1967 American League Pennant

Lore & Background

The Red Sox endured an 86-year wait before the team's sixth World Series championship in 2004. The team's history during that period was punctuated with some of the most memorable moments in World Series history, including Enos Slaughter's "mad dash" in 1946, the "Impossible Dream" of 1967, Carlton Fisk's home run in 1975, and Bill Buckner's error in 1986.

In Their Own Story

The air inside Fenway Park hung heavy with humidity and the electric tension of a season hanging by a thread. It was September 29, 1967, and the Red Sox faced the Tigers for the final game of the series that would decide the American League pennant. Carl Yastrzemski stepped into the batter's box, eyes locked on Detroit ace Mickey Lolich, while thousands of fans held their breath. When the crack of the bat echoed off the Green Monster, it wasn't just a hit; Yaz launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory. The roar that followed was the sound of twenty-one years of waiting finally breaking, turning a city of skeptics into believers overnight.

Reader's Guide

The Red Sox were a dominant team in the new league, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903 and winning four more championships by 1918. However, they then went into one of the longest championship droughts in baseball history, dubbed the "Curse of the Bambino" after its alleged inception due to the Red Sox' sale of star player Babe Ruth to the rival New York Yankees two years after their World Series championship in 1918.

Did You Know?

• The Red Sox have won nine World Series championships, tied for the third-most of any MLB team.
• The team's most recent World Series appearance and win was in 2018.
• The Red Sox are owned by Fenway Sports Group, which also owns Liverpool of the Premier League in England, the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins and partially owns RFK Racing of the NASCAR Cup Series.