In 1967 Jim Lonborg was 25 years old and won the American League Cy Young Award with a record of 22-9 and he led the league in strikeouts. The Red Sox had an “Impossible Dream” season. The Red Sox were coming off of two straight 9th place [out of 10 teams in the league then} finishes. Nothing was expected of them. They hadn’t had a winning season since 1958. Carl Yastremski would win the Triple Crown and Lonborg would come into his own.

That winter Lonborg made the decision to go skiing at Lake Tahoe. On this day in 1967 he tore the ligaments in his left knee. After surgery he would rush his comeback and as a result suffer rotator-cuff damage. He would pitch until 1979 but never came close to repeating his great 1967 season. After retiring from baseball Lonborg became a dentist.I can’t help but wonder- was 1967 just a fluke season for Lonborg or did the skiing accident and the resulting rotator-cuff injury ruin what could have been a great career?