pitcher for the Reds. He had retired all six batter since he entered in the 10th. His first pitch was high and in, backing Fisk off the plate. The next one was sinker, down and in, a perfect pitch ... but Fisk anticipated it perfectly and blasted it down the left field line. Everyone in the park knew it was deep enough, but would it stay fair?

   It may be the longest four seconds in baseball history - even the casual fan remembers Fisk standing at home plate, motioning the ball fair with some serious body English ... and the ball ricocheted off of the meshing of the foul pole, for a game winning, Series tying, homerun.

   Unfortunately, Red Sox fans will also remember that their team choked in Game 7: they blew a 3-0 lead and lost 4-3, on a 9th-inning single by Joe Morgan off of Jim Burton, which scored Ken Griffey the Elder.