Carpenter’s Defensive Play Already Among Most Memorable

Carlton Fisk and Ed Armbrister Collide

What’s The Situation: With the 1975 Series tied at 1-1 and the score tied 5-5 in the bottom of the 10th in Game 3, Reds reserve Ed Amrbrister attempted a sacrifice bunt, trying to move Cesar Geronimo, and the winning run, into scoring position

What Happened: The bouncing ball landed a few feet from home and as Boston catcher Carlton Fisk sprinted forward to retrieve it, he nearly collided with Armbrister who was blocking his way. Fisk managed to get to the ball, but made a wild throw past second moving Geronimo to third and allowing Armbrister to reach second. Despite their arguments for an interference call from umpire Larry Barnett, the play stood and the Reds went on to win 6-5 on a Joe Morgan drive into deep center field.

What It Meant: Simply put, had the Red Sox won this game, then Fisk’s walk off homer that struck the foul pole in the 12th-inning of Game 6 would have won the Series for the Sox and the game, already atop MLB Network’s Greatest Games of All-Time would have also held the single greatest moment in the history of baseball. Boston would not have had to wait 86 years for a championship, and Bill Bucker may not have had to move to Idaho.