1975 World Series Game Six Home Run
Carlton Fisk's walk-off home run in Game 6. A Reds comeback in Game 7. That's the whole story, and it gets to me every single October.
Seven games, not six. The 72nd edition of the World Series — the championship playoff of Major League Baseball's 1975 season — put American League champion Boston Red Sox head-to-head with National League champion Cincinnati Reds in a best-of-seven. The Reds edged out that decisive seventh game to take their first World Series title since 1940, leaving us with a loss that still sits wrong in the chest.
- Player
- Carl Yastrzemski
- Team
- Boston Red Sox
- Opponent
- Cincinnati Reds
- Venue
- Fenway Park, Boston
- Year
- 1975
- Series Outcome
- Reds won in 7 games
- Pitcher Faced
- Jack Billingham
Lore & Background
The sixth game of the World Series was a 12-inning classic at Boston's Fenway Park, which culminated with a walk-off home run by Carlton Fisk to extend the series to seven games.
In Their Own Story
The crack of the bat echoed through the night air at Fenway as Yastrzemski leveled up in the box. The stadium held its breath, the green monster looming behind him like an old friend. As he rounded first base, the roar of the crowd surged, a testament to decades of hope finally finding purchase against the red-clad giants from Cincinnati.
Reader's Guide
The Reds rallied from a 3–0 deficit to win the seventh and deciding game of the series on a ninth-inning single by Joe Morgan after being seven outs away from elimination.
Did You Know?
- In 2003, ESPN ranked it the second-greatest World Series ever played, trailing only the 1991 series, while in 2020, Sam Miller of ESPN named it the best World Series ever.
- This was the fourth time in five years that a seven-game World Series winner (following Pittsburgh in 1971, and Oakland in 1972 and 1973) was outscored — though the 1971 Pirates actually outscored Baltimore 26-21.
- Reds third baseman Pete Rose was named World Series MVP. Rose batted .370 with 10 hits and two RBIs and scored 3 runs.
- Only two of the six umpires in this World Series had worked a previous Fall Classic: Art Frantz (1971) and George Maloney (1972). Both would umpire in another World Series — Frantz in 1978 and Maloney in 1979.
More in Club History & Eras
Elsewhere in the Boston Red Sox universe
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