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Chatting with Former Red Sox Jeff Frye

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I had the pleasure of chatting with former Red Sox second baseman Jeff Frye. Frye played in the Major Leagues for eight seasons, three of which came in Boston. He was a career .290 hitter, .295 with the Red Sox. Nowadays, Frye works as a sports agent at Frye McCann Sports and does some pre and postgame work for the Texas Rangers.

BSE: You began your career as a 30th round draft pick; what was it like clawing your way up to the Majors?

Jeff Frye: I never even thought I really had a chance of making it to the Majors to be honest. Every Spring Training I would drive down from Oklahoma with my buddies and wonder if this was the year I was getting released. Obviously, everybody’s goal is to play in the Major Leagues, but when you’re a 30th round draft pick and you don’t even start really your first season, it’s not looking too promising.

BSE: I actually saw a video of you online talking about how you changed your stance and upped your offensive production. That was pretty neat to see.

Jeff Frye: It was kind of a fluke deal. I’d done really well in A-Ball, won the batting title in low A-Ball and hit like .270 in high A-Ball. Went to AA and the defense was so much better, and the pitching was so much better at AA and I was struggling for probably two months. Just goofing around one evening after a game in the hotel, and I was imitating a lot of the Rangers star players at the time, Ruben Sierra and Juan Gonzalez, they had big leg kicks. I was imitating those guys and the guy I was playing with, who was actually my roommate, Rick Wrona, he says why don’t you hit like that in a game? The next day I started hitting that way and man, it gave me a huge boost in confidence. I started hitting, I could drive the ball and had more leverage. I just kept doing that the rest of my career.

1992: Jeff Frye of the Texas Rangers with his high leg kick. (Photo by Robert Beck/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

BSE: There’s been a lot of talk lately about the pay for Minor Leaguers, do you think they need to be doing something about that?

Jeff Frye: Yeah, I mean they should’ve done something about it a long time ago. My first year was 1988, and I started out at $700 a month. The Major League minimum was right around $100,000, or 109,000, something like that. Now the minimum’s over $500,000 and starting pay for a first year Minor Leaguer is $1,100 [a month]. It hasn’t progressed.

BSE: You made it to the Major Leagues in 1992 and played a decent amount. Your first Major League home run was actually leading off a game.

Jeff Frye: It’s actually funny, way back in 1992 there weren’t too many games on tv. I think it was a Saturday game, one of the few games that was actually televised. I actually led off the game off Arthur Rhodes with a home run. Our game actually wasn’t the one they were covering, but they clicked over and showed the start of our game. I actually became friends with Arthur Rhodes after that.

BSE: You missed all of ’93 right?

Jeff Frye: Yep, offseason basketball injury. I was playing basketball and tore my ACL, and I kind of lied about what happened to the Rangers. I didn’t have a guaranteed contract so I told them I was jogging.

BSE: In 1994 you came back and batted .327, you had a good season in ’95 and played in 90 games. How come you were in AAA in ’96 for Texas?

Jeff Frye: Well, the new manager they brought over, Johnny Oates from Baltimore, wasn’t a big fan of mine for some reason. He brought Mark McLemore over from Baltimore with him, who also played second base. He was trying to get his guy in there, the guy he felt comfortable with, and I felt like I had earned the spot with what I’d done the year before. Toward the end of the [’95] season I was so frustrated I went on a radio show and the guys were asking me what was going on. I told them how I felt and the Rangers got word of it; Johnny Oates got word of it, and I was pretty much banished after that.

BSE: You were released in June of 1996 and the Red Sox picked you up the very same day, so they must have seen something in you.

Jeff Frye: It was an arranged deal. Billy Martin Jr. is a longtime friend of mine, Billy Martin’s son, he was representing Kevin Kennedy. He called Kennedy up, the Red Sox were struggling, I think they had Wil Cordero and Jeff Manto playing second. Kennedy was looking for a second baseman and he was familiar with me. Billy Martin Jr. said, “well hey, the guy you need is in AAA.” So, they inquired about me, and the Rangers had the choice of either calling me up to the big leagues or letting me go, so they ended up letting me go.

BSE: Your Sox debut was the same day John Valentin hit for the cycle.

Jeff Frye: Funny thing is, Val and I played together in the Jayhawk League, a collegiate league back in the day. He came down to Fort Smith, Arkansas to play for our team. I grew up in Oklahoma so I was playing for that team and we became friends and then we were teammates in Boston….He taught me a lot, I was really raw. I hadn’t had much coaching to that point, I mean a routine grounder to second base was a bang-bang play at first, I didn’t know to charge the ball. Working with Val, he taught me a lot.

Jeff Frye from around the time he met John Valentin.

BSE: You mentioned how the Red Sox were struggling when they got you; they were 22-34. Went 63-43 afterwards and if I remember correctly had the best record in baseball after the All-Star Break.

Jeff Frye: Yeah, we had a great combination of me and Darren Bragg at the top of the lineup. I told Kevin Kennedy, I want to hit and run every single time there’s a runner on first base. I asked him if he’d allow me to put on my own hit and run with Darren Bragg, which doesn’t happen very often, you know? So, I developed a sign with Darren Bragg…because he was always hitting in front of me. I bet I had 30 base hits that year on hit and run, with Braggy running and me just hitting the ball in the hole.

BSE: I had Kevin Kennedy comment to me once about the rejuvenated team in the second half and he singled out you, Bragg and Reggie Jefferson for key contributors to that run.

Jeff Frye: Reggie was a hitting machine, we called him “the Hit Cat.” He was the one guy that I’ve ever seen…that actually worked on hitting the ball in batting practice to where it’d be a hit in the game. I’d never heard of that before, I was just trying to hit the ball hard. He was a great hitter.

BSE: What were some of the big changes coming from Texas to Boston?

Jeff Frye: Obviously the temperature was a big change. I think probably the biggest change was the pressure that you played under, and the excitement level. I never really had that in Texas, when I was there, we were never really in a pennant race. Coming to Boston we had the rivalry with the Yankees.

BSE: Speaking of the Yankees, I think you were the one on base in front of Trot Nixon when he homered off Clemens in that big Pedro vs Clemens game, right?

Jeff Frye: Oh yeah, there’s a great story to that if you want to hear it.

BSE: Oh, absolutely!

Jeff Frye: The at-bat that I got on base I got an infield hit, but earlier in that at-bat there was a pitch in on me that hit the knob of the bat and I acted like it hit my hand. I was jumping around and waving my hand, and Jimy Williams came out and argued with the umpire. Jimy called me over, and my nickname was Frito, and he goes, “Frito, did he get you?”

“No Jimy.”

“Alright, good try!”

I ended up hitting a one-hopper off Clemens’ glove that he probably should have fielded, and they gave me an infield hit. Trot hits the homer, so we go to the bottom of the ninth, I think we had a two-run lead and they scored a run. Then they had the tying run on third, groundball to me, and I’m getting ready to throw to first base, game over, and I look and Mike Stanley stepped on the base and slipped and was almost falling down. So, I double-clutched, and threw, and barely got, I think Paul O’Neill, by half a step. Joe Morgan was even commentating, I think it was an ESPN game or something, he commented about it. So the next day I talked to him about it and he said, “Oh, I didn’t realize that.” If I had thrown it, initially, it would have gone right by him.

Yankee Stadium– May 28 2000– Boston Red Sox second baseman Jeff Frye greets Trot Nixon at home after the right fielder slammed a two run homer in the ninth off NY Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens to win the game. Staff photo by Jim Mahoney

BSE: Any particular games from your playing career stand out?

Jeff Frye: The game where Darren Lewis and I hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth off Mike Trombley of the Twins in Fenway. He hit a home run to tie the game, then I hit a home run to walk-off the game. Two guys who aren’t known for hitting home runs. I remember the headline in the paper the next day; “Banjo Hitters Come Through for the Red Sox.”

In 2001 I hit for the cycle for the Blue Jays against the Rangers.

BSE: Second one in Toronto history.

Jeff Frye: Yeah, that was a little bit controversial because I could have had a double in my last at-bat but stopped at first. We were winning by nine runs in the eighth inning and I went up to Cito Gaston, who was our hitting coach, and said “what do I do here if I hit one into the corner, or the gap?” He said, “stop at first and tell them I told you to.” As I hit the ball I was so nervous. It was a really frustrating year for me, but to have the opportunity to hit for the cycle. I was always the guy who was unselfish, would move runners over and things like that. I finally had the chance in my career to do something a little bit selfish, instead of getting a double I stopped at first, man I got a lot of flak for it. The manager of the Rangers commented on it, and Tim Kurkjian.

BSE: I mean, it wasn’t a close game, what did they care?

Jeff Frye: Yeah, that’s kind of how I felt. Plus, I’d already asked Cito! Cito had already won four pennants as manager of the Blue Jays and two World Series, so.

BSE: I think the first base coach was yelling at you to stop too, right?

Jeff Frye: Yeah, Garth Iorg. I was screaming as I rounded first, “what do I do? What do I do?” And he goes, “stay here! Stay here!” So, I took a big turn and went back to first. Kelly Gruber walked onto the field, man it was a cool feeling.

Kelly Gruber, left, hugs Blue Jays’ Jeff Frye after he cycled with a single against the Texas Rangers in Toronto August 17, 2001. Gruber was the first Blue Jay to cycle twelve years ago. (Photo by Vince Talotta/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

BSE: Was that your proudest accomplishment?

Jeff Frye: Yeah. I mean, I do remember a couple games in Boston when I first went there. I made an error on a routine groundball when Clemens was pitching. Man, the crowd was all over me and were yelling to go back to Texas. Not too long after that I had a game where I was 4-4 and I’d lined out my fifth at-bat and I got a standing ovation. One time Jimy Williams pinch-hit me for Trot Nixon. I was like, “man Jimy, are you sure?” They announced me in Boston, “now batting for Trot Nixon, Jeff Frye,” and the whole stadium booed. So, I’m walking to home plate, and I’m not happy, so I take my helmet off and tip it to the crowd as I’m walking to home plate. I got a base hit and got to first base and I tipped my hat to the crowd. I ended up scoring a run, and then I came up later in the game and hit a two-RBI double off the wall and they loved me.

BSE: Nowadays you are an agent for some of the ballplayers?

Jeff Frye: Yeah, I’ve been an agent for 17 years.

BSE: Wow, that’s a long time. You think your playing days helped in this position?

Jeff Frye: Yeah, definitely. A lot of stuff I do is amateur recruiting, so if I go in and talk to the family about their son, I can basically tell them everything their son is going to experience, I’ve already experienced. Not many other agents can make that claim.

BSE: With the way free agency has gone the past couple years, what are your thoughts on that? Do you think it needs any fixing?

Jeff Frye: Absolutely, something’s going on. Now that Bryce [Harper] and Manny [Machado] have signed it’s like everything is back to normal, but we still have so many great players who haven’t signed. We have difference makers who don’t have jobs and spring training is already going on. This has been a couple years running now. I don’t want to say there’s collusion, but I saw a story about Mark Reynolds, he didn’t have any offers from anybody, then one day within like an hour he had a call from four different teams and the same offer from every team.

BSE: That’s pretty fishy.

Jeff Frye: Yeah, something’s going on. I’m kind of fearful of what we’re facing in a couple years with the player’s and the commissioner’s office.

BSE: Any thoughts on some of the new rules in the game? The change of pace?

Jeff Frye: Yeah, I’m not a fan of that at all. I don’t think the pace of play is why people aren’t watching baseball. I had a hard time watching the playoffs last year, it’s boring with everyone striking out, walking or swinging for the fences. They aren’t cutting down on their swings with two strikes. The Red Sox weren’t that way last year and look what happened; I think Cora did a great job. I don’t think we can look at all these stats, launch angle and exit velocity and things, and measure how valuable a player is. I would have never had a chance, my exit velocity and launch angle wouldn’t even register. I was told to hit the ball on the ground. Nowadays you’re not supposed to hit the ball on the ground….You know last year was the first year in the history of baseball where there were more strike outs than hits? And the shift; they’re talking about eliminating the shift or limiting shifts. Well, if you see four guys on the right side of the infield, hit the ball the other way! Why cater to the guys who can’t make adjustments? He can’t hit the ball the other way so let’s change the rules so it benefits him. Well, that’s not how it’s supposed to work.

BSE: So, you mentioned you’re not a fan of the stats, so called stats, they use nowadays.

Jeff Frye: No, not at all; that’s an understatement. I go round and round with Brian Kenny. I haven’t delved too deep into what stats are put into WAR, but I’m pretty sure if I’m up with a runner on second and move the runner over to third, I don’t get much credit for that. If the next guy hits a groundball to second and gets an RBI, that’s because I helped him get that RBI. I should be credited in some fashion, it’s all about winning.

BSE: Yeah, it was designed initially to just be a tool to help determine how good someone was, not be an and-all-be-all. The problem is, some guys now treat it like gospel, if one guy has a higher WAR than another it automatically means he’s a better player. That’s the big problem with it.

Jeff Frye: Yeah, I remember Tim Naehring said to me one time, way back in the day, the three most important stats are hits, runs and RBI, and the best players in the game average more than two per game. So, any combination of hits, runs or RBI over the course of the season, and if you look at the numbers at the end of the year, the guys who are the best players at the end of the year have the highest percentage.

BSE: I remember a few years ago I was watching MLB Network, and two of the guys were having a big conversation about WAR while John Smoltz just stood there quietly. Right before commercial Smoltz slides in, “Jason Heyward has a higher WAR than Giancarlo Stanton, that’s all you need to know about WAR.” It was perfect, just casually makes a short statement that exemplified a part of the problem.

Jeff Frye: I watch that all the time too, he’s my favorite; he and Billy Ripken, neither one buys into that. Look at the contract the WAR stat got Jason Heyward, and how has that paid off? Immediately it was bad.

BSE: I don’t know if it was the year before he was a free agent, but Heyward hit maybe .276 with 13 homers and was a top 10 player in all of baseball according to WAR. (He hit .293 with 13 HR in 2015).

Jeff Frye: Yeah, because his defensive stats were so great.

BSE: Yeah, which is important, but how does it make you better than someone hitting .310 with 35 homers or something?

Jeff Frye: Yeah, well obviously it doesn’t because look at what’s happened since he signed.

BSE: One last thing, you’re doing some pre and postgame work for the Rangers, correct?

Jeff Frye: Yeah, I started last year on Fox Sports Southwest and I did like 17 games I think last year. I’m scheduled to do, I don’t know how many this year, but that’s been a lot of fun.

BSE: Well, that’s all the questions I have for you, anything you’d like to add?

Jeff Frye: Still a Red Sox fan, happy they won they won the World Series. I’ve reached out to the Red Sox because I’d…like to do their fantasy camp, I thought that’d be cool to get to see some of my old buddies, so maybe down the road I’ll get to do that.

BSE: Well, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today.

Jeff Frye: Yeah, no problem man.

Featured picture (Photo by Sporting News via Getty Images)

Red Sox Players to Hit for Cycle

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Mookie Betts hit for the cycle on Thursday night, becoming the 21st player in Red Sox history to complete the feat. Needing a home run in the ninth, Betts fouled off a very hittable pitch and seemed to realize he had missed one. He made up for it, cracking a no doubter over the left field wall to collect his cycle. So who were the 20 players before him to get the cycle?

The Early Days

Buck Freeman was the first player to hit for the cycle in franchise history. Known as the Boston Americans when Freeman completed the cycle, Freeman accomplished the feat on June 21, 1903. He did so in a 12-7 Boston victory over the Cleveland Blues, or Cleveland Naps, depending upon where you look. The Cleveland franchise had acquired superstar Nap Lajoie the previous season and were beginning to be called the “Naps” after him.

Patsy Dougherty accomplished the feat not much more than a month after Freeman. Dougherty’s cycle came on July 29, 1903 against the New York Highlanders. Dougherty was in his second Major League season, one in which he led the American League with 195 base hits.

Tris Speaker hit for the cycle on June 9, 1912, becoming the first player to do so after the franchise became known as the Red Sox. One of the greatest center fielders of all-time, Speaker drove in three runs in a 9-2 victory over the St. Louis Browns that day. His batting average at the conclusion of the game was .405, and he went on to win the MVP Award that season.

Roy Carlyle hit for the cycle on July 21, 1925 in a 6-3 win over the White Sox. Carlyle hit his double and triple off future Hall of Famer Red Faber, and his home run off another Hall of Famer in Chief Bender. Carlyle only played two seasons despite batting .312 due to his horrible defense.

Moose Solters hit for the cycle in an 8-6 loss to the Tigers on August 19, 1934. Solters had a good rookie season that year but was sent to St. Louis the following season. Moose’s cycle came against General Crowder; got to love the old baseball names.

The 1940’s

Joe Cronin was the Red Sox player/manager when he hit for the cycle on August 2, 1940. Cronin was one of two Red Sox to drive in four runs and one of three to homer in a 12-9 victory over the Tigers. Cronin’s number four is retired by the Boston Red Sox.

Leon Culberson was a rookie for the Red Sox when he hit for the cycle on July 3, 1943. Batting leadoff, Culberson had the four hits plus a walk. His home run was an inside-the-park home run in the eighth inning of a 12-4 win over the Cleveland Indians.

Bobby Doerr’s cycle came in the second game of a doubleheader with the Browns on May 17, 1944. The Red Sox had won game one 5-1 but would actually lose the second game despite Doerr’s cycle by a score of 12-8. Doerr drove in two runs and scored three. He is a Red Sox Hall of Famer, a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, has his number retired by the team and is the greatest second baseman  in franchise history.

Bob Johnson hit for the cycle on July 6, 1944, less than two months after Bobby Doerr’s cycle. In fact, Doerr also had four hits in this game, hitting a double and a triple, but settling for two singles. Bob Johnson completed the cycle and scored four runs in the Red Sox 13-3 win over the Tigers.

Ted Williams hit for the only cycle of his career on July 21, 1946. Williams picked up three hits in a 5-0 win over the Browns during the day. In the nightcap, Williams hit his way around the bases, hitting for the cycle in a 7-4 win. Williams contributed seven hits during the doubleheader sweep.

Bobby Doerr is still the only player in franchise history to hit for the cycle twice. He accomplished it a second time nearly three year after the first, on May 13, 1947. The Red Sox pulverized the White Sox that day 19-6. Doerr hit for the cycle and Ted Williams homered twice in the destruction.

The Cycles Slow Down

Lu Clinton achieved the feat in a 15 inning game on July 13, 1962. Don’t worry; Clinton had already accomplished the feat before extra innings. He tacked on another single in the 15th inning, his fifth hit of the game which scored Carl Yastrzemski for the winning run. Clinton drove in four runs and scored four runs in the 11-10 Red Sox win.

Carl Yastrzemski hit for the cycle on May 14, 1965 in a 12-8 loss in 10 innings to the Tigers. Yaz homered in each of the first two innings, starting the night off with a bang. He finished the game 5-5 with five runs batted in, but didn’t have much help.

Bob Watson became the first player to hit for the cycle in both the National League and American League on September 15, 1979. Watson completed the feat in the ninth inning with a two-run homer as the Red Sox beat the Orioles 10-2 at Memorial Stadium. Watson batted .337 with 13 home runs in a partial season with the Red Sox that season before joining the Yankees as a free agent in the offseason. As Vice President of Major League Baseball, he would draw some attention of having a negative bias towards the Red Sox.

The 1980’s

Fred Lynn hit for the cycle against the Twins on May 13, 1980, becoming the second Red Sox player to hit for the cycle on May 13th. Lynn tripled home Rick Burleson in the bottom of the eighth to complete the cycle. It was one of four runs driven in by Lynn during the Red Sox 10-5 victory.

Dwight Evans sealed his cycle with a dramatic flourish on June 28, 1984. Tied at six with the Mariners, Dwight Evans came up with two men on base and two outs in the bottom of the 11th. He hit a walk-off three-run homer off Ed Nunez to win the game 9-6. One of the more underrated players in the game, Dewey is currently the greatest right fielder in franchise history.

Rich Gedman performed the feat on September 18, 1985. It’s not every day a catcher completes the cycle, let alone gets a triple. Gedman did just that however in a 13-1 defeat of the Blue Jays. Gedman’s triple came with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to put the Sox ahead 8-0. He drove in seven runs total in the game. Wade Boggs also had four hits as the Sox socked 18 of them on the day.

Mike Greenwell cycled on September 14, 1988. The Red Sox needed it, squeaking past the Orioles 4-3. The MVP candidate went 4-4 and scored three of the Red Sox runs. He homered in the second, then scored after his ground-rule double in the fourth. Leading off the sixth, Greenwell tripled on a misplayed fly ball and scored to put the Red Sox ahead.

The Last Twenty-Five Years

Scott Cooper hit for his at Kaufmann Stadium as part of a 22-11 rout of the Royals. In just the eighth game of the 1994 season, on April 12, Cooper went 5-6 with 5 RBI, doubling twice in the cycle. Read about the game and watch the video of his cycle here.

John Valentin homered in the first, tripled in the third, singled in the fourth and doubled in the sixth, all off Joe Magrane. The Red Sox beat the White Sox 7-4 on June 6, 1996. Valentin was 4-4 as he didn’t receive any other at-bats. Take a look.

Brock Holt became the first Red Sox to hit for the cycle in nearly two decades on June 16, 2015. Holt batted leadoff that day, getting three of his hits off Atlanta starter Julio Teheran. He tripled in the eighth off Sugar Ray Marimon to complete the achievement. The Red Sox beat the Braves 9-4.

Mookie Betts accomplished the feat just the other night, and it was seemingly just a matter of time. The Red Sox lost the game, but it is always fun to see someone on the hometown team attain this. Mookie’s homer in the ninth gave us joy during a loss.

 

On This Day In Red Sox History: John Valentin’s Cycle

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June 6, 1996, the Boston Red Sox played host to the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park. The Red Sox had gotten off to a terrible start, starting the season 2-12. At least they had a winning record in May, but they were still just 22-34 on the season. The White Sox, on the other hand, were looking like a playoff team at 36-20. The White Sox had already taken the first two games of the series as Boston tried to avoid the sweep.

Red Sox Squander Opportunities

The two teams took the field for a 7:05 start time that Thursday evening. The Red Sox sent former rule five pick, the left-handed Vaughn Eshelman to the mound. He was opposed by veteran lefty Joe Magrane, who has been seen in recent years on MLB Network. Magrane spent all of 1995 in the minors and had mostly pitched out of the bullpen earlier in the season. This would be his fifth start of the year, and his ERA was nearly 5.00. Eshelman was making his third start of the season and was 0-2 with a 12.71 ERA. A pitcher’s duel was not to be expected.

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Eshelman walked the leadoff hitter. After a single by Frank Thomas, Lyle Mouton, whose brother James also played in the Major Leagues, singled home Tony Phillips for the game’s first run. In the bottom half of the first, the Red Sox leadoff hitter (Jeff Frye) also walked. John Valentin hit the second pitch he saw just over the monster in left for a two-run homer and the Red Sox had the lead. Magrane then walked each of the next two batters before Tim Naehring hit into an inning ending triple play.

The Red Sox wiped out some more baserunners in the second. After a leadoff single by Mike Stanley, Troy O’leary hit into a double play. This proved to be a killer after Jose Malave singled. Through two innings the Red Sox had three base hits and three walks but had hit into a double play and a triple play. However, they still led 2-1.

Valentin Closes In On Cycle

After the White Sox left two men on base in the top of the third, the Red Sox took the opportunity to enhance their lead. John Valentin batted second in the inning and hit a towering fly to center field. Darren Lewis, an excellent fielder, got back to the wall roughly 400 feet from home plate but couldn’t quite jump high enough to catch the fly ball. Valentin wound up on third base with a triple, giving him the two hardest legs of the cycle to complete. It looked like the Red Sox might strand another runner after Mo Vaughn struck out, but Jose Canseco came through with an RBI double to make it a 3-1 ballgame.

The Red Sox added to the lead again in the fourth. Magrane set down the first two batters in the inning. Dwayne Hosey, a key player for the Sox down the stretch in 1995, hit a two out double to give Boston a man in scoring position. Newcomer Jeff Frye, playing his first game with the Red Sox, then singled home Hosey. John Valentin, already batting for the third time singled to left to leave him just a double shy of the cycle in the fourth inning. It had been only two years since the Red Sox last cycle, when Scott Cooper hit for the cycle in Kansas City. The Red Sox got another run after Mo Vaughn doubled, and the game was 5-1 Red Sox after four.

Darren Lewis just missed John Valentin’s deep fly ball to center in the third.

White Sox Make a Game of It

Vaughn Eshelman put on three of the first four batters in the fifth inning. A single by Danny Tartabull scored a run and put men on the corner with one out. Eshelman was able to induce a double play ball from Chris Snopek though and protected a 5-2 lead after five innings. That would be the day for Eshelman, his best start of the season to that point, as he lowered his ghastly ERA to a still horrifying 9.92.

Jamie Moyer replaced Eshelman for the sixth and promptly gave up a leadoff home run to backup catcher Chad Kreuter. Darren Lewis stole second after getting aboard with a single and was driven home by a Tony Phillips single. Moyer was getting batted around and the lead was down to 5-4. He was replaced after striking out Robin Ventura and the Red Sox escaped the inning with a one run lead.

Red Sox Reaffirm Control

The Red Sox wasted no time in reestablishing their safe lead. Jose Malave led off the bottom half of the sixth inning with his second career home run. After two easy outs, Valentin got another crack at Magrane, having already homered, tripled and singled off the lefty. On the first pitch of the at-bat Valentin rocketed the ball down the left field line where it hit the outcropping of the door. Valentin jogged into second base with the double to complete the cycle. The crowd stood on their feet applauding his accomplishment with a standing ovation. Valentin acted like it was no big deal.

John Valentin after completing the cycle.

A Mo Vaughn single scored Valentin and chased Joe Magrane from the game. Magrane’s ERA was now 5.82, and it would only climb from there. He pitched again five days later against the Red Sox, faring better, but taking the loss. He then would make two more poor starts and never pitch again.

As for the rest of this game, it was rather uneventful. Neither team scored over the final three innings, and with the Red Sox in the lead after the top of the ninth, John Valentin never got another at-bat. He finished the day 4-4, hitting for the cycle and scoring three times. No Red Sox hit for the cycle again for nearly two decades, when Brock Holt finally accomplished the feat on June 16, 2015.

On This Day in Red Sox History: Scott Cooper Goes Cycling

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On April 12, 1994, the Red Sox and Royals played the second game of a three game series at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium. The Red Sox had won the previous game 8-5 to improve to 5-2 on the season. This game, they would match up 38 year old Danny Darwin with the Royals ace, Kevin Appier. No one would have expected the onslaught that was about to occur.

Red Sox Jump All Over Appier

Kevin Appier was coming off a season which saw him place third in the American League Cy Young vote. His record had been 18-8 and he posted a league leading 2.56 ERA. In three of his four full seasons to this point he had pitched to a sub-3.00 ERA. He was an ace, no doubt about it. But Appier did not have his stuff on this night.

Speedster Otis Nixon started things off with a bunt single. After a walk to Billy Hatcher, Mike Greenwell doubled to right, scoring Nixon for the game’s first run. Mo Vaughn then crushed a pitch down the right field line that resulted in a triple, scoring two runs. Andre Dawson made it five consecutive baserunners when he singled home Mo. The 39 year old Dawson then stole second base, one of only two steals he would record that season, and the last stolen bases of his Hall of Fame career. A Tim Naehring walk brought Scott Cooper to the plate for the first time. Cooper’s double to right scored both baserunners, extending the lead to 6-0 without even one out being recorded. Appier actually set down the next three guys in order to keep the score at 6-0.

The Red Sox tacked on another run in the second when Billy Hatcher homered to left leading off the inning. This was Hatcher’s only home run for the Red Sox that season before being traded on May 31st for Wes Chamberlain. The Royals scratched out a run in the bottom of the inning and it was a 7-1 ballgame after two.

Cooper Provides the Fireworks

Scott Cooper came to bat again in the third. This time his hit to right cleared the wall for a home run, his first of the young season. Two batters later, catcher Dave Valle hit the only home run of his Red Sox career. Valle would be traded in the middle of June for old friend Tom Brunansky. Appier would finish out the inning and call it a night, surrendering nine runs in just three innings of work.

The Royals showed a little fight in the bottom half of the third, getting two men on base for a Dave Henderson three-run home run. But the Red Sox still held a 9-4 lead.

Scott Cooper batted again in the fifth, with two outs and the bases empty. Cooper lined one the other way down into the left field corner. When Vince Coleman went to play it, the ball squirted past him along the fence. Cooper had slowed down, but sped back up on his way to third. He again slowed going around third, but got waved home with two outs. Cooper was meat at the plate, but it gave him the triple, leaving him just a single shy of the cycle.

Red Sox Offense Explodes

Sidearmer and future Red Sox Stan Belinda took the mound for the Royals in the sixth. For some reason he pitched the whole inning. The Red Sox sent 12 men to the plate, scoring eight runs, although just two were earned. Belinda walked four men in the inning and two errors were committed. John Valentin led off the inning with a walk, then later in the inning hit a three-run homer to left-center.

Up 17-4 entering the seventh, the Red Sox still weren’t finished. Facing the Royals closer, the Red Sox expanded their lead to 21-4. Mo Vaughn hit a two-run homer, giving him a triple and a home run on the night. Then, with two men on and needing a single for the cycle, Cooper ripped one to right, scoring both runners. Not being selfish for the cycle, Cooper continued on to second for his second double of the night. Cooper now had 11 total bases and five runs batted in.

Cooper Caps Off the Cycle

Scott Cooper got one more shot to complete the cycle. With the Red Sox now up 22-8, the Royals sent infielder David Howard to the mound to finish the game. Scott Cooper led off the inning against him and hit a sharp ground ball into center field for his fifth hit of the game and to cap off his cycle. This was the first cycle for a Red Sox player since Mike Greenwell completed the feat in 1988.

The Red Sox loaded the bases in the inning but did no more scoring. The Royals got three meaningless runs before the game finished, giving the Red Sox a 22-11 victory. This was the most runs the Sox had scored in a game since they scored 24 against the Cleveland Indians on August 21, 1986. Cooper would go on to be the Red Sox representative in the All-Star Game for the second straight season in 1994. This was the best game of the two time All-Stars career; 12 total bases, 5 runs batted in and the cycle.