‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎Fenway Park Timeline

Record: 87-75, 3rd in American League East
Manager: Edward M. Kasko
Attendance: 1,595,278

Under new manager Eddie Kasko, the 1970 Red Sox finished 87-75. Though they placed third in the league standings, they ranked first in attendance, at 1,595,278.

Carl Yastrzemski led the league in both on-base percentage and slugging, and matched the 40 home runs he'd hit in 1969. His May 16 home run was one of the longest ever hit at Fenway Park. The ball traveled all the way out of the park to straightaway center, passing to the right of the flagpole, which had been enclosed and taken out of play before the season.

Tony Conigliaro led the team with 116 RBIs and combined with his brother Billy to hit 54 home runs, which still stands as a single-season record for two relatives playing for the same team. Seven Boston players hit at least 16 homers, and the Red Sox hit a then-club record 203 home runs.

The pitching staff was led by Ray Culp (17-14), Gary Peters (16-11) and Sonny Siebert (15-8). The trio accounted for 48 of the team's 87 victories. Yastrzemski almost won another batting title but lost out by fractions of a point after playing through a twisted ankle.

In 1970, the Red Sox regularly closed off a triangular section in the center-field bleachers (the area the batter sees directly behind the pitcher's release point). This area came to be known as "Conig's Corner," since it gave Tony Conigliaro a better background for hitting and perhaps protected him against another beaning. However, after the season, GM Dick O'Connell announced that he had traded Conigliaro to California for Doug Griffin.

For almost 60 years, Fenway Park's flagpole in center field was a quirky part of the field of play. However, in 1970, the flag pole was enclosed when an extension, which is used as a location for television cameras today, was built on the left side of the bleachers.

The Sunday Advertisers defeated the Record Americans for the third straight year in 1970.

1970 Non-Red Sox Baseball At Fenway Park

August 3William Randolph Hearst Sandlot Tournament: Sunday Advertisers 7, Record Americans 2

A decade after their last venture to Fenway Park, the Jehovah's Witnesses returned for another four-day event at the ballpark in 1970. They called the gathering the "Men of Good Will Assembly" and drew 20,000 participants.

1970 Non-Baseball Events At Fenway Park

January 20Junior Goodwill Dinner*

July 9-12Jehovah's Witnesses Gathering

*For several years, Fenway Park hosted a Junior Goodwill Dinner that brought hundreds of local high school students to the ballpark. The tradition was started by Red Sox legend Joe Cronin and the event typically took place in late January.

In 1971, Fenway Park hosted its last Junior Goodwill Dinner, an event that Joe Cronin started at the ballpark in 1952. In 1972, the dinner was moved to the Statler Hilton, which today is known as the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.

1971 Non-Baseball Events At Fenway Park

January 27Junior Goodwill Dinner*

*For several years, Fenway Park hosted a Junior Goodwill Dinner that brought hundreds of local high school students to the ballpark. The tradition was started by Red Sox legend Joe Cronin and the event typically took place in late January.

Record: 89-73, 2nd in American League East
Manager: Edward M. Kasko (88-73), Eddie Popowski (1-0)
Attendance: 1,481,002

In 1973, the American League implemented the designated hitter and the Red Sox added Orlando Cepeda on January 18. Cepeda was the first player clearly signed for the specific purpose of being a DH. The future Hall of Famer hit .289 in his lone season with Boston and his 86 RBIs were second on the club behind Carl Yastrzemski's 95. Reggie Smith led the team with a .303 batting average and hit 21 home runs, including one from each side of the plate in an April 16 game at Fenway Park. Tommy Harper scored a team-high 92 runs and stole 54 bases, a Red Sox record that stood until Jacoby Ellsbury broke it in 2009.

Carlton Fisk's club-leading 25 homers included a pair of shots in Boston's Opening Day victory over the Yankees at Fenway Park. The Red Sox Opening Day starter, Luis Tiant picked up the win, his first of 20 in 1973. Two southpaws, Bill Lee (17-11) and Roger Moret (13-2), were Boston's other star pitchers.

The most dramatic moment of the season came on August 1 at Fenway Park, when New York's Thurman Munson barreled into Fisk on a ninth-inning suicide squeeze. The catchers began to brawl and both were ejected from the game. Bob Montgomery took over behind the plate for Boston and scored the winning run in the bottom half of the inning.

Record: 95-65, 1st in American League East
Manager: Darrell D. Johnson
Attendance: 1,748,587
Postseason: Played in World Series

Injuries defined much of 1975 for the Red Sox. Carlton Fisk had been out since midsummer 1974 and then had his arm broken by a pitch early in spring training in 1975. Fisk didn't appear in a game until June 23, 1975 but in his half-season, he batted .331 and drove in 52 runs. Against all odds, after 3½ years out of baseball, Tony Conigliaro made the Red Sox as an invitee to spring training. He singled in his first at-bat then pulled off a double steal, taking second base while Carl Yastrzemski scored. However, Conigliaro's eyesight problems proved insurmountable and after hitting just.123, he ended his season in June.

Jim Rice and Fred Lynn, two rookies who had gotten a taste of the majors late in 1974, became starters in 1975 and had breakout years. They were called the "Gold Dust Twins" with Rice in left field and Lynn in center. In their first full seasons, Lynn hit .331, drove in 105 runs and had 21 home runs, while Rice hit .309, drove in 102 and led the team with 22 homers. However, adding to the list of impactful injuries for the Red Sox in 1974, Rise was hit on the wrist by a pitch on September 21, ending his season.

No Boston pitcher won 20 games in 1975 but Rick Wise (19-12), Luis Tiant (18-14) and Bill Lee (17-9) comprised the core of a formidable staff. The Red Sox moved into first place for good in late June and held off Baltimore down the stretch, thanks in large part to a string of clutch performances by Tiant, including the September 16 game at Fenway Park, when the right-hander bested Jim Palmer and the Orioles, 2-0. Boston finished 4 1/2 games in front of Baltimore and Fred Lynn earned both AL Rookie of the Year and MVP honors, the first time any player had one both awards in the same year.

The Red Sox swept the defending World Champion Oakland A's in Boston's first appearance in the American League Championship Series, then took on Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" in the World Series. Though the Red Sox lost to the Reds in seven games, Carlton Fisk's legendary, game-winning home run off Fenway's left-field foul pole in Game Six remains one of Fenway Park's greatest moments, in one of baseball's greatest games.

In 1975, Fenway Park hosted its first all-star game featuring the Cape Cod Baseball League, which included some of the best college baseball players in the country. The format of the game pitted a team of Cape Cod League All-Stars against a team of all-stars from the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, another summer league full of talent.

1975 Non-Red Sox Baseball At Fenway Park

July 21Cape Cod Baseball League 1, Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League 0*

* From 1975 to 1987, on a biennial basis, Fenway Park hosted an all-star game between the Cape Code Baseball League and the Atlantic Collegiate League. The all-star game alternated between Fenway Park and sites closer to the ACL's teams, such as Yankee Stadium and Veterans Stadium. In 1988, the Cape Cod Baseball League returned to an intra-league format for their annual all-star game and in 2009, Cape Code League All-Stars returned to Fenway Park for the Cape Cod League All-Star Game, which was played again in 2010.

Record: 83-79, 3rd in American League East
Manager: Darrell D. Johnson (41-45), Donald W. Zimmer (42-43)
Attendance: 1,895,846

Following their pennant-winning season the previous year, the Red Sox struggled through a hangover season in 1976. The team failed to sign Rick Burleson, Carlton Fisk and Fred Lynn to new contracts by the March 10, 1976 deadline. As a result, each player had his contract automatically renewed and entered an option year. All three eventually signed new deals with the club but some believed that their contractual situations were a distraction to the team.

An early 10-game losing streak deposited the Red Sox in last place by May 11. Nine days later, Bill Lee suffered a torn shoulder and ligaments during a brawl at Yankee Stadium.

On June 15 the Red Sox purchased Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers from the A's for $1,000,000 cash apiece. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn subsequently squelched the deal, claiming it was "not in the best interest of baseball." Less than a month later on July 9, Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey passed away after a battle with leukemia, leaving his widow Jean as the primary benefactor.

After starting the season with a 41-45 record, the Red Sox fired manager Darrell Johnson on July 19 and replaced him with Don Zimmer. The team rallied a bit under Zimmer's leadership and crawled back into third place by season's end.

The team's offensive leaders included Fred Lynn (who hit a team-leading .314), Carl Yastrzemski (21 homers and 102 RBIs) and Jim Rice (25 home runs and 85 RBIs). Butch Hobson took over for Rico Petrocelli at the hot corner and hit an inside-the-park home run in his first game of the season at Fenway Park on June 28.

During the offseason, the Red Sox signed a million dollar contract with reliever Bill Campbell, one of the first high-profile free agents in baseball after the reserve clause, which forced players to remain obligated to their former team once their contract expired, had been ruled invalid.

Record: 97-64, Tied for 2nd in American League East
Manager: Donald W. Zimmer
Attendance: 2,074,549

The Red Sox hit a league-leading 213 home runs in 1977 and seven of the nine Boston regulars hit 15 or more round-trippers. Leading the charge were Jim Rice, George Scott and Butch Hobson, who each reached the 30-homer plateau on the season.

On June 19, the Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park, belting a major-league record 16 homers in the series. The day before, New York manager Billy Martin and star player Reggie Jackson had to be separated in the visitors' dugout.

The Red Sox kicked off the season with a 10-2 exhibition victory over Northeastern at Fenway Park on April 11. The club stayed in the hunt all year long and never trailed the division leader by more than 4 ½ games. They ended the year by winning 10 of their last 13 games, but fell 2 ½ games short of the Yankees. However, for the first time in Fenway Park history, Red Sox home attendance passed the 2,000,000 mark.

With all the home runs that they hit, Red Sox players picked up RBIs in droves. Jim Rice led the club with 114, one of four Boston players who passed the century mark for runs batted in. Rice also collected 206 base hits, the first time a Red Sox batter had reached 200 since Johnny Pesky did so in 1947. A 100-plus RBI man himself, Carl Yastrzemski had a great season in the field and went the entire year without committing an error despite shuffling between the outfield and first base. His 16 outfield assists also led the league. A more obscure player by the name of Ted Cox put his name in the trivia books in 1977 by knocking a base hit in every one of his first six at-bats.

Reliever Bill "Soup" Campbell won 13 games and saved 31, eclipsing Dick Radatz's record 29 saves in 1964. Campbell led the team in wins on a staff that had six other pitchers win 10 games or more.

In 1977, Fenway Park hosted the Cape Cod Baseball League and Atlantic Collegiate League all-star teams for the second time, having held the event for the first time in 1975. Just like in their first Fenway match-up, the Cape League defeated the Atlantic Collegiate team in 1977. On August 11, a team of Eastern League (Double-A) All-Stars defeated the Bristol Red Sox, Boston's minor league affiliate in the Eastern League, by a 5-3 margin at Fenway Park.

1977 Non-Red Sox Baseball At Fenway Park

August 1Cape Cod Baseball League 8, Atlantic Collegiate League 3*

August 11Eastern League All-Stars 5, Bristol Red Sox 3

* From 1975 to 1987, on a biennial basis, Fenway Park hosted an all-star game between the Cape Code Baseball League and the Atlantic Collegiate League. The all-star game alternated between Fenway Park and sites closer to the ACL's teams, such as Yankee Stadium and Veterans Stadium. In 1988, the Cape Cod Baseball League returned to an intra-league format for their annual all-star game and in 2009, Cape Code League All-Stars returned to Fenway Park for the Cape Cod League All-Star Game, which was played again in 2010.