Boston Red Sox lose a one-game playoff for the American League pennant.

The Red Sox lose to the Yankees 5-4 at Fenway Park on a three-run home run by Bucky Dent off Mike Torrez in the seventh inning. Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski has a chance to tie the game with two outs and a man on third in the the ninth inning, but pops out against Yankee reliever Rich “Goose” Gossage. A month earlier, the Red Sox had a four-game lead over the Yankees, but lost all four games in a series at Fenway Park by a combined score of 42-9 in what came to be called “The Second “Boston Massacre.” The team is later faulted for its lack of chemistry, which is described as “25 Players, 25 Cabs.”