May 5, 1964 - Dave Morehead is back on the beam.
The 20-year-old right-hander pitched the Red Sox to a 4-0 win this afternoon at Fenway Park over the Cleveland Indians.
In gaining his first victory of his sophomore season, Morehead fanned 10. It was his first shutout since last April, when he blanked the Senators in his major league debut.
Historians who have been hunting for the vanishing Indian should have been at Fenway today. Twice, as the Red Sox scored their last two runs, first baseman Fred Whitfield was out of position as throws from Leon Wagner and Woody Held to first base went untouched.
But it was Morehead’s that highlighted the last game of the homestand.
Getting into the win column was good for Morehead’s morale as well as that of the Sox. Because the club isn’t loaded with power, the team needs top pitching and defense if it is to have any chance of evacuating the American League basement.
During the past two years, Joe Azcue, currently Cleveland’s No. 1 catcher, has battered Red Sox pitching to smithereens. Morehead silenced Azcue as thoroughly as anyone has ever been stopped — he fanned Joe four times.
“Before the game, [pitching coach Bob] Turley asked me how I felt warming up,” Morehead said. “I told him terrible. I didn’t have a thing. In the first inning, I didn’t either, but after that I was really throwing hard without much effort.”
Morehead feels that pitching in the big leagues is coming to him easier with each game. “Last season, I kept on thinking about when I was going out of the game. Now, I just think about finishing. Last year, I thought the hitter was better than me. Now, I think I’m better than they are.”
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