The young man who had gone to the USC as a football linebacker, but gave up football for baseball, seemed to be doing it all. Not only did he hit and run and field, he was a good-looking, charming young man. He was a hit with Boston and New England fans and hit with power, and with the way big Jim Rice was clobbering the baseball, Boston appeared to have a power punch that could only get better when Fisk got back into the lineup. Rick Wise, back after a year of shoulder trouble and then a broken finger, looked ready to boost a pitching staff, which already had Luis Tiant, Bill Lee, Reggie Cleveland, and the stringbean flame-thrower Roger Moret. The bullpen also looked strong, with Dick Drago as the closer and hard-thrower Dick Pole and veteran Diego Seguí. Additionally, the word on Tony Conigliaro was encouraging, and that boosted spirits back home. Carl Yastrzemski was at first base, and after three short trials in previous years Cecil Cooper was going to make this team and probably be the designated hitter. The season opened with El Tiante beating the Milwaukee Brewers, and after the first week the Sox shared first place with Milwaukee. Rice was playing some left field, and his defense left a lot to be desired; people were already saying that Rice might be a one-dimensional player who had to be the designated hitter only. On the other hand, Lynn was doing well, and the problems at catcher were not apparent yet. The Red Sox fell out of first place in late April and didn't get back into it until the end of May. Lynn was bombing American League pitching and playing great center field, and Rice was clobbering the ball. But the Red Sox were winning a lot of high-scoring games which didn't augur well for pitching when the pennant race reached the dog days of August and September. In June, the Red Sox made what appeared to be a minor move to bolster the bench when they bought journeyman second baseman Denny Doyle from the California Angels. The Angels got cash and a player to be named later, the quality depending on what Doyle did for the Sox. Little did anyone know this would be even better than the pickup of Jerry Adair back in 1967. Second base was a problem. Doug Griffin was playing there and doing an adequate job, but he was injury-prone, and the Sox had been particularly anxious about him ever since he had been hit in the face by a Nolan Ryan fastball back in April 1974.