Larry Osterman Appreciation Society (1973)

The Crimson Hose jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but hung on to beat their hated rivals from the Bronx by a final of 4-2 in the game which inaugurated the DH at Fenway Park . After the Yanks went scoreless in their half of the 1st, Tommy Harper led off the Sawx half with a walk, then stole second. Luis Aparicio brought him home with an RBI single, then was forced on a Carl Yastrzemski grounder to short.  Reggie Smith singled to left, moving Yaz to 3rd, then DH Orlando Cepeda walked to load the bases. Rico Petrocelli then lined to short, followed by a 2-out bases loaded single by Carlton Fisk bringing home Yaz and Smith. The Sawx continued to make things worse for Yankee starter Mel Stottlemyre in the 2nd when Tommy Harper drew another walk, stole 2nd and scored on a 2-out single by Yaz. Reggie Smith singled to left, but could only watch as Yankee LF Roy White uncorked a perfect throw to 3rd to cut down Captain Carl, ending the inning. Luis Tiant was cruising along in the top...

George Scott belted 2 home runs driving in 4 runs, but the Orioles relied on their bullpen and defense to hang on and beat the Brewers in an opening day thriller at Memorial Stadium , 6-5.  It started promisingly for the Brew Crew in the 1st on a leadoff single by Dave May off Birds' starter Dave McNally . Bob Heise attempted a hit & run which fizzled and ended up on 1st on a force to 2nd. John Briggs then singled Heise to 2nd, then came Scott and a mammoth 3-run homer off a stunned McNally and Memorial Stadium crowd. The Birds then went to work in the bottom of the 1st.  Jim Colborn started out by walking both Merv Rettenmund and Bobby Grich and could only sit there and watch as Boog Powell lifted a fly ball to left fielder John Briggs which turned into a 2-base error, scoring Rettenmund and sending Grich to 3rd. Earl Williams singled in the 2nd Oriole run, scoring Grich with Powell moving to 3rd. There was still nobody out when Don Baylor bounced to short, scoring P...

On his first at-bat of 1973, Henry Aaron started the final pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run  record by hitting a Dave Roberts pitch just barely over the left field wall for # 674. That, however, was the last anyone seen of the Braves at Atlanta Stadium on opening night.  Roberts would limit the Braves to just 4 hits, none however after the 4th inning as Cesar Cedeno and Doug Rader countered Aaron's blow with solo shots of their own in a 3-1 win over the otherwise punchless Braves. Before Aaron's homer in the bottom of the 1st, Cesar Cedeno destroyed a Gary Gentry pitch. smashing it over the left field fence. Rader's solo shot came in the top of the 8th, all but finishing off Gentry, who aside from those two solo blasts, pitched a respectable game in his Braves debut.  But Roberts was just plain solid, allowing just 4 hits, striking out 6 and after back-to-back singles by Dusty Baker and Darrell Evans in the 4th, held the Braves hitless with a walk over the last 5-...

Don Gullett retired the first 19 Giants , ended up settling for a 3-hitter as the Reds blanked the Giants in the traditional opener by a score of 8-0 in front of a festive Riverfront Stadium crowd. The Reds struck 1st on Bobby Tolan 's solo homer in the bottom of the 3rd off Giant starter Juan Marichal . Tolan ended up going 4-5 including a 2-run single in the bottom of the 7th to extend the Reds lead to 3-0. The Reds broke it wide open off Marichal and relievers Ron Bryant and Jim Barr in a 9-batter 8th inning, scoring 5 times including back-to-back 2-run hits by Pete Rose and Joe Morgan , Rose's hit being a double.  But the story was Don Gullett, who retired the 1st 19 Giants before Tito Fuentes broke it up with a sharp single to center in the 7th. With the score 3-0, the Giants had their best chance in the 8th when Al Gallagher and Gary Matthews got back-to-back singles with 1 out. Then Dave Rader bounced into a 6-4-3 DP , ending the rally and the game one half-inning l...