Red Sox

Bad omen for Red Sox? Monday’s Massachusetts lottery numbers were 1-9-7-8

Bucky Dent's homer continues to haunt the Red Sox more than 30 years later.

Fenway Park will host Tuesday's Wild Card Game between the Red Sox and Yankees. Jim Davis/Globe Staff

October 5, 2021

Are Red Sox fans superstitious enough to be concerned with lottery numbers?

If so, some might not like winning numbers from Monday’s Massachusetts State Lottery: 1-9-7-8, the year Bucky Dent helped end the Red Sox’s season with a homer in the AL East tiebreaker game at Fenway Park.

ESPN first noted the eerie coincidence. The Red Sox and Yankees square off at Fenway Park in the AL Wild Card Game on Tuesday evening.

Dent, of course, hit just four home runs that year, but he ripped a three-run homer in the seventh inning to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. The Yankees went on to win 5-4.

Dent spoke to The Boston Globe‘s Dan Shaugnessy prior to Tuesday’s game, rehashing the moment he broke the hearts of Red Sox fans.

“One of my best friends, who worked for ‘60 Minutes’ called me when that game was over and he said, ‘You know, Bucky. That home run is going to change your life.’ I was like, ‘What are you talkin’ about?’ And he said, ‘I’m tellin’ ya, it’s going to change your life.’ And it did,” Dent told Shaugnessy.

“Sports is a game of moments. There’s big moments and I just happened to be a part of it in one of the greatest games ever played. I got a great middle initial from it, and wear that as a great badge of honor. How much better can it be? … It’s always fun to go back to Boston and watch the Yankees play at Fenway. It brings back so many memories.”