No. 1978.10.02 · Free Agency Era
Dent over the Monster
In the one-game playoff at Fenway, Bucky Dent, batting ninth, hit a three-run homer over the Green Monster. He had borrowed Mickey Rivers's bat after fouling a pitch off his foot.
October 2, 1978, Fenway Park, attendance 32,925, a one-game playoff for the American League East. The Red Sox had held a double-digit lead in July. They led this game, 2–0, after Carl Yastrzemski's homer in the second. In the seventh, with two out and Chris Chambliss and Roy White on base, Bucky Dent came up. He was hitting ninth. It was his fifth home run of the year.
He fouled a pitch off his foot. During the delay he borrowed a bat from Mickey Rivers. Mike Torrez, who later said he took no warm-up pitches after the stoppage, threw again. Dent hit it to left, over the wall. The Yankees led, 3–2. Rivers then walked, stole second, and Thurman Munson doubled him home before Torrez came out for Bob Stanley. Reggie Jackson homered in the eighth. Boston scored twice in the eighth and lost, 5–4. Ron Guidry got the win. Rich Gossage got the save.
The nickname that followed Dent around Boston is the retelling. The play was a home run by a .243 shortstop, on a borrowed bat, in a game both clubs had spent two months reaching.
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