I have lived in New Hampshire my entire life. Huge Boston sports fan with an emphasis on baseball and football. Love the history of baseball and I should be given a Hall of Fame vote to help them get it right. This is my first time writing for an audience, I appreciate any support from you guys.
Craig Kimbrel rejected his qualifying offer Monday, making him a free agent. Without Kimbrel, the Red Sox have no obvious candidate to fill in as the closer. However, they have a couple of in-house options and there are several viable free agent candidates who would cost much less than bringing Craig Kimbrel back. These are the reasons the Red Sox should explore those other options.
The Contract
Craig Kimbrel was always going to command a big contract for a relief pitcher. With news the other day that his agent, Scott Boras, claims Kimbrel to be the greatest closer ever, one can expect they are aiming for a big-time payday. What would that entail? My guess is Kimbrel will receive a five-year contract somewhere in the 90-100 million dollar range.
With Kimbrel turning 31 next spring, a 5-year contract could be a bit risky. His velocity might decline over the next couple of years, hurting his effectiveness. As things stand now, his effectiveness already waxes and wanes. For how good Kimbrel is, his control tends to disappear at times, at which point fans are in for a rocky rollercoaster ride in the ninth inning. Do you really want Kimbrel taking up 18-20 million of payroll each year for the next five years? That money would be better spent elsewhere. In addition, with the qualifying offer rejected, the Red Sox would pick up a draft pick if Kimbrel signed elsewhere.
This isn’t meant to criticize Kimbrel, he has been one of the better closers of all-time. He has a career ERA under 2.00 and 333 saves. Just two years ago he had another historic season, nearly striking out half of all batters he faced. However, when looking at his other two seasons in Boston, Kimbrel has been good, but nothing special. In 2016 and 2018 Kimbrel has a 3.04 ERA and walks nearly five batters per nine innings pitched. He’s still a strikeout machine and typically gets the job done, but it raises some questions.
More Important Contracts
Mookie Betts jumps to mind as a player the Red Sox need to extend. As the probable 2018 American League MVP and already a three-time Gold Glove winner, Betts is going to command a very large contract. The Red Sox will need plenty of available space to make an extension with Betts work. It might not happen this year, but with only two arbitration years left before he hits free agency, the Red Sox can’t be sleeping on this.
Chris Sale is another obvious guy as he enters his final year before free agency. Sale has been everything the Sox could have hoped for when they traded for him, going 29-12 with a 2.56 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 13.2 K/9 over his two seasons with the team. Sale is probably a top-five pitcher in all of baseball, it would be hard to lose that. With free agency looming, the Sox should be locking him up long-term this offseason.
Xander Bogaerts is also entering his final season before free agency. A two-time Silver Slugger coming off his best season to date, Bogaerts isn’t going to be cheap to retain either. Bogaerts hit 23 home runs, drove in 103 runners and posted a career-best .883 OPS this season. At a premium position, Bogaerts is an important player and won’t be a cheap one. Can the Sox retain him, Betts and Bogaerts even if they don’t keep Kimbrel?
The Red Sox shouldn’t be doling out massive contracts to guys who pitch 50 innings a year when they have MVPs and Silver Sluggers and potential Cy Young Award winners to lock up.
Free Agent Options
The Red Sox might be able to sign two late-inning options for the price of just Kimbrel, with considerably fewer years of payroll tied up in them. That is the direction they should go in, sign two, maybe even three guys to one or two-year deals to lock down the end of the bullpen. If they keep Joe Kelly, they’d likely be looking at signing two.
David Robertson
Robertson has had a nice career but has always done better in a setup role than as a closer. He had a sub-2.00 ERA his final three years with the Yankees before signing with the White Sox to be their closer. He did a good job but had an ERA above 3.00 all three seasons as their closer. At 34 years old come next season, he isn’t someone the Sox would want to give more than a two-year deal.
Andrew Miller
Andrew Miller is coming off a down season, so it might make some sense for the Sox to pounce. He too will be turning 34 next spring, so he won’t command a long-term deal. Coming off a down season, there is a chance he will be looking to sign a one year deal to reestablish some value. In his down season, Miller still struck out nearly 12 batters per nine innings. In his four previous seasons, Miller was 22-11 with a 1.72 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, and 14.5 K/9. Those are some insane numbers, ones I would love to give him a chance to rebound to.
Adam Ottavino
Ottavino has less mileage on his arm than the other guys, but he’s actually about to turn 33. He has missed time with arm injuries more than once, but when healthy he is good. Pitching in Colorado, Ottavino had a 2.43 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 13 K/9 this past season.
Cody Allen
Allen might be looking for a one year deal after having his worst season as a pro this past year. At just 29 years old, he shouldn’t be nearing the end of his effectiveness, and he might be a bounce-back candidate. In the five years before this past season, Allen had an ERA under 3.00 each season, coming to a 2.59 ERA for that five year period. He has saved 147 games over the past five seasons and strikes out 11.5 batters per nine innings for his career.
These are just some of the many options the Red Sox could explore to help form their bullpen. Joakim Soria, Greg Holland, Jeurys Familia, and Zach Britton are several more options that could be had for a fraction of the cost of Craig Kimbrel. Soria and Holland could probably be had on one-year deals. The Red Sox should be looking to sign a couple of the above players to vie for the closer role.
Miller spent four seasons with the Red Sox already. Staff photo by Christopher Evans.
One of my projects for the MLB offseason this year will be a series of articles covering the greatest Red Sox to wear each uniform number. My plan is to cover five uniform numbers at a time starting here with one through five. Right off the bat, we dig into a couple retired numbers. Before I begin, I would like to mention that Brandon Phillips became the first player in franchise history to wear the number zero this September. He didn’t play much, but he did pimp out this game-winning home run against the Braves.
The greatest second baseman in franchise history, Bobby Doerr made the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 and has his number one retired by the Red Sox. Doerr played on some great teams in the forties with pals Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky and Dom DiMaggio. He had a smooth glove at second base and was one of the finest offensive players at the keystone position the game had seen.
Doerr batted .318 in 1939, his third season in the big leagues. By the next season, he had surpassed 20 home runs and 100 runs batted in for the first time. He would make four straight All-Star Games from 1941-44 before joining the fight overseas in World War II and missing the 1945 season. After returning, Doerr made three straight All-Star Games and five times in six seasons to close out his career. He drove in more than 100 runs in four of the five seasons following World War II, finishing with 95 the season he fell short.
Unfortunately, Doerr was forced into early retirement due to a bad back. He had actually become more consistent at the plate later in his career, posting an OPS between .886 and .891 each year between 1948 and 1950. He still finished with a very solid .826 OPS in his final season. From his first full season in 1938 through his last in 1951, Bobby Doerr averaged a season of .289 with 17 home runs and 95 RBI.
Ellsbury’s career has spiraled, but that’s a good thing since he’s eating up the Yankees payroll to do nothing. With the Red Sox, he was a good player when healthy and helped the Red Sox win two World Series. Ellsbury came up that year and was so successful down the stretch that he was put on the postseason roster. He then batted .438 in the World Series. Ellsbury was solid again in the 2013 postseason, winning a second World Series with the Red Sox.
Ellsbury spent parts of seven seasons with the Red Sox, but only had four relatively full seasons. He led the league in stolen bases in three of his four healthy seasons. He batted .300 twice and stole 50 bases three times. In 2011, Ellsbury had a career season, finishing second in the MVP vote, winning a Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger. While the rest of the team collapsed down the stretch, Ellsbury was white hot and would have won the MVP if the team hadn’t fallen apart and missed the playoffs.
Foxx is one of the most powerful right-handed bats of all-time. The greatest first baseman in Red Sox history, Foxx won one of his three MVP Awards with the Red Sox and finished second in another season. He homered 35 or more times in each of his first five seasons with the team, averaging 40 home runs and 134 runs batted in per season. There is a reason Foxx was referred to as “The Beast.”
In 1938, his third season in Boston, Foxx won the MVP Award. That season he hit 50 home runs and drove in a league high 175 runs. His slash line that season was .349/.462/.704/1.166, leading the league in each category. The next season he batted .360 and led the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and home runs. Cumulatively, Foxx batted .320 with the Red Sox and is second in franchise history in on-base percentage and slugging percentage behind only Ted Williams.
Another retired number, as the Sox retired the number four in honor of Cronin. Cronin spent seven seasons as a full-time player before he started focusing more on managing the club and being limited to mostly pinch-hitting. Despite this role, Cronin batted over .300 with an OPS over .900 each of his first two seasons doing so.
Cronin made five all-star teams with the Red Sox and had two top ten MVP finishes. From 1937-41 he batted over .300 four times, posting a .307/.404/.504/.909 line during that time period. He averaged 19 home runs and 103 runs batted in during that time. He was the Red Sox manager from 1935-47. After, Cronin went on to become general manager, president and treasurer of the team before moving on to the role of American League president.
As a close second, Jackie Jensen deserves a few words. Jensen hit 20+ home runs in each of his first six seasons with the Red Sox, averaging a season of .285 with 26 home runs and 111 RBI. He was the 1958 MVP and won a Gold Glove the following season.
During his time in Boston, Nomar was one of the most popular players the franchise had ever seen. Around Fenway Park, around the city, you could hear people yell “Nomaaahhh!” Arguably the greatest shortstop in franchise history, the uniform number five is synonymous with Nomar for an entire generation of fans.
Nomar came up with much fanfare and won the Rookie of the Year in 1997. He hit 30 home runs and led the league in hits that season. In year two, Nomar finished runner-up for the MVP Award. The following two seasons he was batting champion, hitting .357 and .372. Nomar was getting better and better, before an Al Reyes pitch hit him on the wrist, requiring surgery the following season. Nomar was still an excellent player when he came back, but wasn’t quite the same. His averages fell to .310 and .301 his next two full seasons. However, he did hit 52 home runs and drove in 225 runs over those two seasons. He also led the league with an astounding 56 doubles in 2002.
Things didn’t end on the best terms in Boston for Nomar, but he should be remembered for what he did with the team and for how much the fans loved him. He batted .323 with a .923 OPS during his time in Boston. Nomar hit 50 doubles twice and eclipsed 40 two other seasons. In his six full seasons with the Sox, Nomar hit over 20 home runs in all six. He is truly a Red Sox legend.
The Red Sox completed their ultimate goal last night, dispatching the Dodgers in five games. It was a fitting end to a season that saw them set a franchise record for wins. So where do these Red Sox rank among some of the greatest teams in Major League history?
Total Wins
The Red Sox won 108 games in the regular season, setting a franchise record. The 1912 Red Sox, who also won the World Series, won 105 games in a 154 game season. The Red Sox 108 wins places them in a tie for ninth most all-time. Due to the shorter seasons pre-1961, they rank a bit further down in terms of winning percentage. The case can be made though that this team had a tougher road.
There was no free agency in those days, so teams did not need to fear losing their players. Also, there was no postseason. If a team had the best record in their league, they made the World Series. There was no going through teams like the Yankees and the Astros again in the
Graphic from the Baseball Nexus
postseason after beating them out in the regular season.
Since free agency began, only the 2001 Mariners and the 1998 Yankees won more games than the Red Sox did this year. The same holds true for total amount of wins, when combining regular season and postseason wins. The 1998 Yankees won 125 and the Seattle Mariners won 120, and the Mariners did not even make the World Series that season, let alone win it. No other team in baseball history, pre-free agency or post-free agency, won more than 119 games; So this Red Sox team is in some rarefied air.
Postseason Road
It is safe to say that no team in history has faced the tall task the Red Sox just went through in the postseason. After winning 108 regular season games, the Red Sox reward was facing a 100 win Yankees team. The 100 wins from the Yankees was more than any National League team won. The Red Sox steamrolled through their rivals in four games however.
Next up was the 103 win and defending champion Houston Astros. Despite the Red Sox having the top record, many thought the Astros would be too strong for them. They were, after all, the defending champions and had improved their pitching staff this season. The Astros 103 wins were two more than they accomplished last season and placed behind only this seasons Red Sox and last season’s Dodgers for the most wins of the decade.
After dropping the first game, the Red Sox had no more issues with the Astros, taking four straight to dispatch of the defending world champions. The final three of those wins came in Houston and included beating future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander in the deciding game.
In the World Series, they faced the Dodgers, who were playing for the championship for the second consecutive season. The Red Sox didn’t have much trouble with them either, winning in just five games. It took the Dodgers 18 innings to win one game from the Red Sox. In that 18 inning affair, the Red Sox top four spots in the batting order combined to go 0-28, and it still took 18 innings and an egregious miscue in the field from second baseman Ian Kinsler for the Dodgers to win a game.
Ian Kinsler looks in disbelief after his error led to the Dodgers tying the game.
Star Power
As all great teams do, the Red Sox weren’t short of star power. Mookie Betts looks like he will probably win the MVP Award, after going 30-30 while leading the league in hitting. His closest contender for the award might be teammate J.D. Martinez, who hit .330 with 43 home runs and 130 runs batted in. On the mound, Chris Sale was the favorite for Cy Young until a couple disabled list stints in the second half.
And yet, despite the star power, the Red Sox did not win because of that. This truly was a team effort, showing just how great of a team it is. Mookie Betts batted just .217 with a .699 OPS in the World Series and hit only one home run the entire postseason. J.D. Martinez was a more human .278 hitter with an .881 OPS in the World Series. Chris Sale did not win a game in the series.
Instead, everyone pitched in, with journeyman Steve Pearce taking home the World Series MVP honors. The much-maligned David Price got his redemption. After struggling in his first couple postseason outings, running his playoff record to 0-9, Price bested Justin Verlanded in the deciding game of the ALCS, then won games two and five in the World Series. Nathan Eovaldi was practically not human, pitching six innings of relief in game three while routinely pushing triple digits with his fastball. He then volunteered to pitch again later that same day.
Boston Red Sox’s Steve Pearce celebrates after his home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the eighth inning in Game 4 of the World Series. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Conclusion
So where do these Red Sox rank amongst the greatest teams ever assembled? It is hard to pinpoint an exact place, especially factoring in the different styles of play and the way the game has changed over the years. However, it is clear this team is near the top. The 1927 and 1998 Yankees usually get talked about, as do the 1929 Athletics. The Big Red Machine of the 1970’s is up there as well, but this team can win with them all, and winning is truly all that matters.
Knuckleballer Steven Wright has said he believes he is healthy enough to pitch in the World Series. Wright was initially on the ALDS roster but was removed after complaining about renewed soreness in his knee. This left Wright ineligible for the ALCS roster as he was replaced for both series by Heath Hembree. Assuming Wright’s simulated game Sunday went well, what should the Red Sox do for the World Series?
The Pros
Steven Wright has been a very effective pitcher for the Red Sox, both as a starter and as a reliever. Wright was an all-star back in 2016 but has missed much of the past two seasons. Wright has a troublesome knee which keeps barking and sending him back to the disabled list. After a DL stint earlier in the season, the Sox moved Wright to the bullpen where he enjoyed great success.
In 16 games as a relief pitcher this year Steven Wright was 2-0 with a 1.52 ERA and one save. Some of that work came early in the year however, before he began starting in June. When Steven Wright returned to the Red Sox in September he allowed just one run over 13.2 innings pitched. Wright was even used in high-leverage spots, picking up a win, three holds and a save over the final month.
Bringing a knuckleballer in out of the pen following a conventional pitcher can be highly effective. After seeing a healthy dose of fastballs and curves, seeing a slow knuckleball all of a sudden can really mess with a hitters timing. Then, once Wright was removed from the game again for a new reliever, one likely throwing in the upper-90’s, imagine how that would mess with the batters. There’s a reason he has had success.
The other pro Steven Wright would offer out of the pen is giving the Red Sox another relief pitcher who could eat innings if needed. If the starting pitcher were knocked out of the game Wright could pitch for several innings. If the game went extra innings, Wright could essentially pitch for as long as the team needed him to.
The Cons
The first con would have to be the health of Wright’s knee. As stated before, Wright was put on the ALDS roster only to be removed after the first game due to the discomfort in his knee. What if Wright’s knee acted up again?
This really should not be a reason to keep Wright off the World Series roster. The team has other pitchers traveling with them; if Wright’s knee acted up again they could just replace him on the roster like they did in the ALDS.
The only other con I can see would be timing. Just like Wright’s knuckleball can mess with a hitters timing after seeing a healthy dose of fastballs, maybe it could do the same to the catcher trying to catch his knuckleball. But again, Wright has put up some impressive numbers out of the pen already down the stretch this season and can be a real weapon to have out of the bullpen.
The Verdict
I am definitely a proponent of adding Steve Wright to the roster for the World Series. His ability to pitch multiple innings if need be as well as his knuckleball messing with opponents’ timing is too much of a weapon to pass up. The team should replace Brandon Workman on the roster with Wright.
Although Workman was effective this year at 6-1 with a 3.27 ERA, he has not been the same pitcher of late. Workman allowed five runs over his final 2.2 innings this season. Small sample size, yes, but it has continued into the postseason. Workman has an ERA of 45.00 since the playoffs began. He has pitched three times, getting just one out in all three outings. He put on three baserunners in his first outing and allowed a run. His next outing he managed to get the one out without allowing a run, but did put two men on base. His outing in the ALCS was the worst yet, giving up four runs on three hits, two walks and two home runs. Workman can not be trusted in any meaningful role at the moment.
Workman has an ERA of 45.00 this postseason.
Other Roster Moves
The other roster move I would consider would be to add Bobby Poyner to the team. Poyner would give the Red Sox another lefty out of the pen, as currently all they have out there is usual starter Eduardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez isn’t exactly someone who would come in to face a lefty in a tight spot. With the Dodgers having Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson, not to mention the fact Yasiel Puig struggles mightily versus lefties, and it might be a good idea to have someone throwing from the left side out there.
Poyner proved his worth when on the team this season, pitching to a 3.22 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and over a strike out per inning. Lefties batted a measly .143 against the rookie left-hander with only one walk and one extra-base hit. He could come in handy against the Dodgers.
Heath Hembree would be the other pitcher to go if the Sox were to add both Wright and Poyner. Hembree has pitched 3.2 shutout innings in the postseason, albeit in lower leverage spots. He also walked four guys over those innings, so he hasn’t been entirely sharp. This comes on the heels of a 4.20 ERA and 1.33 WHIP during the regular season. The only other option would be Eduardo Rodriguez, who has an ERA over 9.00 this postseason. Rodriguez has more value in his ability to pitch several innings if need be though, so I would keep him on the roster.
Another night; another heart attack brought on by Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel, but another win. This has become commonplace in close Red Sox victories this postseason, as Kimbrel has been a disaster on the mound, but has ultimately finished out each game successfully; somehow.
Kimbrel appears to be a disaster waiting to happen, so what should the Red Sox do with him moving forward?
Pitch Him In Lower Leverage Situation
I think Kimbrel needs to be taken out of the closer role, at least temporarily. He absolutely cannot be trusted right now. Even if the next game is close, I would use other pitchers in the late innings.
If there is an opportunity in the near future to pitch Kimbrel in a game that isn’t very close, the Red Sox should take it. I’m not sure if nerves are playing a factor, they likely are, but Kimbrel can barely find the strike zone.
Maybe working in a lower leverage spot Kimbrel can find the strike zone. Maybe he won’t be able to, but you can’t have a guy throwing ball after ball trying to close out games.
There have been multiple times this postseason where Kimbrel has been brought on to protect a three-run lead and hasn’t thrown strikes. In that situation, the only goal is to throw strikes; a home run can’t beat you, throw the ball over the plate and make them work for it. Kimbrel has been giving the opposition baserunners without much fight.
Kimbrel’s Struggles
Craig Kimbrel has pitched in four games this postseason and allowed the opposition to score in all four. Just let that sink in for a moment.
His ERA is standing at 8.44 after last night and he has put 13 baserunners on in only 5.1 innings pitched. 13! Kimbrel has walked five batters and hit two as he struggles to locate his pitches. On numerous occasions he has yanked his fastball, missing so far outside the catcher is left reaching as far as he can to corral it. Other times, his breaking ball is a wild pitch waiting to happen. He has been playing with fire and somehow has yet to be fully burned. It’s only a matter of time if something is not done.
In game four of the ALDS, pitching with a three run lead, Kimbrel walked two batters and hit another. He threw 28 pitches to get three outs, less than half of them going for strikes. He came about as close to blowing that game as one could without actually blowing it.
His next outing he gave up back-to-back two out hits before a fly ball from Alex Bregman nearly tied the game.
Last night was another heart attack, walking three batters and hitting another. He faced 11 batters to close out the three run lead. Kimbrel has now thrown a whopping 101 pitches in his four postseason appearances. And then there is this:
Craig Kimbrel's last clean postseason outing in a game his team was winning when he entered was 8 years ago!
Despite everyone being worried about the Red Sox bullpen entering the postseason, Kimbrel has been the problem. Others have pitched very well, excluding Brandon Workman. Workman shouldn’t pitch unless the game is a blowout, he’s the only guy that’s been worse than Kimbrel.
Ryan Brasier struggled in his first postseason appearance but did not allow a run. He seemed to have cleared his postseason jitters with that performance because he has been nails since. Brasier is up to seven scoreless innings over seven appearances.
Matt Barnes has also come up big, netting a big strike out looking to end the seventh last night. Barnes has now thrown 5.2 shutout innings over six appearances this postseason. These are currently the Sox two most trustworthy relievers, like it or not. At least for now, they should be getting the highest leverage spots.
In addition to them, others are also performing well. Heath Hembree has thrown 3.2 shutout innings, albeit not in any tight spots. Joe Kelly has stepped up his game, showing the good side of his pitching. Kelly has allowed one run over 5.1 innings without issuing a walk. The strike throwing is refreshing.
Ideally Kimbrel is the ninth inning guy; he’s been doing it a long time and it helps set up the bullpen better. But for the moment, he can not be trusted with the way he is throwing, and the Red Sox need to try someone else.
On September 18. 1996, the Red Sox played the Tigers at old Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The matchup was the second of the series, with the Red Sox having taken the first game 4-2. Roger Clemens was on the mound for the Sox in the midst of a stellar stretch to close out the season. He faced off with young left-hander Justin Thompson. Thompson would be an all-star the following season but was still finding his footing at the big league level.
Clemens’ 1996 Season
Roger Clemens had been struggling for much of the 1996 season, pitching to a 4.36 ERA by the end of his start on August 1st. He went on a dominant stretch over the final two months to close out his free agent season. Heading into this game with the Tigers, Clemens was 5-1 with a 2.17 ERA over his previous seven starts. Those numbers would only get better as the night wore on. The 34 year old Clemens would go on to strike out 20 Detroit Tigers batters on the night, tying his own Major League record set back in 1986 against the Seattle Mariners. He was the only person to ever accomplish the feat at the time.
Breaking Down Clemens’ Historic Strikeout Feat
Clemens struck out two batters in the first, then struck out the side in the second. He struck out two more in both the third and fourth innings before striking out the side again in the fifth. He gave up a leadoff single to Brad Ausmus in the sixth, but proceeded to strike out the next three batters. Clemens struck out two in the seventh and two in the eighth to give him 19 strikeouts through eight innings. He had struck out at least two batters in every inning.
Maybe he had worn down some from all the work, but the first two outs in the ninth inning were not by strikeout, leaving Clemens still one away from the record with one out to go. He came through, striking out Travis Fryman for the fourth time in as many at-bats to tie his own Major League record.
An incredible 14 of the 20 strike outs were swinging. Clemens got 32 strikes total on the night swinging. 101 of his 151 pitches on the night went for strikes. Six of the eight Tigers starters struck out multiple times, with Phil Hiatt striking out in his only at-bat off the bench. Travis Fryman struck out in all four at-bats, including the 20th punch out on the night. Tony Clark struck out three times.
Other Noteworthy Peformances
Bill Haselman was Clemens’ catcher for the game. When Haselman caught Clemens that season, The Rocket had a 3.10 ERA. In all other starts made by Clemens, his ERA was 4.71. In addition to his catching, Bill Haselman had a three hit game at the plate and drove in two runs. Joining him with three hits was September call-up Rudy Pemberton. Pemberton was a former Detroit Tigers farmhand and was having a heck of a September for the Red Sox. He had the only two extra-base hits for either team on the night, doubling twice amongst his three hits. Mike Greenwell had two hits and stole a base. Nomar Garciaparra stole the very first base of his Major League career.
The entire game is actually available on YouTube to watch. I watched it for the first time a couple years ago, as the night it happened I was relegated to listening to the game on the radio. If you aren’t a crazy fan like my and just want to see some highlights, enjoy the clips of all 20 strikeouts by Roger Clemens that night below.
September first; the day rosters expand. Today the Red Sox called several players up from the minor leagues to join the club for the final month. It is yet to be seen if any of them will make a big impact, or even be used much at all. Sometimes the call-ups get a lot of playing time, and some even have a big impact on the team down the stretch. In choosing the top five September call-ups in Red Sox history, I combine how well the player did in that final month with the impact they had on the club. I do not factor in future production, only what they did in the September they were called up.
Jacoby Ellsbury
Ellsbury was first called up at the tail end of June, 2007. He only made five starts before being sent back down. After spending just one day in August with the big club, Ellsbury was called back up when rosters expanded on September 1st. From that point forward, Ellsbury was a regular starter for the club despite them being in first place. During the final month, Ellsbury batted .361 with three home runs and drove in 17 runs. He was also a perfect eight for eight stealing bases.
With his stellar performance down the stretch, Ellsbury made the postseason roster despite not even having enough at-bats to remove his rookie status for 2008. Ellsbury appeared in 11 games that postseason, including all four in the World Series where he went 7-16 at the plate. Ellsbury drew two walks, doubled four times and stole a base during the World Series against the Rockies.
Jacoby Ellsbury at the 2007 World Series Parade. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Fred Lynn
The second half of the “Gold Dust Twins” was a September call-up in 1974, coming up a couple weeks after Jim Rice. Lynn got up to the plate 51 times that September and showed the fan base what was to come. Lynn had six multi-hit games, including a four hit performance against the Tigers that September. He batted .419/.490/.698/1.188 down the stretch, homering twice and driving in 10 runs.
Rudy Pemberton
Pemberton is not as well known as the others listed. By the 1996 season he was already 26 years old when he got the call. Pemberton raked after being called up in September of that season. Pemberton had logged 30 at-bats with the Tigers in the spring of 1995 before being sent down. The Red Sox acquired him early in 1996 and he batted .326 with 27 home runs and 92 runs batted in for Pawtucket. Pemberton continued to thrive, picking up 21 base hits in 41 at-bats for a .512 batting average! Pemberton homered, drove in 10 runs and posted a 1.336 OPS.
Despite his performance, Pemberton got off to a slow start in 1997 and wound up in Japan. He spent most of the rest of his career playing foreign baseball.
Dwayne Hosey
Dwayne Hosey is a similar one to Rudy Pemberton. Hosey was already 28 years old when the Red Sox gave him his first shot in the big leagues in September of 1995. Hosey had generally put up solid numbers in the minors but had never been given a chance. In 1994 Hosey batted .333 with 27 home runs and 27 stolen bases for the Omaha Royals in AAA, but was never called up.
The Red Sox acquired Hosey on August 31, 1995 after a season down in AAA for the Royals and put him on their big league club. Hosey played a bunch for the division winners, accumulating 68 at-bats that September. He batted .338 with 3 home runs and was a perfect six for six on the basepaths. Unfortunately, he was 0-12 with two walks in their postseason series with the Indians, but he had performed well enough to start in the postseason for the club.
Clay Buchholz
How can you leave off a guy who threw a no-hitter? Buchholz had made a start on August 17th, but was sent back to the minors until rosters expanded. On September 1st, 2007, Buchholz no-hit the Baltimore Orioles, striking out nine and walking three. That alone earns him consideration. He made two more appearances that September, one in relief and one more start. He finished that September with a 2-1 record, a 0.54 ERA and .113 opponent batting average.
Jason Varitek lifts Clay Buchholz after his no-hitter on September 1, 2007.
Honorable Mentions:
Mike Greenwell, Xander Bogaerts, Austin Maddox, Carlton Fisk, Scott Cooper, Ted Cox, Nomar Garciaparra
I had the great pleasure and privilege of interviewing baseball great Fred Lynn the other day. Fred Lynn is a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame, the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame and the Ted Williams Hitters’ Hall of Fame. He is one of only two players ever to win the Most Valuable Player Award and the Rookie of the Year Award in the same season, a memorable moment for people that like betting on the MLB. Lynn made nine All-Star Games, won four Gold Glove Awards, a batting title, an ALCS MVP and an All-Star Game MVP. He truly is both a Red Sox great and a baseball great.
BSE: I hear you’ve been busy this year.
Fred Lynn: Yeah, it’s been a busy summer and spring. At the beginning of our season we never exactly know what’s going to happen. We did some things for the Red Sox, they have a Legends sky box and I go back there probably four times a year and in a normal year do maybe 15-16 games. This year there’s been all kinds of different things popping up, like representing the Red Sox at the Major League Baseball draft. Between that and golf tournaments and charity events I’ve been really busy.
BSE: What kinds of charities you been working with?
Fred Lynn: Well we have a charity here called the FACE Foundation in the San Diego area. What this organization does is it allows people that have physically catastrophic needs for their pets, meaning surgeries that could be life-threatening, and they can’t afford it. The FACE Foundation steps in and we have a lot of deals with vets in the area that will take care of it for these people. Most of the people that use the FACE Foundation are military. They save the pets basically on the spot and we’ve saved in the last four or five years like 2200 pets.
BSE: Wow, that is awesome!
Fred Lynn: It’s not like we’re trying to save cancer down the pike, this is immediate gratification. If we save somebody’s pet from being euthanized, then that’s a big deal.
BSE: Absolutely, I have been through that recently and that is a very good cause.
So, I would like to chat some about your playing career as well as the current Sox team. You were originally drafted by the Yankees in the third round out of high school and you decided not to go there, thank you.
Fred Lynn: I was going to go to college and we had told everybody that, that’s why I didn’t go until the third round. All the scouts said “we’re interested”, but I was going to USC.
BSE: And then at USC you actually went on a scholarship for football initially?
Fred Lynn: That’s correct. I was there with Lynn Swann, he and I were teammates. Back then freshmen couldn’t play varsity football; we had our own team, but we used to practice with varsity all the time, so like Sam Cunningham and that group of guys. It was very fulfilling, I love football, it was actually my first love above baseball. When the Trojans asked me to play football there I said “yeah, I’m in.” But, I was only about six feet tall, 170 pounds.
After my freshman baseball season, which we won the College World Series and I was on the All-Tournament team, and then I played for the US in the Pan Am games and I led that tournament in home runs. I hit a home run against Cuba in the gold medal game. I could see that I was one of the better amateur players in the country already as a freshman. With my size, I played corner and flanker in football and I was giving up 50 pounds to tackle these dudes, and that’s when I decided to switch over to baseball.
BSE: You mentioned you won the College World Series your freshman year, but you won all three years at USC, correct?
Fred Lynn: Yeah, that’s correct. We won five in a row and I was on the middle three.
BSE: And the Pan Am games are when you played in Japan?
Fred Lynn: No, we played in Cali, Colombia. If you don’t know, the Pan Am games are the Americas.
BSE: Right, haha.
Fred Lynn: Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Colombia and of course Cuba. So, our oldest player was 21 and when we played in the gold medal game against Cuba their youngest player was 22 and their oldest player was 38.
BSE: Oh wow.
Fred Lynn: Yeah, we lost 4-3. That was a great experience. The next year is when I went to Japan and played in the first collegiate All-Stars, USA vs Japanese college All-Stars. I was the MVP of that tournament.
BSE: What was it like playing over there in Japan at such a young age?
Fred Lynn: We all lost. We were all like 19 years old and I’d never had Asian food before. They tried to treat us right and we ate communally for the most part. They were serving us fish eye soup and these types of things, it was like “oh man.” Most guys weren’t willing to try those kinds of things so we were just dying. But it was a great experience, we played in the Japanese Major League stadiums, and it was a great experience because the fan base there. We were drawing 45-50,000 for a college game. It was great fun, I had a great time.
BSE: You were drafted by the Red Sox in the second round out of college and you came up through the minors with Jim Rice. You two were dubbed “The Gold Dust Twins.” How did that come about?
Fred Lynn: Yeah, that’s a good question, when you find out you let me know.
BSE: Haha, okay. Not sure where it originated huh?
Fred Lynn: No, I think one of the papers had some sort of contests. We started out in Double-A together, and I was only in Double-A for about a month and a half. Then we were in Triple-A and then we came up together in the big leagues. Actually, he came up the month before I did. We got off to a really good start; I don’t remember what paper, or who won. I don’t get the genesis of “Gold Dust twins” but all of a sudden, boom, it just popped up.
Jim Rice and Fred lynn, the “Gold Dust Twins”
BSE: In ’74 when you came up in September you batted over .400, and that led into the ’75 season when you won the MVP, Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove. First ever to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same year, and still I kind of look at you as the only one since Ichiro was 27 and had played many professional seasons over in Japan. Do you kind of feel the same way?
Fred Lynn: A lot of my friends, and certainly my wife does. Can’t hold it against him personally. The rules say “everybody that comes to the United States is a rookie.” Okay, that’s kind of arrogant. But I guarantee you, he didn’t think of himself as a rookie when he came over here. There’s a big difference playing eight years of Major League Baseball over in Japan then entering at 21 or 22.
BSE: So you went on to play in the World Series as a rookie, what was that like?
Fred Lynn: To be honest with you, I had so much success as a collegian and won three national titles there. I actually won the Triple-A World Series between then too, so this is kind of the way things happened for me. I was used to playing on teams that won, I was not used to the other, so it was not unexpected for me. That’s kind of the way things were happening. We had a really good team obviously, and we beat the defending world champs in the Oakland A’s to get to the World Series. I wasn’t really surprised by it, I was just taking it in one day at a time as they say.
BSE: I guess that makes sense after winning three straight championships at USC.
Fred Lynn: Yeah, when you have won like that you expect it. You expect your teams to be good and you expect to play well. It’s unexpected when things don’t go right, so like when we lost game seven, that was unexpected. I had never been in a title game and lost, so that was a first for me. Having always been on the winning side, it was really a strange feeling for me on the other side.
BSE: Do you think the outcome may have been different if Jim Rice hadn’t gotten hurt?
Fred Lynn: Oh there’s no question about it. Losing your number four hitter makes a tremendous difference, and unfortunately the guys that replaced Jimmy didn’t get a hit. I truly believe we would have beaten those guys in six games. We were really good, so I just don’t think they could have handled us.
BSE: In game six you hit a home run and also made a catch at the wall that you got injured on but kept playing. Did that affect you at all?
Fred Lynn: I actually didn’t make that catch, Ken Griffey hit that ball. That was when the Green Monster was a monster, it was concrete. What happened was, I’d lost all feeling from the waist down and I thought I’d broken my back to be honest. So when I started getting the feeling back in my lower extremities I stayed in the game. It definitely shook me up, there’s no question. I was fine mentally, but physically I could feel some things moving around down there. I had no long-lasting effects from that that I’m aware of. I had back issues during my career but I don’t know if it all stemmed from that one play.
BSE: At Tiger Stadium that year, you had a game where you hit three home runs, a triple, 16 total bases and 10 RBI. Do you look back at that as maybe the best game you ever played?
Fred Lynn: Well, it certainly was the most prodigious offensively because I didn’t even do that in Little League. Everything went right that particular night. Hall of Famers play their whole careers and never have a chance to do those things. The first three innings there were guys on base every time I came up and I went homer, homer, triple in three innings and I drove in seven. Those kinds of things, they just don’t happen; especially to rookies. I don’t remember any other rookies doing those types of things. It’s just kind of having a once in a lifetime game in your first season. That’s what kind of made the 1975 season so magical to myself and the team, things were happening that normally don’t happen to rookies.
BSE: Your 1975 season gets a lot of the attention, and rightfully so, but do you consider 1979 as maybe your best season?
Fred Lynn: I was a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger. I had lifted weights some that offseason and gained a little bit of muscle. That was the first time that I hit balls that I didn’t think I’d hit very well and they’d be home runs. I wasn’t a big guy, I used to have to square them up. That year, I turned into a power guy. I hit for average too, so yeah, it was a really good year. Both Jim and I were doing really well that year. We struggled some on the pitching side, but boy, we could definitely hit.
BSE: I look at the MVP voting and wonder how you finished fourth. Maybe it had something to do with the standings?
Fred Lynn: Yeah, a lot of people wonder about that. {Laughter}
BSE: So, after you left Boston, what was playing elsewhere like in comparison?
Fred Lynn: I was traded to California, and I grew up here but had played collegiately, not professionally. The major difference was the fan base. Boston fans in the seventies were very energetic, let’s put it that way. They knew the game, they came early and they stayed late. On the West Coast, they’d cruise on in during the second inning, leave during the seventh or eighth inning. If the teams doing well they come out, if not, well, okay we’ll go to the beach. The weather and the fan base were the two biggest things that were different. The intensity at Fenway Park was, boy you could cut it with a knife sometimes, especially if we were playing the Yankees. Out west, even if we were playing our rivals it didn’t have that same feel to me. I really missed that East Coast fan base.
BSE: You batted .347 with an OPS over 1.000 at Fenway Park, do you ever look back and wonder what would have happened had you not been traded and played longer here in Boston?
Fred Lynn: Well, I guarantee you, they wouldn’t have had to wait until 2004 to have us win. It would have happened. You figure, they got rid of Fisk, Burleson and myself all in the same year. You trade the guts of your defense, and then a lot of your offense too, when you find out a good reason you let me know. If you have those three guys, and then you get the pitching they started to get and nah, there’s no way we don’t win at some point in the eighties.
BSE: You stayed really consistent throughout the eighties. I was looking through your numbers and was kind of taken aback. You had 21 home runs in 1982, 22 in ’83 and then four straight years at 23. Then you hit 25 the following year, so it was a seven year stretch between 21 and 25.
Fred Lynn: Yeah, and I did it unfortunately in a limited number of games. You know, I had a lot of injuries that took me out of a lot of games. If you give me another 20 or 30 games each year than those numbers would be around 30 home runs a year. I just needed to be on the field, that’s all.
BSE: Do you have certain accomplishments your most proud of?
Fred Lynn: The All-Star Game home run ranks up there, not because of a personal thing, but back then the American League and the National League were two entirely separate entities. It was a real grudge match, the All-Star Game, and the National League had been beating us on a regular basis. After ’83, when we won that game, the American League has pretty much dominated the National League since that point. It was a real turning point for the American League and I’m glad I was a big part of that.
BSE: Who is the best player you ever saw?
Fred Lynn: Well, there’s two of them; Mays and Clemente. Those two guys were five-tool players. They did everything and they did it with flair. They had fun, you could see it. As a kid, those were the guys I really liked to watch play. Teams weren’t on the TV much back then but any chance I got to see those two I’d try and watch anything I could about those guys.
BSE: Who was the toughest pitcher you ever faced?
Fred Lynn: That’s a pretty long list. Any particular day you could bring up somebody from Triple-A and they could shut you out, so you just never know. On a consistent basis, Frank Tanana was always tough on me when he was with the California Angels. He and Ryan were number one and two in the league in strike outs and he just had my number. I didn’t pick him up well and if I did hit one on the screws someone would catch it. Some guys you just don’t see, and I didn’t see Frankie so it was a tough day every time I faced him.
BSE: Any pitchers in particular you did see really well?
Fred Lynn: I had a week against Bert Blyleven. He was with the Minnesota Twins and I was with Baltimore. We were playing them at their place in Minnesota and I hit two two-run homers off him. Then we got them at our place in Baltimore and I hit two three-run homers off him. I hit four homers and drove in ten off him in a week.
BSE: Wow, that’s impressive. Hall of Fame pitcher there.
Fred Lynn: Yeah, it works the other way there. I don’t care who he is, if he’s a Hall of Famer or not, sometimes you just see him. Maybe he’s making bad pitches or he catches you on a day your swinging a hot bat, but probably a little combination of both for Bert.
Fred Lynn of the Baltimore Orioles bats during a game in the 1988 season. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
BSE: Moving on to the current Sox team. Have you been following them?
Fred Lynn: Oh yeah, I follow them extensively. I knew they were going to be a pretty good team but nobody knew the impact that JD Martinez was going to have on the club. He solidifies the lineup and he makes it tough to walk guys ahead of him, so they have to pitch to these guys. Now it’s made everybody around him better. Mookie is having a sensational season and you’d be hard-pressed to figure out which one of those two is more valuable. Is it Mookie leading off and setting the table and doing all those things, or is it JD solidifying the lineup in the heart of it? Right now it’s a flip of a coin.
But 50 games over .500? You’re in uncharted waters right there. This is crazy, they just won’t lose. You look at their lineup and say, “there’s a hole here, there’s a hole there,” it doesn’t seem to matter. Or if they have an injury, somebody steps in or they grab a guy like Pearce from Toronto and all of a sudden he’s hitting home runs like crazy. They have tremendous depth.
BSE: Seems that way. During the Yankees series when Steve Pearce hit four home runs I was calling him Jimmie Foxx reincarnated {laugh}.
Fred Lynn: Yeah, he’s got a short swing, and obviously Fenway is good to his type of swing. He pulls the ball, he kind of reminds me, he’s got a swing like Rico {Petrocelli}. A short, compact swing, perfect for Fenway. He hooked everything and that’s what Pearce does. You need some right-handed power at Fenway Park and now they have it. It’s a complete team, they’re leading the Major Leagues in every category. It’s all going to come down to the playoffs, and the front line guys have to perform well in the playoffs, because they’re going to play other teams who won 100 games.
BSE: Yeah, a team like the Astros is struggling right now but they have injuries, those guys are going to come back and they’ll be right back there.
Fred Lynn: Well, they have three front line pitchers. They have three number ones basically. They’re going to be tough in a short series, there’s no question. It’s just going to be, which star pitcher pitches the best. It always comes down to one key at bat; you get a key hit, maybe a two-out hit to drive in some runs. It’s intense. Playoff baseball is intense. Whoever wins the American League pennant is probably going to have to go through two teams that won 100 games. Now Oakland’s charging, and the National League doesn’t have anything like that. It’s going to be fun to watch.
BSE: What do you think of the Andrew Benintendi comparisons to yourself? There have been a lot of them made the last year or two.
Fred Lynn: Obviously he’s left-handed and he’s got a real nice stroke when he hits. He has a different swing; he’s got a short, compact swing. My arms, I got funky arms, they’re really long. My swing was a little longer. Both have a fluid swing, but he lets the ball get in on him more. In my day we’d hit the ball in front of the plate more. So that’s what makes him tough; he’s strong, compact and he can move the ball the other way. If he sees the shift on he’ll hit the ball the other way, which is smart. Those comparisons, I get it, sort of. But to me, in my eye, my swing was longer than his, but it was similar. He’s his own guy, he’s going to make it on his own merit and he’s having a super year too.
BSE: Speaking of shifts; what do you think of all the shifting in baseball nowadays?
Fred Lynn: Well, I can remember shortstops going to play me behind second base, {chuckles} I’d just hit it to short. I mean, there’s ways around it. If you’re not a power hitter…bunt! Get on base, the onus is on you. They’re going to play you this way until you make an adjustment, and if you keep hitting the ball on the screws and making outs then you need to make an adjustment and start going the other way. If you don’t know how to do it, then bunt, but you need to get those guys back where they belong and the only way to do it is to start going the other way.
BSE: Which you knew how to do, I’m surprised they actually shifted.
Fred Lynn: Yeah, I came to Fenway Park and I pulled the ball, I never hit the ball to left field. And I saw that wall and I said, “wait a minute.” So I just changed my swing just to make sure I could do that. Nobody taught me how to do it, I just kind of figured it out. Some guys are pretty stone-headed and they won’t change. Well, if you won’t change you’re going to hit .210.
BSE: Well, that’s all the questions I have for you. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this with me.
I had the privilege of interviewing Red Sox legend Rico Petrocelli the other day. Rico is in the Red Sox Hall of Fame and hit more home runs than any other shortstop in team history when including his work at third base. He was a member of the 1967 “Impossible Dream” team that went to the World Series, and a member of the 1975 Red Sox team that played in the series. Rico has stayed in touch with the game since his retirement and still follows the Red Sox closely today.
BSE: Did you have a nice weekend down in Massachusetts?
Rico Petrocelli: Yeah, in Falmouth. I have another book out with two other authors and I did a book signing down there. I played against or with 56 Hall of Famers and I got to know them. The book is about some of the things I spoke with them about. There are photos of baseball cards, an explanation about the cards, the worth of the cards and something about the players.
BSE: Sounds interesting, what’s the name of the book?
Rico Petrocelli: “An All-Star’s Cardboard Memories.” I used to collect them as a kid, and like most people of my era, we threw them out. I had a card of 52, Mickey Mantle, rookie card. One of them, in perfect condition of course, went for 2.8 million.
BSE: You used to have it?
Rico Petrocelli: Yeah, used to put them in the spokes of the bike; flip them, hit them up against the wall. Who knew? The industry hadn’t been born yet.
So, this ball club, what’s the word? I used to use amazing about a month ago, now it’s…
BSE: Historical I think. On pace to threaten the all-time record for wins in a season.
Rico Petrocelli: That’s right, and they can do it, no doubt. They’re just a good hitting team. Everybody, well when I say everybody I mean the talk show guys say “well, wait until they get into the postseason.” But you know, it’s a month and a half away, let’s talk about it when it gets closer. This club right now is having a remarkable year. Mookie, what can you say about him? But Martinez has just turned things around. I don’t think too many people knew what he’d be in the clubhouse and the guys just love him. He helps with hitting, he’s a hard worker and a great example. I tweeted out the other day, I love Mookie Betts and Mike Trout, but JD Martinez has got to be the front-runner for MVP of this league. The guy has a lot of big hits, a la Big Papi.
BSE: What do you think of Xander this year?
Rico Petrocelli: I think he’s improved 100 percent. We know he’s a good hitter, he’s hit some more home runs, but his defense, his range has improved tremendously; I was happy to see that. He was hurt, but I don’t think he was getting to a lot of balls that he’s getting to this year.
BSE: Do you see any areas of concern for the rest of the season?
Rico Petrocelli: Other than major injuries, no. They feel great about themselves. You see other teams waiting to lose, when the Sox get to the late innings they just get tougher at the plate. But there’s no doubt it will be a battle come postseason. If they ran through some of these teams like nothing in the postseason I’d be very surprised.
BSE: Who do you think is their biggest threat come postseason? Any one team stand out?
Rico Petrocelli: I still think Houston. Once Altuve comes back, and their rotation is more settled. The key with them is their bullpen, I don’t know how much they’ve improved that end, but they’ll need it. They’re definitely beatable, they’re a good team but not as good as last year.
BSE: I’d like to talk some about your playing days if that’s alright? You grew up in Brooklyn watching the Yankees and Dodgers.
Rico Petrocelli: The Giants were there too, we had three teams. Willie Mays was the center fielder for the Giants, of course Mickey Mantle for the Yankees and Duke Snider. All three teams had tremendous players. It seemed to me that the World Series was always Yankees-Dodgers. The Dodgers couldn’t win until 1955, the Yankees had some great teams. I’m the youngest of seven and my brothers were all Yankees fans. I used to go see the Dodgers, when I was real young, to Ebbets Field. Then growing up and making the Majors and getting to play against them? It was like being in baseball heaven.
Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.
BSE: You had a brother that worked security at Yankee Stadium right?
Rico Petrocelli: Actually two of them, but the one Dave, he worked there almost all the home games. When we came they’d put him next to the dugout so he could talk to me.
BSE: So was he rooting for the Yankees when you played there?
Rico Petrocelli: Well he said “no, when we play the Red Sox we’ll root for you guys, but our heart isn’t fully in it.”
BSE: What was it like signing with the Red Sox after growing up in New York and having your brothers such big Yankees fans?
Rico Petrocelli: Yeah, the explanation I was given by the Yankees and the Mets out of high school, the Yankees said they just signed five guys to bonuses. The Mets, I don’t know what they were looking for. But it worked out, the old Yankee Stadium was unbelievably large. 463 feet to center, left-center 400. Right field was short, but man. Then when I came to Boston, it was only 200 miles from home.
BSE: You were actually pitching some in high school right, hurt your elbow?
Rico Petrocelli: Yeah, the Dodgers were actually looking at me as a pitcher. Playing in a semifinals city game, I threw 12 innings. In the 12th inning, I threw a slider, I used to throw a hard slider too, probably didn’t hold the ball right. All of a sudden I heard a crack, I threw the ball and there was a loud crack in my elbow and my whole arm went numb. I said “Oh my God.” I was really hurting. Since I was a decent hitter, they threw me out in left field. So the next inning, they get a man on second, a couple of guys on. Where do you think the guy hits the ball? They hit it in the hole, out to me. I had no chance, I threw it underhand.
BSE: That affected you in later years too? You changed your diet and workout regimen before the 69 season?
Rico Petrocelli: Yes, I had calcium deposits in my elbow so I had to lay off dairy products. I had a great offseason working out. Got ready to go in Spring Training and felt great, the ball looked like a grapefruit. I was hitting the ball hard, took it into the season, hit the 40 home runs. I think I was just as surprised as everybody else, but it sure was a thrill to be able to do it.
BSE: Yeah, you hit 97 home runs over three years, and as you mentioned the 40 in 1969 which broke Vern Stephens record for American League shortstops. That stood until A-Rod, do you have any thoughts on him being the one to pass you?
Rico Petrocelli: Not at all, most people don’t like him but I thought he was just a great player. He really focused on what he had to do, and also he was a hell of a shortstop.
Rico was a sure-handed infielder, setting franchise records for fielding % in a single season at both shortstop and third base.
BSE: Speaking of fielding at shortstop, you had set a single season franchise mark for fielding percentage at shortstop. Then, you volunteered to move to third base for Luis Aparicio?
Rico Petrocelli: Luis Aparicio, they got him at the winter meetings. They called me and said, “you’re probably going to move over to third eventually, would you do it now because we could get Luis Aparicio and we just couldn’t get a decent third baseman.” I said of course, Aparicio was one of the top shortstops in the league, we all respected him. He had a couple good years left.
BSE: Over at third base you set another fielding percentage franchise record, and a Major League record for errorless games in a row at the position.
Rico Petrocelli: I believe so, 77, I think. I don’t know exactly what it was. I had good hands, but of course at short Aparicio was there and he was a Gold Glove, and rightfully so. And when I moved over to third, Brooks Robinson was there, one of the all-time greats. So, I never really had the chance at getting a Gold Glove, but the main thing was helping the team. Frank Malzone helped me when I moved to third base.
BSE: Anyone else you give a lot of credit to for your successes?
Rico Petrocelli: Eddie Popowski was a manager, I had him for two years in the minors and he really helped develop me at short. Then he came up to be a coach too, he was kind of a father image. I was very close to him.
BSE: You played in two World Series with the Sox. Hit two homers in game six in 1967, batted over .300 in 1975. What was it like playing on the big stage and what was the energy like in Fenway back then?
Rico Petrocelli: The energy was incredible, as soon as they opened the gates, so excited. It happened my third year, the first one in 67, which I was just thrilled to be there. I think me, Yaz and Reggie Smith all hit home runs in one inning. I hit another one, maybe earlier in the game.
BSE: And the season kind of saved baseball in Boston.
Rico Petrocelli: Yeah, from what we understand. We didn’t really realize it until later on that Mr. Yawkey was thinking of selling the team or moving the team. We didn’t know that until a year later. A lot of players from the organization came up together, played together as friends, we had a great pennant race between four teams.
BSE: And a lot was done last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that team. How does it feel to be a part of a team so widely remembered and celebrated?
Rico Petrocelli: It feels great and I appreciate it, I think all the guys do. The fans have been so great to us over the years. John Henry and Tom Werner have been great to us.
BSE: Last year was also the 50th anniversary of Tony C being hit. What do you think his career could have looked like had that beaning not happened?
Rico Petrocelli: You know I really believe Tony could have been a 500 home run guy. He had a home run swing; he was strong, could hit to all fields, and with power and was a clutch hitter. Then with the DH, I think he could have stayed for a long time. But it was a tragedy.
Tony C with a mighty swing.
BSE: When the Sox won finally in 2004, what was that like for you as a former Sox player?
Rico Petrocelli: I was really happy. Really happy for the team, for the fans, it meant so much. The players on the team were great guys, not just as players, but great guys. First of all, coming back from the Yankees, that was just incredible. After they won the World Series, the guys were celebrating and almost every guy they got on said that they were so happy to win, but it wasn’t only for them, it was for the guys who came before them and got so close. That was really classy and very appreciated.
BSE: What are some of your favorite memories from your playing days?
Rico Petrocelli: Certainly the two World Series, Yaz’ great year in ’67 was just phenomenal. I think the game against Vida Blue; Sonny Siebert against Vida Blue at Fenway. Vida was, I think 10-1 and Siebert was 9-0. We were both in first place and they hyped it up like it was a World Series game, it was just incredible. The fans came in to see Vida, he was a phenom. I was fortunate enough to hit two home runs off him and we went on to win the game.
BSE: After your retirement you did a number of things; coaching, broadcasting, radio shows, writing. Did you have a favorite out of those?
Rico Petrocelli: I enjoyed doing the radio in ’79 with Ken Coleman. Ken was a tremendous broadcaster and that was really fun. Since 1977 I’ve been doing some form of broadcasting, including currently. I did pregame and postgame when it was on channel 68, when they had the games for a couple years, and that was fun.
BSE: You worked closely with the Jimmy Fund in the past, do you still do a lot with them?
Rico Petrocelli: Yeah I play in their golf tournaments. I worked with them for three years, was involved with their sports fundraisers with Mike Andrews. What an experience. Tough at times, seeing the kids and the young parents, six or seven year olds getting treatments. But the Jimmy Fund was dear to my heart.
BSE: So what are you up to nowadays in addition to the book?
Rico Petrocelli: These past seven years I’ve been doing a show on Sirius XM on the MLB station, myself and my partner Ed Randall. We do a show called “Remember When.” A lot of our guests are players and managers from the past. We talk a lot about what it was like when they played. A lot of them are currently in baseball, we have some guys who just retired five years ago. It’s good to get some insight from them on how their organization is doing. How an organization decides the path they are going to take, whether to sell off their players for kids and take a lot of losses. We’ve had Hall of Famers; Mike Schmidt, Ozzie Smith, we just had Bob Costas on last week. He is one of my favorite broadcasters.
Then I do a collectibles show; it’s called “The Great American Collectibles Show” with a partner. It’s an hour show and we have the experts in that field come on and talk about all these cards, their worth. That’s been a couple years now. I keep busy.
Rico Petrocelli with Tom Zappala recording “The Great American Collectibles Show.”
BSE: That’s all my questions for today, did you have anything you’d like to add?
Rico Petrocelli: Yeah, I go out to book signings or whatever. The fans amaze me with how wonderful they have treated me over the years. They’ll talk about their father’s taking them to see me play.
BSE: That is great to hear.
Rico Petrocelli: Yeah, I’ve been very fortunate, blessed. Whatever happens the rest of the way, I have no regrets. My wife and I had four sons and have nine grandkids; seven girls and two boys.
BSE: Well thank you for your time, I really appreciate it.
Rico Petrocelli: You’re welcome Scott, I enjoyed it. Take care and best of luck.
On Friday night, J.D. Martinez singled through the hole between short and third to drive in two runs. In doing so, J.D. Martinez surpassed the 100 RBI mark on the season. With a month and a half still to play, J.D. Martinez already has 37 home runs and 104 runs batted in on the season. In surpassing both the 30 home run plateau and 100 RBI mark in his first season as a Red Sox, Martinez has accomplished what only nine before him had ever done.
Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx was already the most powerful right-handed bat the baseball world had ever seen by the time he arrived in Boston. Foxx had led the league in home runs in three of his final four seasons in Philadelphia. Sold by the Athletics to the Red Sox during the Great Depression, Foxx was one of several stars brought in my new club owner Tom Yawkey.
1936 was Foxx’ first season in Boston and he clubbed 41 home runs and drove in 143 runners. This was the first time somebody eclipsed 30/100 in his first season with the team. Foxx would accomplish the feat during each of his first five seasons with Boston, averaging 40 home runs and 134 RBI during that stretch. Foxx also won the MVP Award in 1938.
Ted Williams
Williams was a 20-year-old rookie when he joined the Red Sox in 1939 and reached the marks. Told in spring, ”Wait until you see this guy Jimmie Foxx hit,” Williams famously replied “Wait until Foxx sees me hit”. Williams became the first rookie in franchise history to surpass 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in. He hit 31 home runs that year and drove in a league best 145 runners. Williams also hit 44 doubles and 11 triples in that rookie season.
Ted Williams is greeted by Jimmie Foxx as he crosses home plate.
Walt Dropo
Dropo was the third Red Sox to accomplish those numbers in his first season with the team, and second rookie. Dropo wasn’t supposed to be a star, he was already 27 years old when the Sox called him up early in 1950. The 27-year-old rookie went on to hit 34 home runs, drive in a league best 144 runs and lead the league with 326 total bases. Dropo easily won Rookie of the Year and made his one and only All-Star Game.
After a bad season in 1951, Dropo bounced back to hit 29 home runs in 1952. However, after that season he never again reached 20 homers. He spent the second half of his career as a part-time player.
Dick Stuart
Dr. Strangeglove, as he was called, had a big bat and no glove. Another nickname of his was “stonefingers”. His porous defense didn’t help his career, as he played only parts of 10 seasons. Stuart could hit though. He came to the Red Sox in 1963, having made an All-Star Game in Pittsburgh in 1961 after batting .301 with 35 home runs and 117 runs batted in.
In his first season in Boston, Stuart crushed 42 home runs and drove in 118 runs, which led the American League. The 42 home runs were the most hit by any Red Sox player since Ted Williams hit 43 in 1949. Stuart hit 33 home runs and drove in 114 runs the next year before being shipped out of Boston after just two seasons.
Tony Armas
In 1983, Tony Armas became the first Red Sox since Dick Stuart two decades prior to accomplish a 30/100 season in his first year with the team. Armas didn’t actually play well, but still managed to hit 36 home runs and drive in 107 runs. He batted just .218 and posted a .707 OPS despite all the home runs.
Armas was much better in year two for the Sox, batting .268, which was higher than his on-base percentage was the year before. Armas also led the league in home runs and runs batted in with 43 and 123.
Nick Esasky
Just five years after Armas achieved these marks, Nick Esasky did in his lone season with the team. The Red Sox acquired Nick Esasky along with left-handed pitcher Rob Murphy from the Reds in December of 1988. In 1989, Esasky hit 30 home runs and drove in 108 runs for the Red Sox. The Red Sox let Esasky walk in the offseason, leaving him with one (very good) season in a Red Sox uniform. Esasky barely played again, suffering from severe vertigo after signing with the Atlanta Braves.
Nick Esasky of the Red Sox bats during a game against the Rangers on May 1, 1989 at Fenway Park. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Carl Everett
The Red Sox acquired Carl Everett from the Houston Astros for Adam Everett and Greg Miller. Adam Everett was an all glove shortstop and Greg Miller never made the Majors. Meanwhile, Carl Everett beasted in Boston during the 2000 season. He made the all-star team, batted .300 and hit 34 home runs with 108 RBI. He also got a 10 game suspension that year for head butting an umpire and said dinosaurs weren’t real, but his play in 2000 was no joke.
Manny Ramirez
When the Red Sox signed Manny Ramirez, he was handed largest contract in baseball history at the time. He didn’t disappoint either. That first season with the Sox, Manny blasted 41 home runs and drove in 125 runs. Nomar missed most of the season with a wrist injury and Carl Everett slumped badly from the previous season though. Without the lineup protection, Manny’s numbers fell as the year wore on, batting .258 from May 27th on after batting .400 to that point. His first season was still impressive nonetheless.
Manny would make eight All-Star Games, have four top six MVP finishes, win a batting title and a home run crown while in Boston. He also added World Series MVP to his résumé in 2004. In his first six seasons with the club, Manny averaged 39 home runs and 119 RBI per season while posting a .316/.416/.610/1.026 line.
Manny Ramirez follows through during the Red Sox 7-6 victory over the Angels at Fenway Park.
David Ortiz
After being released by the Twins in the offseason despite hitting 20 home runs the previous season, the Red Sox signed David Ortiz for just 1.25 million. It then took Grady Little forever to realize Ortiz was a lot better than Jeremy Giambi. Once finally given a spot in the lineup, David Ortiz raked. From July 1st on, David Ortiz hit 27 home runs and posted a 1.022 OPS. Ortiz homered twice in back-to-back games at Yankee Stadium on July 4th and 5th, games the Red Sox won 10-3 and 10-2.
Everyone knows what happened from there. Ortiz is arguably the most clutch player to ever put on a baseball uniform and arguably the greatest designated hitter. The city of Boston will be descending down upon the small town of Cooperstown, New York in a few years.
J.D. Martinez
These are the names Martinez has joined with his first season performance in Boston. With over 40 games left in the season, Martinez is leading the league with 37 home runs and 104 RBI while batting .332/.400/.666/1.066 as of this writing. He has a legitimate shot at the triple crown.
Honorable Mentions
There are a few guys who came very close to achieving a 30/100 season their first year in Boston. Others accomplished the feat in their first full season in Boston, but had spent a partial season with the team prior.
Vern Stephens hit 29 home runs and drove in 137 runs in 1948, his first year with the Red Sox. He then hit 39 and 30 home runs the next two seasons while leading the league in RBI both years.
Ken “Hawk” Harrelson was acquired in late 1967 to replace the injured Tony Conigliaro. His 80 at-bats that year preclude him from this list. However, 1968 was his only full season with the Red Sox. The year he hit 35 home runs while driving in a league best 109 runs.
Don Baylor was part of the Red Sox team that went to the World Series in 1986. He hit 31 home runs that year but fell six RBI shy of the 100 mark.
Nomar Garciaparra was a September call-up in 1996. In his rookie season of 1997, he fell two RBI shy of becoming the first Red Sox rookie since Walt Dropo in 1950 to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 runs.
Jason Bay falls in the same boat as Hawk Harrelson. Bay was acquired at the trade deadline in 2008 and posted an .897 OPS over the season’s final two months. 2009 was his only full season with the team, and he hit 36 home runs and drove in 119 runs.
The Cons
Other Noteworthy Peformances
