10 years later: The craziest Red Sox game of them all

“I try to explain, and people are like: ‘WHAT happened?????’”

-- Charlie Zink, August 8, 2018

The game itself—the one played 10 years ago today, August 12, 2008—was unquestionably one of the strangest in Red Sox history, arguably even in baseball history.

Consider the basics:

- In the bottom of the first inning, the Red Sox took a 10-0 lead over the Texas Rangers, sparked by two 3-run home runs by David Ortiz. 

- The Rangers rallied to take a 16-14 lead.

- The Sox responded, ultimately prevailing on a Kevin Youkilis 3-run home run with two outs in the 8thinning for a 19-17 win.

- The 36 runs scored tied a 58 (now 68)-year-old record for most runs scored in an American League game.

But what made this night truly bizarre, singularly weird under the baseball zodiac, Zany with a capital Z?

That would be the Red Sox starting pitcher. 

The guy named Zink.

Charlie Zink. 

Baseball is full of odd journeys, but you would be hard-pressed to find one stranger than that of Charles Tadao Zink.

Consider first his family story. Charlie’s mother, Joyce Zink, is a petite Japanese-American woman with a ready laughter and a passion for ...

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