It was sad to see that another of my heroes from the pennant winning 1967 Red Sox team had died.  George Scott, "Boomer," 1st baseman on that team, passed away this week at the age of 69. Scott is a member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame, and with his passing, sadly only one of that team's starting infielders is still with us. Second baseman Jerry Adair and third baseman Joe Foy both passed on in recent years, leaving only shortstop Rico Petrocelli.

1967 was the year my love affair with the Red Sox began as I earnestly followed their quest to go from worst to first.  It was also the year that Mom and Dad brought me to Fenway Park for the first time. We saw a doubleheader against the California Angels, and in game 2, the Sox were losing 8-0 when Dad said it's over, let's go home.  Being the stubborn 10 year old that I was, I pitched a fit until they agreed to stay.  Yup, the Red Sox came back to win 9-8 when Jerry Adair smoked one into the Boston bullpen.

Carl Yastrzemski winning the Triple Crown, Jim Lonborg winning the Cy Young, and the tragic beaning of the late Tony Conigliaro...all memories of that glorious season.  And of course, Boomer.  Red Sox fans can remember the chain he wore around his neck, made up of what he called "second basemen's teeth."  It was Scott who hit a bomb into the center field bleachers in a must win game on the next to last day of the season against the Twins. They won that game, and the final game to win the pennant.  There were no playoffs then, and they went on to the World Series, finally losing to the Cardinals in 7 games, the beginning of 37 years of frustration.

Thanks to the Yankees pulling off the biggest choke job in sports history, the frustration ended in 2004. (Had to get that in there.)  Thanks for the memories, Boomer.

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