July 1967 - Tony C. and Yaz the two best players on the team had always been competitive but each had stayed out of the others territory. Yaz hit for average in the past and Tony hit home runs and and racked up RBIs Now in July of 67 Yaz was getting into power and glamour too. This year, I just changed my hitting style from a straight-away hitter and hitting the ball the opposite way to a dead-pull hitter, Yaz said. Hes (Tony) always hit home runs. He hit them the first day he came in the big leagues, whereas I didnt. Yaz also produced astonishing game-winning hits -- another Tony C. specialty He was even making terrific plays in left field. With the Sox finally in a throbbing pennant race, Yaz was emerging as the biggest hero since Ted Williams. There were Yaz buttons ,Yaz pennants, and Yaz songs.Eventually there would be Big Yaz bread and Yaz on the cover of Life,Sports Illustrated and Newsweek magazines and Tony was not in center ring. Tony wasnt getting top billing and I think that ate at him, said teammate Mike Ryan. Already the youngest player at 22 to reach 100 career home runs and he was a hometown guy. When it didnt make him try too hard it made him better. They were really competitive in a good way, said Petrocelli. When Yaz started hitting home runs they really became competitive and it helped Yaz too, having the kid play catch up with him. Tony wanted to be the best player in the majors, said Yaz. Which was great. It was a great rivalry It keeps pushing you and pushing you and pushing you. We both reached higher goals by having this rivalry. On the field we both wanted to win and we had tremendous aggressive personalities, we were very much alike. Teammate George Thomas observed that Tony wanted to drive in the winning run to get his name in the papers and Carl wanted to drive in the winning run to win the game. After a big hit Tony would bask in the glory and Carl would merely endure it. They had never been pals though: Yaz was married a product of rural Long Island NY,quiet, and six years older. Tony was single a boy and outgoing. Off the field he went his way and I went my way. said Yaz. Off the field we were completely different. A television interviewer asked Tony at the beginning of the season, When you finally retire from baseball would you like to be considered that you were as good as Ted Williams was? Before the question was finished Tony began to shake his head no -- and it seemed he was about to deliver a 22 year old ballplayers customary humble response, but this was Tony C. I dont think Id like to be as good, he said. Id like to be better than Ted Williams.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 21:40:12 +0000
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