Top 100 Red Sox

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #32 Dick Radatz

2007-06-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

Dick Radatz, RP/CL, #17 (1962-1966)

W-L 49-34, 288 G, 104 SV, 557 IP, 627 K, 2.65 ERA

Imagine a 6'6" tall wide-body throwing a 95-mph fastball at you from a low-sidearm delivery, and you have an idea of why Dick Radatz terrorized American League batters for several years in the 1960s. -Gabriel Schechter

Schechter wrote this in a piece for the Baseball Hall of Fame to honor the passing of Dick "The Monster" Radatz. He was truly an imposing figure on the mound, due both to excellent "stuff" and his physical presence. Radatz was such a bright star in the early 60s for the Red Sox that it seems only fitting that he owes the bookends of his career to two Red Sox legends.

Radatz was born in Detroit, MI, in 1937. He attended Michigan State University, and would begin his track towards Boston as an amateur free agent after graduation. After two seasons as a starting pitcher in the minors, Radatz would be shifted to the bullpen by his manager, Johnny Pesky, in Seattle of the Pacific Coast League. Pesky thought he could be more helpful to the big league club by pitching multiple days, rather than on a set rotation. It didn't hurt that Boston's current "closer", Mike Fornieles, "put up a Pineiro" in 1961 (15 SV, 4.68 ERA). Radatz would become a relief ace for the Red Sox in every sense of the word.

His rookie year, 1962, was by any measure a success. He saved 24 games, with an ERA+ of 184. He also averaged 2 IP per appearance, providing a high number of quality innings. Unfortunately, Radatz would finish in a three-way tie for the RoY (translation: dead last). This didn't stop him from putting together an even better season in 1963. He certainly got plenty of attention. His 1963 line: 191 ERA+, 15-6, 25 SV, 66 G, 132 IP and 162 K. He made such an impact on the upstart and highly-competitive seventh-place Red Sox that he was 5th in MVP balloting that season. Just let that sink in for a minute. An example from today's game would be if Octavio Dotel of the 2007 AL Central 5th place Royals managed to garner enough MVP support to finish 5th. The win total might've had something to do with it, and we certainly know more now about the possibility of RPs "vulturing" wins. Later on I'll discuss why this isn't neccessarily the case with Radatz. Schechter:

In 1963, his best season, he embarrassed the whole league, leading Yankees manager Ralph Houk to declare that "for two seasons, I've never seen a better pitcher."

Houk should've waited to make this declaration, as 1964 was simply another of the greatest seasons ever by a RP (Boston or elsewhere). He set the record for Ks as a RP with 181. If a team wanted to manipulate their pitching staff enough, this could be matched, but I think Radatz's record is safe. He managed this in 157 IP (all in relief, of course). He also made his second All-Star team (1963 as well).

1965 was a let-down for Radatz and Red Sox fans. The team finished 9th, lost 100 games, and Radatz came back to Earth. Some of this could be attributed to Ted Williams. In Spring Training before that season, Ted suggested to Radatz that he develop a sinker in order to better attack LHH. What is one to do when Ted Williams gives you advice? Take it and apply it. Radatz did, and while he felt he developed a pretty good sinker, he never regained his fastball. He had changed his mechanics too much to accomodate the sinker. Without his fastball, Radatz lost the extra in extraordinary. His K/9 dropped below 10 for the first time in his career, and his ability to strikeout hitters would never return to the levels he enjoyed at his peak. His Red Sox career ended when he was traded to the Indians in 1966 for a stamp collection.

While relatively long-lasting compared to others of this phenomenon, Radatz's career could still be described as flash-in-the-pan. He experienced 3 years of greatness, though the teams he toiled for left something to be desired. He was a strong reliever with the ability to throw a lot of innings. Over his 288 G in a Red Sox uniform: 53 G with 3+ IP, and 8 G with 6+ IP. With such lofty innings totals per game, it seems likely that Radatz earned rather than vultured all those relief wins.

"The Monster" would pitch for Cleveland, Chicago (N), his hometown Detroit, and Montreal before his career was finished.

Dick Radatz brings one weapon - a fastball. It's like saying all a country brings to a war is an atom bomb. -Jim Murray

There were many ways to describe the way Radatz simply demolished AL hitting from 1962-1964, and I think Murray captures it best.

Radatz died due to a head injury in a home accident on March 16, 2005.

Allen is a constant source of unoriginal content and excruciatingly lame puns. You can find him at Over The Monster.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #33 Curt Schilling

2007-06-06T04:04:00.000-05:00

Curt Schilling, SP, #38 (2004-current)

44 Wins - 21 Losses, 9 Saves, 524 IP, 473 Ks, 85 BBs, 3.97 ERA

With the exception of Barry Bonds there really isn't a baseball player active today with a more polarising effect on the public and indeed the sports media than Curt Schilling.

He is an unusual entity, a professional athlete who is more than happy to talk with the media, so much so that he runs his own blog. This 'ease' with which he approaches his media encounters leads some fans and professional writers to find fault in how Schilling runs his life, both on and off the field.

Strip all that away though, and what do you have? Schilling is a potential hall of fame candidate who has shone particularly bright in the postseason. After the regular season Schilling is 8-2 with a 2.06 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 109.1 Innings. Whatever about the scintillating statistics, Schillling is a two-time World Series winner and furthermore does incredible things in terms of his charity works outside the game.

All the childish barbs the Dan Shaughnessy's of this world throw at Schilling can't take his brilliant career away from him.

Born November 14, 1966, Curt Schilling is just the ninth Major League player to have hailed from Alaska. Curt spent his youth in Phoenix, Arizona and attended Shadow Mountain High School before attending Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona. He was a winner at an early age, helping lead Yavapai College to the 1985 Junior College World Series. Amazingly, Schilling began his professional career in the Boston Red Sox farm system but was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 1988 for Mike Boddicker. His major league debut was with the Orioles (1988-1990), he spent one year with the Houston Astros (1991), and then spent more than eight exciting seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (1992-2000).

Schilling was one of the major factors in the Phillies' great pennant run in 1993. In that year, Schilling went 16-7 with a 4.02 ERA and 186 strikeouts. Schilling then led the Phillies to an upset against the two-time defending National League champion Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. Schilling's 1.69 ERA and 19 strikeouts earned him the 1993 NLCS Most Valuable Player Award. The Phillies went on to lose to the defending World Champion Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. They slipped into relative mediocrity in the years after that, despite Schilling being the ace of the staff. Disappointed that the Phillies front office was not doing enough to field a competitive team Schilling eventually asked for a trade, and got his wish in 2000 when he was sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Curt Schilling's amazing career took on greater impetus when he moved to Arizona. With the D-Backs, he went a spectacular 22-6 with a 2.98 ERA in 2001 and went 4-0 with a 1.12 ERA in the playoffs. In the 2001 World Series the Diamondbacks won one of the most famous World Series finalés ever beating the New York Yankees in 7 games. Many say that game was the beginning of the end for that particular Yankee team. Schilling shared the 2001 World Series MVP Award star with teammate Randy Johnson. In 2002 Schilling went an excellent 23-7 with a 3.23 ERA. Both years he finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Johnson.

2003 was a rough year for the Boston Red Sox. Although the team made the playoffs, the traumatic loss to the Yankees in the ALCS combined with public displeasure with the bullpen led to Theo Epstein and the Sox front office determinedly attacking the free agent market in advance of the 2004 season. They signed Keith Foulke to be the teams closer and then made an even bigger splash in November 2003 by trading for Curt Schilling. Curt would join Derek Lowe, Pedro Martinez and Tim Wakefield to form on of the more eclectic and talented pitching rotations ever assembled.

Straight off the bat Schilling endeared himself to the Sox faithful by appearing in interviews wearing a 'Yankee hater' baseball cap and promising to lead his new team past their rivals from the Bronx. This was no idle promise coming from a man who had already vanquished the Yankees in the 2001 World Series.

Schilling backed his promises up on the field, in style. For 2004, his first season with the Red Sox, Curt posted a sparkling 21-6 record, becoming the first Boston pitcher to win 20 or more games in his first season with the club since Dennis Eckersley in 1978.

The Sox super season looked in serious jeopardy during the ALCS against the Yankees. The Bronx bombers were 3-0 up and no Major League team had ever come back from such a deficit. That's when Kevin Millar made his infamous quote “Don’t Let Us Win Tonight”, referring to how the Red Sox had excellent starting pitching lined up for the next few nights. Sure enough, Boston started to crawl back into the ALCS on the back of great pitching and clutch hitting.

On October 19, 2004 Schilling won Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. Amazingly he won this game playing on an injured ankle, an injury so bad that by the end of his performance that day his white sock was soaked with blood.

This bloody sock would go on to become one of the most vivid symbols in recent baseball history.

That dramatic victory forced a Game 7, meaning the Red Sox were the first team in post-season Major League Baseball history to come back from a three-games-to-none deficit. The Red Sox would go on to win Game 7 of the ALCS and make their first World Series appearance since 1986. They had done it, they had come all the way back against their legendary rivals and now stood on the verge of their first World Series win since 1918.

Schilling pitched (and won) Game 2 of the 2004 World Series for the Red Sox against the St. Louis Cardinals. He actually had to have the tendon in his right ankle stabilized but the tendon sheath was torn and, as in Game 6 of the ALCS, Schilling's sock was soaked with blood from the sutures used in this medical procedure. Schilling amazingly still managed to pitch seven strong innings, giving up one run on four hits, whilst striking out four. That was all Boston needed from him and they swept the hapless Cardinals in four games, bringing home the championship to Boston for the first time since 1918.

Schilling's place in baseball history was secured and his second bloody sock was placed in the Baseball Hall of Fame after the World Series. Schilling was once again runner-up in Cy Young voting in 2004, this time his Randy Johnson was Minnesota Twins hurler Johan Santana, who received all 28 first-place votes. Schilling received 27 of the 28 second-place votes.

The drama of 2004 came at a steep price. Schilling's ankle injury had an immense effect on his pitching performance in 2005. He began the year on the disabled list, and when he finally returned he did so to log an up and down season with constant questions being asked of his ability to overcome the injury. 2006 brought a welcome return to the Schilling of old, and Curt managed a tidy 15-7 record with 198 K's and a very respectable 3.97 era.

Schilling opened 2007 with the announcement that he will pitch in 2008. and he has managed to start the season in such a fashion that no one is accusing him of being distracted by contract talks. He has pitched, at times, as the Red Sox ace and figures to lead a potentially fantastic staff into the 2007 playoffs with the Sox currently holding a double digit lead over all rivals in the AL East.

Schilling is a fascinating character. A thoughtful, often eloquent man who is not afraid to speak his mind he draws a host of emotions from a wide variety of people. Two things though, stand out. Schilling's tireless work with the various charities he strives to improve has been a constant in his career. He clearly cares, deeply, about those charities.

Secondly, the man delivers on his promises. He promised Boston a return to former glory, and he has been a major part in delivering on said promise. He will always be a major part of the greatest Old Town team of all, the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

Bill Mueller Bio Completed

2007-03-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

Along the way, a few bios were skipped until they were completed. Here's a link to John Quinn's biography of the #74 Greatest Red Sox, Bill Mueller.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #34 Mike Greenwell

2007-03-21T10:50:00.000-05:00

Mike Greenwell, LF, #39 (1985-1996)

1269 G, 1400 H, 657 R, 575 2B, 130 HR, 726 RBI, 80 SB, .303 Avg, .366 OBP, .528 SLG, All-Star (1988-89)

His nickname during his playing days was "The Gator." It was said he got the nickname because he liked to wrestle alligators during the offseason in his native Florida.

But the Boston Red Sox fans at Fenway Park knew Mike Greenwell as a dependable left-handed hitter and leftfielder for a decade, from 1987-1996.

Michael Lewis Greenwell was born in Louisville, Kentucky on July 18, 1963. He grew up in Florida and attended North Ft. Myers High School, which also produced football stars Jevon Kearse and Deion Sanders. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the third round of the 1982 Amateur Draft and signed with the club.

Greenwell was brought up from Pawtucket in September 1985, and made his debut as a pinch-runner for Jim Rice in the first game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians. That fall, the Red Sox were playing out the schedule and not in the pennant race, and Greenwell played in 17 games, went 10-for-31 and hit four homers and drove in eight runs.

Greenwell spent most of 1986 back at Pawtucket, as Rice was still the left-fielder. Greenwell hit 18 HRs and batted .300 at AAA. He was brought up again in August and saw action mostly as a pinch-hitter that year. But the Red Sox had a terrific team in '86, and Greenwell made the postseason roster. He played in both the ALCS and World Series, mostly as a pinch-hitter. He went 1-for-5 in that memorable postseason, but is best remembered for pinch-hitting for Roger Clemens in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the World Series. (This was the scenario that became controversial once the Series was over, as Clemens claimed he didn't want to come out, but manager John McNamara claims he did, because of a blister.) Greenwell struck out in that appearance.

1987 was a year to forget for the Red Sox and their fans, as the hangover from the 1986 World Series loss hung over the team all year, and they finished under .500. But it was a breakout year for Mike Greenwell. Jim Rice was moved to designated hitter and Greenwell was put in left field on a permanent basis. Greenwell responded with 19 HRs, 89 RBIs and a .328 batting average in 125 games. He finished fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year Award balloting (which was won by Mark McGwire).

1988 would prove to be Greenwell's best offensive season. He hit 22 HRs, 119 RBI and a .325 BA. He finished second behind Jose Canseco in the AL MVP Award voting (another loss to a "Bash Brother") and was a big part of the Red Sox comeback to winning the AL Eastern Division that season. Greenwell was also selected for the AL All-Star team for the first time, and hit for the cycle on September 14. He also won the Silver Slugger Award. But it was a disappointing postseason for the Sox and for Greenwell. They swept out of the ALCS by Canseco and the Oakland A's, and Greenwell hit .214 in that series with 1 HR and 3 RBI.

Greenwell would make the All-Star team again in 1989, hitting 14 HRs, 95 RBI and a BA of .308. He would have the longest hitting streak of his career that year, 21 games. His power numbers would continue to decline in 1990 and 1991, to 14 and 9, respectively. He also drove in just 73 and 83 runs, but his batting average was still around the .300 mark. Many of the Sox faithful thought Greenwell was a disappointment, as they thought he was next logical successor in that "golden position" of Red Sox leftfielder. He was a solid hitter, but not in the mold of the previous Red Sox leftfielders like Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice. Greenwell was like Yaz was early in his career, a line drive hitter who wasn't a big home run hitter, and who could pepper the left-field wall with doubles. Greenwell was also just an average outfielder at best, and wouldn't win any Gold Gloves in his career.

1992 was a year to forget for Greenwell, as he battled injuries that year and played in just 49 games and hit .233. His offensive numbers would continue to slide in his final four years with the Sox, although he had a nice bounceback year for the Red Sox in 1995, as they won the AL East that year. He hit 15 HRs, 76 RBIs and hit .297. But the Red Sox were swept out of the playoffs for the third straight time, this time in the ALDS by Cleveland. Greenwell, who went 0-14 in the 1990 ALCS, went just 3-for-15 in the three-game sweep in '95.

Greenwell basically became a part-time player in 1996, hitting .295 in 77 games. He was a free agent after the season, and it looked like the Red Sox were going to let him go. But just before his Bosox career concluded, he had one final night of glory.

On September 2, 1996, in a game against the Mariners in Seattle, Greenwell drove in 9 runs, which was all of his team's runs, in a 9-8, 10-inning win at the Kingdome. It was a MLB record for most RBIs by one player driving in all of his team's runs. It was also a Red Sox record for one game, a record that still stands.

Greenwell's final game in a Red Sox uniform was overshadowed by what would be the last game by another Red Sox star player: Roger Clemens. As it would turn out, both Clemens and Greenwell would both depart Boston, and for teams based outside the United States: Clemens to Toronto, and Greenwell would head for Japan, to play for the Hansin Tigers.

It would be a disasterous move for Greenwell. It was a much-heralded transaction in Japan, but Greenwell would see action in just seven games, due to injuries. He would announce his retirement from baseball soon afterward.

He would turn his attention in his post-baseball career to another love of his: stock car racing. In May 2006, he made his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway for Green Light Racing, starting 20th and finishing 26th. He also runs "Mike Greenwell's Family Fun Park" in Cape Coral, Florida, which includes a lot of activities like go-cart racing, miniature golf and batting cages. Greenwell is also a real-estate developer and an assistant baseball coach with Riverdale High School in Ft. Myers.

But Greenwell would get back in the sports headlines in 2005. When Jose Canseco released "Juiced," all about how his career was built on the use of illegal steroids, Greenwell went as far as demanding the he should be awarded the 1988 AL MVP Award away from Canseco.

He would tell the Ft. Myers News Press: "He's an admitted steroid user," Greenwell said of Canseco. "I was clean. If they're going to start putting asterisks by things, let's put one by the MVP. I do have a problem with losing the MVP to an admitted steroids user."

John Quinn is a writer who lives in New York City and runs the web site, "The Mighty Quinn Media Machine," and writes for the Red Sox fan site, Bornintoit.com, as "Brooklyn Sox Fan."

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #35 Bill "Spaceman" Lee

2007-03-18T19:45:00.000-05:00

Bill "Spaceman" Lee, SP, #37 (1969-1978)

94 W - 68 L, 321 G, 167 GS, 578 K, 3.64 ERA, All-Star (1973)

"You should enter a ballpark the way you enter a church." - Bill Lee

Author, Movie Star, Personality, Eccentric, Futurist, Intellectual, Political Activist, and (oh yeah) Professional Baseball Player. When you look back over the life and times of William Francis Lee III, it's easy to remember him more for his peripherals than his performance on the baseball field. But should you think that Bill "Spaceman" Lee was more personality than ball player, then you are sorely mistaken. For all his off-field activity, his performance on the field is just as memorable as every off color comment, socio-political rant, or autobiography. In fact, Bill Lee is one of the best left handed pitchers every to put on a Boston Red Sox uniform.

Bill Lee was born with baseball in his blood in Burbank, CA on December 28th, 1946. Both his father and grandfather played the game with a passion, but it was his aunt Annabelle Lee, whom Bill Lee would call the "best athlete in the family." Also left handed, Annabelle Lee was a star in the Women's Semi-Pro Hardball League in Chicago.

Bill Lee stayed in his home state to play college ball at the University of Southern California where his Trojans won the College World Series in 1968. Lee graduated after that season and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 22nd round of the 1968 Amateur Baseball Draft.

Upon finding out that his son had been drafted, William Lee Jr. gave Bill the following advice; "Son, you're joining the Boston Red Sox, a fine organization. Now if you can pitch like we both know you can and you can keep your mouth shut, you'll end up being with them for a very long time."

After spending only one year in the Red Sox minor league system, blowing through the Midwest League, Carolina League, and AA Pittsfield of the Eastern League where he went 6-2 with a 2.06 ERA to start the 1969 season, it was apparent that Bill had at least taken the first half of his father's advice.

On June 24th, 1969, Bill Lee was called up to the big leagues when Jim Longborg was hurt. According to Lee, the last thing that he was told after getting the call was not too pack to heavy a bag and not to expect to be up for too long. "Nine years and 102 days later, I was gone," Lee would quip in his autobiography The Wrong Stuff.

Lee didn't get off to the best start in Boston. His first appearance in the Major Leagues would come on June 25th in relief against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. He would go four innings giving up just one run and two hits while striking out five and walking three. Lee would end up the staying with the club the whole season in a relief role, going 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA with one start at the end of the season. Lee called his performance in his first season "really horseshit." Known primarily for his control and his breaking pitches, Lee found himself throwing alot of fastballs and not really getting into the groove with his breaking pitches with the adrenaline that would come working in short relief.

Lee would start the 1970 season with the Red Sox pitching in eleven games with five starts going 2-2 with a 4.62 ERA before he was called into the Army where he served as a reservist. Lee would call military life "interesting, a mixture of perfect logic with a huge helping of the absurd." Despite his eccentricity, Lee served his time in the Army without note and would return to the Red Sox in time to start the 1971 season.

Lee would begin to settle in as a reliever in Boston over the next two seasons pitching in 47 games each year going 9-2 with a 2.74 ERA in '71 and 7-4 with a 3.20 ERA in '72. Come 1973, Lee would break into the starting rotation where he excelled for three straight 17 win seasons. An All-Star in his first season as a starter in 1973, Lee would finish the season third in the AL in ERA (2.75).

In 1975 along with Louis Tiant and Rick Wise, Lee anchored the American League pennant winning Red Sox rotation. With the Red Sox up one game to none against the vaunted National League Champion Cincinnati Reds, Lee made his first postseason start going eight strong innings giving up only two runs on five hits before leaving with a 2-1 lead on the verge of putting the Red Sox two wins away from a World Series Championship. The Reds would go on to score two runs in the top of the ninth off Dick Drago to win the game and Lee's performance would go wasted. The series would continue with the Reds up 3-2 when Bernie Carbo and Carlton Fisk's dramatics in game six would tie the series and force a seventh game. Lee would be called on to pitch game seven of the 1975 World Series at Fenway Park. Lee would pitch 6 1/3 shut out innings with the Red Sox leading 3-0 before giving up a two run home run to Tony Perez off an ill-conceived "Leephus" pitch.. Lee would leave game seven up 3-2 only to watch the bullpen lose the second game that he had started that series.

Following three 17 win seasons, 1976 began a downturn in Lee's career, but not before one last bit of fireworks. Lee was involved in many moments in Red Sox history, but arguably the most famous one came in 1976 when he was forced to leave a game after hurting his shoulder in a bench clearing brawl with the New York Yankees. Lee would go 24-22 over his last three seasons with the Red Sox posting ERAs of 5.63, 4.43, and 3.46 before being traded to the Montreal Expos before the 1979 season for utility infielder Stan Papi. Lee who had previously railed against the organization for trading away teammates like Bernie Carbo shot his way out of town, hiding his disappointment, saying, ""Who wants to be with a team that will go down in history alongside the '64 Phillies and the '67 Arabs?"

Lee would finish his Red Sox career with the third most wins for a left handed Red Sox pitcher behind only Mel Parnell and Lefty Grove winning 94 games over his ten year Red Sox career.

Lee would pitch well in his first season in Montreal going 16-10 with a 3.04 ERA in 1979. He would leave baseball altogether in protest over the release of a teammate in 1982. Lee claims that he has been blackballed from baseball since his walkout.

Even if baseball had blackballed him, Lee's association with the game remains strong. Owner of The Old Bat Company in Vermont, Lee has penned multiple autobiograpical books and starred in a documentary film, "Spaceman in Cuba." The documentary called a Baseball Odyssey follows Bill Lee as he roams the world in search of opportunities to play the game that he loves focusing on his time in Cuba in 2003.

Even today at over 60 years old, Lee estimates he still throws 200 innings a year playing the game he loves in over-40 leagues in New England.

"I think about the cosmic snowball theory. A few million years from now the sun will burn out and lose its gravitational pull. The earth will turn into a giant snowball and be hurled through space. When that happens it won't matter if I get this guy out." - Bill Lee

This Top 100 Red Sox profile was written by Tim Daloisio, Editor and Chief Blogger of the Red Sox Times.

List Update; We're still here...

2007-03-18T13:28:00.000-05:00

A quick admin post to give an update on the list and an explanation for the silence for the past few weeks. To tell the truth, we got off to a great start, but the 2-a-days were a bit much and it finally caught up to us.

Many of us got caught up in work, family, Spring Training, etc. But no worries, the list soldiers on.

I am working on an updated schedule scaling back to a player a day from here on out. To all of our tireless writers; thanks for all your hard work this far and we're going to see it through! Be on the lookout for an email from me shortly with the revised schedule.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #36 Bruce Hurst

2007-03-11T01:22:00.000-05:00

Bruce Hurst, SP, #47 (1980-1988)

W-L 88-73, 237 G, 217 GS, 54 CG, 13 SHO, 4.23 ERA

"It hurts a lot more to lose than it feels good to win." - Bruce Hurst

Looking back through the numbers, nothing about Bruce Hurst stands out in particular. His 4.23 ERA over the course of his Sox career certainly seems pedestrian. He was, however, outstanding backup to ace Roger Clemens in the mid-80s, along with Oil Can and Al "Cheez" Nipper. Hurst was a crafty left-hander whose career in Boston was solid, and whose 1986 WS performance should have been legend.

Hurst spent 1980-81 mostly in Pawtucket, riding the Merloni express in 1980 and starting five games at the tail-end of 1981. While in Pawtucket, he pitched in the longest game in professional baseball history. Hurst was the 7th pitcher for the Paw Sox, and did his part to extend the game, throwing 5 scoreless innings.

He finally got a chance to stick with the big club in 1982, starting 19 games out of his total of 28. He had a poor ERA, probably somewhat due to his 1.718 WHIP. The Sox FO must have seen something, because he was allowed to continue after such a performance. (It would seem rash to judge such a pitcher at age 24.)

In 1983, Hurst would begin to show his consistent ability to be a league-average or better workhorse. 1983-85 were all seasons closely resembling the others. His ERA+ would hover right around 100, and a WHIP around 1.4. He would throw 200+ innings each season, while steadily increasing his Ks.

1986 would be the best season of Hurst's career, though he spent six weeks on the DL. He would post his lowest regular-season WHIP in a relevant league, win 13 games, while completing 11 of his 25 starts. He saved the best for the postseason. In the World Series, he won 2 of his 3 starts, and put the Sox in position to win the 3rd in game 7. Hurst would have been named WS MVP had the Sox been the victor. It was not to be. However, no less than Mets slugger and clean-image poster boy Darryl Strawberry would praise Hurst's performance in the Series:

"Clemens is tough, but he's no Hurst."

Indeed, Hurst would rise out of Clemens' shadow only to be foiled by an inability to replace Bill Buckner with Dave Stapleton. The champagne was on ice, the media was ready to cover Hurst in a suffocating manner, and the Sox brass was ready to receive their rings and kudos. Unfortunately for Hurst and the Sox, one ground ball and a giant heap of blame on one player would prevent the win.

1987 and 1988 were both successful seasons for Hurst. He would gain All-Star recognition in 1987, winning 9 games and pitching 139 innings before the break. In 1988, he would reach his career high win total of 18, and finish 5th in the Cy Young balloting. Such a win total and his 5th place non-award made him a hot commodity on the FA market. His Sox career would come to a close when he chose less money to pitch closer to his probably not polygamist roots in Utah.

Hurst would pitch five seasons in the fledgling semi-pro NL West before he retired as a Texas Ranger in 1994. He, however, was not done with baseball. He is now the pitching coach of the Chinese national team under manager Jim Lefebvre. He seems to relish the challenge and looks forward to competing in the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing.

Allen once ate a live snake, spine and all. Just kidding. Snakes don't have spines. Find out more at Over The Monster.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #37 Dutch Leonard

2007-03-11T01:20:00.000-05:00

Dutch Leonard, SP, #N/A (1913-1918)

W-L 90-64, 211 G, 162 GS, 96 CG, 25 SHO, 2.13 ERA

Hubert Benjamin "Dutch" Leonard was born on 16 April 1893 in Birmingham, Ohio. He pitched for two seasons in college and one in the minors before getting his shot in the Majors. His BR Bullpen profile mentions a trial in 1911 with the Philadelphia A's. Legal troubles? Did they mean tryout? Research-backed answers get a cookie. He would break into the bigs with the Red Sox as a 20 year old in 1913.

What do we need to know about Dutch Leonard? Leonard was a part of three teams that would go on to WS titles in his career with the Red Sox. The only downside was having to play second fiddle to Babe Ruth for most of that time. He was an excellent pitcher in his own right, averaging over 16 wins a season over his 5 1/2 years with the Sox. Dutch was also a spitballer, and one of the pitchers allowed to continue throwing the pitch after it was banned in 1920.

Dutch's first season, 1913, was successful and unsuccessful. His ERA+ was a solid 122, with a WHIP of 1.307. However, he won only 14 and lost 17, being a good example of why wins and losses aren't a great way to judge a pitcher. The 1913 team finished fourth in the American League. He was on the verge of one of the greatest seasons ever by a starter.

As sophomore slumps go, Dutch didn't have one. He set the modern-day record for ERA at 0.96 with a staggering ERA+ of 279 over 224 2/3 IP. He would go as high as 16th in the MVP voting at the end of the season winning 19 games and helping the Sox move from 4th to 2nd place that season. One would hope, with the years to come, that even Leonard wouldn't see the 0.96 ERA as his crowning achievement.

1915 was an exciting season for the Sox. The first full season for Babe Ruth ushered in a WS title. The Sox would finish the season with 101 wins. Leonard had a good season, but after his phenomenal 1914, one might think it was a let down. Hopefully the WS trophy reduced some of the sting.

The next season was more of the same. Leonard won 18 in support of staff ace Ruth, and the Sox would win another title. Dutch did throw a no-hitter this season, against the St. Louis Browns, on 30 August. It's important to note that Dutch tossed a complete game win in both Series in which he appeared. While Leonard would be a part of the 1918 squad, he would never pitch another World Series game in his career.

Dutch reached a career high in complete games in 1917, finishing 26 of those contests he started. How weak are today's pitchers compared to that era? Dutch would finish only fifth in the league in that category. The Sox would finish nine games behind the White Sox that season, probably due to the departure of Tris Speaker. The Sox as a team held an ERA of 2.20, so it would seem hard to blame anyone but the offense.

1918 was Leonard's last season with the Sox, and he would only pitch half the season, missing time due to service in WWI and some time spend building ships. He would find time to pitch his second and last no-hitter, against the Detroit Tigers on 3 June. He would move on to the those Tigers in 1919, finishing his ML career in the Motor City. However, as with almost all human beings, his life was not without some significant controversy.

First of all, Dutch had a bit of a history with Tigers' superstar and all-around nice guy Ty Cobb. I'm going to let Ty Cobb dot org handle this one:

In 1914, Red Sox pitcher Dutch Leonard hit Cobb in the ribs with a fastball. In the next at bat, Cobb bunted the ball down the right side line. First baseman Clyde Engle covered the play, turning to toss the ball to Leonard just as Cobb spiked him.

Basically, the two had a pleasant history before Leonard arrived to play for Cobb's Tigers. He would never enjoy the same success he had with the Sox, but he was able to arrange some game-fixing while he was there. The story goes like this: Dutch was involved in game-fixing with Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker while he was a Tiger. Ex-Sox pitcher Smokey Joe Wood would also be implicated. Leonard would mostly hurt himself with this, until he produced documentation in 1926 that the incident did, in fact, occur. Speaker and Cobb would be released by their teams after the season. Leonard had already finished pitching the season before. It's important to note that the players did not throw the game for bettors. Quite simply, the Tigers could move into third-place for extra money.

Leonard would not return to baseball. He would become an accomplished wine-maker and a successful golfer. He died at the age of 60 because of complications due to stroke.

Allen once ate a live snake, spine and all. Just kidding. Snakes don't have spines. Find out more at Over The Monster.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #38 Bob Stanley

2007-03-10T12:35:00.000-05:00

Bob Stanley, CL, #46 (1977-1989)

115-97, 637 G, 132 SV, 3.64 ERA

Bob Stanley, nicknamed “Steamer” because like the Stanley Steamer vacuum, he sucks, is perhaps the best Red Sox player to be almost universally disliked in the popular imagination. Roger Clemens may be hated by many, but others still love him. Jose Offerman and Mike Lansing might be derided, but they weren’t terribly good, but ol’ Bob Stanley was both awfully good and awfully disliked by the Red Sox faithful.

Be honest, have you ever met a Bob Stanley fan? (Note: Okay, at his Baseball Reference page his fenwaynation.com sponsors describe him as “Forever beloved for plunking Mike Barnacle at the 1992 Sox Fantasy Camp In Winter Haven.” But they don’t count. And have you noticed Jose is borrowing heavily from Baseball Reference in these? Wikipedia too, but now that he’s mentioned it, it’s not plagiarism.)

But why was Bob Stanley so disliked? Was it his wild pitch that allowed Mookie Wilson to score the tying run in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series? Nope, every one knows that was a passed ball. Beside, Dave Stapleton should have been pitching, or something like that. Was it the relish with which he played his role as the bullpen fun police and heartless killjoy? Possibly, this is the guy who ceremonially popped a beach ball with a rake on his appreciation night at Fenway. Really. Still, probably not.

No the reason, that Bob Stanley is widely unloved despite being the Red Sox All-Time save leader with 132, despite having a career ERA of 3.64, despite being a two time All-Star is that Bob Stanley, for all of his excellence, never, ever allowed fans to feel safe when he entered a game. Even in 1983 when he was second in the A.L. in saves with 33 and plunked down a nifty 2.85 ERA, did you ever relax when he entered a game? No, you didn’t, unless you responded to his entering a game with 50mg of valium.

A while ago, Jose suggested that a new statistic be named after Steamer. He suggested that when a reliever picks up a win after blowing a lead, effectively stealing the win, he should be credited with a “Stanley.” Look at his numbers. In 1983, arguably his best season, Stanley saved 33 games while blowing 14 saves, tying a major league record. At the same time, he had eight wins and 10 losses. Do you ever feel good when your closer has that many decisions? Chances are quite a few of those wins should be scored as Stanleys.

Yes, yes, the single season blown save record is shared with a couple of pretty good pitchers named Fingers and Sutter, but still, 14 in a year? Only in a situation like that, could Calvin Schiraldi swipe the closing job.

Player bio by Jose of Jose's Keys to the Game

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #39 Frank Malzone

2007-03-10T11:58:00.000-05:00

Frank Malzone, 3B, #11 (1955-1965)

1359 G, 1454 H, 131 HR, 716 RBI, .276 AVG, .317 OBP, .403 SLG

Frank Malzone served in the army in 1952 and 1953 so he broke into the big leagues a little bit late. After his time in the service he spent a few years in the minor leagues and didn’t get a fulltime job in the majors until 1957 when he was already 27 years old. His late start didn’t stop him from making an immediate impact in baseball by having his best season in his rookie year. In ’57 he hit .292 and established a career high with 103 RBI while coming in 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting, 7th in the MVP voting, won his first of 3 consecutive Gold Gloves, and made his first of six All-Star teams. That year he also became the first major league player to lead the league at his position in putouts, assists, games played, double plays, and fielding percentage in the same year. He also led the league with 25 errors, but a player that has the range to get to a lot of balls is going to misplay a few of them.

For the next 7 years Malzone consistently produced for the Sox. His stellar defense remained an asset throughout his career although his range did decrease a little with age. His offense alone wouldn’t have been enough to make him a star, but he was no slouch with the bat either. He was never one for plate discipline as his career high .333 OBP shows, but only twice did he strike out more than 50 times in a year and he topped a .280 AVG five times. He hit 13-21 HR every year and topped 70 RBI 7 times. He was a very dependable guy to have in the line up every day.

Malzone left the team via free agency after the 1965 season after 11 years in the majors, all with Boston. He spent 1 year with the Angels hitting .206 in 82 games, mostly as a defensive replacement. He retired after the ’66 season at the age of 36.

His Red Sox career was good enough to place him 9th all-time on the team’s hit list and 10th all time for games played. He also ranks at least 17th on the club’s all-time list for doubles, homers, runs, and RBI. His career totals are a far cry from Cooperstown, even with his defensive prowess, but he was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995. He still lives just outside of Boston and is still employed by the Red Sox as an advisor at the age of 77.

Player bio by Brian Martin

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #40 George Scott

2007-03-08T19:33:00.000-05:00

George “The Boomer” Scott, 1B, #5, 15 (1966-1971, 1977-1979)

1192 G, 1088 H, 154 HR, 562 RBI, .257 Avg, .324 OBP, .421 SLG, All-Star (1966, 1977)

Born George Charles Scott, March 23rd, 1944, the “Boomer”, as he became known, signed as an amateur free agent with the Red Sox in 1962. Growing up on a farm in Greenville, MS, Scott played three sports, baseball, football, and basketball. Scott claims to have been recruited by John Wooden at UCLA, but signed with the Red Sox in lieu of a basketball career. His minor league playing days were spent most productively in Pittsfield of the Eastern League, where the Red Sox had their AA team. In 1965 he became the third Triple Crown winner in the history of the Eastern League while leading his team to that year’s pennant.

In 1966 he was promoted to the big league ball club, where he played in every single one of the Sox’ games and led the league in strikeouts, with 152. He was the starting first baseman for the AL All-Star team, just the second rookie to cop that honor. The right-handed Boomer quickly became one of the most popular fixtures in the city along with one of the slickest fielding first-sackers of all time, relying on his favorite glove, which he named “Black Beauty”.

An integral part of the “Impossible Dream” squad of 1967, Scott was renowned for his defensive wizardry, his physical presence, his buoyant personality and free spirit, and, later in his career, his Fu Manchu (this came during his stay in Milwaukee; facial hair was banned by Sox’ manager Dick Williams in the late ‘60s). Williams, in fact, said that “talking to Scott was like talking to cement”, such was the mercurial nature of his personality. The Boomer also popularized the term “tater”, referring to tape-measure home runs, while with the Sox. Scott won Gold Gloves in 1967 and 1968 and finished 10th in the MVP balloting in ‘67, but his power output dropped sunk in 1968 (from 19hr/82rbi/.839ops in ’67 to 3/25/.437 in ’68) and he never matched the production of his first two seasons with the Sox; this hastened Scott’s initial departure from the Sox.

In December of 1971, after another injury-filled season in 1970 (in which Scott missed 36 games) and a 1971 season in which he played 146 games but saw little rebound in his power numbers (he did win his third Gold Glove in five years), Scott was shipped to the Milwaukee Brewers in a massive eleven player deal, the focal point for the Sox being Tommy Harper. Harper, a speedy outfielder and accomplished base-stealer, came to Boston (along with several others) in return for the Boomer, Billy Conigliaro, Ken Brett, Joe Lahoud, Don Pavletitch, and Jim Lonborg. During his time in Milwaukee Scott returned to form with thunder (even stealing a career-high 16 bases in 1972!), winning Gold Gloves in five consecutive years and putting up career power numbers. In 1973 and 1975 he led the AL in total bases, and in 1975 he hit .285 with AL-leading totals of 36 home runs and 109 rbis, finishing 8th in the MVP vote.

In the ’76-’77 offseason, Scott was traded back to the Red Sox at the behest of Don Zimmer (along with 1975 World Series hero Bernie Carbo), in exchange for first baseman Cecil Cooper. This 1977 season would be his last fully productive year in professional baseball, and the Boomer knocked 33 homers and drove in 96 runs. In 1978 he hit a mere .233, and in 1979 he split time with the Sox, the Royals, and eventually the Yankees, before retiring from the game. Scott’s career total of 8 Gold Gloves is currently second only to Don Mattingly’s nine.

Following his retirement from baseball, Scott managed in the Mexican League. In the mid 90s, he also skippered the Massachusetts Mad Dogs, where he was named Manager of the Year in 1996. And in October 2006, forty years after debuting for Boston, Scott was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame.

The Boomer currently resides in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Sources:

“Red Sox Heroes of Yesteryear”, by Herbert Crehan
www.thebaseballpage.com
www.baseball-reference.com
Dick Bresciani, Vice President of the Boston Red Sox
Wikipedia

This 100 Greatest Red Sox biography was written by Andy B from Yanksfan vs. Soxfan.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #41 Vern Stephens

2007-03-08T19:27:00.000-05:00

Vern Stephens, #5, SS (1948-1952)

660 G, 721 H, 449 R, 122 HR, 562 RBI, .283 Avg, .363 OBP, .492 SLG, All-Star (1948-1951)

Vern Stephens was a capable shortstop, but it was his bat that made him a star and almost a Hall of Famer. If it weren’t for the knee injuries that reduced him to a part time player by the time he was 31 and forced him out of baseball entirely by the age of 35 he’d have his plaque in Cooperstown. Some will argue that he belongs anyways, citing his superior numbers to Phil Rizutto and Lou Beadreau, two shortstops of Stephens’s era that made it into the Hall.

Stephens stormed through the minor leagues and broke into the majors with the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles), a perennial basement dweller and laughing stock of the league. With Stephens leading the team they won their only pennant in Browns history. He played with them for six years and managed to turn a laughingstock into a semi-respectable team.

After the 1947 season the Browns were strapped for cash and even with Stephens they had no hope of competing. They traded Jack Kramer (who went 18-5 in his first season with the Sox before fading into obscurity) and Stephens to Boston in exchange for six prospects, none of whom ever panned out, and $310,000, a big chunk of cash in those days. Stephens was thrilled to be going to Boston. He wanted the chance to win and loved how inviting the Green Monster was, so close to home plate.

Stephens made an immediate impact on the Red Sox hitting 29 HR and 137 RBI in 1948, his first season with the team. He combined with Ted Williams (25 HR, 127 RBI) and Bobby Doerr (27 HR and 111RBI) that year to become the most feared threesome in any line up in baseball. The next year Stephens was even better hitting .290 with 39 HR and 159 RBI. He helped the league’s MVP, Ted Williams, lead the team to a 96 wins and a 2nd place finish that year. 1949 was a peak year for the slugging shortstop, but he still had one more fantastic year in him when he hit .295 with 30 HR and 144 RBI in 1950. With Walt Dropo (34 HR and 144 RBI) added to the mix the Red Sox scored 1027 runs, the most in team history. Eight members of that lineup scored at least 80 runs, five of them scored at least 100. It was an unbelievable lineup, even better than the beloved squads of 2003 and 2004, and their shortstop, Vern Stephens was a huge part of that.

In 1951 Stephens was putting together another typical season hitting .300 and slugging .501, but then his knees started to slow him down. He played just 109 games that year and would never be a full time player again. After a 1952 season in which Stephens hit just 7 HR in 92 games, he was traded to the White Sox for 3 role players. He was released by the White Sox in his first year with the team.

Was he a Hall of Famer? It’s tough to say. And, as the old saying goes, if a guy is a borderline Hall of Famer, he’s not a Hall of Famer. But was he a better player than Phil Rizzuto and Lou Boudreau, two shortstops of his era already in the Hall? I’m comfortable with answering yes on that one. He gave the Red Sox 3 and a half amazing seasons. Despite his short time with the team he still is 20th all time on the team’s RBI list with 562 and 22nd on the list with 122 HR, just 2 fewer than Fred Lynn.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #42 Dennis Eckersley

2007-03-07T19:19:00.000-05:00

Dennis Eckersley, P, #43 (1978-1984, 1998)

88 W - 71 L, 241 G, 191 GS, 64 CG, 771 K, 3.92 ERA, All-Star 1982

Looking over the twenty-four years of Dennis Eckersley's career, eyes naturally gravitate towards his nine years in Oakland where he redefined the role of the closer while racking up four all-star appearances and a Cy Young and MVP in 1992. Ask anyone to conjure up an image of Eckersley and they are likely to recall the fearless closer with arms flailing as he releases the ball with hair flowing from his hat aiming the ball with pinpoint control. Head however to New England, ask the same question and you'll get memories of a young flamethrower, a starter wearing a Red Sox uniform.

Dennis Lee Eckersley was born October 3, 1954, in Oakland, California. Growing up in Fremont, California, where he attended Washington High School, Eckersley was multi-sport athlete in baseball, basketball and football. His sport of choice was solidified when was selected out of high school by the Cleveland Indians in the third round of the 1972 free-agent draft.

Eckersley spent his first three seasons as a professional ball player rising up through the Cleveland Indians farm system as a hard throwing starter with incredible potential.

"It was obvious to me Eckersley would be an outstanding pitcher," said Bob Quinn, Cleveland's minor league director at the time. "He had outstanding speed and intimidated you with a sidearm slider. But the thing that always impressed me - and I saw him pitch in the Texas League - was his makeup. He has that extra ingredient that says he will excel. Not necessarily a perfectionist, but he wants nothing but to beat you."

In 1975, at only 20 years of age, Dennis Eckersley was invited to attend camp and made the Indians big league roster. Eckersley started his career where he would end it, in the bullpen. But after ten scoreless outings in relief, Eckersley got his first opportunity to start on May 25th, 1975 against the Oakland A's pitching a complete game, three hit shut out. He would pitch a major league record 28 2/3 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to start his major league career.

Eckersley would finish the 1975 season at 13-7 with a 2.60 ERA, earning him the honors of Sporting News AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year. Eckersley's time in Cleveland would feature more incredible achievements including a no hitter and a 21 inning hitless streak in 1977. Eckersley would go 40-32 over his three seasons in Cleveland earning him a spot on the 100 Greatest Cleveland Indians Roster before being traded to Boston before the 1978 season along with catcher Fred Kendall for pitchers Rick Wise and Mike Paxton, third baseman Ted Cox and catcher Bo Diaz.

Eckersley's first season in Boston was his best, compiling a 20-8 record, with a 2.99 ERA. Eck was particularly stellar down the stretch as the Red Sox battled the rival New York Yankees in a heated pennant race. Over his last four starts, all wins, Eckersley would pitch 33.2 innings including three complete games while allowing only twenty-seven baserunners and three earned runs (0.80 ERA) while striking out twenty.

Eckersley would follow up his successful 1978 campaign with an equally impressive second season in Boston. At the age of 24, Eckersely went 17-10 matching his previous 2.99 ERA finishing in the top ten in Cy Young balloting (7th), wins (5th), and ERA (3rd). Unfortunately for Dennis, 1980 would usher in a decade of decline for the starting pitcher. Eckersley would hover around the .500 mark for the next four seasons in Boston before being dealt to the Chicago Cubs on May 25th of 1984 along with outfielder Mike Brumley for first baseman Bill Buckner.

Eckersley would go on to rebound in Chicago over two and a half seasons, earning him the #96 spot on Bleed Cubbie Blue's Top 100 Cubs List, before once again being dealt in 1986 to Oakland where he would solidify his place in baseball history as one of the most dominant relievers of all time. If I could find a Top 100 A's of all time list, there is no doubt that Eck would place highly on his fourth such list (Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, and Oakland).

Eckersley would follow his manager Tony LaRussa from Oakland to St. Louis in 1996 spending two seasons with the Cardinals before coming back to Boston to end his career as a set up man for Tom Gordon in 1998.

Dennis Eckersley, a six-time All-Star, ended his 24-year (1975-98) major league career with a record of 197-171 (48-41 as a reliever), 361 games started, 100 complete games, 2,401 strikeouts, and a 3.50 ERA. His career in baseball culminated in 2004 when he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 85% of the vote.

In his induction speech in Cooperstown, Eckersley referenced the role that baseball and the fight that he had with alcohol abuse during his career played in his life.

"Walt Whitman once said, 'Baseball will repair our losses and be a blessing to us.' Well, I saved my life and my career was repaired. You never know when life is going to change forever."

"I care for this game with my heart and soul. I dedicated my life to being the best pitcher I could be. You leave me humbled and grateful for this honor. I'd like to leave an offering of a message of hope. That is, with the grace of God, you can change your life, whoever you are."

This Top 100 Red Sox profile was written by Tim Daloisio, Editor and Chief Blogger of the Red Sox Times.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #43 Pete Runnels

2007-03-07T09:11:00.000-05:00

Pete Runnels, 1B/2B, #3 (1958-1962)

732 G, 825 H, 407 R, 29 HR, 249 RBI, .320 Avg. .407 OBP, .427 SLG, All-Star (1959-1960, 1962)

When Jose selected Pete Runnels as one of the old-timey players he would profile, Jose just assumed that he was related to professional wrestler Virgil Runnels III, a.k.a. Goldust, and his father Vigil Runnels Jr., a.k.a. the American Dream Dusty Rhodes. Pete Runnels is not. Nuts.

However, all is not lost, as it turns out that Pete, like his fellow Runnels’ has a secret identity. His shocking true identity is James Edward Runnels. So going by Pete is kind of pathetic. Jose hates people who hide behind fake names. They’re kind of sketchy.

But as it turns out Jose is glad that he ended up with Runnels. You know why? Because Baseball Reference lists, as his eighth most comparable player… get ready… Jose Offerman! Ergo, this profile is the eighth most like writing a capsule pinup of Jose Offerman. It has to be, it’s sabermetrics.

That said, there are still a lot of differences between Runnels and Offerman. For instance, Runnels was a three time All-Star in 1959, 1960 and 1962, whereas Offerman was an All-Star, well, never. Runnels won two batting titles, and barely lost a third to Ted Williams, whereas Offerman won none and narrowly lost a race with Dante Bichette for biggest jackass on the team. And with on base percentages ranging from .396 to .416 in his years with the Red Sox, Runnels could have done a far better job replacing Mo Vaughn’s “on base capability” than Offerman ever did.

Of course, Offerman does have his advantages too. Even though Jose has never seen tape of Runnels, he’s pretty sure he didn’t make that over the shoulder play running into the outfield as well as Offerman… come on, no one made that play as well as Offerman.

I’m Jose Melendez, and those are my KEYS TO THE 100 GREATEST RED SOX.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #44 Tex Hughson

2007-03-07T06:43:00.000-05:00

Tex Hughson, P, #21 (1941-1949)

96 W - 54 L, 17 Saves, 225 G, 99 CG, 693 K, 2.94 ERA, All-Star (1942-1944)

He was a tall, lanky righthander from the state of Texas. He wore number 21, like another tall Texan would also at Fenway four decades later. Cecil Carlton Hughson first arrived at Fenway Park in April of 1941. He was a power/control pitcher who went to the University of Texas at Austin, and was known to all his friends in Boston as "Tex." He would have some sensational years for the Red Sox in the early-to-mid 1940s, and it looked like he would anchor the Red Sox staff for years to come and maybe was on his way to the Hall of Fame.

But fate would intervene.

Tex Hughson was born in Buda, Texas on February 9, 1916. He was the cousin of Jack Creel, who pitched briefly for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1945. He was best known as a fearless competitor on the mound who was not adverse to throwing inside on hitters, mixing in a hard fastball and an overhand curveball. He would also at times mix in a knuckleball to his repetoire, and was known to throw maybe four or five in a game. He starred at the University of Texas at Austin, and first made it to the majors with the Red Sox at the start of the 1941 season.

The next season, Hughson led the American League in wins, posting a 22-6 record with a 2.59 ERA, and also leading the league in strikeouts (113), complete games (22), and innings pitched (281.0). It would be his finest year in the majors, and he finished sixth in the AL MVP voting. In 1943, he won 12 games with 114 strikeouts, a 2.64 ERA, and again led the league in complete games (20). He had an 18-5 mark in 1944, topping the league in winning percentage (.783) and also reached a career-best ERA of 2.26. He was selected to the AL All-Star team three straight years, from 1942-1944.

Hughson spent 1945 in military service, but when he returned for the 1946 season, he picked up from where he left off. Hughson won 20 games in 1946, led the league in fewest walks per nine innings (1.65), set a career high in strikeouts with 179, and completed 30 of 35 starts. He and Dave "Boo" Ferriss, who won 25 games, were a tremendous 1-2 starting combination in leading the Red Sox to their first American League championship in 28 years.

Hughson pitched in three World Series games against St. Louis that fall, with mixed results. He started very well in Game 1 and got a no-decision in a game the Sox won in extra innings, 3-2; he got hit hard and left in the third inning and got the loss in Game 4 as St. Louis won, 12-3; and he relieved in Game 6, in a game the Cardinals would tie the series (and go on and win the next day).

But throughout the height of his big league career, Tex Hughson pitched in pain. Finally by 1947, arm and shoulder problems caught up with him. He made just 26 starts that year, going 12-11 with a 3.33 ERA in 189 innings. In 1948, Hughson was limited to just 15 relief appearances, and the next season he would make just 2 starts in 29 appearances. He threw less than 100 innings combined those two years. After that 1949 season, he forced to retire at the age of 33.

In an eight-year career, Hughson posted a 96-54 record with 693 strikeouts and a 2.94 ERA in 1375.2 innings. His control was so good, and he recorded an effective 1.86 K-to-BB ratio (693-to-372).

After retiring from baseball in 1949, Hughson returned to his native Texas became a real estate developer. He lived in San Marcos until his death on August 6, 1993, from kidney failure, at the age of 77. He was survived by his wife, three children and six grandchildren.

His career was one of those many "what could have been if he stayed healthy" stories. Tex Hughson may not have made it to baseball's Hall of Fame, but he was selected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2002.

John Quinn is a writer who lives in New York City and runs the web site, "The Mighty Quinn Media Machine," and writes for the Red Sox fan site, Bornintoit.com, as "Brooklyn Sox Fan."

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #45 Derek Lowe

2007-03-05T21:39:00.000-05:00

Derek Lowe, P, #32 (1997-2004)

70 W - 55 L, 85 Saves, 384 G, 673 K, 3.72 ERA, All-Star 2000, 2002

You needn't look any further than the 2004 post-season to gain an understanding of what it was like to be Derek Lowe. Known for incredible talent, at times questionable mental makeup, and a knack for having the highest highs and lowest lows a player can find on a baseball field, Derek Lowe went from being left out of the post-season rotation in 2004 to becoming the winning pitcher in the deciding games of the American League Divisional Series, American League Championship Series, and 2004 World Series. From desolation to revelation, this ride was the epitome of Derek Lowe's career.

Known for his devastating sinker and astounding GB/FB ratio, Lowe both excelled and fell from grace on the mound in Boston as both a top tier closer and top of the rotation starter over his eight year career as a Red Sox. Over the course of his career, Lowe would pitch in more games in a Red Sox uniform (384) than only Bob Stanley and teammate Tim Wakefield. Lowe ranks 4th on the all time Red Sox saves list with 85, and is the tallest pitcher to ever pitch in a Sox uniform at 6'6". Lowe is also the last Boston pitcher to record a no-hitter when he no-hit the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on April 27, 2002 five years and one day removed from his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners.

Born June 1st of 1973 in Dearborn, MI, a young Derek Lowe was the all-American high school athlete. Lowe lettered in baseball, golf, soccer, and basketball where he was a first team all-state player. In 1991, Lowe chose baseball as his sport of choice and was drafted in the 8th round of the 1991 amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners as a pitcher. By the end of the 1992 season in class A ball in Bellingham, WA Lowe was touted as the #6 prospect in the Northwest League by Baseball America.

Lowe rose through the Mariners minor league system spending 1994 and 1995 in AA before moving up to AAA Tacoma in 1996. Lowe started the season in 1997 back in Tacoma before getting his call to the bigs in late April. On April 26th, 1997 Derek Lowe made his Major League debut for the Seattle Mariners. Trailing 3-2 to the Toronto Blue Jays, Lowe was called upon out of the bullpen to start the sixth inning. In his first inning of work Lowe induced three ground balls in a one-two-three inning. Lowe would give up a hit in the seventh inning and a hit in the eighth allowing no runs while the Mariners tied the game at three. In the bottom of the ninth in his fourth inning of relief work, Lowe gave up back to back one out singles before being replaced by Norm Charlton. Charlton wasn't able to close out the inning and Derek Lowe's first appearance in the big leagues resulted in a well pitched loss.

Lowe would go on to start nine games for the Mariners going 2-4 with a 6.96 ERA before being traded to Boston along with catcher Jason Varitek at the July 31st trading deadline for Red Sox closer Heathcliff Slocumb in what would go down as one of the best trades in Boston Red Sox history. Lowe would go on to make his Red Sox debut on September 1st and compile a 0-2 record and 3.38 ERA in 8 relief appearances for the Red Sox in 1997.

Lowe started 1998 in the starting rotation before going 0-7 with a 5.81 ERA over ten starts before being moved to the bullpen where he found a niche setting up for Tom Gordon and excelled. In 53 games as a reliever in '98 Lowe went 3-2 with 4 saves and a 2.88 ERA. As a reliever, his BAA dropped .057 points and his Opponent SLG dropped .124 points to .301 while his K/BB ratio doubled. Lowe found comfort in the 7th and eighth innings and began to stand out as one of the better setup men in baseball.

The 1999 season saw Derek Lowe continue to evolve; this time from setup man to closer. As he did in 1997, Lowe flourished in his new role as the season progressed. Over his first 42 games, he was primarily a set up man for, of all people, Tim Wakefield who had been called upon to close games to start the season. Lowe did his set up job well going 0-2 with a 3.04 ERA, 4 saves, 34 K and 19 BB. In his final 32 appearances, primarily as the closer, Lowe was 6-1 with 11 saves, a 2.21 ERA, and only 6 BBs compared to 46 Ks. The closer role suited him and set him up for a breakout year in 2000.

In 2000, Derek Lowe built off his positive experiences in the ninth inning the year prior resulting in an All-Star appearance on his way to lead the American League in saves with 42. In 74 games, Lowe was 4-4 with 42 saves, a 2.56 ERA, and a 79/22 K/BB ratio. For all Lowe's success however, his future career wouldn't see him continue to flourish as a closer.

Looking to back up his '00 season with another stellar campaign, 2001 didn't get off the start that Derek Lowe was hoping for. In April, Lowe couldn't get out of his own way going 1-4 with 3 saves in 13.1 innings giving up 20 hits on his way to a 6.75 ERA. Lowe settled into the season in May and June, before struggling again in July and losing his closing job to acquired Ugueth Urbina in August. Lowe would make three successful starts in September, once again taking the lows of losing his job as a closer to an opportunity to excel in another role. Over the three starts he would go 1-0 with a 1.12 ERA.

In what would become a common trait for Derek Lowe, he would bounce back from adversity in a big way in 2002. As a starting pitcher for the first time since he started his Red Sox career, Lowe had another All-Star appearance, this time as the games starting pitcher. And that wouldn't even be the high point of his season. Lowe would go 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA over 32 starts finishing third in the Cy Young race to teammate Pedro Martinez and award winner Barry Zito. But when he looks back on what could be called the most successful season of his career, Lowe will remember one day above all others, April 27th 2002. Against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Fenway Park, Derek Lowe would pitch the game of his life no hitting the Rays in a 10-0 win. After the game ended and the fans partied to a rousing rendition of "Low-Rider" Lowe came back on the field and addressed the fans.

"I'm just glad all you guys were here to enjoy this with me. I know last year you guys had no confidence in me, and I deserved that. And I just want to come out in this park and give the confidence back to you guys. And I'm just very glad that you guys stayed with me and cheered me on throughout the game. Thank you very much."

Once again, success was hard for Derek Lowe to repeat for Lowe in 2003. Lowe would end up a respectable 17-7 behind the strength of a stellar offense, but would post a 4.47 ERA over 33 starts. At Fenway Park, Lowe approached the pitcher we say in 2002 going 11-2 with a 3.21 ERA. On the road however, Lowe was 6-5 with an abysmal 6.11 ERA. It would be on the road however that Lowe would make his most lasting memory of the season. With the Red Sox on the brink of erasing an 0-2 deficit against the Oakland A's in the ALDS, Lowe was called upon in a role that he had given up years before; the closer. After starting game four in which he pitched well but yielded a no decision in a Red Sox win, Lowe was called on in the ninth inning striking out two A's on nasty diving sinkers with the game in the balance. Jason Varitek would call the last strike "the best pitch he's ever made." Here is my recap from that game.

2004 would be Lowe's last in a Red Sox uniform before leaving in free agency and signing a contract with the L.A. Dodgers. He would in fact save his best for last. Both fortunately and fortunately, his best wasn't on display until the very end. Lowe would struggle through most of the season with questionable mental makeup and a 15-12 record and a 5.42 ERA. Luckily for Red Sox fans, even after being left out of the rotation in the 2004 post season, Lowe's ability to bounce back from the lowest of lows was never more apparent.

In game three of the ALDS against the Anaheim Angels with the Red Sox up two games to none and the game headed to extra innings, Lowe pitched a scoreless tenth inning before David Ortiz ended the game and the series with a walkoff two-run homer into the Monster Seats making Lowe the winning pitcher. After being called upon to start game four of the ALCS against the New York Yankees because of the devastation that long games prior had on the Red Sox pitching staff forcing schedule starter Tim Wakefield into action, Lowe pitched well keeping the Red Sox in the game through his 5.1 innings of work. By the time the series had reached game seven, Lowe was called upon again, this time on only 2 days rest. Lowe pitched his way into Red Sox history allowing only one run and one hit over six innings on his way to another series clinching win solidifying the greatest comeback in the history of team sports. Not to be outdone, Lowe finished off his amazing post season run with a victory in the clinching game of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals on October 27th, 2004. In what would be his last game in a Red Sox uniform, Lowe would go seven scoreless innings, allowing only three hits while walking one and striking out four. The Red Sox won the game 3-0, the series 4-0, and after a horrid regular season, Derek Lowe was the winning pitcher in all three series-deciding games in the 2004 playoffs.

This Top 100 Red Sox profile was written by Tim Daloisio, Editor and Chief Blogger of the Red Sox Times.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #46 Bill Monbouquette

2007-03-05T18:33:00.000-05:00

Bill Monbouquette, SP, #27 (1958-1965)

96 W - 91 L, 254 G, 72 CG, 16 SHO, 3.69 ERA, 969 K, All-Star (1960, '62, '63)

He was known to his friends and teammates as "Monbo." He grew up in Medford, Massachusetts, and turned down offers from the Tigers and Cubs to pitch for the Red Sox, his hometown team that he grew up rooting for.

But Bill Monbouquette joined the Red Sox at a very inopportune time, during a dark period in Red Sox history.

Bill Monbouquette was born in Medford on August 11, 1936. He signed with the Sox in 1955 as a free agent and for a $4,000 bonus. He was a righthander who was a finesse pitcher who relied on changing speeds and had pinpoint control. He was brought up by the Red Sox in 1958 and made his debut with them on July 18. He went 3-4 in 10 games with an ERA of 3.31 in just over 54 innings.

Monbouquette was brought up to the Sox at a time when the Red Sox were in a downward spiral, and one of the only reasons many fans came to Fenway in the late 1950s was to see Ted Williams, who was winding down his brilliant career. Monbouquette was used as a spot starter and reliever in 1959, but became a full-time starter in 1960 and began to blossom into a reliable starting pitcher, and was named to the AL All-Star team that season.

Monbouquette also played a little-known part in the social history of the team. In 1959, when Pumpsie Green became the first black player on the Red Sox, he saw that a coach on the Red Sox named Del Baker was giving some racial abuse to the White Sox' Minnie Minoso, who was from Cuba. Green confirms that it was Monbouquette who went over to Baker and let it be known in no uncertain terms to cut it out, and that sort of ugliness had no place on the team. Monbouquette would later say that the racial abuse was upsetting Green, who Monbo considered a friend.

Monbo went 14-11 in 1960, and 14-14 in 1961, with over 200 innings pitched both seasons and respectable ERAs both years as well. His first career highlight came in the 1961 season when he struck out 17 Washington Senators in a game on May 12, a 2-1 Red Sox win. It set a team record that would last until April of 1986, when Roger Clemens struck out 20 Seattle Mariners in a nine-inning game to set the major league record.

1962 would be an even better season for Monbo. The Red Sox were a very mediocre club, but Monbouquette took another step as a bonafide top-notch starter. He won 15 that season, with the highlight being a no-hitter he pitched against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park on August 1, a 1-0 win over Early Wynn. (It was one of two by the Sox that season, as Earl Wilson threw one as well.) He was also named to his second All-Star team as well.

But the next season would prove to be the best season in Monbouqette's career. He reached the magic number of 20 wins for the first and only time, and made another All-Star team. He also established career highs in innings pitched ( 266.7) and strikeouts (174). But again, the Red Sox had a rather miserable team and were nowhere near a pennant race.

The next two seasons would see a decline in Monbouquette's numbers, as he went 13-14 in 1964 and 10-18 in 1965. He was still the ace and workhorse of the Red Sox staff, but the team's on-field play still didn't improve very much. Just after the 1965 season, Monbouquette was dealt to the Detroit Tigers for George Smith, George Thomas and Jackie Moore.

Monbouquette went 7-8 for Detroit in a spot starter/reliever role in 1966, and shortly into the 1967 season, he was released and picked up by the New York Yankees. They used him in a similar role, and he pitched well, going 6-5 with a 2.36 ERA in 101 innings. In 1968, he pitched for both New York and the San Francisco Giants, going 5-8 in 101 innings combined for both clubs. He was released by the Giants before the start of the 1969 season.

At 32, Monbouquette decided to retire rather than go back to the minors to try to fight his way back. He became a very successful minor league pitching coach and scout for such teams as Mets, Blue Jays, Yankees and Tigers. For over 30 years he has been a very-well respected teacher of pitchers in baseball's minor leagues.

In 1988, Monbouquette was coaching for Myrtle Beach in the Toronto organization, when he saw a tall, lanky kid from Texas who he thought had a lot of raw ability but not much "killer instinct." He taught the kid a sinker, and the pitcher credits Monbouquette with changing his career completely. That kid's name: Mike Timlin.

"I like working with the kids," Monbouquette once said to Steve Buckley, in his book, Red Sox, Where Have You Gone. "You like to think you can have an impact on their lives, their careers. It's a good feeling when you can connect with them."

Monbouquette has served as a major league pitching coach on two occasions: with the Blue Jays, and with the Mets from 1982-83. Recently he has been the pitching coach for Oneonta of the New York-Penn League, the Tigers affiliate.

Monbouquette has been married twice, and has three grown children.

He finished his Red Sox career with some very respectable numbers, winning 96 games in nine seasons with some less-than-stellar Red Sox teams. He left the Red Sox shortly before the 1967 Impossible Dream season, and it was a shame that Monbouquette never pitched in a postseason game in his career, in Boston or anywhere else, and that he never got to pitch for the Red Sox after their fortunes improved.

He was the best pitcher on the Red Sox in a bad era in Red Sox history. But at least he will always be remembered in Red Sox history, as he was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000.

John Quinn is a writer who lives in New York City and runs the web site, "The Mighty Quinn Media Machine," and writes for the Red Sox fan site, Bornintoit.com, as "Brooklyn Sox Fan."

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #47 Reggie Smith

2007-03-04T20:34:00.000-05:00

Reggie Smith, OF, #7 (1966-73)

1014 G, 1064 H, 149 HR, 536 RBI, 84 SB, .281 Avg, .354 OBP, .471 SLG

Switchhitter Reggie Smith came up to the Red Sox in 1966 at the age of 21. He became known for his decent power, his high batting averages, and his good on-base percentages. Smith contributed 2 HR's in the 1967 World Series. He won a Gold Glove for the Red Sox in 1968, hit over .300 three times and led the AL in doubles in 1968 and 1971. He was the first African-American star for the Red Sox, paving the way for Jim Rice later in the 70's. The Red Sox had a bad reputation when it came to baseball intergration, and the city was not always the kind to minorities.

Reggie was traded to St. Louis Cardinals along with Ken Tatum in October 1973. In return the Sox received two key members of the 1975 AL Champions - Pitcher Rick Wise and OF Bernie Carbo. Smith went on to great success in the National League, being named to the NL All Star team in 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, and 1980. Smith hit 3 HR in a game on May 22, 1976. He ended up with the Dodgers midway through 1976. The well balanced Dodgers, led by the hitting and defense of Smith as well as Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, Dusty Baker and the pitching of Don Sutton, Tommy John, Burt Hooten, won the NL pennant in 1977 and 1978. Each time they lost the World Series to the dreaded New York Yankees. Smith finally earned a World Series ring with the 1981 Dodgers. He played one more season with the San Francisco Giants, then retired. At that time he was 2nd only to Mickey Mantle in HR's by a switch hitter. He ended up hitting 100 HR in each league.

After his playing career ended, Smith rejoined the Dodgers, where he served as a coach under Tommy Lasorda , a minor league instructor and a player development official. Smith also served as hitting coach for Team USA during the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Despite playing only 8 seasons of his 17 year career in Boston, Reggie ranks 26th with over 1,000 games played and over 3,700 ABs, scoring 592 runs (just one behind Manny Ramirez). He ranks 16th on the Red Sox career HR list, with 149 roundtrippers.
This 100 Greatest Red Sox biography was written by SoxFan of http://soxfanzone.blogspot.com/.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #48 Trot Nixon

2007-03-04T19:13:00.000-05:00

Trot Nixon, RF, #7 (1996-2006)

982 G, 912 H, 547 R, 133 HR, 523 RBI, .278 Avg, .365 OBP, .478 SLG

Trot Nixon (or Christopher Trotman Nixon) was born on April 11, 1974 in Durham, NC. He went to New Hanover High School where he played both baseball and football. Both of which he was very adept at. During his senior year is where he came to his high school career peek. As a senior in football he broke records for passing and in baseball he got State Player of the Year and was named High School Player of the Year by Baseball America. He finished his senior baseball year with .512 BA, 56 RBIs (which was a state record), and 12 homeruns. He also pitched 40 innings with a 12-0 record and a .40 ERA.

He was drafted in 1993 in the amateur draft as first pick by the Sox, 7th overall. His first professional season came in 1996. His best year came in 2003 where he posted a .306 BA, 28 homeruns, and 24 doubles.

He is said to have been just about as Red Sox as they come. From saving the Sox from elimination in 2004 to wearing goofy hairstyles in the 2004 season, he’s said to be the one who coined the phrase “Boston Dirt Dog”. He also one of the rare cases of being on the disabled list and being kicked out of the game. When Gabe Kapler hit a homerun which the umpires counted as a double, Nixon ran out to contest the call and ended up getting ejected.

During the final game of the 2006 season Nixon got taken out in the 5th inning, everyone knowing it was his last game in Boston. He got replaced by David Murphy. He wasn’t offered arbitration by the Sox in the off-season either, and after the signing of JD Drew things started to look bleak for him on the Sox. In January of 2007 Nixon signed with the Cleveland Indians in a 1 year $3 million deal.

He also chose to change his number from 7 to 33 by the advice of his son Chase, who chose it because Nixon is turning 33 this year.

This 100 Greatest Red Sox biography was written by Mander.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #49 Jimmy Collins

2007-03-03T22:56:00.000-05:00

Jimmy Collins, 3B (1901-1907)

741 G, 881 H, 448 R, 25 HR, 385 RBI, 102 SB, .296 Avg, .332 OBP, .423 SLG

Jimmy Collins full biography will be posted once it is completed.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #50 Rick Burleson

2007-03-03T06:20:00.000-05:00

Rick Burleson, SS, #7 (1974-1980)

1346 Games, 656 Runs, 50 HR, 449 RBI, .328 OBP AL All Star 1977-79, 1981

One of my personal favorites, Rick Burleson was a scrappy Red Sox shortstop of the 1970's. Rick "Rooster" Burleson was a Red Sox first round draft pick in 1970. He made his major league debut with the Red Sox on May 4, 1974. Eventually he would end up being considered one of the best defensive shortshops in the history of the Boston Red Sox, playing in 1031 games (24th best), scoring 514 runs and amassing 1114 (19th best).

Rooster was an intense hard working player who won the hearts of Red Sox Nation. He was the starting shortstop during the magical 1975 season. Burleson hit over .290 in both 1976 and 1977, and was 2nd to Jim Rice among team hit leaders in 1977 with 194 base hits. In 1979 Burleson won a Gold Glove. From 1975 to 1980 Rooster played in at least 145 games and got at least 140 hits each season. Burleson help turn a record setting 147 double plays in 1980.

In one of the most unpopular moves in Red Sox history, Burleson was traded in December 1980 to the California Angels along with Butch Hobson for Carney Lansford, Rick Miller, and Mark Clear. Burleson then played with the Angels from 1980-1984 before finishing up his major league career with the Baltimore Orioles.

Burleson's last few years were tough, as he missed the entire 1985 season with a torn rotator cuff. Burleson came back in 1986 and earned Comeback Player of the Year honors.

However, the trade from Boston to California was a trade Burleson was not happy with. If he had it his way, he would have loved to play his whole career with the Red Sox. "I was disappointed to be traded from Boston after being there for seven years and basically in my prime," said Burleson. "I turned 30 that year and they traded (Fred) Lynn, myself and let Fisk go. That was a front office move through Haywood Sullivan where he got back at us for holding out in early 1976 when that was the first year of free agency.

After just one year removed from baseball, Burleson realized he enjoyed too many things about baseball and wanted to get back into it. The Oakland A's hired Burleson as a roving instructor, and he eventually became their major league hitting coach. Burleson returned as a coach with the Red Sox for the 1992 and 1993 seasons and also managed in both the Dodgers and Mariners organizations before joining the Reds.Today Burleson is still involved in baseball, managing at the Triple A level including several seasons with the Louisville Bats (Cinncinati Reds). He hopes to become a major league manager.

This 100 Greatest Red Sox biography was written by SoxFan of http://soxfanzone.blogspot.com/.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #51 Johnny Damon

2007-03-02T18:28:00.000-05:00

Johnny Damon, CF, #18 (2002-2005)

597 G, 730 H, 461 R, 56 HR, 299 RBI, 98 SB, .295 Avg, .362 OBP, .441 SLG

At 9:11 PM on the evening of October 20, 2004, the centerfielder for the Boston Red Sox hit what many have called the biggest home run in Boston Red Sox history. It was a first-pitch swing against New York Yankees pitcher Javier Vazquez, and he hit it into the short-porch seats in rightfield, just a couple of rows deep. It was a grand slam that gave the Red Sox a 6-0, second inning lead in Game 7 of the American League Series, in a game the Sox would go on to win, 10-3, and complete the single greatest comeback in the 101-year history of baseball's postseason.

That one swing made Johnny Damon a legend in the annals of the long, storied history of the Boston Red Sox.

Johnny David Damon was born on November 5, 1973 to a white father and a Thai mother on an Army base in Fort Riley, Kansas. His parents met while his father wasa Staff Sergeant in the US Army. Johnny spent most of his early life as an Army brat travelling with his family to several Army bases before the family finally settled in the Orlando, Florida area. In his early life, Johnny suffered from a stuttering problem, which made his a rather quiet kid.

But he excelled in sports, and at Dr. Phillips High School in 1992 he was rated the top schoolboy prospect in the country by Baseball America, was named to USA Today's High School All-America team, and was the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year. He was the 35th overall pick in the 1992 MLB draft, and turned down a baseball scholarship to the University of Florida to sign with the Kansas City Royals.

Damon was the Royals' Minor League Player of the Year in 1994, and the Texas League MVP in 1995, and was brought up to Kansas City in August 1995. He became a regular in the Royals outfield in 1996, hitting a solid .271 and stealing 25 bases in 145 games.

Damon would soon gain a reputation as one of the fastest outfielders in the game, as he was in the Top 3 in AL in triples three straight seasons from 1997-99. His power numbers steadily increased, as he hit 18 homers in 1998. He stole at least 25 bases in three of his first four full seasons.

But Johnny Damon would have his breakout season in 2000, batting .327 with 16 HRs, 88 RBI, and 214 hits. He would lead the AL with 46 stolen bases, and runs, scoring 136.

The Kansas City Royals had a superstar player in the making, but being a small-market club, simply couldn't pay Damon enough to keep him. He was a free agent after the 2001 season, so in early January 2001, he was traded to Oakland Athletics in a three-team deal that also involved the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Damon's first year in Oakland got off to a rough start, and he struggled a good part of the season. But by August, he finally got hot and managed to salvage what was mostly a lost season for him, hitting .256 with 27 stolen bases and 108 runs.

But the A's had a wonderful season, winning the AL Wild Card with 102 wins. They faced the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series, and it would Damon's first taste of the postseason. He would have a fine series, hitting .409, scoring three runs and stealing two bases. But the A's lost a 2-0 series lead, as the Yankees won two games in Oakland and then wrapped up Game 5 back in New York to advance to the ALCS.

The A's would elect not to pursue Damon as a free agent, as GM Billy Beane would rather let the more expensive players walk and rebuild the farm system with draft picks than increase payroll. So Damon walked away, and on December 21, 2001, Damon signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. This would turn out to be the final move by then-GM Dan Duquette, as he was fired in early 2002, as the Red Sox had been sold that winter to John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino.

It would also prove to be one of Duquette's best moves, as well.

Damon would take over centerfield at Fenway Park and make a big splash right away. He was picked for the AL All-Star team for the first time. He hit 14 HRs, 63 RBI and a .286 batting average. He played a tremendous centerfield, and gave the Red Sox an excellent leadoff hitter and stolen base threat, as he swiped 31 bases.

Damon would put up similar numbers for the Red Sox in 2003, but he would be at the top of one of the most dynamic lineups in baseball history. The Sox faded in June of 2002, finishing second and out of the postseason. But in 2003, they got hot in August and would go on to win the Wild Card in late September.

The Red Sox opponents in the first round would be Damon's former club, the Oakland A's. The Sox fell behind 2-0, losing the first two in Oakland. They returned to Boston and won Game 3 on a Trot Nixon 11th inning homer, and Game 4 on a clutch David Ortiz double in the eighth inning (it also included Damon's first career postseason home run).

Game 5 would be back in Oakland, and it would be a life-changing game for Johnny Damon.

The Red Sox scored four runs in the sixth on two homers by Jason Varitek and Manny Ramirez to take a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Jermaine Dye of the A's hit a pop up to short center. Damon and Damian Jackson, who had just gone in to 2nd base as a defensive replacement for Todd Walker, both attempted to catch it, but they wound up colliding in a horrendous scene that left Damon unconscious for a short time. He was taken off the field by ambulance, but gave the crowd a thumbs-up before he left. The Red Sox would go on to win, 4-3, to advance to the ALCS and a showdown with the hated New York Yankees.

Damon would be forced to miss the first two games in New York. He wanted to play but Red Sox doctors kept him on the sidelines. He would return for Game 3, but he clearly wasn't the same player before the collision. in the final five games, he would go 4-for-20 with just one RBI. The Red Sox would of course, just miss going to the World Series, but once the Sox season was over, Damon would return home to Florida and do something that would alter his career forever.

He let his hair grow, and he stopped shaving.

Damon showed up at spring training in Ft. Myers in February 2004 with a beard and hair down to his shoulders. It was the talk of training camp and around baseball. More than one sportwriter made the analogy that he looked like Jesus Christ. "How can we lose now that we have Our Lord and Savior playing center field?" T-shirts popped up with Damon's new look, and one catchphrase said, "What Would Johnny Damon Do?" Damon would later explain that the migrane headaches he suffered over the winter made him tired to the point where he didn't shave for some time, so he kept the beard when he came to camp.

2004 would be Damon's best season to date. He would hit 20 HRs, a career-high at the time, drive in an amazing 94 runs for a leadoff hitter, and hit .306. The Red Sox struggled through a good part of 2004, playing .500 ball for a good three months, before finally getting hot in mid-August and wrapping up a Wild Card berth in late September. Damon would have a terrific ALDS against Anaheim, going 7-for-15 with 4 runs scored in a three-game sweep.

The next ALCS would be a rematch with the Yankees. It would be the worst of times, and then the best of times for Johnny Damon.

The first three games of the 2004 ALCS were a total disaster for the Red Sox. They lost all three, and Game 3 was the worst of all, losing 19-8 before the Fenway Faithful. They were now in a 3-0 hole, and no team in history had ever come back to win after being down so far. And Johnny Damon was having an absolutely terrible series, going 0-for-8 with 5 strikeouts in the first two games. But like that person Damon was once compared to, the Sox rose up, and made it a series again. They won Games 4 and 5 both in extra innings and in dramatic style to get the series back to New York. Curt Schilling pitched and won one of the most heroic games in postseason history to even the series and force a winner-take-all Game 7. But through those three wins, Johnny Damon still wasn't hitting. He was 3-for-29 in the first six games.

All of that was forgotten the next night.

Damon led off with a single to open Game 7, stole second, but was thrown out at home on a Manny Ramirez single. David Ortiz would homer on the next pitch to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Damon's second at-bat would be in the next inning, with one out and the bases loaded. Javier Vazquez came in to relieve starter Kevin Brown. Damon later said he knew Vazquez would try to get ahead with a fastball, so he looked for it on the first pitch and drove it over the rightfield wall near the pole to give the Sox a commanding lead of 6-0.

But Damon's heroics weren't through. In the fourth with another man on, he drilled another first-pitch from Vazquez into the upper deck to give the Sox an enormous 8-1 lead. Two pitches, two homers and six RBI. The previous six days were a long and distant memory for Damon as the Red Sox went on to win, 10-3 and advance to the World Series for the first time since 1986. They had pulled off the greatest comeback ever in baseball history, and they did it to their longtime rivals in their own backyard. It was a gift to every Red Sox fan, and Johnny Damon became an instant legend in Boston sports history.

The NL champion St. Louis Cardinals were simply no match for the Red Sox, who were now Destiny's Darlings. Damon opened the World Series with a double, and scored on David Ortiz' three-run shot. The Sox took the first three, and Johnny Damon would personally make sure it would be a four-game sweep. (Damon would also hit .286 for the Series.)

He hit the fourth pitch of the night off Jason Marquis for a long homer to right to open the game and get the Sox on their way. The Cardinals were kept off the board all night, and the Sox won, 3-0 for their first World Series championship since 1918. It set off wild celebrations all over New England and Red Sox Nation.

And it made a national celebrity out of Johnny Damon.

He turned up on "The Late Show With David Letterman," "Live With Regis and Kelly," "Saturday Night Live" and "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy," among other TV shows. He also collaborated with Peter Gollenbock on a biography about his life. (It's a shabbily written book though.) He also appeared in the film, "Fever Pitch," which centered on one Red Sox fan's obsession with the team. He had become the face of the club, and you couldn't go anywhere without seeing him that winter.

He had another good season in 2005, but he began to show signs that he was peaking as a player. His arm, never strong to begin with, seemed to be getting even weaker, and his defense wasn't as good as past years. His home run numbers dropped by half, down to 10, in 2005. He battled injuries, but Damon kept on playing through them. He was in the batting race for most of the year, and finished fourth at .316.

Damon was a free agent after 2005, and most fans thought he would be back. But in mid-December, the baseball world was stunned when Damon, the face of the Red Sox and the man who termed the 2004 club, "The Idiots," signed a four-year, $52 million deal with the rival Yankees. The Yankees desperately needed a centerfielder and made Damon an offer he couldn't walk away from and the Red Sox wouldn't match. It was all the more stunning after Damon made the following statement about the Yankees in May 2005:

"There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they're going to come after me hard. It's definitely not the most important thing to go out there for the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It's not what I need."

Damon was vilified as a traitor and a turncoat for going to New York. Red Sox fans who once compared him to Jesus were now calling him "Judas." Fans burned Damon jerseys and other Johnny paraphernalia. Damon made his return to Fenway with the Yankees on May 1, 2006, to a crowd that booed far more than they cheered. Damon took the hostile reception in stride. He also had one of his best years in 2006, hitting 24 home runs, 80 RBI and a .285 batting average.

Johnny Damon became a father for the third time this past January, as his second wife Michelle had their first child together, a girl named Devon Rose.

He will always be part of one of the most beloved Red Sox teams in franchise, "The Idiots" who won the first title in team history since 1918, and one that did it in a way that will be remembered forever in baseball history. But as a businessman, he made a decision to continue his career in New York, rather than stay in Boston for less money. His legacy was at Fenway, but there most fans just look upon him with vile, because of the team he signed on with. If he'd gone anywhere else, it wouldn't be like this. His decision to leave would probably be more respected.

I can't help but think one day after his career is long over, Johnny Damon will give an inevitable interview about his baseball life. And in it, no matter what he's accomplished from 2006 on, he will say, "I made a mistake leaving Boston. Not signing with New York, but leaving Boston."

We can only hope so.

John Quinn is a writer who lives in New York City and runs the web site, "The Mighty Quinn Media Machine," and writes for the Red Sox fan site, Bornintoit.com, as "Brooklyn Sox Fan."

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #52 Ellis Kinder

2007-03-02T06:21:00.000-05:00

Ellis Kinder, P, #16 (1948-1955)

86 W - 52 L, 91 Saves, 365 G, 89 GS, 45 CG, 557 K, 3.28 ERA

Ellis Kinder's complete biography will be posted once it is complete.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #53 Duffy Lewis

2007-03-01T20:21:00.000-05:00

Duffy Lewis, LF (1910-1917)

1184 G, 1248 H, 500R, 27 HR, 629 RBI, 102 SB, .289 Avg, .335 OBP, .395 SLG

Duffy Lewis' biography will be posted once it has been completed.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #54 Joe Dobson

2007-03-01T20:14:00.000-05:00

Joe Dobson, SP, #15, #17 (1941-1950, 1954)

106 W - 72 L, 3.54 ERA, 90 CG, 690 K, 604 BB

Joe Dobson was born on January 20, 1917 in Durant, OK. In his childhood at the age of nine he lost 2 of his fingers on his left hand while playing with a dynamite cap.

He was signed, some would consider mysteriously, by the Indians where I he played for 2 seasons. He was then shipped off to Boston in December of 1940. During his play for Boston he went on military service leave from 1944-45. He also registered his best numbers while playing for Boston.

He switched his Sox from Red to White when Boston traded him to the White Sox in December of 1950 where he played the 1951, 52, and 53 seasons. His final winning season was 1952. He went back to Boston for his final season in 1954.

He died of cancer at 77 in Jacksonville, FL.

This 100 Greatest Red Sox biography was written by the Amazing Mander.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #55 Jim Lonborg

2007-02-28T11:52:00.000-05:00

Jim Lonborg, SP, #16 (1965-1971)

68 W - 65 L, 3.94 ERA, 784 K, 1967 Cy Young Award Winner

James Reynold Lonborg (born April 16, 1942) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played with the Boston Red Sox (1965-71), Milwaukee Brewers (1972) and Philadelphia Phillies (1973-79).

Born in Santa Maria, California, Lonborg graduated from Stanford University. He signed with the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1963 and it wasn't long before he made his debut with Boston in 1965. On May 10, 1965 at Fenway Park Jim got the start and pitched into the 9th inning before giving way to Dick Radatz who nailed down a 3-2 win for the rookie starter.

Jim Lonborg enjoyed seven seasons (1965-71) with the Sox, and is probably most noted for his magical 1967 season.

"No player in the history of the World Series, before or since, did what Jim Lonborg did in 1967, Lonborg still holds the record for the fewest hits given up in back-to-back starts, when he was simply brilliant in Games Two and Five in the great Series with the St. Louis Cardinals that year." - Boston Globe

Lonborg led the American League in 1967 with 22 wins, 39 starts and 246 strikeouts. That same year, he was named to the All Star Team and threw a complete game to clinch the pennant. He ensured the pennant by beating the Twins and Dean Chance on the last day of the season, the only time the Red Sox were in first place in a wild three-team race between the Red Sox, Tigers, and Twins. He also won the Cy Young award.

More than anything else, Lonborg led the Red Sox to their first trip to the World Series since 1946. In his first World Series start, Lonborg retired the first 19 batters he faced, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning. He beat the heavily favored Cardinals with a one-hitter 5-0 to knot the Series at one game each. He lost the perfect game when he walked Curt Flood with two out in the sixth on a 3-2 pitch, then lost the no-hitter when Julian Javier doubled with two out in the eighth. Lonborg then tossed a three-hit, 3-1 victory in Game Five to give Boston a 3-2 Series edge. A Roger Maris homer in the ninth spoiled the shutout and Lonborg's 17-inning scoreless skein.

By the seventh game and on only two days' rest, however, Lonborg finally gave out, losing a 7-2 decision to Bob Gibson, who won his third Series game.

How did Lonborg describe his incredible 76 season and equally splendid playoff run? He said, humbly;

"I remember feeling early on in that game that I was in what athletes describe as a zone''

After the dream season, Lonborg was sadly, largely ineffective, winning just 27 more games for the Red Sox in the next four years. On December 24, 1967 he suffered a terrific fall while skiing and injured his knee. The 1967 Cy Young Award winner, 22–9 that great season, fell to 6–10 in 1968.

In 1971, Longborg was traded from the Red Sox along with Ken Brett, Billy Conigliaro, Joe Lahoud, Don Pavletich, and George Scott to the Milwaukee Brewers for Marty Pattin, Lew Krausse, Tommy Harper, and Pat Skrable.

He won 14 games after being traded to Milwaukee in 1972, then spent the remaining seven years of his career in Philadelphia. In 1974 he won 17 games, but the highlight of his season was a grand slam he hit on June 29 against Montreal, only his third career homer. He won 18 games in 1976 and went 11-4 in 1977 before eventually fading out two seasons later. He played his final Game on June 10th, 1979

In his 15-year career, Lonborg compiled a 157-137 record with 1475 strikeouts, a 3.86 ERA, 24 complete games, 15 shutouts, and 2464.1 innings in 425 games.

Jim Lonborg was selected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2002.

After his baseball career came to a close Jim took the unusual step of enrolling in and graduating from Tufts Dental School, and is now known as Dr. Lonborg and runs his own dentistry practice in Hanover, Massachusetts.

The 63-year-old Dr Lonborg resides in Scituate with his wife Rosemary. The two of them have six children, ranging in age from 23-35, and one grandchild, with another on the way.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #56 Dave 'Boo' Ferriss

2007-02-28T05:39:00.000-05:00

Dave Meadows 'Boo' Ferriss, SP, #33 (1945-1950)

65 W - 30 L, 3.64 ERA 144 G, 67 CG

Dave Meadows Ferriss was born December 5th in 1921. He came from a small town in the Mississippi Delta called Shaw. His childhood nickname 'Boo' came from his early inability to pronounce the word 'brother'.

Ferriss was the first baseball player ever to receive a full scholarship to Mississippi State University. He pitched there successfully on the 1941 and 1942 teams.

Dave's collegiate heroics caught the eye of the Red Sox front office and he was drafted in 1942. Obviously those were stormy times worldwide and before he had time to reach the major leagues Dave joined the armed forces to serve his country in World War Two. He served in the Army Air Forces for 26 months from 1942 to 1945 until he was discharged due to asthma.

After leaving the military Dave was sent to Sox minor league team in Louisville. After a very poor start by Boston that summer the Sox front office acted and Boo was called up. He made a stunning debut for the Sox on April 29, 1945, pitching a two-hitter. Ferriss was just 23 years old when he broke into the big leagues fresh out of the military, but for 1945 'Boo' Ferriss was the sensation of the American League. The 6'2" 208-lb rookie went 21-10 and defeated all seven opponent clubs the first time he faced them. He would then go on to set the major league record for scoreless innings to start a career, with an incredible 22 scoreless innings straight out of the gate.

Dave had plenty on his fastball but above all he was a smart pitcher.

"The main thing I learned about Ferris (sic) is contained in a remark made by an American League hitter. This hitter said: 'I know why I can't hit Ferris. He hides the ball behind his back and he uses his glove to shield the ball from the hitter. The glove screens the ball, and the hitter doesn't get a look at the ball at all, until it is almost on top of him.'" Author Bert Dunne in Play Ball! (1947)

For his rookie season Dave went a sensational 21-10. 1946 brought further glory. Supported by a powerful Red Sox lineup, he went 25-6, for a league-high .806 winning percentage, on the way to the 1946 pennant, and shut out St. Louis in World Series Game Three. Ferris started two games for the Sox in the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, winning one of them, but the Sox lost the series 4-3, Ferris getting a no-decision in the deciding game.

Ferriss would hit too. A .250 lifetime hitter, he had 19 RBI in both 1945 and 1947, and was used 41 times as a lefthanded pinch hitter.

Sadly, while Dave's star shone bright, it had a relatively short lifespan in terms of years in the majors. His record in 1947 was an average 12-11. Arm troubles and asthma restricted him to 9 games started in 31 appearances in 1948. Dave's final Game was on April 18 and with that, by 1950, his playing career was over.

Ferriss was pitching coach for the Red Sox between 1955 and 1959, before becoming head coach of the Delta State University baseball programme. Author John Grisham once tried out for a spot on Ferriss' team at Delta State University. He was cut because he could not hit a curve ball. Ferriss guided Delta State to a 639-387 record and three appearances in the NCAA Division II College World Series, before retiring in 1988. He is a member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, the Mississippi State University Sports Hall of Fame, and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. On November 14, 2002, he was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #57 Billy Goodman

2007-02-27T21:30:00.000-05:00

Billy Goodman, UT, #10 (1947-1957)

1177 G, 1344 H, 14 HR, 464 RBI, .306 AVG, .381 OBP, .387 SLG

Long before Ryan Freel and Chone Figgins made being a utility player cool, there was Billy Goodman, a man of many positions for the Sox during the post-war era. Here’s a quick trivia question for you. Who was the last player to lead the league in batting average while playing at least 20 games at 3 different positions? Yup, Billy Goodman did it when hit .354 in 1950 while playing 45 games in the outfield, 27 games at third, and 21 games at first (as well as 5 games at second and 1 at short). Goodman played in Boston for 9 full years, played five different positions, and he played them all well. As a member of the Red Sox he played 578 games at second, 393 at first, 102 in the outfield (left and right field), 50 at third, and 1 at short.

Goodman broke into the league in 1948 as the team’s regular firstbaseman and was part of a powerful Red Sox line up that scored 907 runs and finished in second place. Goodman hit .310 with a .414 OBP as a rookie although he hit just 1 HR. It was the first of many typical seasons for the utility player. He would hit .293 or better in his first 11 years in the majors (9 of them in Boston). He had absolutely no power (19 HR in 5644 major league AB’s and his career SLG of .378 was just .002 points better than his career OBP of .376), but was always able to work the count and managed to walk more than twice as many times as he struck out.

His tenure with the Red Sox ended in 1957. The team had a regular player at every position and with no place to use Goodman he had managed just 16 AB’s by June 14th when they traded him to Baltimore as part of a 7 player deal. He played in the majors for 5 more years until the age of 36.

The year of Goodman’s batting title, 1950, was also his best season as he set career highs in HR (4), RBI (68), AVG (.354), OBP (. 427), and SLG (.455). He scored 100 runs just once and his career high in steals was 8. He hit .306 as a member of the Red Sox, 11th all-time, and his .381 OBP is good enough for 14th all-time.

Goodman died from cancer at the age of 58 in Sarasota, FL in 1984.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #58 Jerry Remy

2007-02-26T19:10:00.000-05:00

Jerry Remy, 2B, #2 (1978-1984)

710 G, 802 H, 385 R, 2 HR, 211 RBI, 98 SB, .286 Avg, .336 OBP, .334 SLG

"I love baseball and I will always love it. My favorite time begins when the umpire says "play ball" and ends with the final out." - Jerry Remy, Watching Baseball

Before Jerry Remy became the cult figure we all know as the Rem Dawg, he was known to Red Sox fans as a hard-nosed, gritty second baseman who loved playing the game of baseball on the stage he had fallen in love with the game as a youngster, Fenway Park.

"I remember the first time I walked up the ramp inside Fenway Park and stepped out into the grandstand. The first thing I saw was the wall, a huge green thing. And then there was the beautiful green grass and the colors of the players' uniforms. I was stunned. I guess I still am." - Jerry Remy, Watching Baseball

Born November 8th, 1952 in Fall River, MA, Gerald Peter Remy grew up in the heart of Red Sox Nation just outside of Boston in Weston, MA where a young Remy was introduced to the game of baseball by his father and grandfather.

"Baseball is a part of the fabric of our lives. It's a love that is handed down from father to son, mother to daughter. " - Jerry Remy, Watching Baseball

It's a good thing for the rest of Red Sox Nation that young Gerald took to baseball with a passion that is still evident in every NESN broadcast we hear.

Jerry Remy's baseball career started as far away from Fenway Park as baseball in America can take you, California. After being drafted in the 19th round of the 1970 amateur draft by the Washington Senators only to not sign, Remy was again selected in the 8th round of the 1971 draft by the California Angels.

Remy's minor league career was brief but successful. Before making the jump from double-A to the Major Leagues in 1975, Remy won a batting title for El Paso in the Texas League in 1974 hitting .338 before being called up to triple-A Salt Lake City. In forty-eight games in Salt Lake, Remy hit .292 where a gentleman, unbeknown to Remy as an Angels' bench coach told him, "If you come to spring training and play like you have been this year, you've got a good chance of making the team." And after spending the offseason in Mexico Remy did just that hitting .313 in the spring of 1975 not only making the team, but taking the starting second base job from veteran Denny Doyle.

Remy played for three seasons in California where in his third season at the ripe age of 24 years old he was named the team captain by Angels manager Norm Sherry. Remy would play 444 games in California hitting .258 with five of his seven career home runs, an on base percentage (.315) only four points higher than his slugging percentage (.319) and 110 stolen bases ranking him 9th on the Angels all time list.

Jerry Remy's first major league hit came on 4/7/1975 against the Kansas City Royals. And if you've heard Remy tell the story during broadcasts over the years, you know how the story ends; so excited with his achievement, Remy was promptly picked off base. Remy's time in California led to the distinction of being named #75 on the 100 Greatest Angels list compiled this year by Halo's Heaven before be traded back home to the Red Sox for pitcher Don Aase and cash.

Ironically enough, Remy's time in Boston started the same way it did in California; by replacing incumbent second baseman Denny Doyle.

"When I was traded to Boston, I was going to my home team, the club I grew up watching when I was a kid in Somerset, MA. The idea of playing at Fenway Park with guys I admired made it a nice trade for me." - Jerry Remy, Watching Baseball

In 1978, his first season in front of his home town fans, Remy had the best of his career batting .278, scoring 87 runs and stealing 30 bases. His performance earned him a spot on the 1978 American League All-Star team.

1978 also saw Remy's final two career home runs. The last of his seven career home runs came on August 20th. 1978 in Oakland against the Athletics. With two strikes, both pitcher Matt Keough and Remy thought that Remy had swung and missed one of Keough's patented spitballs. The umpire however called it a foul tip. An angry Keough threw the next pitch inside and Remy turned on it for a 3-run home run, the last of his career.

The '78 season would go down in Red Sox lore ending in the infamous "Bucky Dent" one game playoff against the Yankees on October 2nd. Remy would call it "one of the greatest games in the history of baseball." He would go on to say that it was a "perfect game, except we lost." Remy would go 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Both of Remy's hits that day would come off of Yankee closer Rich "Goose" Gossage.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, just moments after the anguish of Bucky Dent's three run home run to put the Yankees ahead 5-2, Remy lead off with a double and scored. The Red Sox would add another run to cut the Yankee lead to 1 run heading into the ninth. With Rick Burleson on first and one out in the ninth, Remy hit a line drive towards Lou Piniella in right field who had trouble finding the ball in the sun. Only a lucky stab by Piniella held Remy to a single instead of a game tying extra base hit or even, according to Peter Gammons, an improbable game winning walk off inside the park home run. The Red Sox would leave both runners on and lose a heart-breaker to the Yankes. Remy would reflect on that moment as "close as he would get to being in the World Series."

Coming off that dramatic loss in 1978 and an All-Star appearance, 1979 brought disappointment for Jerry Remy by way of a knee injury sustained sliding into home in a game against the New York Yankees. Remy would be limited to 80 games in '79 and his nagging knee injury would limit him to shortened seasons in both 1980 and '81 as well.

Even with Jerry Remy's frustrating seasons, they weren't without highlights. In 1981, in a 19 inning game against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park, Remy would pick up an American League and Boston team record six singles going 6-10. This record would be tied by Nomar Garciaparra in 2003 with Remy calling the game on NESN.

In 1982, Remy finished in the top ten in the American League in at bats, hits, and sacrifices. He would play well through pain through the 1984 season when his left knee caused him to retire. From the time of his injury on, Remy would have 10 separate knee operations to repair the damage in his knee.

Even with the limitations caused by his injury, Remy would hit .286 over 710 games in a red Sox uniform. He would end his Red Sox career with a higher on base percentage (.336) than slugging percentage (.334) with 98 stolen bases.

Remy's career would amass him multiple honors, including induction to the Red Sox Hall of Fame and being ranked the 100th best second baseman of all time by Bill James.

After his playing career, Remy never strayed far from the game that he loved. He spent one year in 1986 as a bench coach for the Red Sox double-A affiliate New Britain Red Sox in CT.

In 1988 Remy would start down the path that we all recognize him in today when he joind the New England Sports Network doing color commentary alongside Ned Martin for Red Sox cable TV. Remy would go on to team up with Sean McDonough, and currently Don Orsillo to bring fans Red Sox games for the next 19 years. Just as Remy excelled on the field, Remy has excelled in the booth, culminating in the magical World Series winning season in 2004 where Remy was awarded Massachusetts favorite TV announcer by Sports Illustrated and Massachusetts Sportscaster of the Year as voted by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association as well as 4 Emmy Awards.

Jerry Remy has turned the local baseball market into the cult of the Rem Dawg. Whether it be his Hot Dog Stand on Yawkey Way or his website theremyreport.com, Remy is an integral part of the Red Sox experience.

"I may not have had the greatest stats. I may not have made the most money. But I can live with myself knowing that I had the opportunity to play on the big stage, and I did it as best as I possibly could every single day." - Jerry Remy, Watching Baseball

This Top 100 Red Sox profile was written by Tim Daloisio, Editor and Chief Blogger of the Red Sox Times.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #59 Mike Timlin

2007-02-26T18:13:00.000-05:00

Mike Timlin, RP, #50 (2003-Present)

24 Wins, 17 Losses, 25 SV, 3.52 ERA

In a game where complex statistical analysis is more at the forefront than ever, I’ll offer one piece of subjective, anecdotal evidence about Mike Timlin: more of my female friends and relatives have crushes on him than any other Red Sox player.

I think they like the way he stands on that mound, tall (6’ 4”) and strong, towing the rubber with an unflappable cool. They like the way he wears his red socks knee-high, and looks a lot like a player straight out of baseball’s World War II-era golden age, staring down batters with a steely-eyed scowl and a cheek full of chaw.

And they like the fact that if he enters a game in the seventh or eighth inning, he can usually be depended on to keep the score as-is. (Well, so long as the bases are empty.)

Michael August Timlin was born on March 10, 1966 in Midland, Texas. He attended Southwestern University in the Lone Star State. He began his career auspiciously in with six and a half seasons in Toronto, where he finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1991 and won back to back World Series in 1992 – where he recorded the final out – and 1993. Stints in Seattle, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, would follow.

Signed to the Red Sox by Theo Epstein in 2003, Timlin immediately gave the team what it needed: a rock-solid setup man who racked up innings like it was nothing at all. His lead-heavy sinker induced plenty of ground balls, and he was able to dial up that mid-90s fastball with pinpoint control. Even as the bullpen was in flux for much of the ’03 campaign with the ill-considered “closer by committee” fiasco, Timlin’s role in the late innings was a force for stability. Now, as he approaches his fifth year with the Red Sox, he’s become the dean of the Boston bullpen.

Timlin finished the 2003 season with a 6-4 record, with 2 saves and a 3.55 ERA in a team-high 72 appearances — the 3rd-most by a pitcher in his first season with the Red Sox. (Remarkably, in those 83.2 innings, Timlin gave up just nine walks, the best control of any relief pitcher in the majors.)

He was dominant, too, in that star-crossed postseason, giving up just a single hit in 9.2 innings spanning the ALDS against Oakland and the ALCS against New York. Alas, Grady Little could not recognize this, and instead crushed our dreams by leaving Pedro Martinez in too long that fateful October night. (Say it again: "Timlin in the eighth, Williamson in the ninth"!)

It was in 2004, that Timlin made history. His numbers were decent: 5-4, with one save and a 4.13 ERA — but it was the frequency with which he was called upon that was truly remarkable. He appeared in 76 games, the third most in Red Sox history, tying him for fourth in American League history. He also made his 800th career appearance in September, becoming only the 29th pitcher in major league history to reach that mark.

Timlin wasn’t nearly as effective in the 2004 playoffs. Appearing in 11 of 14 postseason games, he gave up eight runs in 11.2 innings. But he was good when it counted: he threw 1.2 scoreless innings in that marathon Gate 5 against the Yankees, and did the same in the clinching Game 7 in the Bronx. He had 6.00 ERA in three World Series appearances, but did pitch a perfect 8th inning in Game 3. As a reward, he got to be on the cover of Red and Denton’s Surviving Grady book.

In 2005, Timlin made more history, appearing in an astonishing 81 games — tops in the American League and a Red Sox record. In that span, he went 7-3 with 13 saves and a 2.24 ERA. He was by far the Sox’ most reliable reliever that season, serving as both set-up man and closer. He was especially strong early on, posting a 1.64 ERA in April, a 1.29 ERA in May, a 1.88 ERA in June, and a 0.71 ERA in July. He did not allow a run over 15 appearances (15.2 IP) between April 18 and May 20, and all season long, he surrendered just two home runs.

In the too-short 2005 postseason, Timlin pitched just one inning in the ALDS versus the White Sox (allowing a run on one hit) but the appearance, his 20th post-season outing as a Red Sox, established a club record. After the season, the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America named him the Red Sox’ Fireman of the Year.

In 2006, Timlin began to show his 40 years. An appearance in the inaugural World Baseball Classic before the season began took him out of his spring training rhythm, and he showed some ill effects early on. Even though he posted 0.90 ERA in 10 appearances in May, from May 26 to June 12 he was on the disabled list with shoulder issues. He finished the season with a 6-6 record, a 4.36 ERA, eight blown saves, and .305 batting average against.

Nonetheless, the team announced in October that Timlin had signed a $2.8 million deal to return for the 2007 season. It represented a pay cut from his 2006, salary, but was indicative of Timlin’s affection for Boston and the Red Sox — three times in the four years he’s been here, he’s opted not to become a free agent, instead just reupping for another year.

As I write this, Timlin has been shut down in spring training after experiencing tightness in his lower back. Nonetheless, he’s in the mix to be Boston’s closer for 2007 (he’s expressed great interest in the job) and is only 39 appearances away for a milestone career total of 1,000.

Biography written by Mike Miliard of the Phoenix's SoxBlog

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #60 John Valentin

2007-02-26T07:14:00.000-05:00

John Valentin, SS/3B, #13 (1992-2002)

991 G, 1043 H, 121 HR, 528 RBI, .281 Avg, .358 OBP, .460 SLG

Ted Williams on Johnny Valentin: "That little guy at Third Base, I like him. He's good. I love him"

Before the 'Holy Trinity' (Jeter, Garciaparra and A-Rod) and subsequent statistical explosion, the Major League shortstop was known primarily as a glove man, someone who was going to scoop the ball up and chip in a few hits here and there. Two shortstops in particular came along in the nineties to break that mould, Cal Ripken Jr of the Orioles and John Valentin of the Boston Red Sox.

Born February 16th, 1967 in Mineola, New York, Valentin attended Seton Hall University. Valentin's college roomate and Seton Hall Pirates team mate was Mo Vaughn. Another team mate was Craig Biggio. They played together on Seton Hall’s 1987 Big East Championship team, which went 45-10.

There has actually been a book written about that Seton Hall Team. David Siroty penned The Hit Men and the Kid Who Batted Ninth: Biggio, Valentin, Vaughn, and Robinson: Together Again in the Big Leagues.

Valentin started his professional career in the Red Sox minor league system in 1988. and made it to the Majors in 1992. He would go on to have an eleven year career, ten of those with the Boston Red Sox.

Valentin always had a nose for the dramatic. He is one of only 12 players in modern major league history to complete an unassisted triple play. Valentin completed the rare play on July 8th in 1994 in a loss to Seattle. In the 2nd inning. he caught a line drive off the bat of Marc Newfield, stepped on 2nd base to retire Mike Blowers, then tagged runner Keith Mitchell who was heading (slowly!) for 2nd. As is often the case in MLB, once a player makes a great play in the top of an inning he often follows it up with some good stick work in the bottom. Naturally Valentin hit a home run in the bottom of the second. To make the game more notable still, Seattle uber-prospect Alex Rodriguez, 18, was 0-for-3 in his ML debut that night.

Statistically John's best season came in 1995. He hit at an impressive .298 clip and added 27 home runs, 102 RBI and 20 stolen bases. Red Sox fans who are possibly new to the fold and know little about Valentin should take this one on board and chew it over. 'Val' was Boston's short stop the last time the Boston Red Sox won the American League East Division championship, in 1995.

Valentin simply had a spectacular 1995. On May 2nd in a 8-0 whitewash of the hated Yankees, Boston scored all eight runs in back to back innings by former college teammates (Seton Hall) Valentin and Mo Vaughn.That was the only time ever that two grand slams account for all the runs scored in a game (Source: SABR statistician David Vincent). That two former Seton Hall lads did it only makes it more unusual and indeed unique. On June 2nd of that shining season for him, Valentin and the Sox beat the Mariners 6-5 with 'Val' going 5-5 with three home runs and four runs scored. At the time he was the first shortstop ever to total 15 bases in one game. Again at the time he was the 8th Red Sox player to hit three home runs in a single game.

On September 29th The Sox slipped past the Brewers 11-9 and Valentin reached a personal landmark 102 runs batted in, becoming just the 4th Red Sox shortstop ever to drive in 100 runs in a season.

Furthermore, when Boston's big bats (Vaughn and Canseco) completely disappeared in the playoffs first round that season against the Indians, it was Valentin led the way, blasting a memorable two run bomb in the third inning of game one to get the Sox going. Sadly that would be one of the few highlights as the Sox went meekly into the night 0-3.

John was rewarded for his excellent 1995 season by being awarded Major League baseball's Silver Slugger Award. As a measure of the achievement, the same award, since '95, has been taken by either Garciaparra, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Miguel Tejada. That is a fine collection of slugging shortstops.

Valentin was by no means a fast man, but he was always an extremely clever base runner, and this was displayed physically in the tremendous amount of runs he managed to score, particularly between '95 and '98. In those four seasons he clocked up an incredible 400 runs scored.

Perhaps John's finest hour as a member of the Red Sox came in the form of the '99 playoffs. The Sox were up against the mighty Indians, the first team to score 1,000 runs in a season in nearly 50 years. The 'Tribe' looked like they were going to simply brush the Sox aside and took a 2-0 lead going into game three in Boston. Cometh the hour cometh the man and Valentin got to work. In the bottom of the sixth Val hit a lead off solo shot to put Boston ahead 3-2. After the Indians tied it Val came through again with a bases loaded double, putting the Sox ahead for good on the way to a dramatic 9-3 season saving win. What happened next was nothing short of historical as a suddenly reeling Cleveland side caved in and Boston won game four 23-7.

Valentin exploded in that game knocking in an incredible seven runs. No Red Sox fan will ever forget what happened in game five when Troy O'Leary went yard twice and Pedro came in from the bullpen to shut the door on the Indians, however none of that would have been possible without Valentin's heroics in games three and four in particular. In five games against the Indians John batted .318 with three home runs and a fantastic 12 runs batted in.

Perhaps the Sox gave too much in taking the ALDS against Cleveland as they went out in the ALCS against the Yankees, disappointingly losing 4-1. Valentin still gave Red Sox fans reason to smile in game three at Fenway. With the crowd already energised by Pedro mowing down the Yanks in the top of the first, Jose Offerman jolted them further with a lead off triple against former Sox great Roger Clemens. Up stepped Johnny Val and the roar could be heard in Mineola as he lifted a majestic two run blast over the Monster in left to give the Sox a 2-0 lead on route to a dramatic 13-1 win. Although the Sox were eventually knocked out, Valentin did all he could, reaching base ten times in the five games.

Sadly Valentin's career became plagued with injuries and in his last two seasons with the Red Sox Johnny Val only played 31 games before spending one more season with the New York Mets and then calling it a day. Since hanging up his cleats Val has worked as a part-time television analyst for the New England Sports Network and has branched out into the culinary world as owner of Julia's Restaurant in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. He has also spent time working as a hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays AA affiliate, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Red Sox history is littered with shining stars who own often spectacular statistics. Although Valentin didn't have a 40 home run season or hit .400, he helped pave the way for a new breed of slugging shortstops and was a part of the gradual renaissance of the Boston Red Sox, which started in the nineties and culminated in '04. If anything Valentin should be remembered for his clutch hitting, particularly in the playoffs. In his time, when the bell rang, John Valentin always answered.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #61 Ellis Burks

2007-02-25T17:29:00.000-05:00

Ellis Burks, CF, #12, 25 (1987-1992, 2004)

733 G, 2827 AB, 791 H, 94 HR, 388 RBI, 95 SB, .280 AVG, .339 OBP, .455 SLG

I saw Ellis Burks’s last at-bat on September 23, 2004: a pinch-hit appearance at the bottom of the ninth inning of a losing effort against the Baltimore Orioles on a rain-sodden night at Fenway Park. He singled up the middle. And as a pinch runner jogged out to take his place at first, the few fans who remained in the wet seats cheered long and loud as Ellis Burks tipped his cap.

The Red Sox would go on to make some epochal history in that 2004 postseason, but Burks was not be on the roster. He understood that. I just like to think he was happy to finish his career in Boston — and to get to ride on a float down Boylston Street barely a month later.

He may have had a career year in home runs (40) with the Colorado Rockies. He may have matched a career best in batting average (.344) hitting behind Barry Bonds on the San Francisco Giants. But I always like to think of Ellis Burks as a Red Sox above all else — and I hope he does too.

Ellis Rena Burks was born on September 11, 1964 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He was an outstanding high school athlete, and was drafted by the Red Sox in the first round of the 1983 amateur draft. He signed with the team that spring.

Burks had quite a reputation as an uber prospect to live up to, and after four seasons in the minors he did just that in his rookie season in 1987. Installed in center field between Jim Rice and Mike Greenwell, he covered a lot of ground and possessed a strong, accurate arm. It was at the plate and on the base paths, however, that he established his bona fides, quickly making a name for himself himself as a supremely athletic combination of speed and power. He became just the third Red Sox ever to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a single season (he stole 27). Baseball Digest and Topps both named him to their “All-Rookie” squads.

In 1988, Burks had another good season (.294/.367/.481, with 18 homers and 92 RBI), but in 1989 his injuries caught up to him, and even though he was hitting well (.303) and stealing bases (21) his season was shortened to just 97 games when he was forced to undergo shoulder surgery. It was far from the last time injuries would throw up major obstacles to his career.

Burks bounced back nicely in 1990, however, playing 152 games, bashing 21 home runs, getting named to the American League All-Star team, and winning both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. He also finished 13th in MVP voting.

1991 saw slight declines in Burks’s numbers across the board, and in 1992 he played in just 66 games. The following year, he signed on for one season with the Chicago White Sox, where he found his stride again. He’d go on to put up great numbers in Colorado (1994-1998), San Francisco (1998-2000), and Cleveland (2001-2003). (1996 was a banner year for Burks, when he led the National League in runs, total bases, and extra base hits, slugging, and finished third in MVP voting.)

In 2004, Burks came full circle. Perhaps sensing what that particular squad was capable of doing, he signed a one-year, $750,000 deal for a final season with the Red Sox. He was almost 40, at that point, and ended up playing in just 11 games as a DH and pinch hitter, with just 33 at-bats. He hit a homer and stole a couple bases for old times sake. But that was pretty much it for Ellis Burks.

He never expected to be batting cleanup in the World Series. He just wanted to have a little fun before hanging up his cleats. And if you had to pick a season to sign on with the Red Sox, you could’ve done a lot worse than 2004.

Biography written by Mike Millard of the Phoenix's SoxBlog.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #62 Larry Gardner

2007-02-25T17:21:00.000-05:00

William Lawrence "Larry" Gardner, 3B (1908-1917)

1123 G, 1106 H, 496 R, 87 3B, 16 HR, 481 RBI, .282 Avg, .347 OBP, .377 SLG

William Lawrence Gardner (Larry Gardner) was born May 13, 1886 in Enosburg Falls, Vermont. Larry attended the University of Vermont and indeed became the first player from that school to make it all the way to the American League. What better way for a New England native than to make your break in baseball with the Boston Red Sox. Larry made his Major League debut on June 25th, 1908. Interestingly, the great 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson made his debut the same year.

Larry was a third baseman for the Sox from 1908 to 1917. In his time in Boston in particular he was known for being a clutch hitter who rose to the occasion in big games. He finished his career with three World Series wins in all, two of those with the Red Sox.

Gardner's key career moment probably came in the famous tenth inning of the final game of 1912 World Series. Although it was two big errors that the Red Sox two extra outs to work with, it was Gardner who drove in Steve Yerkes with the winning run of the entire series.

He also played with both the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians (1919-1924). Larry would excel late in his career with the Indians, winning a World Series (his third) with them in 1920 and then going on to hit a career high .319 in 1921.

Larry played his final game in the majors on September 6, 1924. In his 17-season career, Larry Gardner posted a .289 batting average with 27 home runs and 929 RBI in 1922 games. It should be noted Larry played in the infamous 'dead ball' period, where the ball was literally much heavier and harder than it is now. His numbers were excellent for the time. After retiring from the league he returned to the University of Vermont as a baseball coach and athletic director.

Larry passed away March 11, 1976 in St.George, Vermont at the grand old age of 90. Larry Gardner was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000. I say life was pretty good to you if you got to play for the Boston Red Sox, lived to the age of ninety and were born and buried in the same state.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #63 Rich Gedman

2007-02-24T11:02:00.000-05:00

Rich Gedman, C, #10 (1980-1990)

906 G, 83 HR, 356 RBI, .259 Avg, .309 OBP, .412 SLG

Obstructed View: The Rich Gedman Bio

The Red Sox and Fenway Park will always have their staples. In the 80s, you could count on Jim Ed in left, Dewey in right, Ken Coleman in the booth, and a pole in the way.

A less-celebrated fixture of Fenway in that neon decade was two-time All-Star catcher Richard Leo "Rich" Gedman, Jr.

Platoon-mates and backups came and went, but only Geddy was behind the plate from the Carter administration to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Here was a hometown hero, a stand-up guy who never quit, even when his body begged him to. He was the backbone of the defense, the glue that held the pitching staff together, and when he connected on that helicopter swing, Pesky's Pole braced itself for another frozen rope.

Rich grew up in the City of the Seven Hills--Worcester, not Rome--45 miles west of Boston. The Red Sox signed him as an undrafted free agent out of high school in August 1977. He quickly shot up through the system. On September 7th, 1980, a bespectacled Gedman, wearing number 50 on his back, pinch-hit for Carl Yastrzemski in his Major League debut. A few weeks later, on his 21st birthday, he caught Dennis Eckersley's one-hitter. After that season, Carlton Fisk was gone, and Geddy, the hometown boy built like a tight end, was set to become the next first-string catcher at Fenway.

In early '81, shortly after catching the first nine innings for Pawtucket in what is still pro baseball's longest game, he came up to the big leagues for good, now wearing his familiar number 10. That year he would be named Sporting News' AL Rookie Player of the Year, and would finish second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

After two more years of splitting time behind the plate, Rich became the bona fide starter, and showed his power as well, hitting 24 dingers and slugging over .500 in 1984. In 1985, he set personal records in BA, 2B, RBI, and OBP, and performed the rarest of feats, hitting for the cycle--only the sixth catcher of the century to do so. That year he was named to the All-Star team.

But it was 1986 that would define not only many of our childhoods, but Rich Gedman's career as well. In April, Rich was again part of history when he caught Roger Clemens' 20 strikeout game. He was hitting .300 at the end of that month, and was again named to the All-Star team in July.

For the third consecutive year, though, Rich caught over 130 games, and the wear-and-tear would finally start to affect his game. He slumped severely in July and August, before hitting .284 in the final month just to get his season average to .258. But the Red Sox were going to the playoffs, and Rich was primed for his first trip to the postseason.

In the '86 ALCS, the Red Sox went down three games to one. Game five would be the precise moment when Gedman reached the pinnacle of his career. His two-run homer in the second off of Angels' ace Mike Witt put Boston up 2-0. After getting two more hits off of Witt, and throwing out two runners on the basepaths, Rich came up to bat in the ninth, his team down a run, with nobody on and two men out. Angels manager Gene Mauch hadn't forgotten Rich's three hits. Seeing him up there as the tying run, and an out away from the World Series, Mauch removed Witt. Gedman, knowing the season depended on him, had to sweat it out as Gary Lucas warmed up, and over 60,000 California fans prepared to storm the field in celebration. Lucas threw--and plunked Rich Gedman. Now Rich was the go-ahead run at first. Dave Henderson came up and hit that unforgettable home run, putting life back in the Red Sox' season. It was Gedman's three hits that made it possible. The game went to extra innings, and Rich's bunt single--his fourth hit, and his fifth time on base that day--put what would be the winning run on third, setting up Hendu again, this time for the game-winning sacrifice fly. After that, the series went back to Beantown, where the Sox would win the final two games easily, advancing to the Fall Classic. Geddy's final average in the ALCS was .357.

Luck stayed on Gedman's side in the early stages of that fateful World Series, In Game One, his grounder went through the legs of Tim Teufel--he of "the shuffle"--scoring the game's only run. He also called Bruce Hurst's masterful performance that night. Rich's late-inning single helped a rally that put Game Two away, and the Sox were sitting pretty. But they sloppily lost the next two at home, before salvaging Game Five.

As Game Five of the ALCS was the top of the mountain for Gedman, Game Six of the World Series was the moment he started bouncing down the other side. After a poor performance in the field and at the plate (he hit just .200 in the series), Rich still had a chance to celebrate a championship. But with the Mets one strike away from elimination, and down two runs, they started getting hits. When the tying run was at third, Bob Stanley threw a pitch that curved away from Gedman, bouncing in the dirt and getting through to allow the run to score. Before the delirium subsided, Mookie Wilson's grounder was squirting through Bill Buckner's legs, and the Mets had won. Despite Geddy's homer in Game Seven, the Mets would come from behind again, winning it all. Gedman would never return to the World Series.

Was Stanley's pitch catchable? No. Was it blockable? Probably. It was scored a wild pitch. But many remember it as a passed ball. Some even base Rich Gedman's entire career on that play. Between eras of blaming Bill Buckner for '86, Sox fans came up with a laundry list of players and events to place blame on. Gedman was part of that blame parade. They are moments that will live forever. And they all have one thing in common. Gedman reaching for that ball as Mookie leaps out of the way; Gedman behind the plate as Mookie hits the grounder; Gedman in the background as Buckner misses the ball; Gedman standing in disbelief as Knight crosses the plate right in front of him. It was only a matter of time before people decided, "Hey, this Gedman must've done something wrong..." Do a little research, though, and see that if it weren't for Gedman, there wouldn't have even been a World Series for the Sox that year.

After that season, partially due to contract issues, Rich never found his stride again, hitting no higher than .231 from '87 to the end of his career in '92. His Red Sox tenure ended in 1990, when Tony Pena took over the catching duties. I'll never forget being at Fenway in the late 80s, and hearing a fan rudely shout, "Hey Rich, you used to be an All-Star catcher! What happened?!" Rich fielded a similar question in a 2003 article:

"I wish I could have played better than I did [after '86]. For whatever reason, I didn't. I can't tell you why. I know when it ended, I loved the game just as much as when I started. For some reason, I just didn't play as well. It was probably more mental than anything else. I started to doubt myself."

Looking at the stats, he hit about .330 at Fenway in '84 and '85 combined, then fell to .214 in '86. His OPS went from the .900s to the .500s over the same stretch. Maybe he just forgot how to use Fenway to his advantage. He also says he doesn't like to use injuries as an excuse, but he suffered from scores of them. Look how many full games he caught in '85 and '86. No catcher in the league did it more than Gedman either year. (He caught more full games in those two seasons than he did for the next and final seven years of his career.) He also caught all 14 games--start to finish--of the '86 postseason. All this work had to have taken its toll. Then there was the debacle of the '86 All-Star game. Forced to catch knuckleballer Charlie Hough, Gedman had a rough time, with a run scoring on a passed ball and a wild pitch over a two-batter stretch. Maybe that was the moment Rich's fall from grace began.

The current Red Sox ownership has kept Gedman in the family. In 2004, he and other former Sox greats finally got their rings. Gedman is now truly a hometown hero, managing the minor-league Worcester Tornadoes. His son Michael currently plays baseball at LeMoyne College.

(Photo of Jere at age fourteen, 1989, with Rich Gedman (#10) in background, probably by Jere's mom. Photo of Gedman with Johnny Pesky at the World Series parade, 2004, and Gedman with Yaz at the ring ceremony, 2005, by Jere. 1986 baseball card of Gedman with Carlton Fisk by Fleer.)

Jere is a fourth-generation Sox fan, and since March 2004, writes the blog A Red Sox Fan In Pinstripe Territory.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #64 Jimmy Piersall

2007-02-24T06:32:00.000-05:00

Jimmy Piersall, CF, #37 (1950, 1952-1958)

931 G, 919 H, 66 HR, 366 RBI, 502 RS, 58 SB, .273 Avg, .339 OBP, .397 SLG

November 14, 1929 was the date and Waterbury, CT was the place where James Anthony Piersall, a boy who was going to grow up to be a centerfielder in the MLB, was born.

He started out as a high school basketball player at Leavenworth High School. During his time there the team went to the 1947 New England Championship. He landed 29 points in the final game.

He signed a minor league contract with the Sox in 1948 at the age of 18. He would play his first major league games 2 years later in 1950, he only played six games but during that time he was one of the youngest baseball players. He managed to earn the nickname “The Waterbury Wizard”, much to his teammate’s chagrin.

During his first years in MLB his bipolar disorder began to show itself and become prevalent, which is would do a few more times after that. Prior to a May 24th game against the Yankees he got into a brawl with Billy Martin. He also managed to get into a fight with Mickey McDermott, at that time his teammate. After all this odd behavior they sent him down to the Birmingham Barons. Not after he disciplined Vern Stephens’ 4 year old son in the Red Sox clubhouse.

During 3 week time period on the Barons he got kicked out of 4 games. His last one after firing a water gun at home plate to celebrate a teammates homerun and, after being ejected, heckling umpire Neil Strocchia from the grandstand roof. From all of this he received a 3 day suspension and 3 days later checked himself into Westboro State Hospital in Mass. He spent the rest of the baseball season in the hospital. He blamed his condition on his father for pressuring him too much about baseball.

He made his return in 1953 and got voted 9th in MVP voting for that year. The year following that he took Dom DiMaggio’s place in the outfield and stayed in the starting line-up until 1958. During this time, in 1954 and 1956 he got voted into the AL All-Star team. He also managed to clinch a Gold Glove for his outfielding in 1958. In 1956 he managed to pull a league high 40 doubles in 156 games played. He also managed to rake in 93 runs, 87 RBIs, and a .293 batting average.

He got traded to the Cleveland Indians for Vic Wertz and Gary Geiger on December 2, 1958. He, oddly enough, got stuck on the same team as Billy Martin. In 1959 the Indians battled a back and forth battle with the White Sox and in the end only ended up placing 2nd. After coming off this good season, things began to change.

Following up to his being ordered to get a psychiatric check on June 26, he heckled an umpire, threw a ball at the White Sox scoreboard, wore a little league helmet at a Tigers game, and started a few rows with the Yankees. He came back on July 23rd but got his last ejection of the season for causing problems in the outfield while Ted Williams was batting. After a meeting and a few front office changes he finally got back down to earth.

The 1961 season turned into a good one for him, he managed to earn another Gold Glove. He also managed to hold a .322 batting average, placing himself 3rd. Unfortunately, this season was also marred by his antics. He tried to go after Jim Bunning after he hit him with a pitch (more than likely on accident). He also ended up throwing a helmet, altogether costing him $200 in fines. On September 5th of that season he father passed away from a heart attack. 2 days after the funeral for his father he headed out to New York only to heckled, himself, by fans. On Sept. 10, after continued annoyance from fans, he finally punched one and attempted to kick another. After all this he still earned $2500 for good behavior.

On October 5th Piersall was sent to the Washington Senators. He didn’t spend much time there because of playing decline. He was sent to the Mets on May 23, 1963. He got sent back to a reserve role while playing for the Mets. During his Mets career he also hit his 100th homerun, which he celebrated by running around the bases backwards (in order of course).

A month after reaching 100 homeruns he got released by the Mets and then signed by the Los Angeles Angels. He retired an Angel and moved to the Angels front office on May 8th, 1967.

After his career he did a little TV commentating for the White Sox but was fired was criticizing the team just a little too much. He also wrote a book about bipolar disorder and how he handled it, Fear Strikes Out. It was also made into a movie. In the end, Piersall decided not to endorse the movie because it didn’t display the facts right. He also wrote The Truth Hurts which is about the White Sox and his leaving. He now does a radio show in Chicago and got invited to the White House for the honoring of the 2004 Red Sox Championship.

And odd little tidbit I noticed and I’d figure I’d share is that he’s the godfather of former Congressman Mark Foley.

Player biography written by Mander

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #65 Troy O'Leary

2007-02-23T20:27:00.000-05:00

Troy O'Leary, OF, #25 (1995-2001)

962 G, 954 H, 209 2B, 117 HR, 516 RBI, .276 Avg, .330 OBP, .459 SLG

As soon as Jose signed his letter of intent declaring his plans to participate in this project, he knew he wanted Troy O’Leary. Let’s look at the facts. First, O’Leary hit one of the two batting practice balls Jose owns from his time working at Fenway in 1995. (Note: The other belongs to the then hitting coach a washed up hack named Jim Rice who could still crush batting practice.) Second, O’Leary, like Jose frequented a bar named O’Leary’s on Beacon St. just West of Kenmore Square. They have good soda bread there. Third, the rumors about the personal problems that distracted O’Leary in 2000 involve the delicious combination of Mrs. O’Leary and a speedy teammate, making this the most interesting story involving a Mrs. O’Leary that does not involve the incineration of Chicago. Fourth, his nickname “Yummy,” given for his sweet tooth, is maybe the best official Red Sox nickname of all time. Jose only regrets that he was not writing at the time, so he could have demanded that “yummy, yummy, yummy I’ve got love in my tummy” by Ohio Express become O’Leary’s theme song.

But let’s be honest, as much as Jose loves all of these things about Troy O’Leary, they are not the reason he is on this list and they are not the reason Jose wanted to write about him. No, Troy O’Leary became a legend… that’s right a legend... one night in October 1999 when the Cleveland Indians twice made a tactically perfect move. Two times they intentionally walked Nomar Garciaparra, the only frightening hitter on that Red Sox squad, in order to face the man they call Yummy. And Yummy ate them up like so many chocolate covered gummi bears. Each time he launched home runs a grand slam and a three run shot that, in combination with Pedro Martinez’s six innings of hitless relief, gave the Red Sox a 12-8 win. When asked after the game how he had overcome his poor performance earlier in the series to emerge as a star, O’Leary a black ballplayer in Boston answered with a reply that would have made any Sully in Southie proud “Luck of the Irish.”

Troy O'Leary's biography was proudly written by Jose Melendez of Keys to the Game.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #66 Carl Mays

2007-02-23T20:20:00.000-05:00

Carl Mays, SP (1915-1919)

72 Wins, 51 Losses, 112 GS, 2.21 ERA, 399 K, 290 BB

Carl Mays has two unfortunate blots on his legacy. 1) It was he, on August 16, 1920, who threw the pitch that fatally struck Cleveland’s Ray Chapman in the head — to this day the major leagues’ only fatality. 2) He played for the New York Yankees.

But we won’t hold either of those against him. Because for the three full seasons Mays pitched for the Olde Towne Team before being traded to the Bronx in 1919, he was a scintillating pitcher: dominant, fierce, and absolutely fearless. (He was every bit as good, if not better, than another hurler traded to the Bronx, named George Herman Ruth.)

Born November 12, 1891 in Liberty, Kentucky, Mays was a lethal submariner who was also, shall we say, very “resourceful” on the mound. He made great use of the spitball, which was legal in the first few years of his career — and was, in fact, until Chapman’s death led to it being outlawed. (Even though, as Bill James argued in his Historical Baseball Abstract, the pitch Mays threw was “probably not a spitball.”)

No question, Mays — who notched a 2.60 ERA, going 6-5 with 7 saves in 38 games as a starter and reliever his first (1915) season — had a reputation. He threw hard, and he was not at all afraid to compose a little chin music. “If you got to knock somebody down to win a ball game, do it,” he said. “It’s your bread and butter.”

In 1916, his first full season with the Sox, he hit nine batters. The next two seasons, he hit 14 (leading the American League) and 18 respecitvely. But it was the other numbers that told the full story: 18-13, 2.39 in 1916; 22-9, 1.74 in 1917; 21-13, 2.21 in 1917. He wasn’t a big strikeout guy (114 was his career best in 1918), but his knew how to win games: primarily by scaring the living daylights out of batters with that screaming underhand pitch.

“Carl Mays wasn’t very popular, but when nobody else could win, he could,” said left fielder Duffy Lewis. “Whatever criticism you may make about Mays,” said Sox shortstop Everett Scott, “he has more guts than any pitcher I ever saw.”

In three full and two partial seasons with the Red Sox, Mays won three World Series with the team: 1915, 1916, and 1918 — in the last of which he went 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA. It was also in 1918 that he lead the league in complete games (30) and shutouts (8).

But the good times couldn’t last. Despite enjoying his best season with the Yankees in 1921, leading the AL in wins (27), innings pitched (336.2), games pitched (49), and winning percentage (.750), he was accused later that season of throwing the Bombers’ World Series against the Giants. The charges were never proven, but two years after the Black Sox scandal in Chicago, the mere insinuation was enough to permanently marr his legacy.

It was that, and, of course, the sad Chapman incident for which Mays would be remembered most — far more, alas, than for his greatest achievements on the mound. If it weren’t for these smudges on his record, he might have made it to Cooperstown. Instead, he retired at 37 and lived out the rest of his life quietly, dying in El Cajon, California, at age 79, in 1971.

Biography written by Mike Millard of the Phoenix's SoxBlog.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #67 Ray Culp

2007-02-22T18:15:00.000-05:00

Ray Culp, SP, #21 (1968-1973)

71 wins, 58 losses, 155 GS, 51 CG, 13 SHO, 794 Ks, 3.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP

Quick. Name an ace pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, a native of Texas, who wore No. 21.

That, in a nutshell, is why you’ve never heard of Ray Culp.

Culp had a solid career in Boston after being given up by two teams, winning at least 14 games in four consecutive seasons, hurling four consecutive shutouts during the Year of the Pitcher, and tying a league record for most strikeouts to begin a game. Yet he played for the forgettable, almost-good-enough teams that bridged two of the Red Sox’ most famous seasons – 1967 and 1975 – thus relegating his fine work to near-obscurity as time has gone on.

Raymond Leonard Culp was born Aug. 6, 1941 in Elgin, Texas. A high school star in Austin, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies after graduating in 1959. Four years later, he made his Major League debut, coming on in relief and picking up the win in two innings of work against Cincinnati.

By many measures, Culp’s rookie season of 1962 was one of the best of his career. He went 14-11, started 30 games, completed 10 of them and pitched five shutouts. In more than 203 innings, he struck out 176 batters and posted a career-low 2.97 ERA, (not as impressive, however, when considering the league average was 3.22). Culp, named to the All-Star team, finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting, garnering one first-place vote but losing to some joker named Pete Rose.

Culp never could produce such results consistently in Philadelphia, however. In 1964, he threw a one-hitter – but he tanked in far more games than he excelled. His ERA soared to 4.13, and he finished a mere 8-7. By the end of the season, he was in the bullpen. His 1965 season was much better (14 wins, 3.22 ERA); 1966 was much worse (7 wins, 5.04 ERA, an appalling 72 ERA+).

The Phillies shipped Culp to Chicago in the offseason with cash for Dick Ellsworth. In his lone season with the Cubs, Culp was a little better – but still not very good. For the first time, he finished with a losing record; his ERA for the third time in four years was below league average. Perhaps telling of his season, Culp helped create a Major League record when the Cubs and Braves combined for five home runs in the first inning. He won the game, despite the two dingers he allowed.

The Cubs, too, had seen enough, and on Nov. 30, 1967 – just more than a month after the Impossible Dream had ended, the Red Sox traded for him in exchange for Rudy Schlesinger, who finished his career with one at bat and three different stints with the Boston organization. It was an unheralded move, but it was a steal for the Sox.

Steve Buckley’s “Red Sox: Where Have You Gone?” tells the story of Culp’s arrival:

"Looking for a change when he joined the team, he tossed out his old uniform number – 37 – and asked for a new one. Turns out that another Texas native, Cecil “Tex” Hughson, had worn the number in the ’40s, so Culp picked it up for himself. Years later, still another Texan, Roger Clemens, claimed the number … "

Culp also developed a palmball, which clearly improved his performance (the fact that it was 1968, a year in which teammate Carl Yastrzemski set a record with the lowest ever league-leading batting average, certainly didn’t hurt). His ERA improved by a run, to 2.91. He finished 16-6 (second in the league in winning percentage), completing 11 of his 30 games started and tossing a career-high six shutouts. Four of those shutouts came consecutively, as Culp did not allow an earned run for 39 straight innings, stretching from the seventh inning on Sept. 7 to the first inning on Sept. 29.

Innings 18 through 26 of the streak came against the Yankees in the Bronx. It was a beauty – a one-hit, one-walk, 11-strikeout performance that, according to my research, stood as the best game ever thrown by a Sox pitcher against the Yankees in the Retrosheet era (post-1957) until Pedro Martinez’s 17-K one-hitter in 1999.

In 1969, Culp was nearly as good, winning a career-high 17 games and pitching a career-high 227 innings. He also was named to his second and final All-Star team, pitching a scoreless ninth and striking out two. He also hit a home run on national television that season, the dugout TV microphones capturing his assertion that it was the second og his career. When baseball legend/color commentator Sandy Koufax informed Culp it was actually just the first, Culp replied: “Oh, that (other) was in a spring training game. But when you’re as bad a hitter as I am, you count everything.”

On the mound, doing what he did best, Culp wasn’t finished yet. In 1970, he won another 17 games (though he lost 14), posted the third-best ERA of his 11-year career and posted a career-high 131 ERA+. He completed 15 of his 33 games and set a career high in strikeouts, with 197, good for fifth in the league. He also tied an American League record on May 11, when he struck out the first six Angels he faced.

In 1971, Culp was decent, though his record didn’t reflect it. He finished 14-16 with a 3.60 ERA. He compiled at least 150 strikeouts, 215 innings pitched and nine complete games for the fourth consecutive year – all with Boston, in what turned out to be his last good season in baseball.

Shoulder problems that had nagged him since high school and likely contributed to his inconsistent play before the palmball, led to offseason surgery and an attempt at a comeback n 1972. The comeback was not successful. The Sox released Culp in July and signed him to a minor-league contract in the hopes that he could rediscover his form in Pawtucket. It didn’t work. In 1973, he pitched in 10 games, throwing well in just one of them – although that was against the Yankees. At age 31 and after 11 seasons in the big leagues, Ray Culp retired.

Ultimately, Culp’s 71 wins in a Red Sox uniform are good for 25th all-time – between Carl Mays and Derek Lowe. His 3.50 ERA with the Sox stands 17th on the all-time list, tied with Mel Parnell. Most impressively, he is 10th all-time in strikeouts, his 794 Ks in a Boston uniform ahead of such better-known names as Lonborg, Grove, Parnell, Lee and Schilling.

Since leaving baseball, Culp has become successful in real estate – an excellent choice along Austin’s booming Interstate 35 corridor. He named his business 123 Inc., a testament to his career batting average. As of the 2004 publication of Buckley’s book, Culp still lives there, largely unknown as one of the best pitchers ever to wear a Red Sox uniform.

Paul is a comoderator for Yanksfan vs. Soxfan, a blog dedicated to all things Sox-, Yanks- and rivalry-related.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #68 Rube Foster

2007-02-22T17:16:00.000-05:00

Rube Foster, SP, (1913-1917)

58-33, 138 G, 103 GS, 60 CG, 2.36 ERA

George “Rube” Foster was born on Thursday, January 5, 1888, in Lehigh, Oklahoma. Foster was 25 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 10, 1913, with the Boston Red Sox. He was a right-handed pitcher with the Red Sox from 1913 to 1917 and won two World Series championships with the team in 1915 and again in 1916.

Foster acted as a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher for the Red Sox during the 19 games he pitched during the season. He posted a 3-3 record with a 3.16 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 68.3 innings pitched.

Foster’s sophomore season in the big leagues was one of his best, in which he pitched in 32 games, while starting 27 of them. After Boston teammate Smoky Joe Wood taught him how to throw a fastball, the 5’7" Foster went 14-8 (1.65) in 1914. On May 26, 1914, Rube Foster’s string of 42 consecutive scoreless innings was stopped by Cleveland in the 5th inning. The Naps prevailed to win, 3–2.

He finished second in the American League with an impressive 1.70 ERA. Foster was only behind his fellow Red Sox team mate, Dutch Leonard, who posted a 0.96 ERA, which is now considered the modern day, all-time single-season record. Team mates Leonard, Foster, and Ernie Shore had three of the top four ERAs, the other belonging to Walter Johnson.

In 1915, Foster posted a 19-8 record, and an another impressive 2.11 ERA. Foster most effectively showed his importance to the team in the 1915 World Series where he picked up 2 complete game wins and only gave up 4 earned runs and struck out 13 batters in 18.0 innings. With the bat, Foster went 4-for-8, with a double and an RBI.

The 1915 World Series was of the most tightly contested World Series and was a week long pitching clinic, starting with the legendary Pete Alexander, who outdueled the Sox’ Ernie Shore, 3-1, in the opener by holding Boston to eight harmless singles. Rube Foster was the story in the series equalizer, firing a three-hitter and driving in the deciding run in the 2-1 victory with an RBI single in the top of the ninth. Back in Boston, Dutch Leonard spun another three-hit gem, against Alexander no less, in a bookend 2-1 win, and the next day the Sox made it three straight wins by an identical score. Game 5 in Philadelphia would qualify as a slugfest. Staked to a 4-2 lead, Eppa Rixey served up a two-run shot to the Sox’ Duffy Lewis in the eighth, and Harry Hooper struck for a solo blast in the ninth. After his rough start, Foster settled down to skunk the Phillies over the final five innings, cementing Boston’s third Series title.

Foster had another good campaign in 1916 acting as a starting pitcher and relief pitcher. He went 14-7 in the season, and posted a decent 3.06 ERA. In the 1916 World Series, Foster came in relief in Game 3, and pitched three scoreless innings. The Red Sox ended up winning the series 4 games to 1, and became the first back-to-back winners of the World Series since the Philadelphia Athletics had done it 5 years earlier.

Foster went back to a mainly starting role in 1917, posting an 8-7 record with a 2.53 ERA. Before the start of the 1918 season, Foster was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Dave Shean. Rube Foster refused to report to his new team so the Red Sox sent cash to the Cincinnati Reds to complete the trade.

Rube Foster’s baseball career ended. He finished his major league career with 58-33 career pitching record, a 2.36 earned run average and 294 strikeouts in 842.3 innings pitched.

Player Biography by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #69 Marty Barrett

2007-02-21T19:59:00.001-05:00

Marty Barrett, 2B, #17 (1982-1990)

929 G, 935 H, 17 HR, 311 RBI, .278 AVG, .338 OBP, .347 SLG

On June 23, 1981 Marty Barrett sprung into the Red Sox fan's consciousness as part of the the tag line of one of the most famous baseball games ever played - the 33 inning double marathon run by the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox. In the 33rd inning of a game featuring 2 Hall of Famers and a dozen future major leaguers of varying caliber it was Dave Koza knocking in Marty Barrett that salted the game away for the PawSox, with future Boston teammate and even futurer World Series opponent Bobby Ojeda getting the W.

And it encapsulated the rest of his career in a microcosm.

He batted second for all 8.5 hours, only went 2-13, didn't knock anyone in, and didn't make an error.
And at the end of the day? Hit by pitch, takes third on a single, and scores on the game winning hit by Koza.

The annoying pest who is in the middle of it all when it matters.

Martin Glenn Barrett was born on June 23, 1958 in Arcadia, California, and grew up in Las Vegas.

He attended Arizona State University despite having been drafted by the Angels in the 11th round in '77, the Mets in the third round in January 78, and the Red Sox in the first round of the secondary phase in June of '78, before finally signing with the Sox when they took him as the first overall pick... in the secondary phase of the January draft in '79... before MLB stopped the draft madness. (incidentally sharing a round with future Sox Otis Nixon, Scott Fletcher, and Gary Gaetti). He was signed by noted scout and legendary baseball procreator Ray Boone.

Looking at his career line above you are of course wondering why we care.
How does a career .286 hitter - a batter who only hit 18 homers... in his life; who never won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, or batting title; was never an All Star; was never for even a second the best second basemen in his league, never mind baseball - make it to the Outer Limits of the Inner Circle of All Time Red Sox?

Because that last bit is wrong. In October of 1986 he was the best second baseman on the planet, it was as though he'd turned into Frankie Frisch. He was everywhere, terrorizing the Angels and Mets with OPS' of .846 and 1.014.

And that's what we'll remember in the end. The 1986 postseason. We'll forget the brains, we'll forget that he never struck out, we'll forget his leading the league in sacrifices, we'll forget the hidden ball trick and that one 'hesitation' slide (find video of it - it's unreal). We'll overlook the look of annoyance on opponents faces upon finding an unselfish #2 hitter looking to move along Hall of Famer Wade Boggs when the braintrust was smart enough to lead Boggs off.

It'll be that one white hot moment where Marty Barrett made his bid to be a folk hero in the way we look at the kids from 2004. If only the 'good' players hitting behind him could have found a way to take advantage of the fact that he was on base almost every other at bat Bill Buckner could live somewhere other than Idaho, and Marty wouldn't have add a "but" to his greatest stretch in baseball.

Barrett's solid career ended abruptly after he twice injured his knee. Team owner/doctor Arthur Pappas kept giving him cortisone shots to keep him on the field rather than fixing it surgically, so not surprisingly they didn't get better. His range in the field shot, and Jody Reed not really being a good fit at short, the Sox released him following the 1990 season, ending the third longest reign at the second sack (behind B. Doerr and Turn of the Century keystoner Hobe Ferris) and the longest in the second half of the 20th century.

After an brief attempt to carry on outside the Fens with the Padres ended with John Kruk delivering the knockout blow to his knee, Barrett coached for a couple of seasons with his hometown Las Vegas Stars in the PCL before moving on to manage the Rancho Cucomunga Quakes.

Which he dropped like a shot when "I was going back to the airport with my youngest son. He had all my baseball cards out, and he was looking at them. I asked him why he was doing that, and he said `I look at the cards when I forget what your face looks like.' That killed me." (Baseball Digest, August 2002 )

So he returned home to dabble in real estate, play golf, and get more involved in his community. The Las Vegas North Little League bears his name and he has been peripherally involved in city politics.

So barring a run for mayor, with his final child set to graduate high school this summer we should be seeing a return of Marty Barrett to the managerial ranks, where he will be as successful as he has been at everything else.

In closing, it needs to be said that it's really too bad that Marty missed the blog era. What would the blog kids do with a player who hits a little like Mark Loretta, fields on a par with Alex Gonzalez (without the flash), had Varitek's smarts and Trot Nixon's engine?

Nothing but love.

Travis doesn't have a Sox blog of his own, but can often be found sharing his baseball opinions here, going by the name Frawst

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #70 Tony Armas

2007-02-21T19:43:00.000-05:00

Tony Armas, CF, #20 (1983-1986)

526 G, 510 H, 113 HR, 352 RBI, .252 AVG, .288 OBP, .480 SLG

There were three aspects of his game that really defined Tony Armas. He was often injured, he didn’t like to take a walk, and he could hit the ball real hard. He missed a lot of games due to various injuries and his .287 career OBP makes Billy Beane want to cry, but he topped 20 homers 6 times (3 times with 35 or more) and finished with 251 for his career.

Armas, born in Venezuela in 1953, was a promising young slugger making his way through the Pittsburgh Pirates system before he was involved in a nine player deal that sent him to the Oakland A’s. He began his career with the A’s in ’77, but injuries severely hampered him for 3 years before he really broke out in 1980 with 35 HR and 109 RBI. That year he carried a very weak Oakland offense to a second place finish.

Armas would hit 22 and 28 HR in the following two years with the A’s, but his free swinging ways (his 1980 OBP of .310 was one point shy of his career best of .311) wore out his welcome. Thanks to the emergence of future Hall of Famer, Wade Boggs, the Red Sox had a surplus of third basemen. They were happy to send a young Carney Lansford and two others to Oakland in exchange for the hard hitting Armas and backup catcher, Jeff Newman.

The Boston fans would boo him in ’83, his first season with the club, because of his .218 AVG for the year, but he did hit 36 homers and knock in 107 as Boston’s cleanup hitter. He patrolled centerfield for the Sox and played in between Dwight Evans and Jim Rice making for one of the most powerful outfields in Red Sox history.

1984 was the slugger’s best season when he batted .268 and set career highs in runs (107), home runs (43), and RBI (123). The 84 outfield really was the most powerful in Red Sox history as Rice, Evans, and Armas combined for 103 HR. In comparison, Ramirez, Damon, and Nixon hit 77 in ’03 and Lynn, Rice, and Evans combined for 99 in ’79.

Persistent leg injuries slowed Armas for the rest of his career and his final two years in Boston were a far cry from the slugger the Sox saw in the first two years. In ’85 he played in just 103 games and managed an OBP of just .298. In ’86 he was able to take the field for more games (121), but hit just 11 homers on the year. Despite being completely healthy during the postseason, he received only 1 AB in the ’86 World Series before the Sox let him walk during the offseason.

He hit 113 HR in 2136 plate appearances with Boston which comes out to a HR every 18.8 PA. Out of every player to hit at least 50 HR in a Red Sox uniform, only Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez, Jimmie Foxx, David Ortiz, Jose Canseco, and Dick Stuart homered more often than Armas.

Brian Martin once wrote a blog, but got bored and moved onto other things. He's currently counting down the days until he gets to watch the '07 Red Sox on his brand new plasma tv.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #71 Tom Gordon

2007-02-20T10:33:00.000-05:00

Tom Gordon, RP, #36 (1996-1999)

25-25, 68 saves, 4.45 ERA, 175 G

As the first capsule profile of a top 100 Red Sox that Jose has dared to write, there was no formula for Jose to draw upon, none of the comforting rituals of banality in which to swaddle himself. So it falls to Jose to dive in forthwith lest he be branded Hamlet on the Charles. So let’s take a look at a moment, a single instant of time, that made Tom “Flash” Gordon the Red Sox legend he is today.

Gordon stands astride the Fenway mound, his wool cap tight and drawn down over his eyes, blinders to his thoroughbred, eliminating all distractions and concentrating all focus on the task at hand. He draws his hands in to his chest purposefully, like a spring compressing. What will it be? The 97 miles per hour of dynamite? Or the curve that shaves six hours off the face of a clock? The switch flipped, the spring that is Tom Gordon expands with violence, sending the a blur of red and white, pinball-like down the alley and towards home plate…

And then…

Tom Gordon’s greatest Red Sox moment arrives.

It arrives not with the slap of a ball in the tired leather of a well-worn catcher’s mitt, but with the thunderclap of ash on horsehide, as David Ortiz swings as smoothly and as surely as a pinball flipper on a spoke, and sends the ball flying, as if rolling up a ramp and into the Boston night.

Yankees 4--Red Sox 3 and six outs to go. TILT.

Yup, Tom Gordon did a lot for the Boston Red Sox, and we should appreciate him. Heck, he did more that night alone, walking Kevin Millar, and panicking with Dave Roberts pinch running for Kentucky Fried Kevin, allowing Mosey Nixon to slap single Roberts to third on a hit and run. He did more for the Red Sox that one night than in his entire stint with the team. And that’s why he is one of the all time greatest Red Sox, even if it was for his work in pinstripes.

But of course this is totally unfair. In his time with the Red Sox, Tom Gordon was, well, flashy. He came aboard as a starter, as he had been in Kansas City before, and put in mediocre inning after mediocre inning before trying his hand in the bullpen. It was then that he discovered that free from the awful burden of pitching more than one or two innings at a time, he could throw quite a bit harder. Indeed, he was almost incapable of blowing a save, at least between April and September. But in October things were different. When the apples got big and ripe, Gordon would wither and fade, such as in 1998, when his blown save against Cleveland in Game 4 of the ALDS, only his second of the season, prevented Jimy Williams from looking like a genius for starting Pete Schourek over Pedro Martinez. At least some good came of it. No, Gordon seemed to be a Vanderjagt or Schiraldi, brilliant in the regular season and soft in the post season, than he did a Mariano Rivera.

It got worse, Sox fan and author Steven King authored a book that off-season entitled The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon with predictable results. King got hit by a truck and Gordon blew out his arm, all but ending his Red Sox tenure. We all know King is comfortable meddling with the forces of the dark, but seriously, he should have known that messing around with the Red Sox would have dire results.

Biography penned by Jose Melendez of Keys to the Game.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #72 Chick Stahl

2007-02-19T14:48:00.000-05:00

Chick Stahl, OF (1901-1906)

Career .305/.369/.416 hitter with 36 HR, 189 SB, 1,546 H, with a fielding percentage of .961 (league .946).

Chick Stahl was a regular outfielder for the Boston Red Sox's first six years in existence after four years playing for the Boston Beaneaters, meaning that he played baseball in Boston for 10 years. Stahl batted and threw left, and stood five feet 10 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds. Stahl was an accomplished outfielder who played on some very good teams:

The 1897 Beaneaters won the NL Pennant with a record of 93-39.
The 1898 Beaneaters won the NL Pennant with a record of 102-47.
The 1899 Beaneaters finished 2nd in the NL with a record of 95-57.
The 1900 Beaneaters finished 4th in the NL with a record of 66-72.
The 1901 Americans finished 2nd in the AL with a record of 79-57.
The 1902 Americans finished 3rd in the AL with a record of 77-60.
The 1903 Americans won the World Series with a record of 91-47.
The 1904 Americans won the AL Pennant with a record of 95-59. (No World Series was played.)
The 1905 Americans finished 4th in the AL with a record of 78-74.
And in his only black mark, the 1906 Americans finished 8th in the AL with a record of 49-105.

As the Red Sox's centerfielder many of the years, he directly contributed to the first World Series of the Red Sox by hitting three triples during the series.

Stahl avoided death the year after he joined the Americans, as an ex-girlfriend attempted to murder Stahl January 26, 1902. Two years later, on September 27, 1904, Chick Stahl avoided the Americans from being the victims of a perfect game by Cleveland's Bob Rhoads, singling in the ninth inning with two out.

His final hurrah as a player came in his final at-bat, when he bashed a two-run home run off New York's Tom Hughes (Hughes had been traded from the Americans to New York for Jesse Tannehill before the 1904 season).

Stahl's best season was probably his rookie year with the Beaneaters, when he hit .354/.406/.499. His two best years with the Americans came in his first two years with them. He hit .303/.377/.439 in 1901 with 105 runs scored. In 1902, he scored 92 runs while hitting .323/.375/.421. He tailed off in 1903, only hitting .274 but rebounded in 1904, hitting .290/.366/.416. Stahl experienced another tail off in 1905, hitting .258, and rebounded yet again in his final season, hitting .286/.346/.366.

A modern day comparison to Stahl, who regularly stole around 20 bases would be Juan Pierre, except he had more power than Pierre and could not run as well.

When close friend and player-manager Jimmy Collins resigned from managing the Red Sox after being their inaugural manager on August 29, 1906 (Collins was technically suspended), Stahl posted a 5-13 record as manager. Stahl entered the following spring slated to be the manager of the recently renamed Boston Red Sox, but committed suicide after confiding to Collins that he could not handle the strain of being a manager, which caused the 1907 team to use four managers (Cy Young, George Huff, Bob Unglaub and Deacon McGuire).

Stahl, widely "considered handsome, charming, with a magnetic personality," was one of many players to commit suicide in the Deadball era (spanning from 1900 to 1920).

Stahl committed suicide by drinking three ounces of carbolic acid while traveling with the team in West Baden Springs, IN. His suicide note read: "Boys, I just couldn't help it. You drove me to it."

Evan Brunell, a diehard Red Sox fan, writes about the Red Sox at Fire Brand of the American League, his analytical and sometimes not so analytical look at the Boston Red Sox. He is joined by Mike Edelman and Zach Hayes, and is also the owner and president of MVN.com.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #73 Frank Sullivan

2007-02-19T11:06:00.000-05:00

Frank Sullivan, P, #18 (1953-1960)

97 wins, 100 losses, 3.60 ERA, 959 K, 1732 IP

Frank Sullivan was a top of the line starting pitcher in the mid-1950s for some very mediocre Red Sox teams. Sullivan started his Red Sox career as a reliver in 1953. He made his debut as a starter on May 21, 1954 beating the New York Yankees 6-3 including 3 strikeouts of Mickey Mantle. Sullivan finished the 1954 season with a 15-12 record and 3.14 ERA.

He went 18-13 in 1955, tying for the league lead in wins, starts (35) and innings pitched (260). Sullivan led Red Sox staff in ERA from 1954-1957. Frank was a member of the 1955 and 1956 American League All Star teams. In the 1955 All Star game, he allowed a 12th inning game winning HR to Hall of Famer Stan Musial. He managed to win 13 or more games 5 years in a row, 1954-58. He was also fifth in the league in ERA in 1955 and 1957. Today that would earn him a $15 million per year contract!

For his career, Frank tied with Dutch Leonard in 15th place with 90 wins as a member of the Red Sox, 20th in innings pitched with 1505.3, 9th in overall strikeouts with 821. As was the case with many Red Sox pitchers, he suffered by pitching half his games at Fenway Park. Sullivan never made a postseason appearance, as was the case of many Red Sox starts of the 1950's. Sullivan was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on December 15, 1960 in exchange for P Gene Conley. Sullivan went 3-16 for one of the worst teams ever - the 1961 Phillies, who finished the season with a 47-107 record. In 1962, Sullivan returned to the AL with the Twins and retired after the 1963 season.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #74 Bill Mueller

2007-02-19T05:32:00.000-05:00

Bill Mueller, 3B, #11 (2003-2005)

406 G, 437 H, 41 HR, 204 RBI, .303 Avg, .376 OBP, .474 SLG, 2003 AL Batting Champion: .326 Avg

He was a ballplayer who never brought attention to himself. He was a classy player, who played the game the right way. He was quiet in the clubhouse, and a very religious, family man from Missouri.

Bill Mueller will be remembered forever by Red Sox fans for two at-bats that changed the course of the Boston Red Sox franchise. They were two of the biggest clutch hits in team history, and they came against the same club, in the same season, and against one of the greatest relief pitchers in baseball history.

William Richard Mueller was born on March 17, 1971 in Maryland Heights, Missouri. His last name has an unusual pronounciation. Usually prounounced "muhl-er" or "meuh-ler", his grandfather changed the pronounciation to "mil-ler" when he immigrated to the United States from Germany shortly before World War II began, so it would sound more "American." (For some reason, he did not change the spelling.) Bill attended DeSmet Jesuit High School, and Southwest Missouri State University before he was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 15th round of the 1993 amateur draft.

He made his major league debut at Candlestick Park in 1996. He split that season between AAA Phoenix and San Francisco, playing in 55 games and batting .330, mostly at third base. The next season, he became the regular third baseman, hitting .292 in 128 games. He hit just 7 home runs, but showed a superior glove in the field.

Mueller remained in San Francisco through 2000. He didn't put up any eye-popping numbers, but continued his tremendous fielding at third, and occasionally filling in at second. He was traded in December 2000 to the Chicago Cubs for relief pitcher Tim Worrell. At Wrigley Field, he was slotted in as the everyday third baseman. In May, at a game at Wrigley, Mueller was chasing a foul pop as it heading toward the stands when he ran directly into the brick wall, badly injuring his right knee and ending his season. Knee injuries would be a career-long problem for Mueller, but he made it back for the 2002 season. In September of that season, he was traded back to the San Francisco Giants, who were in the stretch run in an effort to win the NL West title. The Giants went all the way to the seventh game of the World Series in 2002, but Mueller only saw action in the NLDS, and was left off both the NLCS and World Series rosters.

Mueller was a free agent after 2002, and on January 10, 2003, he signed with the Red Sox. It certainly wasn't a move that made headlines, and most Sox fans had barely heard of him.

Mueller opened the 2003 season as a platoon player, splitting time with Shea Hillenbrand at third. But a trade that occurred on May 29 would alter not only Mueller's future, but the destiny of the Boston Red Sox franchise.

Hillenbrand was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for righty closer Byung-Hyun Kim. The Sox had tried a closer-by-committee bullpen, but it was a failure, and the Sox desperately needed a big-time closer. They found it in Kim, but it also made Bill Mueller a full-time third baseman. (And oh yes, it made another part-time player a full-time designated hitter: David Ortiz.)

With that, Mueller flourished at third base, and at the plate. He showed off his flashy glove and that impressed Red Sox Nation. But he had a career year at the plate, hitting a high of 19 home runs, 85 RBI and incredibly, winning the AL batting title with a .326 average, edging out teammate Manny Ramirez on the final day of the regular season. What made it all the more incredible was the fact that Mueller usually batted in the eighth and ninth spot in the batting order, as the Sox had one of the most potent lineups in baseball history in 2003.

Mueller also made baseball history that year as well. On July 29 in a game at Texas, Mueller hit two grand slams (and in consecutive at-bats), and became the first player ever to hit one from each side of the plate. The Red Sox won that night, 14-7, and Mueller added a solo homer as well, hitting three HRs for the only time in his career and driving in nine runs total.

As great a season as Mueller had in 2003, it is his heroics in 2004 that he will forever be remembered.

In 2004, Mueller had another solid, dependable season, but did spend some time on the disabled list with the recurring knee problems. In 110 games, he hit .283 with 12 HRs and 57 RBI. But on July 24, the Red Sox found themselves in a dire position as far as their 2004 season went. They were a stagnant club, and the Yankees were pulling away in the AL East. New York was in town, and they had won the previous night. The next day featured a high-scoring game that included the now-legendary home plate dustup between Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek that led to a bench-clearing brawl. By the ninth inning, the Sox were down by two with Mariano Rivera trying to close it out. The Red Sox got a run with one out and a man on. And up to the plate stepped Bill Mueller.

Mueller hit a Rivera fastball high into the bullpen in right field to send Fenway into a total frenzy and give the Sox an emotional come-from-behind victory. (It is mistakingly believed to have been the turnaround of the season. That actually didn't happen until mid-August. But it certainly is the "symbolic" turnaround point of the 2004 season.)

The Red Sox got hot later in the season to wrap up a Wild Card spot. Mueller and the Sox made it to another showdown with the Yankees in the ALCS. They quickly fell behind 3-0 in the series and it seemed like it was all over but the shouting. In Game 4, the Red Sox were down to their final three outs in the ninth when Bill Mueller came up in another huge situation. Dave Roberts was the tying run on second with no outs. On a 1-1 pitch, Mueller lined a Rivera pitch up the middle to score Roberts and tie up the game. Once again, Mueller had another clutch at-bat against the so-called greatest closer in history. And he came up big again.

And it was the start of the greatest comeback in the history of postseason baseball.

Eight wins later, the Red Sox were the Champions of the World and Bill Mueller had his first World Series ring, and a place in the heart of every Red Sox fan on the planet.

Mueller had another dependable season at the third for the Sox in 2005, hitting .295 with 10 homers. But he was a free agent after that season, and the Red Sox elected not to re-sign the popular third baseman, who turned 35 the next March. He wound up signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played just 32 games in 2006, when his chronically bad knee acted up again. He was forced to have a third surgery on it, and this one would be a career-ending one. Doctors said the deteriorating condition in the knee ruled out all known procedures to repair it.

So after the 2006 season, Bill Mueller officially retired and was named special assistant to Dodgers' General Manager Ned Colletti.

It was a sad end to a career of such a classy ballplayer as Bill Mueller. He will always be remembered by Red Sox fans everywhere as the consummate professional, a guy who did his job with all of his talent, with a lot of heart, and without any complaint.

Thanks Bill. You'll always be "One of the 25."

John Quinn is a writer who lives in New York City and runs the web site, "The Mighty Quinn Media Machine," and writes for the Red Sox fan site, Bornintoit.com, as "Brooklyn Sox Fan."

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #75 Ernie Shore

2007-02-18T14:44:00.000-05:00

Ernie Shore, SP, (1914-1918)

58 wins, 33 losses, 125 G, 103 GS, 51 CG, 839 IP, 2.12 ERA, 1.12 WHIP

Perhaps no pitcher was more tied to the early story of Babe Ruth than Ernest Grady Shore. The two were traded together, were ace starters for the World Champion Red Sox together. And without Ruth’s outrageous temper, Ernie Shore would not have carved out a slice of fame as the answer to a trivia question:

Who is the only pitcher to throw a perfect game – in relief?

Shore was born March 24, 1891 in East Bend, N.C. He came to baseball through the New York Giants organization. Starting early in his apparent affinity for bizarre pitching performances, Shore gave up 10 runs (three earned) in his major league debut – a ninth-inning relief appearance for the Giants in June 1912 – yet was credited with the save. The game still holds the NL record for most runs scored in the ninth by two teams (17).

From the Giants, he moved to the Baltimore Orioles, where he was a teammate of George Herman Ruth. The pair were sold – arguably one of the best transactions in the history of the franchise – to the Red Sox in the summer of 1914 for $25,000. A week later, July 14, Shore made his American League debut and fared much better, pitching a two-hitter and beating the Indians, 2-1.

Despite starting the season late, Shore undoubtedly would have been a Rookie of the Year candidate, had the award existed in 1914, going10-5 with a 2.00 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. It was merely a warm-up, however, for his 1915 campaign.

Shore went 19-8 in his first full season, posting a sterling 1.64 ERA, good for third in the league, and a 170 ERA+. He stamped an exclamation point on the pennant-winning season by hurling a 12-inning, 1-0 shutout against Detroit in September. With five 15-game winners, the 1915 Red Sox were a dominant pitching club, even for the dead-ball era. They won 101 games and faced Philadelphia in the World Series, where Shore made up for a Game 1 loss by winning a 2-1 squeaker in Game 4. The Red Sox won in five games.

Shore returned to earth a bit in 1916, his ERA jumping a run to just better than league average. He still managed to win 16 games. Again, the Sox went to the World Series – this time against the Brooklyn Robins. Shore cruised through the Robin lineup in Game 1 before running into trouble in the ninth, needing Carl Mays to close the game out. In the clinching Game 5, however, he was masterful, hurling a complete game three-hitter, giving up a lone unearned run to give the Sox their fourth World Series win in 14 years and second in a row.

Although he only managed 13 wins in 1917, Shore threw his second-best season, lowering his WHIP to 1.13, his ERA to 2.22 and finishing third in shutouts, with seven. Despite his two World Series rings and his three consecutive seasons as one of the AL’s best starters, Ernie Shore would forever be known for what happened June 23, 1917, when he wasn’t even scheduled to pitch.

Old teammate Ruth was on the mound for the Red Sox, and Ruth promptly walked the Senators’ leadoff hitter, Ray Morgan. Unhappy with the calls, Ruth complained to home plate umpire Brick Owens, who ejected him. Enraged, Ruth slugged Owens before being taken from the field. Shore was called from the bullpen. With the catcher also ejected during the row, Morgan decided to attempt a steal off the new battery, to no avail. With the baserunner retired, Shore went to work, not allowing a single man to reach as the Red Sox won, 4-0. For 74 years, the feat stood as a perfect game – after all, Shore was on the mound for all 27 outs of a nine-inning game. But a 1991 rules committee refined the qualifications for no-hitters and perfect games and downgraded Shore’s performance to a shared no-hitter with Ruth.

Although winning two rings with the Sox, Shore missed a third in 1918 when he fought in World War I. Upon his return, Harry Frazee was breaking up one of 20th century baseball’s first dynasties, and Shore was among the casualties – shipped with Dutch Leonard and Duffy Lewis for four no-names and $15,000. The Boston Post summed up the trade this way: “It will take a lot to convince Boston fans that they got the best of this one.”

Despite being just 27 when he began pitching for the Yankees in 1919, Shore never pitched well again. He started just 13 games that season and posted a 4.17 ERA, nearly a full run above the league average. He appeared in just 13 games in 1920 – when he was once again a teammate of Ruth’s. It would be his last season. At age 30, Ernie Shore was out of baseball.

What caused Shore’s difficulty? The Sporting News, quoted in Jim Reisler’s Launching the Legend, intimated he was having trouble regaining his control upon returning from the war. If he was unable to control his pitches, Shore at least helped to maintain control of the volatile Ruth, who in 1920 was nearly knifed by a heckler after Ruth charged him in the stands. According to Reisler, Shore stood between the men and cooled the situation down.

With baseball behind him, Shore returned to North Carolina, where he became Forsyth County sheriff. He later led the push to build a minor-league ballpark in Winstom-Salem. The Winston-Salem Warthogs, a Class high-A White Sox affiliate, now play at Ernie Shore Field – and have done so for 51 years.

Shore died Sept. 24, 1980, at age 89, in Winston-Salem. At the time of his death, he still received credit for pitching a perfect game in 1917 – a distinction he kept for 11 more years.

Paul is a comoderator for Yanksfan vs. Soxfan, a blog dedicated to all things Sox-, Yanks- and rivalry-related.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #76 Keith Foulke

2007-02-18T05:19:00.000-05:00

Keith Foulke, P, #29 (2004-2006)

159 G, 13-9, 58 Saves, 3.74 ERA

In sporting commentary there is a popular cliche where the commentator says 'Fans of (team X) are very divided on (player X)'. When it comes to Red Sox fans and Keith Charles Foulke, the split isn't as much 50/50 for/against as it is 80/20 against/for.

Keith Foulke was a Boston player between 2004 and 2006, two years of much drama and controversy indeed. If he had left Boston in 2004 he would have left a hero. Instead, after two years battling knee, arm and back injuries along with a problematic personal life, Foulke left town for the Cleveland Indians with the majority of the Boston media and a sadly large proportion of Boston's fans only too happy to show him the way out.

Taking a step back, Foulke's legacy will always be the awesome 2004 campaign he turned in for the Red Sox. When the Sox attempts to run the closer position 'by committee' in 2003 failed miserably they set their minds to bring in a shut-down closer in the offseason. Foulke signed on from Oakland and promptly gave Boston fans exactly what they wanted, a dominant closer.

In 2004, his first year with the Red Sox, Keith saved 32 games in 39
opportunities while racking up 79 strikeouts and a regal 2.17 ERA across 83 innings. His numbers were fantastic but he was only getting started. In the 2004 postseason, Foulke appeared in 11 of 14 games turning his own game up to another level, throwing 257 pitches over 14 innings. He clocked up 19 strikeouts in those 14 innings, and over the entire stretch, allow exactly one earned run on a completely meaningless solo shot long ball. At the time many in the media (who were about to drop verbal napalm all over him for the next two years) believed he should have been named the World Series MVP over Manny Ramirez.

I will never, ever forget the 2004 playoff run Keith Foulke had. From his uplifting strike out of Tony Clark with the Sox in big, big trouble against the Yankees, to his absolute abuse of a totally over matched Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen in the World Series proper, Foulke had an entirely sensational 2004 playoffs.

On October 31, 2004 Jim McBride of the Boston Globe announced:

"It's unlikely Foulke, an avid hockey fan, will have to pick up a check in town for quite a while."

Just recently, Foulke filed for free agency and is no longer a Red Sox player. His manager had this to say as reported by Tony Massaroti of the Boston Herald;

"I don’t want to forget -- or have anybody else forget -- what he accomplished here," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said late yesterday. "It was phenomenal what he did here in 2004. I mean phenomenal. We don’t win anything without him."

Happy ending so, a player who should be forever remembered as a hero to the Red Sox 'nation', heads off into the sunset, his managers accolades ringing in our ears? Apparently not. As Foulke filed for free agency, Tony Massaroti actually said;

"Now Foulke is gone and here is the truly amazing thing: No one is shedding a tear. Not Foulke, not Epstein, not anyone who has watched the Red Sox over the past two seasons."

He followed up that completely, self revealed erroneous statement (he had just reported that Francona was indeed very sad to see him go) with this sanctimonious rubbish:

"That might all be considered sad were it not for the simple fact that Foulke brought so much of this upon himself."

If Massaroti had taken a step back and considered real life for a brief second he would have realised Foulke was hit by knee injuries, arm problems and a debilitating divorce in 2005. There is no doubt his acerbic personality didn't exactly demand that people support him, but there was no reason for the 'Shock and awe' campaign most of the New England media launched on him. He did not 'bring it on himself', if anything all that he proved was his inability to eloquently defend himself in the face of mounting criticism.

If only people would take Foulke's comments in perspective. From 2005 on he was wound up, frustrated and disappointed. He made some poorly thought out, throw away comments and probably instantly regretted them himself. The irony is most of them are actually reasonably amusing if you take a deep breath and avoid the 'cast the first stone' mentality.

Keith Foulke is a baseball player. He is not a journalist, a reporter or a politician. He does not have time to create measured, careful comments. He doesn't get to sit behind a keyboard and pick apart every single word that comes from someones mouth. Further still, he is not paid to be a spokesperson for anyone. Nowhere in his contract does it say that he should be an eloquent speaker on behalf of anyone. He is what he is, he is paid to throw the ball past Major League batters. End of story.

The slating he took, and still takes, for some acerbic, muddled and yes, regrettable comments, is completely out of order and uncalled for. It is shooting ducks in a barrel and the glee which people like Massoroti, Dan 'negativity' Shaughnessy and the unfailingly negative 'Boston Dirt Dogs' site ride the comments to personal gain is absolutely unnecessary. Further more, particularly on the parts of established journalists like Shaugnessy and Massaroti, it is shockingly lazy.

Keith Foulke throws the final pitches on Opening Day, 2005 (4/11/05)
Taken by Scott Norwood

Why didn't those who were so quick to latch onto this totally inane and substance-light story give any air time to Foulke's explanation of the comment?

Given time to respond Keith Foulke said at the time;

"Yeah, I apologize to those people. You know what, the whole, like I said, the whole part. It was part of a joke and once again the media goes out there. They don’t print the first part of the joke where it puts people in the funny mood. It started off with 'I’m not inviting him, I’m not inviting the people that are booing me, I’m not inviting them to my World Series party.'… That’s where the joke starts. And the last line is kind of a follow-up line. If you don’t hear the first part, yeah you may not understand the second part. You gotta take the whole thing and evaluate the whole sentence. Not just part of it."

Clearly the whole story just isn't as dramatic when balanced out with either the entire quote, or Keith's explanation. So instead of actually giving us the whole story we were treated to part of it to validate certain journalists days work, to make them feel better about themselves and what they do.

Sadly I guess that's how it works. Foulke gets absolutely destroyed for a spoken, spur of the moment comment, while journalists can make thought-out comments that are the equal and if not worse of Foulke's and get away with it completely. They actually get paid for this Calvinistic, mid eighties 'woe is me' trash, and no one takes them to task over their often lazy, irresponsible and self serving writing. The amazing propensity for Boston scribes to find ways to attack Foulke is mind boggling. Take Massaroti's feeble summing up of the personality of Keith Foulke;

"Off the field, for whatever reason, Foulke seemed perpetually grumpy and displeased."

Right, so, I guess everybody has to smile for the camera, Tony? Massaroti admits in his column; "Foulke battled injuries to his knees, back and arm" and it is common knowledge that Foulke went through a very bitter divorce proceeding in 2005. However, I guess he should dance around happily like Homer does for Marge, singing;

"Look at me! I'm making people happy! I'm the magical man from Happy Land in a gumdrop house on Lollipop Lane!"

Maybe if Keith had adopted that false strategy everything would have worked out fine, and the media would have left him alone to deal with his personal issues and injuries and would have dealt with him for what he is, a baseball player.

A pitcher that was one of the main reasons the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2004.

Sadly, it appears we live in a world where journalists like Massaroti ascribe to another Homer Simpson quote;

"Sometimes the only way you can feel good about yourself is by making someone else look bad."

There is a scene in 'The Departed' where Matt Damon and a few other State Troopers sit in an office with this below exact picture clearly in the background. That's Keith Foulke, celebrating making the last out of the 2004 World Series.

With Foulke, "It is what it is", he is a baseball player and if you are a Red Sox fan he delivered, on a plate, your wildest dreams. Take it all for what it is, let those who need sensationalist, false and doctored stories to further their careers do so on their own.

Always remember this picture and just move on.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #77 Ike Delock

2007-02-17T10:47:00.001-05:00

Ike Delock, P, #12 (1952-1963)

84 wins, 75 losses, 329 G, 147 GS, 4.03 ERA, 672 K, 530 BB

Ike Delock appeared in 322 games, 7th most in Red Sox history, including 142 starts (30th place, just behind Babe Ruth and Oil Can Boyd). Pitched in 1207 innings (24th place) and managed to earn 83 wins (23rd most) and 31 saves (19th best) splitting time between starting and relieving.

Delock had several above-average seasons for the Red Sox in the 1950s. He made his major league debut on September 17, 1952 in a relief appearance and loss against the St. Louis Browns. He led the AL with 11 relief wins in 1956 while tying for fourth with nine saves (then not an official statistic). Overall it was his best season, finishing 13-7 with 105 Ks in 128.3 innings. He was better coming out of the bullpen, compiling a 3.08 ERA lifetime in that role. But as his career went on, he was used less and less as a reliever. He was 8th in league with 14 wins during the 1958 season, including 13 wins in a row at one point. He also led Red Sox starters with a team low 3.38 ERA.

On May 11, 1961 Ike outdueled Whitey Ford in a 2-1 win over the Yankees. On August 11, 1962 Delock shut out the Baltimore Orioles - the third shut out in a row for the Boston Red Sox. A knee injury in 1962 limited Delock to 86 innings and a 4-5 record with a 3.75 ERA. After a slow start in 1963, the Red Sox released Delock in June and he finshed up his career in Baltimore. He appeared in 7 games for the Orioles and added 1 more win to his career total.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #78 Tom Brewer

2007-02-17T03:10:00.000-05:00

Tom Brewer, SP, #23 (1954-1961)

W-L 91-82 241 G, 217 GS, 75 CG, 13 SHO, 4.00 ERA

Born on September 3rd, 1931, Tom Brewer couldn't have had any clue about the future that lay ahead of him, as the best pitcher in Red Sox history to wear #23 who wasn't named Luis Tiant. I was desperately hoping that September 3rd of that year would be Labor Day, in order to procure cheap laughs. This did not end up being the case.

Brewer attended Elon College in 1951, but was signed as an amateur free agent by the Sox that same season. He would make his MLB debut with the Red Sox in 1954 as (mostly) a starting pitcher. He would be a useful and capable right-handed starter throughout his career, though none of the Sox teams of his era would finish higher than 3rd place.

His '54 and '55 seasons had mixed results, but he seemed to put it all together in 1956. He won 19 games, completed 15, pitched 4 shut-outs and made the All-Star team. In addition, he batted .298. Even on a 4th place team, all of these stats would garner MVP consideration. He would finish twenty-second in the balloting. Strangely enough, only future HOF Minnie Minoso would have had any cause to complain about the validity of the results. To this day, it is unknown whether Minoso's PR firm released a statement congratulating Brewer.

His 1957-59 seasons would see similar success. He never reached any of the relatively lofty stats of '56, though he did steal two bases in 1959 against zero times caught, even as he only reached base nine times. This is a remarkable number to consider if one doesn't care about wasting time.

His 1960 season was poor, with his ERA jumping to 4.82 (against a league average of 4.03). It would be hard to attribute his downturn to only bad luck, as his BABIP in 1960 was .307, being slightly above average. He would retire after only 10 games the following season, citing intense disappointment in Ted Williams' successor as the impetus.

Allen writes about the Red Sox in a self-important and pretentious way so that you don't have to. You can find him at Over The Monster.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #79 Doc Cramer

2007-02-16T19:24:00.000-05:00

Doc Cramer, CF, #8 (1936-1940)

722 G, 940 H, 1 HR, 270 RBI, 22 SB, .302 AVG, .342 OBP, .378 SLG

Roger Maxwell “Doc” Cramer (July 22, 1905 – September 9, 1990) was an American center fielder and left-handed batter in who played for four American League teams from 1929 – 1948. A mainstay at the top of his team’s lineup for many years, he led the AL in at bats a record seven times and in singles five times. He batted over .300 several times, primarily with the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, and retired among the league’s career leaders in hits (10th, 2705), games played (10th, 2239) and at bats (5th, 9140). One of the few major leaguers to play regularly in center field at age 40, he also ended his career among the major leagues’ all-time leaders in games in center field (3rd, 2031) and outfield putouts (4th, 5412), and ranked seventh in AL history in total games in the outfield (2142).

Born in Beach Haven, New Jersey, Cramer was an elegant center fielder with a little speed and a powerful arm. He was nicknamed “Flit,” which was the name of a popular insecticide, by sportswriter Jimmy Isaminger for his great ability to judge fly balls; in other words, he was “death to flies.” Indeed, he led AL outfielders in putouts in 1936 and 1938. Cramer gained medical knowledge before playing pro ball by observing a local doctor, and was therefore dubbed “Doc.”

Cramer was a semi-pro pitcher when discovered by Cy Perkins and signed by the Athletics. Sent to Martinsburg of the Blue Ridge League in 1929, he was locked in a close race with Joe Vosmik for the league batting title. On the final day of the season, he pitched against Vosmik’s team and walked his rival four times. Cramer’s .404 won the title.

He began his major league career with the Athletics’ powerful championship teams of 1929–1931, breaking in gradually, though in the postseason he only made two pinch-hitting appearances in the 1931 World Series. After hitting .336 in 92 games in 1932, his place on the team was secure. On June 20, 1932, he tied a major league record by going 6-for-6 in a nine-inning game (and later became the only AL player to do it twice (on July 13, 1935)). He scored 100 runs in a season for the first time in 1933. He also hit for the cycle on June 10, 1934. In 1934, Cramer set a team record among left-handed hitters with 202 hits, and topped it in 1935 with 214 – still the Athletics franchise record for a left-handed batter; he finished eighth in the 1935 MVP voting. But the fortunes of the A’s declined just as Cramer was becoming a solid, everyday player, leading to the star players on the financially struggling team being sent to other teams. Al Simmons and Jimmy Dykes were sold to the Chicago White Sox on the same day in September 1932, and Lefty Grove and Mickey Cochrane were traded away after the 1933 season. Jimmie Foxx was traded to the Red Sox in December 1935, and Cramer joined him a month later.

Cramer was a spray leadoff hitter who mostly slapped singles and sometimes stretched singles into doubles — although he was a non-factor as a base stealer. He batted over .300 every year from 1937 – 1940 with Boston, scoring 100 runs in 1938 and 1939, and tied for the league lead in hits (200) in 1940. He was traded to the Washington Senators on December 12 of that year, and was sent to the Detroit Tigers exactly one year later after hitting .273. He was selected for the All-Star game five times (1935, 1937-40).

Two years after hitting over .300 for the last time with the 1943 Tigers, in 1945 Cramer played 140 games in center field at age 40 (albeit during World War II, when many regular players were in military service), and finally enjoyed significant play in the Fall Classic. In the 1945 World Series he led the team with a .379 batting average, scoring seven runs and batting in four, to help his team to win the Series 4-3 against the Chicago Cubs. He had two runs and an RBI in Game 5, and again in Game 7. Sent up six times for Birdie Tebbetts, Cramer came through four times, and when the Tigers traded Tebbetts to Boston in 1947, Cramer complained, “It’s like tearing up my meal ticket. A game is not official until the announcement goes out ‘Cramer for Tebbetts’.” In his final seasons he was often used as a pinch-hitter — he led the league with nine pinch hits in 1947 before ending his career with four games in 1948.

In his 20-season career, Cramer batted .296 with 2,705 hits, 1,357 runs, 37 home runs, 842 RBI, 396 doubles, 109 triples, 62 stolen bases, and a .340 on base percentage in 2,239 games. By team, he batted .308 for the Athletics, .302 for the Red Sox, .282 for the Tigers, and .273 for the Senators. Cramer rarely struck out, leading the AL four times in at bats-per-strike louts, and finishing in the top four five other seasons. His 2,031 games in center field placed him behind only Tris Speaker (2,690) and Ty Cobb (2,194) in major league history. His 2,705 hits are the most of any player retired before 1975 who has not been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

As a White Sox batting coach from 1951 to 1953, Cramer tutored the young second baseman Nellie Fox; frequently, Fox credited Cramer with making him a major league hitter.

Cramer died in Manahawkin, New Jersey at 85 years of age. There is a street there named in his honor (Doc Cramer Blvd.), as well as a youth baseball tournament, the Doc Cramer Invitational Baseball Tournament, held in Manahawkin every July.

The argument for electing Cramer to the Hall of Fame is debatable. His lifetime batting average of .296 is only a bit better than the .283 overall average of all the players against whom he competed in a high-average era. For example, Cramer’s 1936 season batting average of .292, consisting of 188 hits in 643 at bats, was actually below the overall American League average of .306 for that year. Cramer also did not draw many walks, so his lifetime on base percentage of .340 ends up being lower than the .357 overall percentage in the AL during his career. His lack of walks and his relative weakness on the basepaths (62 stolen bases in his entire career, against 73 times caught stealing) are drawbacks for a batter who hit at the top of the order. Given that Cramer was also not a power hitter (37 home runs, less than two per year), he was probably below average as an offensive force; that is true for almost every one of Cramer’s seasons as well as for his career in aggregate. (It should be noted that Fenway Park and Griffith Stadium, where he played the middle third of his career, were difficult home run parks for any left-handed hitter.) Cramer ranks as slightly better than average for 1932 and 1935 but not any other season; in most of his “peak” seasons, he was at best a dead-on average player offensively.

For these reasons, renowned baseball historian and statistician Bill James has stated that Cramer was easily the least outstanding outfielder in major league history among players who appeared in 2000 or more games (although only approximately 75–80 players who were primarily outfielders were good enough to have such long careers). James ranked Cramer as only the 91st best center fielder of all time.

Cramer’s fielding statistics support the anecdotal evidence and common belief that he was a fine glove man. His lifetime fielding percentage and range factor well exceed league averages for his time.

Player Biography by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #80 Dennis Boyd

2007-02-16T00:46:00.000-05:00

Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, P, #23 (1982-1989)

60 Wins, 56 Losses, 145 GS, 4.15 ERA, 571 K, 259 BB

Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, one of 14 children born to Negro League star Willie James Boyd, was a 16th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 1980.

A native of Meridian, Mississippi - where beer is called oil (hence the nickname) - Boyd was drafted out of Jackson State University and made his debut in Boston after pitching just 67 games in the minor leagues.

A staple in the Red Sox starting rotation for much of the 1980s, Boyd won 60 games for Boston, the bulk of them coming in 1984-86.

In 1986 baseball fans witnessed the full spectrum of emotions that made Oil Can Boyd one of the more colorful personalities of his generation.

After being left off the All-Star team (he was 11-6 at the break), Boyd threw a highly publicized tantrum that got him briefly suspended from the Sox and landed him in the psychiatric ward of a hospital.

Boyd was supposed to start Game 7 of the World Series against the Mets, but rain prevented him from making that start, and manager John McNamara elected to pitch Bruce Hurst instead. Boyd cried when he learned of the decision.

After leaving the Red Sox in 1989, The Can signed with the Montreal Expos, where he did a splendid job in 1990, and was on his way to a fine 1991 campaign when he was traded to Texas, where his year, and ultimately big league career, would end.

In 1993 Oil Can resurfaced, grabbing headlines in a way only he knew how. In April, Boyd, through his lawyer, threatened to sue the Red Sox for not inviting him to spring training that year. The lawyer said in view of the Red Sox's mediocre pitching prospects for the coming season, he could find "no apparent baseball reason for the team's rejection of Boyd's overtures."

Alas, Boyd would not make it back to the Major Leagues, although his pitching days were not over yet.

From 1994-97, Boyd pitched in various independent leagues before taking an eight year hiatus, returning to pitch for the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League in 2005. At the age of 45, Oil Can was 4-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 17 games for Brockton.

Unfortunately, Boyd's lone season for the Rox was likely his last in professional baseball. He hasn't taken the mound since he was indicted by a Mississippi federal grand jury in November of 2005 for allegedly making five threatening phone calls to a former girlfriend and her son.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #81 Jeff Reardon

2007-02-15T10:37:00.000-05:00

Jeff Reardon, RP, #41 (1990-1992)

150 G, 3.41 ERA, 88 SV

Jeff Reardon spent a few years in the latter part of his career as a closer for the Red Sox. Reardon broke into the big leagues in 1979 with the New York Mets, but became one of baseball's best closers for the Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins throughout the 1980's.

The Sox signed Reardon for the 1990 season, and Jeff led the bullpen with 21 saves for the 1990 division winning Red Sox. However Reardon struggled in the ALCS against the Oakland A's., giving up a couple of runs in a Game 2 loss, and losing the confidence of manager Joe Morgan. The Red Sox were swept by the A's 4 games to none. Reardon was named to the 1991 All Star team, pitching 2/3 of a scorless inning in the American League's 4-2 victory. He earned annual save totals of 21, 40 and 27 before he was traded to the Atlanta Braves late in the 1992 season.

While with the Red Sox in June 1992, Reardon temporarily became the all times saves leader when he earned career save number 342. Jeff was the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to have 40 saves in a season for 3 different teams. He did it with the 1985 Montreal Expos,1988 Minnesota Twins and 1991 Boston Red Sox. Reardon is 4th among saves leaders for the Red Sox, with 88 career saves. Only Bob Stanley, Dick Radatz and Ellis Kinder saved more games for the Sox.

Player Biography by John from Sox Fan Zone

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #82 Rick Ferrell

2007-02-15T10:23:00.000-05:00

Rick Ferrell, C, #2 (1933-1937)

522 G, 521 H, 16 HR, 240 RBI, 7 SB, .302 AVG, .387 OBP, .410 SLG

A North Carolina farm boy and one of seven brothers, Rick Ferrell saved pennies to buy his first catcher’s mitt for $1.50. Rick Ferrell was born in Durham and he attended Guilford College. Over 60 years later, the Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame. Although he played chiefly with second-division teams, Ferrell is always included among the greatest catchers of his age.

Blessed with a strong, durable physique and a placid yet determined personality, for 18 seasons Ferrell was a fine all-around receiver. In two stints each with the Browns and Senators, with three-plus years in Boston sandwiched between, he ultimately established the AL record with 1,805 games behind the plate.

At the plate, Ferrell had a fine eye and was remarkably selective. He coaxed 931 walks while fanning only 277 times, and achieved an impressive .433 career on-base percentage. Nineteen percent of his hits were doubles.

On April 19, 1929, Ferrell played his first major league game with the Browns, posting a .290 batting average in four seasons. After batting .300 in 1931, Ferrell had a very good year in 1932. Demonstrating that catchers could hit and excel defensively, batting from the #7 spot in the St. Louis order, Ferrell hit .315 with 30 doubles and 65 runs batted in, while leading AL catchers with 78 assists. While at St. Louis he caught the eye of Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, who was trying to rebuild. On May 9, 1933, Ferrell was traded to Boston.

Boston had a .300-hitting catcher in 1901 and 1919. In the years 1933–36, Ferrell broke Red Sox catchers’ records in batting, doubles, HR, and RBI. His .302 average with the Red Sox is 12th on the club’s all-time list. Rick’s brother Wes joined him in Boston in 1934. Though a pitcher, Wes hit more career HR (38) than Rick (28).

According to his brother Wes, “Brother or no brother, … he was a real classy receiver. You never saw him lunge for the ball; he never took a strike away from you. He’d get more strikes for a pitcher than anybody I ever saw, because he made catching look easy.”

In 1933, the Ferrell brothers were members of the inaugural American League All-Star team in the first All-Star Game played, in which Rick caught all nine innings. The same year, and for the first time in baseball history, brothers on opposing teams homered in the same game.

In June 1937, the brothers were packaged in a trade to Washington for Ben Chapman and Bobo Newsom.

Ferrell was back with the Browns in 1941–43. Then, during his second tour with Washington, he met the unprecedented and record-setting challenge of handling four knuckleball pitchers in the starting rotation. In 1945, the Senators just missed the pennant, and their knuckle quartet amassed 60 wins.

At the age of 41, Ferrell batted .303 in his last season. He had a fine eye and was remarkably selective, receiving 931 walks while fanning only 277 times. Ferrell compiled a .281 batting average, 28 home runs and 734 runs batted in, with 687 runs scored, 324 doubles, 45 triples and 29 stolen bases. In 1,884 games played, he achieved an impressive .378 career on base percentage, being selected an All-Star eight times (1933-38, 1944–1945). He caught 1,806 games, an American League record that stood until Carlton Fisk surpassed it in 1988.

After his playing days, Ferrell served as a Senators coach for four seasons. He followed with many years in the Tiger organization, as a coach, scout, GM, and, at over 80, executive consultant. In 1987 manager Sparky Anderson commented, “I hope I’m like Rick when I am his age!”

Connie Mack’s respect for him was so great that Ferrell caught all nine innings of the first All-Star game in 1933. Selected by the Veterans Committee, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.

Player biography by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #83: Bill Dinneen

2007-02-14T11:20:00.000-05:00

Bill Dinneen, P, (1902-1907)

64 wins, 60 losses, 2.70 ERA, 143 GS, 133 CG, 1097.0 IP

Not many people can say they won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in the 20th century. To one up that, only two men can say they’ve ever won three World Series games in the same post-season for the Red Sox: famous “Smokey” Joe Wood and “Big” Bill Dinneen.

In 1903, Dinneen (pictured here in the Syracuse Hall of Fame) was a solid starter for the Sox but was overshadowed by the legendary Cy Young. Young trumped Dinneen in everything:

But we’re talking about playoffs. Playoffs?! Yes, playoffs. Dinneen was the true star of the World Series, winning three of the five games and racking up a slender 2.06 ERA. In 35 innings to Young’s 34, Dinneen struck out more batters (28-17) and allowed fewer hits (29-31) en route to Boston’s first World Series victory. The final out in the World Series was his: he struck out Honus Wagner to clinch the Series for the Americans.

There is no “Bill Dinneen Award” and there will never be one, but for the 1903 World Series he had an edge on Young. Not many pitchers can say that, but he is one.
The Syracuse, N.Y. native landed in the big leagues with the Washington Senators in 1898. After two seasons as a Senator and another two as a Boston Beaneater, he jumped to the Boston Americans – now known as the Red Sox.

His three best seasons ever came as an American:

Although he dominated, his arm was over-worked. In the 1904 campaign, Dinneen set a 20th century record by pitching 37 consecutive complete games. From 1905 on he wasn’t the same pitcher.

Dinneen struggled to stay healthy and consistent on the mound. During the 1907 season, the Americans traded Dinneen to the St. Louis Browns for Beany Jacobson and $1,000. Jacobson was a bust, however, pitching in only 2 innings after the trade. Dinneen finished his career as a Brown in 1909.

Dinneen quickly found a new position in baseball, though: umpire. He began umpiring in the 1909 season and, sure enough, was one of the best at making the right call.

He worked eight World Series – a total of 45 games -- in his 29 years as an umpire. Dinneen was a fast worker behind the plate. He won money in the ‘30s for having the quickest average time while being the home plate umpire.

He umpired five no-hitters, a record he shares with William Klem who also did it during the same time period. Dinneen, however, is the only umpire to have thrown a no-hitter and been the ump for one, also.

Randy Booth writes and maintains OverTheMonster.com. He can be reached at rbooth@overthemonster.com.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #84: Buck Freeman

2007-02-14T03:45:00.000-05:00

Buck Freeman, OF, (Boston Braves (1900), Boston Red Sox (1901-1907))

820 g, 879 h, 158 2b, 903b, 48 hr, 54 sb, .286 avg, .332 obp, .442 slg

John Frank "Buck" Freeman, born October 30th 1871, was one of the premier sluggers of his era and without doubt the most feared power hitter pre Babe Ruth. He was famous for smacking the long ball at a time when the ball itself was very heavy and hitting it must have felt like trying to hit a large brick with a wiffle ball bat.

When Babe Ruth finally came along and broke Freeman's home run records he was doing so with a completely different ball, one referred to at the time as a 'lively ball'.

One of Freeman's greatest achievements was slugging a whopping 25 four baggers in 1899. One can only imagine how many he would hit today with the current ball against the current level of expansion-diluted pitching.

Interestingly Freeman actually did not start out swinging the bat at all. Born in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, Freeman showed talent as a pitcher from a very young age. He made his major league debut as a left-handed starter with the 'Washington Statesmen' on June 27, 1891, registering the loss in a 4-5 defeat to the Philadelphia Athletics. Freeman played in a further 4 games during the seasons, finishing up with a pretty decent 3-2 record and an earned run average of 3.89.

Despite showing promise on the hill 1891 would be Freeman's only season as a pitcher in the majors, and indeed he then took a seven year sabbatical from Major League Baseball altogether. In his time away he played in the Eastern League with Toronto from 1896 to 1898 but then finally returned to play for Washington midway through the 1898 season.

Freeman's career and indeed life changed forever when he came back and showed that he had learnt to use the bat while he had been away. Washington recognised this immediately and converted Freeman to a right fielder. In the final part of the 1898 season Freeman hit .364 and slugged.523. On the back of this performance he was named the Washington Senators starting right fielder for the 1899 season.

In his first season as a hitter Freeman slugged an amazing 25 home runs. To put that in perspective the second highest total that year was Bobby Wallace's 12. Although Freeman actually hit less than Ned Williamson's record of 27 home runs in a season, recorded in 1884, Freeman's total is widely regarded as the greater achievement because of the home run friendly dimensions of Williamson's home ballpark of Lakeshore Park (of Williamson's 27 homers, only 2 were hit away from home). Freeman's tally was not surpassed until 1919, when Babe Ruth smashed 29 home runs while with the Boston Red Sox.

Freeman was paid $225 a month in '99, putting everything in perspective. At that time the average annual salary of skilled labourers in the United States was $780, roughly $2 a day. Freeman, by contrast, earned $3000 a year.

The Washington Senators disbanded at the end of the 1899 season, so Freeman, looking for a job, spent the 1900 season with the Boston Beaneaters. His offensive numbers for the year were down on the year before, he hit only the 6 home runs and knocked in 66 runs. At the end of the season he and teammate Jimmy Collins moved across town to the Boston Americans, who decided to convert him into a first baseman. In 1901 Freeman hit his way back into the form he was capable of: he finished second overall in home runs (12), RBIs (114), and slugging percentage (.520), finishing behind Nap Lajoie in all categories. In 1901, however, Freeman hit his way back into the news.

Headlines from the period;

May 8, 1901: In their long-delayed AL home opener, Boston defeats Philadelphia's Bill Bernhard, 12-4, behind Cy Young, who has jumped from the St. Louis NL team. Boston is led by Buck Freeman, who has a single, triple and homer.

June 17, 1901: Bosox sweep a Bunker Hill day double-header, 11-1 and 10-4, part of five game sweep over the White Sox. The Sox relinquish 1st place to Boston. Buck Freeman has a homer and triple in the two games to back Mitchell and Cy Young.

Come the 1902 season and in his second year with the Boston Americans Freeman returned to playing right field, which most regarded as his better position. Freeman must have enjoyed the transition as he led the American League with 121 RBIs. In 1903 he helped Boston to the inaugural World Series, the first ever modern version of the great event, by leading the league in both home runs (13), and RBIs (104); in doing so Freeman became the first player ever to have completed an odd double and to have lead both the National League and the American League in home runs.

All season long Freeman was in the headlines:

June 21, 1903: In a Sunday match in Canton, Ohio, Boston outslugs Cleveland to win 12-7. Buck Freeman is 5-for-6, including the cycle, with six RBIs, while Nap Lajoie is 3-for-5 for Cleveland.

August 20, 1903: At Chicago, Boston's Buck Freeman is the first to hit a ball over the RF score board, but the (Boston) Pilgrims lose to the White Sox, 9-5.

The 1903 World Series was the only World Series Freeman ever played in, and after the marvelous preceding season he had, it proved to be lacklustre by his own standards - he hit a reasonable .281 but only knocked in 4 runs and hit no home runs in the eight games.

After Boston's World Series success Buck Freeman's offensive figures took a little bit of a dip. In 1906 he hit .250 with only 1 home run and just 30 RBIs. At the end of the disappointing season Freeman decided to play just one more year. Boston tried to speed that process up by releasing him after only four games in 1907 but Freeman moved on and finished the season with the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, hitting a fantastic .335 and smacking 18 home runs. Freeman had come back with a bang. He couldn't walk away and he decided to spend a further season with the Millers.

The 1908 season was Freeman's last in professional baseball,he hit a very respectable 10 home runs albeit with an average of .218. Buck Freeman passed away June 25, 1949 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania at the grand old age of 78.

Freeman retired with a major league career batting average of .293, OBP of .346, a slugging percentage of .462, 82 home runs, and 713 RBIs.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #85 Jim Tabor

2007-02-13T09:14:00.000-05:00

Jim Tabor, 3B, #5 (1938-1944)

806 g, 90 hr, 517 rbi, 64 sb/54 cs, .273 avg, .323 obp, .431 slg

It’s time for Jose Melendez’s KEYS TO THE TOP 100 RED SOX.

Jim Tabor
Rollin', rollin', rollin'
His throws he’s not controllin’
40 error years need consolin’
’Rawhide!

His hitting was much better
Though he din’ flash much leather
Sailing his throws so high and wide
His lifetime OP eh-hess,
It ain’t that great ya gu--hess,
740 don’t give him much pride

Men are on, Batter up
Batter up, men are on
Men are on, Batter up
Rawhide

Throw em out, drive em in
Drive em in, throw em out
Throw em out, drive em in
Rawhide!

Keep movin', movin', movin'
His swing it was improving
In ’41 he’s grooving
Rawhide!

Played well through ’44
‘Til the army wanted him more
That ended his good Boston ride.
He was sold to Philly .
His play was willy-nilly
At thirty six years old well, he died.

Men are on, Batter up
Batter up, men are on
Men are on, Batter up
Rawhide
Throw em out, drive em in
Drive em in, throw em out
Throw em out, drive em in
Rawhide!

Rawhide!

As you may have guessed by now, Jose loves the Blues Brothers. Also, Jim Tabor, who played third for the Sox from 1938-1944 was nicknamed "Rawhide." But what do we really know about the man from New Hope, Alabama, a little southern town named for the as yet to be produced fourth chapter of the Star Wars saga? While he debuted in 1938, he didn’t really make his mark as a true rookie until 1939, when his 14 home run 95 RBI debut season was cast into shadow by the far brighter light of fellow rookie Ted Williams. His career was respectable but by no means brilliant. For instance, his top comparable according to Baseball Reference is Aaron Boone, who, as we all know, has yet to do anything of note in his career.

Still, there are a few quirks that make Tabor more noteworthy than the typical .270 career hitter. First, he is one of the small fraternity of players to hit grand slams in consecutive innings, a feat he accomplished on July 4, 1939. Second, he is one of very few major league baseball players whose last name is actually an acronym. TABOR, of course, stands for the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, a controversial Colorado constitutional amendment that has, since 1992, greatly restricted the state’s ability to raise revenue. Among the other Major Leaguers who have an acronym for a last name is Melvin Mora, named for the Michigan Off-road Racing Association. Mora, curiously, is Baseball Reference’s third best comparable for Tabor.

Player biography written by Jose Melendez of Keys to the Game

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #86 Freddy Parent

2007-02-13T08:34:00.000-05:00

Freddy Parent, SS, (1901-1907)

986 g, 1051 h, 129 sb, 519 r, .273 avg, .310 obp, .361 slg

Born on November 25, 1875 in Biddeford, ME, Freddy Parent was 23 years old when he broke into the big leagues on July 14, 1899, with the St. Louis Perfectos (Cardinals). When early baseball history was being made, this 5'5" Maine native was often around. In 1901 at the age of 25, Parent became the shortstop for the Boston Americans (Red Sox).

In the 1903 inaugural World Series, Parent was still the team's starting shortstop. He scored the first run in the deciding 8th game of the 1903 World Series, won the by Boston 3-0 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Boston won the AL pennant again in 1904, but the NL Champion NY Giants refused to play the World Series, denying Parent a chance at a 2nd championship. Parent played for Boston through 1907, then was traded to Chicago. He finshed up his career with the White Sox from 1908-1911.

In 986 games with the Red Sox, Parent batted 3846 times(24th most), amassed 1051 hits (tied with Jimmy Foxx for 25th best), including 63 triples (11th best). He scored 519 runs and finished with a Red Sox batting average of .273. Nearly 100 years after he played, Parent still ranks 6th among all time Red Sox stolen base leaders with 129 steals. Parent passed away in 1972 at the age of 96. At the time he had been the last surviving member of the first modern World Series.

Player biography written by jecarney

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #87 Ray Collins

2007-02-12T20:52:00.000-05:00

Ray Collins, SP, (1909-1915)

199 G, 90 CG, 1336 IP, 84-62, 2.51 ERA

Ray Collins, a native New Englander who was born in Vermont, pitched his entire seven year career in Boston. In his five years as a regular member of the Sox rotation the lefty posted a better than league average ERA and won at least 11 games. In 1910 he was just 13-11, but had a 1.62 ERA in 244.2 IP. His best two years in the win column came in ’13 and ’14 when he combined to win 39 games and tossed 519 innings. His biggest asset was his outstanding control. He allowed just 1.81 BB/9 innings over 1336 IP for his career. Out of all the pitchers who threw at least 450 IP as a member of the Red Sox only Cy Young, Curt Schilling, and Jesse Tannehill were able to better that mark.

Hall of Famer Ty Cobb was quoted on several occasions as saying that Collins was one of, if not the, toughest pitcher he ever faced. He apparently was able to handle all the Tigers pretty well. On September 22nd, 1914 he pitched an entire double header against the Tigers, going the distance in both games, beating them 5-0 and 5-3.

In 1915 the Red Sox, who would go on to win the World Series, had the best crop of young pitchers in baseball. Rube Foster, Ernie Shore, Babe Ruth, Dutch Leonard, Joe Wood, and Carl Mays (all of whom will be appearing later on this list) were so good that the 28 year old Ray Collins, coming off a 20 win season, was relegated to the bullpen. Collins never made an appearance in any of the 5 World Series games in 1915, but it was his second time being on a Boston team that won the Championship. He had a 1.88 ERA in 14.3 IP in the 1912 World Series win over the New York Giants.

Collins struggled in 1915 while coming out of the bullpen and took the failure so hard that he retired after the season stating that he was “discouraged by his failure to show old-time form.” Arm troubles may have also contributed to the early demise of his promising career.

Collins threw 90 shutouts for Boston, 12th most in team history and his 19 shutouts were good enough for 7th best. His 2.51 ERA ranks 6th all-time for the team, 1 point ahead of Pedro Martinez, although Collins was pitching in a different ERA. League average ERA during the years that he was pitching was 2.90, but still Collins finished his career with a very respectable ERA+ of 115.

After retirement he returned home to Vermont to work on his family’s farm and coach his former school’s baseball team at the University of Vermont. He died at the age of 82 in 1970 while still living in his home state.

Brian Martin used to write at Friendly Fenway, but he's a lazy bastard and let the site die.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #88 Jesse Tannehill

2007-02-12T20:36:00.000-05:00

Jesse Tannehill, SP, (1904-1908)

116 G, 886 IP, 62-38, 2.50 ERA, 1.6 BB/9

Jesse Tannehill was born on Tuesday, July 14, 1874, in Dayton, Kentucky. Tannehill was 19 years old when he broke into the big leagues on June 17, 1894. Jesse Tannehill was a deadball-era, left-handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Highlanders, Boston Red Sox/Pilgrims, and the Washington Senators. Tannehill was among the best pitchers of his era and was one of the best-hitting pitchers of all time. In fact, Tannehill was such a good hitter that he was used in the outfield 87 times in his career.

He broke into the National League at the age of 19 with the Cincinnati Reds; however, he struggled in 29 innings and did not reappear in the major leagues until three years later. After a partial season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1897 he went on in 1898 to set a career high in both innings pitched (326 2/3) and wins (25). Tannehill had several good years with the Pirates until his career year in 1901, where he led the National League in ERA at 2.18. He won 20 or more games six times; his 20-6 record for the Pirates in 1900 gave him the league’s best winning percentage (.769). His 2.18 ERA in 1901 led the NL. In 1902, he again went 20-6 (1.95).

In 1903 Tannehill jumped to the Highlanders (later the Yankees) of the fledgling American League after a salary dispute with tight-fisted Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss. After the season, he was traded by the Highlanders to the Boston Red Sox/Pilgrims for Tom L. Hughes. He became an important part of the Red Sox championship team of 1904. He pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox on August 17, 1904 (his brother Lee went 0 for three for Chicago) and continued to be an above average pitcher until 1907. After this, however, Tannehill went into precipitous decline, as he was traded to the Washington Senators for Case Patten.

In his career, Tannehill was used in the outfield 87 times and as a pinch hitter 57 times. With his career winding down he actually played more games in the outfield for the 1909 Senators than he pitched (nine to three). Jesse Tannehill retired from Major League Baseball in 1911, with a career ERA of 2.79 and 197 career wins. He died on September 22, 1956.
Jesse Tannehill retired from Major League Baseball in 1911, with a career ERA of 2.79 and 197 career wins.

Player Biography by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #89 Butch Hobson

2007-02-11T14:11:00.000-05:00

Butch Hobson, 3B, #4 (1975-1980)

623 G, 561 H, 94 HR, 358 RBI, 10 SB, .252 AVG, .296 OBP, .439 SLG

Clell Lavern “Butch” Hobson (born August 17, 1951 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama) is a former third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball. Hobson played for the Boston Red Sox (1975-80), California Angels (1981) and New York Yankees (1982). He batted and threw right-handed. He was an ‘all-out’ player which caused him many injuries throughout his baseball career. After retiring, he managed the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Boston Red Sox. Currently he is the manager of the Nashua Pride in the independent Atlantic League. He won the International League Manager of the Year award in 1991.

Hobson was a star football player for the University of Alabama team. Selected by the Red Sox in the 1973 amateur draft, he made his debut on Septermber 7, 1975. However, it wasn’t until June 1976, that he played his inaugural game at Fenway Park—a contest that saw him slug a double and an inside-the-park homer. Over the next four seasons, Hobson’s all-out style of play made him a fan favorite. His grit also produced some impressive results: in 1977 he set team season records for a third baseman with 30 home runs and 112 RBI. He finished 23rd in voting for the 1977 American League MVP for leading League in Strikeouts (162) and having .265 Batting Average (157 for 593), 77 Runs, 33 Doubles, 5 Triples, 30 Home Runs, 112 RBI, 5 Stolen Bases, 27 Walks, .300 On base percentage, .489 Slugging Percentage, 290 Total Bases, 10 Sacrifice Hits 3 Sacrifice Flies and 4 Intentional Walks in 159 Games.

In 1978, Hobson hit 17 home runs with 80 RBI. However, his 43 errors in 1978 were the most by any AL fielder, and his .899 fielding average was the first below .900 by a regular in 62 years. After a solid start in 1978, Hobson was sidelined by hamstring and elbow injuries. He rebounded to belt 28 homers and drive in 93 runs in 1979, but Hobson says his arm never felt the same after the previous season’s woes. Following a sub-par 1980, he was dealt to the California Angels, along with Rick Burleson, in the same trade that brought Carney Lansford and Mark Clear to Boston. In an eight-year career with the Red Sox, Hobson hit a .248 batting average with 98 home runs and 397 RBI in 738 games.

After the trade to California in 1981, the hard-nosed slugger suffered a shoulder separation. Just prior to the 1982 season, Hobson was traded to the Yankees where he played just 30 games before being demoted. The veteran infielder would play three more years for the Yankees Triple-A club in Columbus before retiring as a player.

Soon after his playing days, Hobson started coaching in the Red Sox organization where he swiftly rose through the ranks to become the club’s big league manager in 1992. Unfortunately, the Bosox teams under his reign were hampered by injuries and failed to qualify for the post-season, and he was let go after the 1994 season. As a manager, he posted a 207-232 record for the Red Sox from 1992-94.

In 1996, he landed a job managing the Phillies Triple-A squad in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It was during his tenure there that one of his darkest moments in baseball occurred when he was arrested on a cocaine possession charge. The incident marked a turning point in his life. Rehired by the Red Sox to manage their single-A team in Sarasota in 1998, Hobson longed to be closer to his family in Vermont. In 1999, he jumped at the opportunity to manage the Atlantic League’s Nashua Pride.

Player biography by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #90 Brian Daubach

2007-02-11T14:06:00.000-05:00

Brian Daubach, 1B, #23 (1999-2002, 2004)

541 G, 477 H, 86 HR, 306 RBI, 4 SB, .265 AVG, .341 OBP, .488 SLG

Brian Michael Daubach, born February 11, 1972 in Belleville, Illinois, was drafted in 1990 by the New York Mets in the 17th Round, and got a reputation as a player that always was the sort of guy who you had an idea could contribute but not start everyday. He toiled for seven years in the Mets’ minor league system without breaking through to the majors before being granted free agency. In 1997, he signed with the Florida Marlins organization and made his major league debut in 1998 getting 15 ABs. In 1995, he crossed picket lines to be a replacement player (scab) during the MLBPA players’ strike, but the strike ended before any of the replacements saw game action. (Daubach is one of a select few Major League Baseball players who is not a member of the MLB Players Union because he was a strike breaker during the 1994 strike shortened season.)

A left-handed first baseman with above-average power, Daubach was shunned as a “scab” when he joined the Boston Red Sox in 1999. Due to his hard nosed style of play and penchant for clutch hitting this resentment didn’t last long, and he quickly became both a player and fan favorite. From 1999-2002 he averaged 432 ABs. His best year with the Sox was his first, 1999, when he batted .294 with 21 HR and 73 RBI. He became the first among AL rookies in home runs. He is only the third left-handed rookie in Red Sox history to hit at least 20 home runs, joining Ted Williams (20 in 1939) and Fred Lynn (21 in 1975). Those power numbers stayed somewhat consistant throughout his time with the Sox, but his average took a bit of a hit as the years went on. A notable moment for Red Sox Nation occurred on August 16, 1999 when he helped the Red Sox pull away from the Oakland Athletics en route to the American League wild card with his three-run double in the bottom of the ninth off Tim Worrell.

During his tenure with the Red Sox, he also became a special friend to the Jimmy Fund. In addition to making frequent visits to the Jimmy Fund Clinic, Daubach made appearances at Jimmy Fund events, including the Scooper Bowl®, and served as a spokesman for the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk. In 2003, Daubach contributed $500 to the Jimmy Fund for every home run he hit throughout the season. The Brian Daubach Home Run Challenge raised $34,000.

Sadly, he had no place on the team at the beginning of the 2003. He signed with the Chicago White Sox, but saw limited action and underperformed to a great extent. He made a triumphant return to Fenway in 2004, but he did not play well after coming back and was soon gone again. He is considered a founding member of the “Boston Dirt Dogs” and later received a World Series Championship ring as a member of the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

On June 16, 2005, Daubach finally made his debut with the club that drafted him fifteen years earlier. He started 2005 with the Norfolk Tides, a Triple-A affiliate of the Mets in the International League. That year Brian led the way for the Tides, as he led the International League in all three triple-crown categories, hitting .371 with eight home runs and 25 RBI. Currently, Brian is a minor league first baseman for the Memphis Redbirds, the AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.

In his seven-season major league career, he has compiled a .261 batting average with 92 home runs and 330 RBI in 646 games.

Player Biography by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #91 Greg Harris

2007-02-10T12:41:00.000-05:00

Greg Harris, RP, #27 (1989-1994)

287 G, 53 GS, 3 CG, 16 SV, 3.92 ERA

To appreciate Greg Harris's impact on the Boston Red Sox, you have to realize that he was a swingman. He was actually a swingman in two different ways (there may have been a third, but I don't know Greg or his wife well enough to ask). As you can see from the provided stat line, Harris was both a starter and a reliever for the Sox. Yes, he was really only technically a swingman in 1991, but a lot of his value to the club was tied to his versatility and rubber arm.

Harris was selected off waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies on August 7th, 1989. He spent the rest of the '89 season in the bullpen, where he provided the Sox with 28 innings and an ERA+ of 160. Ineffectiveness (Wes Gardner and Eric Hetzel) and FA departures (Oil Can Boyd) opened up a spot in the Red Sox rotation for Greg Harris in 1990. He would start 30 games for the '90 squad, giving the Sox just about 6 IP per start at the league-average ERA. He refined and improved his curveball, giving credit to Mike Boddicker for helping him improve the pitch and his overall usefulness.

1991 saw the Red Sox begin to figure out how Harris could be most useful. He both started and relieved, but the improvement in his pitching as a reliever was evident, with an ERA about 2 1/4 runs lower as a relief pitcher. He also averaged about 1 2/3 IP per relief appearance. While Greg could still provide about 6 IP with league-average results as a starter, he was strikingly better as a setup man.

In 1992, Greg had arguably the best season of his entire career. He would pitch 70 games, starting two, with an ERA+ of 169. Harris, seemingly, had found a home with the Red Sox and a spot to call his own. As we all know, however, relievers are a fungible and unpredictable commodity. After setting the Red Sox record for appearances with 80 G(later broken by Mike Timlin in 2005) in 1993, his 1994 season was a nightmare. His ERA jumped to 7.99 (league-average ERA in 1994 was an even 5, and his BABIP was a significantly unlucky .367), he was released and only able to find work with the Yankees in July.

You might be thinking, hey, numbers are great, but why should I care about this guy? I'll tell you. But first, take another look at the picture I've chosen for Greg Harris's bio. See the hand he's shown pitching with? Greg Harris spent 99.9% of his career as a right-handed pitcher. Greg Harris was actually ambidexterous. For reference, the last pitcher in the ML to pitch with both his right and left hands was Tony Mullane in 1893.

This may seem like a huge advantage (provided the pitcher is skilled with both hands), but it was an advantage Lou Gorman was unwilling to use in his tenure as GM. Gorman believed it would "make a mockery of the game". Harris disagreed. In protest, he still wore an ambidexterous six-finger glove when pitching. He also, obviously, would pose for pictures (as in the '91 Score card) as a left-handed pitcher. Greg Harris never got the chance to use his ability with the Red Sox.

However, in his final season and next-to-last game with the Montreal Expos, maverick visionary manager Felipe Alou allowed Greg Harris to realize his dream. From the online Baseball Library:

The Reds defeat the Expos by a score of 9-7, with Expos reliever Greg Harris pitching the 9th ambidexterously. The Reds don't score against him as he faces two with his (normal) right arm and two with his left. After Harris (right-handed) retires Reggie Sanders on a grounder, manager Felipe Alou permits him to do what he had wanted to try for 10 years. Following a wild lefty toss to the backstop, he walks Hal Morris. Remaining as a southpaw, though, he gets Eddy Taubensee to ground out. Finally, returning the ball to his right hand, he retires Bret Boone on a ground out.

Greg Harris was a useful pitcher for the Red Sox during his tenure. The righty/lefty setup combo he and Tony Fossas provided in those years was a forerunner to the successful duo of Mike Timlin and Alan Embree. Harris also, notably, spelled his middle name correctly.

Allen writes about the Red Sox in a self-important and pretentious way so that you don't have to. You can find him at Over The Monster.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #92 Dick Gernert

2007-02-10T09:57:00.000-05:00

Dick Gernert, 1B, #3 (1952-1959)

706 G, 568 H, 101 HR, 377 RBI, .252 AVG, .352 OBP, .436 SLG, 9 SB

Richard “Dick” Edward Gernert was born in Reading on September 28, 1928 and rose through the amateur baseball ranks at Northeast Junior High, Reading High, Gregg Post American Legion. Gernert was a power hitter out of Temple University where he also lettered in basketball. He hit 19 HR as a Boston rookie and 21 as a sophomore in the only years he was a regular.

After signing with Boston (AL) and spending two full years in the minors, he began his 11-year Major League career in 1952 with the Red Sox, taking over at first base when Walt Dropo was dealt to Detroit in early June.

In 1952 as a 23-year old power-hitting rookie, Gernert made an immediate splash in Beantown. Despite hitting only .243, he slammed 19 homers (tenth best in the American League) and drove in 67 runs. He wound up leading the Red Sox in both HRs and RBIs even though he totaled just 367 at-bats. He finished 25th in voting for the 1952 American League MVP for playing in 102 Games and having 367 At Bats, 58 Runs, 89 Hits, 20 Doubles, 2 Triples, 19 Home Runs, 67 RBI, 4 Stolen Bases, 35 Walks, .243 Batting Average, .317 On-base percentage, .463 Slugging Percentage and 170 Total Bases.

The following season Gernert continued his slugging ways by smacking 21 round-trippers, which tied him with Mickey Mantle for seventh best in the American League. Once again he led the Red Sox in long balls and also boosted his batting average (.253), RBIs (71), runs scored (76) and walks (88).

Giving new meaning to the term 7th inning stretch, the Red Sox scored 17 runs in one inning against the Detroit Tigers on June 18th. The Sox sent 23 batters to the plate as the Tigers tried to stop the bleeding with three different pitchers. None of them worked. The Sox had 14 hits and six walks in the record-setting inning. Leading the charge was Dick Gernert and Gene Stephens. Stephens set a major league record with three hits in one inning, while Gernert knocked in four of the 17 runs. The Sox finished with 27 hits and 23 runs. It is too bad that only 3,626 fans showed up to see the barrage of runs. The Sox broke or tied 17 major league records that day, even though the greatest hitter in Sox history, Ted Williams was still fighting in the Korean War.

After missing most of the next two seasons (he played a total of 21 games) due to illness, Gernert made a comeback in 1956. Now splitting his time between first base and the outfield, he set a new career high with a .291 batting average while contributing 16 home runs and 68 RBIs in 306 at-bats. His home run percentage of 5.2 equaled that of his outstanding rookie season. The next year he returned to being primarily a first baseman. Though he found himself hitting cleanup behind Ted Williams on opening day, his production fell off in all major categories by year’s end. But 1958 would see Gernert’s offensive numbers rebound as he reached 20 home runs for the second time in his career while knocking in 69.

It was also a banner year for him in the field, as he led all American League first sackers in putouts (1101), assists (93) and double plays (118). Though his power stats had improved, Gernert’s batting average had hovered at .237 in both ’57 and ’58, and by 1959 he was sharing his first base duties with the left-handed hitting Vic Wertz. In 298 at-bats, Gernert hit .262 with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs. In November that year, the Sox decided to give the position to Wertz on a full time basis and traded Gernert to the Chicago Cubs. To that point in his major league career, Gernert had been a member of Boston teams that usually played better than .500 ball and resided in the middle of the AL pack.

1960 brought a change for the worse, as both the Cubs and the Tigers, to whom he was traded in August, finished well below the break-even point. Between the two clubs, he hit .267 but only had one four-base swat in 146 at-bats. In May of 1961, Gernert was dealt again, this time to Cincinnati. Though the Reds won only 93 games they captured the National League pennant. Used as a reserve for the remainder of the season, Gernert still contributed to the Reds’ march to the World Series, batting .302 in 40 games after the trade. He also got a chance to pinch hit in four of the five Series games against New York but did not get a hit as the Yanks won it, four games to one.

In 1962, Gernert was picked in the expansion draft by the Houston Colt .45s. Houston’s first year in the league would also be Gernert’s last. After appearing in just 10 games for Houston, his big league career ended that May. He finished with a lifetime .254 batting average, 103 home runs, 402 RBIs and 357 runs scored.

Gernert hung on professionally for another couple of years. He caught on with the Pacific Coast League’s Tacoma Giants for the remainder of the ’62 season and hit .289 with 20 homers and 68 RBIs. His final playing days would be spent with the Reading Red Sox in 1963 and 1964, where he hit .283 with 24 home runs and 125 RBIs in 182 games.

In 11 seasons he played in 835 Games and had 2,493 At Bats, 357 Runs, 632 Hits, 104 Doubles, 8 Triples, 103 Home Runs, 402 RBI, 10 Stolen Bases, 363 Walks, .254 Batting Average, .351 On-base percentage, .426 Slugging Percentage, 1,061 Total Bases, 10 Sacrifice Hits, 13 Sacrifice Flies and 12 Intentional Walks.

In 1969, Gernert began a brief managerial career with Wytheville of the Appalachian League, leading the Senators to a 31-35 mark. Tabbed to manage Pittsfield of the Eastern League in 1970, he was reassigned to the American Association’s Denver squad in mid-season. Denver would win the West Division with a 70-69 record, but fall to Omaha in the championship series. Gernert continued to work in baseball throughout the 70s, serving as a scout for the Reds, Senators and Rangers and a first base coach for Texas. In 1978 he was hired as director of player development for the New York Mets, holding that position for three years. He returned to Texas as a scout and national cross-checker from 1981-85 and then ended his baseball career with the Mets as an advanced scout from 1986-2000.

Player Biography by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #93 Lee Smith

2007-02-09T16:21:00.000-05:00

Lee Smith, RP, #48 (1988-1990)

139 G, 12-7, 58 SV, 3.04 ERA

Lee Arthur Smith (born December 4, 1957). An imposing and intimidating figure at 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds with a 95-mph fastball, Lee Smith retired as the career leader in saves with 478, a record that stood until last year when it was surpassed by current San Diego Padres relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman. Smith was voted “Fireman of the Year” three times and paced his league in saves four times over his 18 season career with eight teams. The right-hander strung together 12 straight seasons of 25 or more saves, a record that reflected his durability and performance. When he retired, he not only stood alone as the all-time saves leader but also ranked first in games finished (802) and third in appearances (1022). However, some say his team-jumping (he was traded four times and left teams four times as a free agent) and his lack of post-season success have hurt his Hall of Fame chances.

Lee Smith started his career in the days of two-inning closers and later helped usher in the one-batter closer that became en vogue in the 1990s. Smith originally resisted the move to the bullpen. “When [Double-A Manager] Randy Hundley tried to make me a reliever,’’ Smith told the San Jose Mercury-News in 2000, “I took it to mean that I was not good enough to start.’’ For a brief period he quit baseball to play basketball at Northwestern Louisiana State until a visit from Cubs great Billy Williams convinced him to return to the mound. From 1983-1985, when he was with the Cubs, Smith averaged 6.2 batters faced per game pitched. From 1991-1993 he averaged 4.1 per game. By contrast, Dennis Eckersley averaged 4.7 per game in his nine years with Oakland.

Notorious for his slow gait coming in from the bullpen, Smith shared closing duties with future AL MVP Willie Hernandez in 1982 (inheriting the job from Dick Tidrow) and led the NL in saves for the first time for the Cubs in 1983. Smith then strung together four straight seasons with 30 or more saves. At the time, Dan Quisenberry had been the only other pitcher to accomplish that feat.

In 1984 while the Cubs finished with the franchise’s best record since World War II, Smith compiled his worst ERA of the decade — although he saved more than 30 games for the first time in his career. In Game 2 of the 1984 NLCS, Smith recorded two outs for the save to put Chicago up 2-0 in the best-of-5 series against San Diego. The Padres easily won Game 3 but Game 4 was tied when Smith started the 8th inning. After a scoreless 8th and a strikeout to start the bottom of the 9th, Smith allowed a single to Tony Gwynn. Steve Garvey followed with a two-run homer to force Game 5. The Cubs led that game in the 7th inning but Smith watched from the bench as the underdog Padres scored four runs and won a trip to the 1984 World Series. The Cubs have still not been to a World Series since 1945 and have not won one since 1908.

Smith saved more than 30 games while the Cubs had a losing record in 1985, 1986 and 1987. In 1987, Smith was on pace for his first 40-save season. Although finishing short of 40, he was chosen for his second All-Star Game. When the midsummer classic went past the 9th, Smith pitched the 10th, 11th and 12th innings, striking out four and getting credit for the win when the National League scored the only two runs of the game in the 13th. This strong showing in the All-Star game and the high number of saves he recorded that season did not help dispell the rumors that his bulk was beginning to affect his knees. The Cubs’ all-time saves leader was traded to the Red Sox for Calvin Schiraldi and Al Nipper in the off-season.

After losing the 1986 World Series to the Mets in shocking fashion, the Red Sox finished the following season with a team record below .500. One of the main problems was a bullpen full of pitchers with high ERAs. Smith was brought in to help rectify this situation.

Smith did not start his career with the Red Sox in an endearing fashion, giving up a game-winning home run in his 1988 opening day Fenway Park debut. However, he recovered enough to post his best ERA in five years, recording 29 saves and 96 strikeouts for the season. This was enough to help the Red Sox get into post season play.

In Game 2 of the 1988 ALCS against Oakland, Smith came into a crucial tie game but gave up three singles in the 9th inning capped off by Walt Weiss’ game-winner. The loss put Boston in an 0-2 series deficit going to Oakland. After Boston lost Game 3, Smith was put in to prevent Oakland from increasing a 2-1 A’s lead in Game 4. Instead, he gave up two insurance runs and Oakland finished off the four-game sweep.

At the beginning of the 1990 season Boston traded Smith to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Tom Brunansky. He returned to his dominant self with the Cardinals, recording a miniscule ERA of 2.06 in 1990 and then reeling off three straight 40-plus save seasons.

On September 28th of 1991, he picked up save number 45 to tie Bruce Sutter’s National League record from 1984 (coincidentally, when Sutter and Smith reached 45 saves in their respective seasons, both were ex-Cubs pitching for St. Louis against the Cubs). Smith claimed the league record for himself three days later and finished the season with a career-high 47 saves. One difference for him in 1991 was walks as he surrendered only 1.60 walks per nine innings, by far the best in his career to that point. Smith won his first “Rolaids Relief Award”, received the most significant consideration for league MVP in his career, and finished second in Cy Young Award voting behind Tom Glavine who had a breakout season that year.
In 1992, Smith’s former teammate, Jeff Reardon, broke the career saves record held for over a decade by Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers. However, Smith was registering saves at a faster pace than Reardon and by the end of 1992, he was not far behind him. Just two weeks into the 1993 season, Smith passed Reardon with career save number 358. At age 37, Reardon was slowing down and Smith was well in front of him when Reardon retired in 1994. The day after setting the career major league record, he saved his 301st National League game to break that record as well. Smith had 15 saves in June 1993, the most ever in one month for a pitcher, until he was tied by John Wetteland in June 1996 and Chad Cordero in June 2005.
On August 31, 1993, the Cardinals traded Smith to the Yankees for a career minor leaguer. Smith left the team as their all-time save leader until Jason Isringhausen passed him on June 13, 2006.

Towards the end of the 1993 season, Smith was dealt to the Yankees for pitcher Rich Batchelor. Smith made eight appearances with the Yankees and recorded 3 saves. He filed for free agency in October and signed a one-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles in January 1994. He continued to master opposing batters, saving 33 games with the Orioles before filing again for free agency at the end of the year. Smith signed with the California Angels for 1995 and nailed down 37 saves in what would be his last productive year.

While Smith had started 1994 in fantastic fashion at age 36, he started 1995 even better at age 37. He registered a save in every appearance from April 28 through all of May and into June. On June 11, he saved his 16th consecutive game to break the major league record set by Doug Jones in 1988. He ran his streak to 19 games before finally blowing a save on June 28 (John Wetteland broke the record the next year by saving 24 straight). After keeping his ERA at 0.00 through the first two months of the season, he was selected to his seventh and last All-Star Game, thereby becoming only the fourth player to be an All-Star for four different teams.

At the opening of the 1996 season Smith was traded to the Cincinnati Reds where he was primarily used as a setup man. Adjusting to this unfamiliar role led to a shaky season. In ’97 he inked a deal with the Expos, but by July it became obvious that age had finally taken its toll. After announcing his retirement on July 15, 1997 at the age of 39, Smith refused to answer questions from the media.

In 1998, Smith was invited to spring training by the Royals as a non-roster player, but was released when he refused to start the season for their Triple-A affiliate. Smith signed a minor league deal with the Houston Astros later that year but soon retired again. Within three years he was back in baseball as a coach in the Giants’ organization.
Two years after his retirement in 1998, Smith went to work as a roving minor league pitching instructor for the San Francisco Giants. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Smith served as the pitching coach of the South Africa national baseball team which was given 20,000 to 1 odds of winning the tournament. That summer Smith also participated as a coach in the second annual European Baseball Academy for Major League Baseball International in Tirrenia, Italy.

There has been much speculation about Lee Smith’s chances of becoming a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame as well as the criteria for relief pitchers and closers in general. Baseball’s second all-time saves leader with 478, Lee Smith’s saves total is so impressive that John Franco, who is third all-time, is more than 50 saves behind him.
However, Smith has come up short of receiving the necessary number of votes to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame twice, but many feel it’s only a matter of time.

“I’ve been on the ballot a few years and I think my chances are looking pretty good,” said Smith about getting into Cooperstown. “I think the best thing for all of us relief pitchers was seeing Dennis Eckersley go in as a relief pitcher. Hopefully that will filter down and help out the guys like myself, Goose (Gossage), and Bruce Sutter.”

As of this writing, only Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley and Bruce Sutter have been inducted into the Hall of Fame based primarily on their relief pitching and only Sutter has been inducted with fewer starting appearances than Smith. Let’s hope that Lee Smith makes it number 5 very soon.

Player biography written by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #94 George Winter

2007-02-09T16:10:00.000-05:00

George Winter, SP, (1901-1908)

213 G, 82-97, 141 CG, 2.91 ERA

On the field, the 1901 Red Sox were the blueprints for most of their descendants: potent at the plate (an astounding .293 team average), short on reliable pitching (save for Cy Young), and proficient enough to offer a summer of thrills that ultimately ended in torment. Sound familiar?

But after two straight wins, Boston dropped five in a row and was in fifth place at the start of a long road trip in late May. Despairing of his pitching aside from Young, Coach Collins signed a rookie from Gettysburg College who had hurled for a YMCA team against Boston in spring training. George Winter, nicknamed Sassafras, made his debut in Detroit in June 1901 at the age of 23.

A Gettysburg College teammate of Eddie Plank, Winter was not signed by the Athletics because Connie Mack believed he was too small to pitch in the majors at 133 pounds. Winter joined the Red Sox instead, put on 20 pounds, and won 16 games for them. He finished 16-12 with a 2.08 ERA. Winter would follow this up with a 11-9 record in 1902, where he had an ERA of 2.99.

However, in 1903 he began what many consider the start of the Red Sox rivalry with the Evil Empire. On May 7, 1903, in the first game between the then New York Highlanders aka Yankees in their first year in New York, and the then Boston Americans aka Pilgrims aka Red Sox at Huntington Avenue Grounds the first of many Yankee/Red Sox collisions occurred. New York runner, Dave Fultz, knocked into Boston pitcher, George Winter, prompting a fight and first incident between those two teams. The Red Sox won the game 6-2 then went on to win the very first World Series defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Winter went 9-8 for the 1903 champions but did not appear in the World Series as Boston used only its three 20-game winners Cy Young, Bill Dineen, and Long Tom Hughes. Instead, Winter served as a ticket taker. A Red Sox official had scalped all the reserved-seat tickets in the grandstand which affected the players’ share of the receipts. The players decided to print and sell their own tickets to the games in Boston. Winter and Jake Stahl supervised.

Winter won another 16 games in 1905. In 1908 he was sold to the Tigers. He pitched one inning of the 1908 world series, his last major league appearance. His 8-year career would see him finish at 83-102.

Player biography written by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #95: Roy Johnson

2007-02-08T04:35:00.000-05:00

Roy Johnson, OF, #4 (1932-1935)

515 G, 611 H, 31 HR, 327 RBI, .313 AVG, .384 OBP, .458 SLG, 48 SB

Roy Johnson traversed a difficult path en route to Boston, where his bat and leadership helped the Red Sox escape an abysmal stretch of losing.

During an era when any minority was often made to feel as an inferior foreigner, the Oklahoma-born Johnson overcame the bigotry associated with his one-quarter Cherokee Indian background to excel in a sport that featured less than 30 known American Indian or part-Indian ballplayers in the pre-World War II era.

Despite his ethnic background, Johnson shared a common path with most players of his era, who were discovered in the various industrial and minor leagues throughout the country.

Johnson rose to his baseball prominence in the Pacific Coast League with the San Francisco Seals, and Detroit reportedly paid him a $50,000 bonus after he hit .375 in 1928.

The left-handed hitting Johnson paid immediate dividends for the Tigers in 1929, leading the league in at-bats (640) and doubles (45) in a rookie season where he amassed 201 hits.

Johnson was an outfielder blessed with a strong, but often inaccurate, arm. Although he twice led the league in assists, Johnson set the still-standing AL record for errors by an outfielder with 31 in his first Major League season. Over his 10-year career, he had 128 assists, but 156 errors.

“Not only was Roy a fine hitter, but he had a rifle arm. At times you didn't know where the ball was going but it was going to get there fast,” former Seals teammate Earl Averill told the Tacoma News Tribune upon Johnson’s death in 1973.

It was a combination of erratic defense and a decline in offense that made Johnson expendable. After getting off to the slowest start of his career in 1932, hitting just .251 in 49 games, the Tigers on June 13 packaged Johnson with Dale Alexander in exchange for Earl Webb

Alexander proved to be a wonderful short-term gain for Boston, winning the league batting crown with a .367 average in what turned out to be his final full season in the big leagues due to injuries.

But it was Roy Johnson’s steady offensive production over the next four years that would eventually help the Red Sox part ways with an unprecedented stretch of losing.

When Johnson arrived in Boston the Red Sox were amidst their worst season in franchise history, as the 1932 team finished 43-111 (and 64 games back of the Yankees).

In 1933, the Red Sox improved to 63-86 when Johnson led the team in batting average, home runs and RBI’s (and errors with 25).

In 1934 Johnson had the best year of career, and his .320 average and team-high 119 RBI’s helped the Red Sox (76-76) end 15 consecutive years of losing seasons.

The 1935 team finally broke the .500 barrier, as Johnson’s team-leading .315 average and career-best .398 OBP paced a Red Sox team that finished 78-75.

After helping the Red Sox franchise regain solid footing in the American League, Boston traded Johnson to Washington on December 17, 1935 for future Hall-of-Famer Heinie Manush. But Johnson never played for the Senators, who sent him to the Yankees one month later.

In an ironic twist of fate that has played out too many times before and since, Johnson is among the crop of former Red Sox players who went on to win a championship wearing pinstripes, Johnson’s coming in his only full season with the Yankees in 1936.

A more positive footnote to the Johnson chapter in Boston occurred in 1944 when his younger brother, Bob Johnson (nicknamed “Indian Bob”), joined the Red Sox for the final two seasons of his 13-year career.

In 1944, Bob hit .324 for Boston, made his seventh All Star team, and became one of only 18 Red Sox in team history to hit for the cycle.

But Bob mostly made his mark in Philadelphia with the A’s. Roy Johnson, on the other hand, was a .313 career hitter in Boston, where his best years took place, and he helped the Red Sox escape their worst years, no small feat for a team that had become accustomed to losing.

Player biography written by Red Sox Connection.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #96: Ira Flagstead

2007-02-08T04:13:00.000-05:00

Ira James Flagstead, OF, #? (1923-1929)

789 G, 867 H, 27 HR, 299 RBI, .295 AVG, .367 OBP, .411 SLG, 51 SB

Ira Flagstead was born on Friday, September 22, 1893. A native of Montague, Ira Flagstead played baseball with four teams in a major league career that spanned 13 seasons. A catcher since his days with the Montague Independents, Flagstead was signed by the Detroit Tigers on July 20, 1917. Flagstead was 23 years old.

The Tigers were deep in catching, so the stocky 5-foot-7, 170-pounder was moved to the outfield. Although he posted a batting average in excess of .300 in three of his four seasons with the Tigers, Flagstead never finished higher than third on the team in that category. The Tigers were rich in hard-hitting outfielders and Flagstead played in the shadow of teammates Ty Cobb, Harry Heilmann and Bobby Veach. Flagstead batted .331 in his first full season with the Tigers in 1919. In the spring of 1923 he was sold to the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox were a weak club offensively, but Flagstead’s bat and his hustle delighted the Boston fans. Blessed with a fine arm, he established an American League record for outfielders by participating in three double plays in a 1924 game. The 1925 season was a banner one for the veteran outfielder. The team leader in hits, doubles, walks and runs, Flagstead tied American League records for runs scored in a contest, most times walked in a game, and most times walked in an inning. At season’s end, he was named the Red Sox most valuable player.

In his seven seasons with the Red Sox he set career highs in hits (172), RBI (69), home runs (8), and walks (77). In 1,218 career games, Flagstead batted .290 with 40 home runs and 71 stolen bases.

The club honored the Montague native with “Flagstead Day” in 1928. “Boston’s outfielder” was presented with a variety of gifts, including a new car and $1,000 in gold. He ended the year with 41 doubles - a career high and the sixth highest season total in the American League that year. Released by the Red Sox in the spring of 1929, Flagstead saw limited action with the Washington Senators and Pittsburgh Pirates before the end of the 1930 season. A .290 career hitter, he closed out his baseball career with Tacoma of the Pacific Coast League. He died at the age of 46 in March of 1940.

Player Biography written by Karen.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #97: Tom Burgmeier

2007-02-07T05:33:00.000-05:00

Tom Burgmeier, RP, #16 (1978-1981)

213 G, 21-12, 40 Saves, 2.72 ERA

Thomas (Tom) Henry Burgmeier began his baseball career as a Crusader who would one day be an All Star. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota on August 2, 1943, he started pitching with the St. Cloud Cathedral High School in 1957. In 1961 he led the Crusaders to a State Championship.

Originally signed by Houston, he debuted with California then went to the Royals in the 1968 expansion draft when he was 24 years old. In 1971, he was 9-7 with 17 saves and a 1.74 ERA. He joined the Red Sox in 1978. in 1980 as a Red Sox he went 5-4 with a 2.00 ERA and 24 saves. On August 3, 1980 in a 6–4 win over Texas, Burgmeier finished the last inning in RF. He’s the first Red Sox pitcher to play a position since Mike Ryba caught in three games in 1942. That same year he was named to the American League All-Star Team.

During the 1981 off season Burgmeier suffered a stroke. Despite the stroke, he returned to the mound with the Red Sox where he had one of his best seasons ever — 7-0 with a 2.29 ERA in 40 appearances.

During his 17-year career (1968 to 1984) he compiled a career record of 79-55 with a 3.23 ERA and 102 saves. He played for the California Angels, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, and Oakland A’s. Burgmeier was a consistent and durable reliever until shoulder tendinitis ended his career at age 40.

Burgmeier became a pitching coach in Kansas City’s minor league system from 1992-1996. He then spent the 1997 season as the Royals video scouting coordinator. From 1998-2000 he served as Kansas City’s bullpen coach. He spent the 2001 and 2002 seasons as pitching coach for Baltimore’s Double-A affiliate in Bowie. Burgmeier returned to the Kansas City franchise as a pitching coach for Kansas City’s Single-A club in Burlington, Iowa from 2003-2005. He is currently the pitching coach of the Omaha Royals.

Player Biography written by Karen.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #98: Sparky Lyle

2007-02-07T05:14:00.000-05:00

Sparky Lyle, RP, #28 (1967-1971)

260 G, 22-17, 69 Saves, 2.85 ERA

Albert Walter “Sparky” Lyle was born July 22, 1944 in DuBois, Pennsylvania.

A left-hander with a prominent handlebar mustache, Lyle used the slider to become one of the most dominant relief pitchers of his era during a 16-year career that included tours of duty with the Red Sox, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago White Sox. He pitched 1,390 innings during his career, recording 238 saves, 99 wins, and making 899 consecutive relief appearances. Lyle relied on a crackling slider almost exclusively in his heyday, but also possessed a good fastball and a capable curve. He never started a ML game.

Lyle was first signed as an amateur free agent by the Baltimore Orioles on June 17, 1964; however, he never played a game for the Orioles. On November 30 of the same year, he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox from the Orioles.

Hall of Famer Ted Williams, the last major leaguer to hit .400 in a single season, was at the Boston Red Sox Winter Haven, Florida spring training site when Lyle first pitched.
“Ted Williams told me that I’d never make the big leagues unless I came up with a slider,” Lyle recalled. “I had a pretty good curve, but I couldn’t throw a fastball over the plate.
“Ted Williams told me the slider was the one pitch he couldn’t hit,” Lyle said. “Ted Williams knew a lot about baseball, and when you hear something from a guy like that, you’re going to try to do something about it.”

Lyle worked on developing the slider for the next two years, and became proficient enough with the pitch that the Red Sox summoned him to the major leagues in 1967.
“About two months after I perfected the slider in 1967, I was called up to the major leagues,” Lyle said. “I threw the pitch so it would come straight at the batter until it got to within three feet of the plate. Then it would break down. It was an excellent pitch for double plays. I was a ground-ball pitcher, and that’s how I got batters to hit ground balls.”

He first joined the Red Sox as a player on July 4, 1967, during the “Impossible Dream” season. He was at first assigned uniform number 15 by the Red Sox, but during the middle of the 1967 season was given number 28, which he retained through nearly all his major-league career. By the 1969 season he would emerge as the Red Sox’ top reliever.
In 1968 he began to emerge as the Sox bullpen ace, finishing 6-1 with 11 saves and a 2.74 ERA. He saved 17 games in 1969 (third in the AL), 20 in 1970, and 16 in 1971, but before the 1972 season he was traded to the rival Yankees for first baseman Danny Cater, one of the worst trades in Red Sox history.

Lyle became the Yankees’ bullpen ace, and established himself as one of the best relief pitchers of the 1970s, helping the Yankees to three straight pennants from 1976-78 and winning the World Series the last two years. In 1972 he saved 35 games, an American League record at the time, and a major-league record for left-handers. In 1972 Lyle also became the first southpaw to collect 100 saves in the AL. He again led the league in saves in 1976, and in 1977 became the first AL reliever ever to win the Cy Young Award. He was named an AL All-Star in 1973, ’76 and ’77. In 1976 he broke Hoyt Wilhelm’s AL record of 154 career saves, and the following year eclipsed Perranoski’s major-league mark for left-handers of 179 career saves. Through 1977 Lyle had compiled 201 career saves, and was within range of Wilhelm’s career big-league record of 227.

Despite the fact Lyle had won the 1977 Cy Young Award, the Yankees signed Goose Gossage as a free agent during the ’77 off-season. On November 10, 1978, Lyle was part of a major trade that sent him, along with four other players and cash, to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Juan Beníquez and four other players, including a young Dave Righetti. During the ’78 season, Yankees teammate Graig Nettles famously quipped that Lyle went “from Cy Young to sayonara.”

Lyle was unable to duplicate the great success he had previously enjoyed (perhaps due to the strain of pitching over 100 innings six times from 1969-78), and saved only 21 games for the Rangers in 1979-80. Rollie Fingers moved ahead of Lyle in career saves in early 1980, breaking Wilhelm’s record just weeks before Lyle reached the mark, and Fingers eventually pushed the record beyond reach.

On September 13, 1980, Lyle was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for a player to be named later (Kevin Saucier). Although the Phillies won their first World Series title in 1980, Lyle did not appear in the postseason. He was first assigned number 39 with the Phillies, but for the 1981 season resumed the uniform number 28 which had been his trademark since 1967.
On August 21, 1982, he was purchased by the Chicago White Sox from the Phillies. His last game was played on September 27 of that season for the White Sox, who released him on October 12. Lyle finished his 16-year career with 238 saves, a 2.88 ERA, and a record of 99-76 in 899 games pitched — all in relief.

In 1998, he became the manager of the Somerset Patriots, a minor league team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey, where he resumed wearing number 28. He managed the team to Atlantic League pennants in 2001, 2003 and 2005. He remains the only manager in club history.

Player Biography written by Karen.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #99: Jody Reed

2007-02-06T09:52:00.000-05:00

Jody Reed, 2B, #3 (1987 - 1992)

715 games, 743 hits, .280 avg, .357 obp, .372 slg

Jody Reed was a scrappy middle infielder known for his defensive prowess and a solid bat that contributed to Boston’s pennant winning clubs in 1988 and 1990.

Selected by the Red Sox in the 8th round of the 1984 draft out of Florida State, Reed hit .289 in four minor league seasons and arrived in Boston for good on September 12, 1987, when he pinch ran for Pat Dodson in the 9th inning of a 4-3 Red Sox victory over the Orioles at Fenway.

The baby-faced Reed was impressive in the limited action he saw in his late-season 1987 call-up, highlighted by a 3-for-6 performance in his first start, when Reed batted leadoff in the second game of a September 18th doubleheader at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium.

Reed made the Opening Day roster in 1988, but served as veteran Spike Owen’s back up at shortstop until Joe Morgan replaced John McNamara as manager during the All-Star break. Walpole Joe worked his magic on the ’88 squad, which wound up winning the AL East, and one of his first decisions was to replace Owen at short with the 25-year old kid from Tampa.

Reed, all 5'9" and 165 pounds of him, didn’t waste the opportunity and rewarded Boston’s new skipper with solid defense and a .293 average. Furthermore, Reed excelled at making contact, striking out just 21 times in 338 at-bats.

Reed finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1988 and his best years as a Red Sox lay directly ahead.

Reed excelled in Boston from 1989-1991, when he appeared in an average of 151 games and hit in the .280s all three seasons. He mastered the art of the “Wall Ball” double at Fenway Park, and his 45 doubles led the AL in 1990, when Reed had the best year of his career (finishing 18th in MVP balloting) while pacing the Red Sox to another AL East title.

Reed also made history in 1990, albeit in an infamous manner, in a game against the Twins on July 17 when he grounded into a triple play in the 8th inning. Four innings earlier, Tom Brunansky had also grounded into a triple play, making the notoriously slow-footed Red Sox the only team in Major League history to hit into two triple plays in one game.

Because of his below average arm, Reed was moved from short to second base during the ’90 season, and his last two years in Boston were spent as the team’s every day second basemen. His final season in Boston was the only subpar one of his tenure with the Red Sox, who decided to leave him exposed in the expansion draft.

In reality, Reed was left unprotected by the Red Sox for two reasons: his declining offensive production – he hit just .247 in 1992 – and his salary, which was $1.6 million in his final year in a Red Sox uniform.

And so on November 17, 1992 Reed was selected by the Colorado Rockies with the 13th pick in the expansion draft, and thus his time in Boston was over after appearing in 715 games in six seasons, during which he hit .280 and got on base at a .357 clip.

Reed never got a chance to play in Denver, as the Rockies shipped him to Los Angeles immediately after they drafted him. Reed performed well in his one season in Dodger Blue, hitting .276 and making only 5 errors, but he'll always be remembered for turning down a 3-year, $7.8 million contract to stay in LA.

On the advice of his agent/brother-in-law Reed declined the Dodgers' offer, assuming there would be larger offers on the free agent market.

As it turned out, not another team in the Major Leagues was interested in Jody Reed's services, and he was forced to sign with the Milwaukee Brewers for the league minimum at the start of Spring Training in 1994.

After a good season in Milwaukee, Reed spent a pair of years in San Diego and closed out his career in 1997 with a season spent mostly on the bench for Detroit, where he hit just .196.

For more on the life and career of Jody Reed, visit Red Sox Connection.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #100: 2004 Red Sox

2007-02-06T07:15:00.000-05:00

The 2004 Boston Red Sox

98-64, Finished 2nd in AL Eastern Division, 1st in AL Wild Card. Scored 949 runs, Allowed 768 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 96-66
Won World Series (4-0) over St. Louis Cardinals. Won AL Championship Series (4-3) over New York Yankees. Won AL Division Series (3-0) over Anaheim Angels

The 2004 Boston Red Sox, named #100 out of the Top 100 Boston Red Sox, brought joy to many of us that night of October 27, 2004. The date, burned in the memories of countless Red Sox fans out there, will forever live in infamy as that night was the culmination of events that even Hollywood could never script. Ranging from a movie and a book about the Red Sox being written as the season progressed without a clue as to the end result to the fabled vanquishing of the 'Evil Empire' in the midst of the greatest sports comeback of all time to the swan song for Pedro's Red Sox career (or is it?) and the birth of a legend: the bloody sock of Curt Schilling.

I could go on for 10,000 words on how amazing the Red Sox 2004 World Series run was. All the plot lines of the season, from the July 31 fight to Terry Francona's first season managing the Red Sox to the below-market signings of Bill Mueller and David Ortiz propelling us to the crown to the shocking trade of a Red Sox icon by the name of Nomar Garciaparra. But three years after the fact, how can I do it justice? How can I get as "in the moment" as it was to be?

So I offer this instead: select words from yours truly in October 2004, plus commenters on Fire Brand. Straight from October 2004 and filled with emotion. Unless otherwise credited, all words are from me.

I left with the score 6-1 and Arroyo solidly in hand. I was going to the North End to a restaurant with Mia, and so I was to follow along on my phone. Mia was running late, so I went back to my TV. On the way back, I was following along on my phone. I lost service and I noticed Mike Timlin was two outs away from escaping the jam in the sixth. Boy, Timlin sure is NAILS! Right before I got back to the TV, I got service again. Boom. 6-6. I watched the replay in amazement. Then Mia was ready, so I left again.

We took the T to the North End, and of course, there’s no service down under. I told myself to be patient, I would check the phone when we got back topside, so I contented myself with making conversation with Mia. I was so engrossed in the conversation I completely forgot about the game until we had settled on a restaurant - Baccos. We were seated right next to the bar. Well, actually, the restaurant is so small that every seat is near the bar. It’s a very nice restaurant with good food and great visuals. One great visual was the Red Sox game. I sure ‘nough kept an eye on the game. I was talking to Mia when the entire bar erupted in applause. I told Mia “one moment, please” and esconsed myself at the bar for five or so minutes. Thank you, David. (link)

Hearing 55,000 New Yorkers chant, “Who’s Your Daddy?” isn’t my idea of a wild night, but those same 55,000 New Yorkers shut up quick, fast, and in a hurry when the score went from 8-0 to 8-7 in the matter of ONE OUT. (comment by Sam)

So we lost. Again. Game Two. Martinez v. Lieber.

Okay, where are all these Yankee aces coming from? No, really. Mussina and Lieber? Jon Lieber? (link)

The Red Sox won! The wheels of my bandwagon are repaired, albeit with duct tape. Again, I ask, how do you people sleep at night?! (comment by Joseph Jackson)

ALEX RODRIGUEZ IS THE DIRTEST, CHEAPEST, LOWEST SOB ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH.

It is official.

It is also official that Schilling pisses nails. That man is a king, in my book. (comment by Sam)

11:45 PM and it’s 0-1 to Damon. Tapper to Rivera, and that’s it.

It’s now or never.

TIMLIN!

11:49 PM STRIKE! BALL ONE! BALL (to Matsui) … Single by Matsui. Ah well, wasn’t gonna be easy.
11:51 PM Bronson Arroyo warming, Bernie Williams up… Ball One. Ball Two. Please. End now. 11:52 PM, STRIKE! (Two grand slams, they’re right back in it.) Ball. STRIKE! 3-2. 11:53 PM Embree warming up. Arroyo ran back up to continue warming. Miscommunication, perhaps. AND THIS WILL BE A … no, just the force at second by Pokey. I WILL TAKE IT!

ONE MORE! ONE MORE! POSADA POPPED OUT! UNO MAS!!!!!!!!

Ball … high, to Kenny Lofton. You just KNOW Schilling wants Lofton to make the last out ….

Ball two … ball three. COME ON TIMLIN! Ball four. Okay. So we need to do it for John Olerud, eh. Fine by me. Ah, but Tito’s coming out to yank Timlin. NO CHANCES! Embree coming in!

And Ruben Sierra will pinch-hit.

Sierra is a switch-hitter, so will bat righty. Bernie on second.

12:00 PM Ball. Come on! GROUNDER…

THE WIN! THE WIN!

THE SOX WIN! HISTORY! HISTORY! THE SOX WIN! YESSS!

Oh.

My.

God. (link)

The highest scoring Game 1 in the history of the World Series occurred today (what is with the Red Sox and history?) with the Red Sox taking an 11-9 squeeze over the Cardinals on a Mark Bellhorn eighth inning home run off the foul pole courtesy of reliever Julian Tavarez....

It’s also nice for me to write a semi-lucid post, something I haven’t been doing in the last week or so. That’s nerves for you. (link)

The Boston Red Sox are the 2004 World Series Champions of Major League Baseball!

We believed … and won. (link)

Bucky Dent is replaced with David Ortiz’s shot. Buckner is replaced with Schilling’s Game Six. Aaron Boone is replaced with Foulke - Minky. Free at last! Free at last! (link)

Terry Adams, Abe Alvarez, Jimmy Anderson, Bronson Arroyo, Pedro Astacio, Jamie Brown, Frank Castillo, Lenny DiNardo, Alan Embree, Keith Foulke, Bobby Jones, Byung-Hyun Kim, Curtis Leskanic, Derek Lowe, Mark Malaska, Anastacio Martinez, Pedro Martinez, Ramiro Mendoza, Mike Myers, Joe Nelson, Curt Schilling, Phil Seibel, Mike Timlin, Tim Wakefield, Sandy Martinez, Doug Mirabelli, Jason Varitek, Mark Bellhorn, Orlando Cabrera, Cesar Crespo, Brian Daubach, Andy Dominique, Nomar Garciaparra, Ricky Gutierrez, David McCarty, Doug Mientkiewicz, Bill Mueller, Pokey Reese, Earl Snyder, Kevin Youkilis, Johnny Damon, Adam Hydzu, Gabe Kapler, Kevin Millar, Trot Nixon, Manny Ramirez, Dave Roberts, Ellis Burks and David Ortiz... thank you. Thank you.

Evan Brunell, a diehard Red Sox fan, writes about the Red Sox at Fire Brand of the American League, his analytical and sometimes not so analytical look at the Boston Red Sox. He is joined by Mike Edelman and Zach Hayes, and is also the owner and president of MVN.com.

Top 100 Red Sox of All Time: A Sox Blogs Project

2007-02-04T10:19:00.000-05:00

Who is the best pitcher of all time to don a Red Sox uniform? Where does David Ortiz rank among the greatest Red Sox hitters of all time? Would you rather have Pedro or Roger take the mound with the World Series on the line? Several members of the Boston Red Sox blogosphere have banded together spark up some conversation, answer some questions, and to declare the Top 100 Red Sox of all time.

Starting February 6th, through the end of Spring Training, contributing authors will be posting biographies of the Top 100 Red Sox of all time at their own blogs and here at http://top100redsox.blogspot.com.

The countdown will begin with #100 and build all the way to the best player to ever put on a Red Sox uniform.

As a group, we've combed through history to rank the 100 players based on their career performance in a Red Sox uniform. Statistics achieved for other teams were not factored into this analysis. We wanted to find the greatest Red Sox player of all time more than we wanted to find the best player to wear the Red Sox colors.

Whether you follow this list on the blogs you have come to read on a regular basis or here at the blog's central nervous system, I hope you enjoy taking a trip through Red Sox history with us as much as we have enjoyed working on it ourselves. Feel free to comment on the list as you see it appear throughout the blogosphere, but also at here where the list will be archived for historical purposes.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #101: Wally

2007-01-31T16:55:00.000-05:00

Wally the Green Monster, Mascot, #97 (1997 - present)

place stat line here

Wally the Green Monster is the official mascot for the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball team. The etymology of his name is derived from the Green Monster nickname of the 37-foot wall in left field at Fenway Park. Wally debuted in 1997 to the chagrin of many older Red Sox fans. Although he was a hit with children, the older fans did not immediately adopt him as part of the franchise. As of 2006, Wally has become a popular mascot for fans of all ages, largely due to broadcaster Jerry Remy creating stories about him and sharing them during televised games.

Tim Daloisio writes at the Red Sox Times (more author bio info here)

Test Post and Posting Thougths

2007-01-31T12:10:00.000-05:00

I'll delete this once we get this up and running, but I needed to test out the posts and lay out a few things for post guidelines.

All posts should have a similar look and feel....I'll work on that and post a sample post with a dummy player, etc.

We'll use the labels as follows: Years played for the Red Sox (1901, 1902, 1903, etc) and positions played (please use 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, C, RF, LF, CF, SP, RP, CL (cl is special for those designated as "closer"), Manager, Owner, Front Office, Team.

I'll be responsible for editing the posts for formatting and labels etc after they go live to ensure consistency.

Digital Derek of SawxBlog is working on a header graphic and I'll be playing aroudn with formating.

Thanks,
Tim