If summer 1967 was the “”Summer of Love” in San Francisco, it was also when “The Impossible Dream” almost came true in Boston. Today, 50 years ago, after a season of high ups and low downs, the Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins in the final game of the regular season to move ahead of the Twins in the standings. They needed, however, a loss by the Detroit Tigers that day to take first place.

Red Sox players and many thousands of fans throughout New England listened to the Detroit game on the radio. The Tigers lost . . . and the Red Sox sat atop the American League for the first time since 1946 (the year in which most members of the BC Class of 1968 were born). No playoffs then. Boston would play St. Louis in the World Series.

Spoiler alert: the Red Sox lost. They took the Cardinals to Game 7, losing 7-2 at Fenway Park on October 12. The series ended less than 2 weeks after the end of the regular season.

Yaz celebrating.

(Yesterday, the 2017 Red Sox clinched the American League Eastern Division title. They will play in the American League Divisional Series and, if they win, move to the American League Championship Series before any chance of the World Series. Game One of the World Series is to take place October 24, more than 3 weeks after the end of the regular season. If a Game Seven is needed, it is to happen on November 1. In addition to a shorter post-season in 1967, the game themselves were shorter. Six of the 7 games in the 1967 World Series were over in less than 2 1/2 hours. The 6th game went 2:48.)

There were a lot of stars and fan favorites on the Red Sox that year . . . and then there was Yaz. Named most valuable player in the American League, left fielder Carl Yastrzemski, 28, won the “triple crown,” leading the American League in batting average (.326), home runs (44), and runs batted in (121). Jim Lonborg, who won 22 games pitching, was the AL Cy Young Award winner. Yastrzemski and George Scott (1st base) won Golden Gloves.

Many classmates, I imagine, remember that baseball season intensely. It was a tumultuous summer in lots of ways besides baseball, and the Red Sox season offered an opportunity for positive passion.

The Boston Globe offers a multimedia recollection of that season.