Pelé once played at 'America's Most Beloved Ballpark' one day before 1968 MLB All-Star Game
The 1968 MLB All-Star Break ran from July 8 through July 10, meaning that "America's Most Beloved Ballpark" in Boston, Massachusetts was available to host the king of the "beautiful game."
In the wake of Brazilian soccer legend Pelé's death on Thursday, the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham tweeted out a reminder of just how historic a day July 8, 1968 was at Fenway Park.
The now-77-year-old Peter Gammons is one of the most famous and longest tenured American sportswriters and is best known for his work in baseball. In 1968, however, Gammons was an intern with the Boston Globe and covered Pelé's game at Fenway Park with Santos FC.
Luis Tiant would go on to spend eight seasons with the Red Sox from 1971 to 1978, finishing as high as fourth in the AL Cy Young vote (1974), earning two of his three All-Star honors (1974, 1976) and winning the AL ERA crown in 1972 with a 1.91 mark. "El Tiante" would also helped Boston reach the 1975 World Series, where they fell in seven games to the Cincinnati Reds' "Big Red Machine."
Pelé was hospitalized in late November in Brazil and spent Christmas in the hospital after his cancer reportedly had advanced. That early summer day in Beantown though, at the age of 27, the three-time World Cup champion helped lead Santos FC to an 8-1 victory over the Boston Beacons of the North American Soccer League.
According to MLB.com, the Beacons played "several" home games at Fenway that spring and summer, going 8-9. As for Pelé's reception at Fenway, it was positive to say the least.
"Pelé was greeted at Fenway Park with a bouquet of flowers, which he proceeded to distribute to the women among the crowd of 18,431 that had come to watch the star and his Santos teammates play the hometown Boston Beacons," MLB.com's "Fenway Park Timeline" page reads. "Not only did Pelé score the winning goal in the 7-1 rout but he also dazzled fans as he helped set up every Santos score."
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