Architect of 'The Impossible Dream' and 1975 AL Champs
Still seen as inexperienced in baseball operations and talent evaluation, O'Connell initially shared power with vice president, player personnel Haywood Sullivan, a former Major League catcher and manager. They worked together to replace fading veterans with young players during another losing campaign in 1966. But by 1967 O'Connell was in full command as general manager of the Red Sox. He promoted Dick Williams to manager and traded for players such as pitcher Gary Bell, infielder Jerry Adair and catcher Elston Howard. The Red Sox, led by Most Valuable Player Carl Yastrzemski and AL Cy Young Award winning pitcher Jim Lonborg, stunned the sporting world by winning the AL pennant and pushing the powerful St. Louis Cardinals to seven games in the 1967 World Series. The team's home attendance rose by 113 percent, from 811,172 in 1966 to 1,727,832. In recognition of the dramatic turnaround, O'Connell was named Executive of the Year by The Sporting News.
The Red Sox posted winning seasons from 1968–74 and continued to be among the AL leaders in home attendance, but could not match the success of the league's dominant teams of the era, the Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics. Nonetheless, Boston continued to harvest great talent from its farm system, including Carlton Fisk, Dwight Evans, Cecil Cooper, Bill Lee, John Curtis, Lynn McGlothen, Ben Oglivie, Juan Beníquez, Rogelio Moret, Rick Burleson, Jim Rice and Fred Lynn. The team also somewhat overcame its reputation for racial prejudice by increasing the number of African Americans and Latin Americans on its playing roster. In 1975, led by rookies Lynn and Rice, the Red Sox won the AL East title, swept defending world champion Oakland in the ALCS, and battled another NL powerhouse, the Cincinnati Reds, to the limit in a thrilling World Series. Once again, O'Connell was hailed as Executive of the Year in Major League Baseball.
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