Howe plays golf with Red Sox great Petrocelli

KEENE, N.H. 9/28/11 – If you're a Red Sox fan, you know Rico Petrocelli.  The former Red Sox great caught the final out in the teams' 1967 Impossible Dream season and he was in the dugout the night Carleton Fisk hit his memorable home run off the left field foul pole in the 1975 World Series.

Swinging a golf club instead of a bat these days, Petrocelli was recently in Keene, playing a round of golf at Bretwood Country Club as part of a program through Camp Spofford and his New England chapter of the Links Fellowship, which brings golfers together for bible study and prayer. 

Keene State College baseball coach Ken Howe was fortunate to be in Petrocelli's foursome.  Howe said Petrocelli reminisced about his days playing for the Sox and talked about many of his teammates he's had during his 13 year career.  "He told a lot of great baseball stories," said Howe.  "He talked about the '67 and '75 teams and players like Fisk, Burleson and Carbo."

It was a good day on the links for both Petrocelli and Howe.  "His golf game is pretty good.  He hit the ball pretty well," said Howe.  "I played out of my mind.  I like to play, but I've been too busy.  I forgot my bad habits."

Howe told Petrocelli about the success of the Keene State baseball team.  Semi-retired and living in Nashua, the former Red Sox infielder is president of a marketing company and also involved in screen printing and sporting goods.  "Rico said he'd like to help us with our fund-raising, so I'm definitely going to take him up on his offer," said Howe.