Carlton Fisk's dramatic home run in game six is the most vivid memory of the 1975 World Series.
It was 35 years ago today on October 22, 1975 that one of the most exciting World Series of all-time ended with a game seven that would propel the Big Red Machine to immortality while adding another tale of woe for fans of the Boston Red Sox.
From the very beginning, there was something about the 1975 World Series that brought it to the national forefront like no other World Series since the hey days of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers.
With superstars Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan, the Cincinnati Reds were baseball’s best known team, but two previous trips to the World Series had resulted in a pair of defeats and questions as to whether the Reds could win the big one.
The Boston Red Sox were back in the spotlight buoyed by the play of flashy young outfielder Fred Lynn, who would become the first rookie in baseball history to be names American League MVP. He was joined on the roster by future Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski and Carlton Fisk as well as charismatic pitcher Luis Tiant.
With weekday World Series games now being played primarily at night, it provided fans (both young and old) who in the past had needed to play hooky from work or school to watch the World Series to now be able to enjoy the games from the comfort of home. Read the rest of this entry →
Most football fans know how Tom Brady became the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots, but when do they and the Patriots know that he would become a successful NFL quarterback?
Perhaps that moment occurred in the Patriots week 5 game against the San Diego Chargers where Brady lead the Patriots back from a ten-point deficit in the fourth quarter to come away with an overtime victory.
Brady was forced into the role of starting quarterback when longtime starter Drew Bledsoe was injured in the Patriots’ second game of the season, a 10-3 loss to the New York Jets.
Brady’s first start was a successful one as he led the Patriots to a 44-13 rout of the Indianapolis Colts in week 3, but was unsuccessful the following week as the Patriots were defeated by the Miami Dolphins 30-10 as Brady threw for only 86 yards.
With zero touchdown passes in his two starts, some observers felt that Brady was a liability and that the Patriots would go nowhere in the second season under head coach Bill Belichick.
The Patriots opponent in Week 5 was the San Diego Chargers, one of the early surprises in the 2001 season.
In 2000, the Chargers finished with a 1-15 record, the worst in the league.
After the season, Chargers owner Dean Spanos hired former Bills general manager John Butler to the same position, who brought several players from the Bills roster to San Diego, including quarterback Doug Flutie.
The Chargers held the first pick in the NFL Draft, but they traded it away to the Atlanta Falcons for the #5 pick in the first round and the first pick in the second round, which the Chargers used to pick running back LaDainian Tomlinson and quarterback Drew Brees.
The new-look Chargers won their first three games before losing to the Cleveland Browns 20-16 the week before they traveled to Foxboro to face the Patriots.
Both teams scored field goals in the first quarter as the Patriots drove 60 yards in 13 plays on their opening drive, leading to a 26-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri, while the Chargers got a 21-yard field goal by Wade Richey on the final play of the quarter. Read the rest of this entry →
In 1978, the National Football League expanded not only its regular season from 14 to 16 games, but also its playoff format from eight teams to 10. With the inclusion of one extra playoff team per conference, a game between the two wild card teams would be played one week before the three divisional winners began their postseason.
Thus, the Wild Card playoff round was born and in the very first NFC Wild Card Game the Atlanta Falcons would host the Philadelphia Eagles in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.
The Eagles were making their first postseason appearance since they won the NFL championship back in 1960. Following that season, the Eagles went into freefall as the franchise had only two winning seasons from 1961-75.
After a 4-10 season in 1975, the Eagles hired UCLA head coach Dick Vermeil, whose team had just defeated #1 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, to the same position.
By his third season, Vermeil had turned the Eagles into a winner as the team finished with a 9-7 record to clinch one of the two NFC Wild Card spots for the team’s first playoff appearance in 18 years.
While the Eagles were returning to the postseason, the Atlanta Falcons were making their first foray into the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry →
Many fans were hoping for a shootout when two of the most high-powered offenses in the NFL, the Washington Redskins and the Green Bay Packers, got together for a week 7 Monday night game in Lambeau Field.
The Redskins were the defending Super Bowl champions and entered this game with a 5-1 record, their only loss being a 31-30 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in week 1.
Washington’s offense had been outstanding though the first six games as it averaged nearly 30 points and 356 yards per game,
Quarterback Joe Theismann had all sorts of his weapons with a backfield that consisted of running backs John Riggins and Joe Washington to go along with a great corps of receivers known as the “Fun Bunch” for their end zone celebrations, Art Monk, Charlie Brown, and Alvin Garrett.
But the heart of the Redskins’ offense was in its offensive line, known as the “Hogs”, who were able to dominate the line of scrimmage to provide huge holes for their running backs and allowed Theismann the time to find his receivers.
The Packers had a high-powered offense as well as it averaged nearly 27 points and 389 yards per game through the first six games, thanks to quarterback Lynn Dickey. Read the rest of this entry →
The October Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Month came out of nowhere to become the hero of the 1972 World Series for the Oakland A’s.
After hitting only five home runs in the 1972 regular season, Gene Tenace became an overnight superstar by becoming the first player in World Series history to hit home runs in his first two World Series at bats. He went on to drive in all three runs in a 3-2 game one win over the Cincinnati Reds.
With slugger Reggie Jackson out of the series with an injury, Tenace filled the void and helped lead the A’s to victory. During the seven game series, Tenace hit four home runs and drove in nine runs. In the decisive seventh game, he drove in two runs in a 3-2 victory that lifted the A’s to the first of their three straight world championships. Read the rest of this entry →
The Thrilla in Manila marked the completion of boxing's greatest trilogy.
It was 35 years ago, October 1, 1975, that one of the great rivalries in sports history reached its climax with the third and final meeting between two of the great heavyweight boxers of their era. For both Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, the “Thrilla in Manila” was a defining moment in their careers.
For Ali, the victory secured his place as one of the great boxers of all-time. While for Frazier, the loss ensured that he would never be recognized as the top fighter of his era. Another loss a year later to George Foreman ended his tenure among the boxing champions.
Whether it was hype or real, the two men didn’t seem to like each other very much. Ali was constantly needling Frazier, an obvious attempt to get into his head. The two men once fought on the set of ABC’s Wide World of Sports and represented vast differences in African American society of the 1970s.
But in the ring, they were both warriors and their three fights were among the greatest in boxing history.
Below are some great YouTube videos that capture the buildup and the boxing from the “Thrilla in Manila.”
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is one of the most underappreciated wide receivers in NFL history, despite boasting a career that spanned 16 seasons and saw him excel as one of the league’s premier deep threats. Known for his speed, route-running, and ability to make plays downfield, Harold Jackson left an indelible mark on the game during an era that was not yet pass-heavy. Standing at 5’10” and weighing 175 pounds, he defied expectations of size to become a dominant force on the field. Over the course of his illustrious career (1968–1983), Jackson totaled 10,372 receiving yards and 76 touchdowns, placing him among the top receivers of his time.
