Jim Lonborg-What Could Have Been

The Former Red Sox Hurler's Career

If Don Larsen had not pitched his perfect game in the 1956 World Series, then perhaps Jim Lonborg of the Boston Red Sox would have been remembered as hurling the greatest game ever in the fall classic. Jim Lonborg won the American League Cy Young Award in 1967, and then pitched not one, but two, absolute gems against the Cardinals in the post-season. But, pitching on only two full days of rest, he was unable to defeat the great Bob Gibson in Game Seven, and New England awoke from the "Impossible Dream". Then, as fate would have it, Jim Lonborg would badly injure his knee in an accident that winter, never to be the same pitcher he had been. However, he did not simply fade into the sunset, but came back to pitch respectably for ten more years.

Jim Lonborg was born in Santa Maria, California, on April 16th, 1942. Signed as a free agent out of Stanford University by Boston in 1963, Jim Lonborg struggled his rookie season of 1965, when he was 23 years old. The Red Sox were a sorry bunch, going 62-100, and Jim Lonborg finished the year at 9-17. The next season was much better, as Jim Lonborg had a .500 record at 10-10, posting an ERA under 4.00 and giving up less hits than innings pitched. However, there was no hint of what was on the immediate horizon for either Jim Lonborg or the Boston Red Sox in 1967.

From out of nowhere, the Red Sox became contenders in what would be called the "Impossible Dream" season of 1967. Jim Lonborg fulfilled his potential in a way that no one could have imagined. With a record of 22-9, Jim Lonborg won the AL Cy Young Award. Starting 39 games, Jim Lonborg completed 15 of them to an ERA of 3.16, with 246 strikeouts and 45 less hits than innings pitched. He clinched the pennant for Boston with a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on the last day of the season, and then Jim Lonborg faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.