The World Series by Stephanie Peters Read Free Book Online Page A

fielder trying to make aplay on a batted ball is automatically out, even if the interference is not intentional. Armbrister had interfered with Fisk
     and was therefore out — or so it seemed to Johnson, the rest of the Sox, and many others who'd seen the play.
    But the umpire stood by his call. When the Reds pushed across the game-winning run three batters later, the Sox stormed off
     the field, furious.
    They channeled that fury the next day, beating the Reds 5–4. But game five belonged to the Reds, thanks to two powerful home
     runs from Tony Perez's bat.
    Like most World Series, this championship had provided plenty of excitement. But game six made every other match look dull
     in comparison.
    After a three-day rain delay, Luis Tiant took the mound. He retired the first three Reds in order. Then, in the Red Sox's
     first at bats, Fred Lynn lambasted a three-run homer.
    The score stayed 3–0 until the top of the fifth, when the Reds scored twice on a triple by Griffey, and then again on a single
     by Bench.
    Two innings later, the Reds added two to theirside. They added yet another in the eighth with a home run by Geronimo.
    The Sox came up in the bottom of the eighth with the score 6–3. Lynn singled and Rico Petrocelli walked to put runners at
     first and second, no outs. Bernie Carbo came in to pinch-hit for pitcher Roger Moret. It was Carbo's first at bat of the game.
     He took two strikes and then connected weakly for a foul ball. One more strike and the inning would be over.
    That strike didn't come. Instead, Carbo absolutely crushed the next pitch, blasting the ball deep into home-run territory
     to tie the game!
    The score was still 6–6 after nine innings. And after ten innings. And after eleven — although the Reds came very close to
     winning the game that inning. With Ken Griffey at first, slugger Joe Morgan slammed a sizzling line drive down the right-field
     line. Griffey took off, certain that the hit was unreachable.
    But nobody told Dwight Evans that. He beat the ball to the wall, nabbed it in the webbing of his glove as he crashed into
     the concrete, and then threw to first for the double play!
    With the clock ticking past midnight, the game continued into a twelfth inning. But no one watching the game was yawning;
     it was simply too suspenseful!
    Bottom of the twelfth, the score was still tied. As leadoff batter Fisk readied himself in the on-deck circle, he turned to
     Fred Lynn and said, “I'm gonna hit one off the wall. You drive me in.”
    Lynn answered, “Sounds good to me.”
    Fisk stepped into the batter's box. He let the first pitch go by for ball one. The next pitch would have been a strike if
     Fisk had let it go by or had swung and missed. But he did neither. Instead, he connected.
    Boom!
The ball soared high in the air toward the left-field line and vanished into the outfield lights. Fisk tracked the ball's
     flight, and then began hopping and chopping his arms sideways toward right field, willing the ball to stay fair of the foul
     pole.
    Clang!
The ball hit the pole square on! Home run!
    Red Sox fans swarmed the field as Fisk frisked around the bases. When he reached home, he gave a final jump and came down
     on the plate with both feet.
    “I don't think I've ever gone through a more emotional game,” Fisk told reporters later.
    Sadly for Boston fans, the Red Sox couldn't follow up that amazing win with another the following night. After leading the
     game 3–2 through six innings, Boston gave up two runs without being able to score any more of their own. The Series outcome
     didn't come as a surprise to anyone who relied on statistics to predict the winner — after all, the Reds were the strongest
     team ever in baseball history — but it did come as a disappointment to those hoping for a “Cinderella story” finish.
    Cincinnati took the championship the following year as well, sweeping the New York Yankees in four straight games. But in
     1977, the Yankees were back on