Fireworks at Fenway in '77

Fenway was never a ballpark that went in for post-game fireworks, but on July 4th of '77 the nylon-uni Boys of Zimmer put on their own pyrotechnic display with eight homers in a 9-6 victory over the brand-new Blue Jays. All the shots came between the fifth and eighth inning, and included two for Scott, two for Lynn, and one each by Rice, Hobson, Carbo (a pinch-hit shot, naturally) and Yaz. This was back in the days when Fenway bleacher brawls seemed to increase with the temperature, and with thermometers pushing 90 and a Monday off from work it's a safe bet there were plenty of fists flying as well as baseballs on Yawkey Way.

The slugfest came just after a June stretch in which the Red Sox hit 33 homers in 10 days to strike fear into the heart of Billy Martin's Brownshirts. But while Rice (39), Scott (33), Hobson (30 from the ninth spot!) Yaz (28), and Fisk (26) all wound up topping 25 homers back when that really meant something, the Sox would finish up just short by year's end due to a thin pitching staff whose top winner was relief ace Bill Campbell.

Do any of you have memories of the slugging summer of '77? Did you catch a tater from Boomer, see one of Carbo's three pinch-hit shots at Fenway, or chat with Bill Lee from the bleachers? Feel free to comment below or shoot me an email at saulwizz@gmail.com and maybe you'll be our next guest blogger.