Tag Archives: DENNIS ECKERSLEY

The Greatest Red Sox Legends by Uniform Number: 41-45

Number 41 – Chris Sale

Chris Sale has only been with the team for two years, but he has already accomplished so much. Most important, he was on the mound for the final out of the 2018 baseball season, striking out Manny Machado to clinch the World Series victory. Beyond that, Sale has struck out 545 batters over the two seasons, good for a whopping 13.2 batters per nine innings. He is 29-12 with a 2.56 ERA and 0.92 WHIP.

Sale had an excellent chance of taking home the Cy Young Award this season before he was placed on the disabled list and barely pitched over the final two months. He had 13.5 strike outs per nine and a 0.86 WHIP. It’s almost hard to believe he has yet to win a Cy Young and feels like only a matter of time. The Red Sox need to lock him up so he can keep adding to his Red Sox legacy.

Honorable Mentions: Dick Drago, Jeff Reardon, Victor Martinez

Chris Sale makes Manny Machado look foolish as he strikes him out to end the World Series.

Number 42 – Mo Vaughn

Without a doubt, “the Hit Dog” is the all-time best Red Sox player to wear number 42. Big Mo is from Connecticut and came up through the Red Sox farm system. After a couple Major League seasons finding his way, Mo broke out in 1993 and never stopped clubbing the ball. He hit 29 home runs and drove in 101 runs that season. His .297 batting average would be the last time he would hit under .300 as a Red Sox.

Vaughn hit .310 with a .984 OPS in the strike-shortened season of 1994. He then won his MVP Award in 1995, hitting 39 home runs and driving in an American League best 126 runners. His 1996 season was even better, batting .326/.420/.583/1.003 with 44 home runs and 143 runs batted in. Vaughn surpassed 200 hits for the first time that season, picking up 207. After a stellar 1997, Vaughn finished out his Red Sox career with another 200 hit season in 1998 while batting a career high .337. He hit 40 homers for the second time and posted a .993 OPS.

From 1995-98, Vaughn averaged 40 home runs and 120 runs batted in per season. His batting average was .320 during that time with a .986 OPS. Stretching those numbers out to 1994 only lessens them because of the strike, as his OPS would remain .986. Big Mo is a Red Sox legend.

Honorable Mention: Sonny Siebert

Number 43 – Dennis Eckersley

Before he was a lovable commentator for the team with all his funny sayings, Dennis Eckersley was a Hall of Fame pitcher. Eight of those seasons were spent in Boston. Eck was traded to the Red Sox before the 1978 season, when he enjoyed perhaps his finest season as a starting pitcher. Eckersley won 20 games that season, going 20-8 with a 2.99 ERA. He posted a 2.99 ERA again the following season, going 17-10.

The early eighties weren’t as kind to Eckersley, and he developed some bad habits which led to poorer performance on the field. He still had his use though, posting numbers worthy of a rotation spot for most of the time. Eckersley in fact made the All-Star Game in 1982, his first since his time in Cleveland. Over his first five seasons in Boston, he was 71-53 with a 3.56 ERA.

Eckersley returned to Boston for the final season of his career in 1998. He had a 4-1 record for the team in his final hurrah. Although his ERA was a little high, Eckersley pitched well for most of the season. Lit up in April, Eckersley settled down and had things straightened out by the middle of May. From May 11th onward he posted a 2.48 ERA

Honorable Mention: Alan Embree

Number 44 – Jason Bay

There isn’t a lot of competition at the number 44. Gabe Kapler was a likable guy and won a World Series with the team, but he was a reserve outfielder. Orlando Cabrera was a key component to winning the 2004 World Series, but they let him walk at the end of the season. Danny Darwin had a couple nice years with the Red Sox, but also had a couple poor ones. Jason Bay gets my vote for his work over the final two months of the 2008 season and his excellent 2009 campaign.

Bay came to the Red Sox at the trade deadline in 2008 in a deal that swept Manny Ramirez out of town. He scored the winning run in the 12th inning of his first game with the team. The next day he homered and drove in three. Bay would hit nine home runs and post an .897 OPS over the season’s final two months. He then tore the cover off the ball in the postseason, homering three times and driving in nine runs. He batted .341 with an 1.105 OPS that October.

Bay got to play one full season with the Red Sox, and he made it count. Bay made the All-Star Game and won a Silver Slugger for his work as he bashed 36 home runs and drove in 119 runs. His .921 OPS was second on the team to Kevin Youkilis and he led the team in both home runs and RBI. He got a nice contract in the offseason from the Mets and never produced that much again, but that has no effect on his standing here.

Honorable Mentions: Danny Darwin, Gabe Kapler, Orlando Cabrera

Number 45 – Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez is the greatest pitcher I have ever watched. Every game he pitched at Fenway was a can’t-miss event. He threw in the upper-nineties, had a wicked curveball and those weren’t even his best pitches. Pedro had a change-up that was described as unhittable even if the batter knew it was coming.

After a 1998 season that saw him win 19 games and place second in the Cy Young vote, Pedro went on perhaps the most dominant two year stretch in baseball history. Pitching in the height of the steroid era, in the American League East, Pedro was 41-10 with a 1.90 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 12.5 strike outs per nine innings and 8.65 strike outs for every one batter walked. He led the league in ERA, WHIP and strike outs in both seasons and won the pitching triple crown in 1999.

His 2.07 ERA that season was even inflated by his post-All-Star break start. After dominating the All-Star Game in front of his home crowd, Pedro wasn’t right and was hit hard by the Marlins. After a disabled list stint, he was back to his dominant ways. His ERA was still almost a run and a half better than the second-place finisher. The next season his 1.74 ERA was almost two full runs better than Roger Clemens’ second place 3.70 ERA! He was unreal.

Pedro missed much of 2001 with injury, but returned to lead the league in ERA, WHIP and K/9 in each of the next two seasons. He was a combined 34-8 with a 2.24 ERA and 0.98 WHIP those years. In 2004, he accomplished his goal of winning the World Series in Boston. Pedro pitched seven shutout innings to win game three of the World Series. His number 45 is forever immortalized at Fenway Park.

David Price, Red Sox Win, Game 2 Recap

David Price

Once again, @DAVIDprice24 had complete control on the mound tonight.

Controlling his adorable son? Not as easy.😂 pic.twitter.com/7XNd9PafEm

— Cut4 (@Cut4) October 25, 2018

Live it up David. Any man who goes six innings with three hits allowed and two earned runs in the World Series gets to have his kid up there bring some levity.

While Price was busy rewriting his post season narrative, the offense continued to do things we have never seen. The mantra for offense in baseball is batting with runners in scoring position. For premium offense it’s all that plus doing it with two outs.

There is David Ortiz clutch, in which a singular individual gets hit after hit to win games in the post season. Then there is this team’s version.

In the top of the 5th inning, Hyun-Jin Ryu was steamrolling the Red Sox lineup. He got Ian Kinsler to ground out and JBJ to hit a weak infield fly. He got Christian Vazquez to an 0-2 count. Then it began.

Vasqy keeps his swing short and hits a single. Betts singled. The anticipation and trust and faith in this team begins to ripple through Fenway. Benny walks and the bases are loaded.

The Turning Point

Dave Roberts is getting killed for over managing his Dodgers, but what would you do? Let Ryu face lefty killer Steve Pearce with the bases loaded, or bring in a normally trustworthy strikeout reliever? Roberts goes with door number 2 and brings in Ryan Madson.

The moment proved too big for Madson. He walks Pearce. Almost every pitch looked like Mariano Rivera’s last pitch to Kevin Millar in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS to set up Roberts famous steal. The score is now 2-2. All of this with two outs.

So Madson, who had blown away JD Martinez in Game 1 with the bases loaded, gets to face him in the same situation. You can’t stop JD Martinez, you can only hope to contain him. Because JD is so obsessed about hitting, he look locked in, laser focused. Staying inside the ball, he rockets the second pitch to right and two more runs score. It’s 4-2 and the Dodgers are shook.

The Dodgers were one strike away from getting out of that inning. Who knows how long Ryu could’ve pitched. But The Red Sox relentlessness is a wonder to behold. Putting the ball in play. The Red Sox are making this look easy. Despite what we are witnessing it is not.

Historical Perspective

With runners in scoring position in the postseason the Red Sox are hitting 17-40. That’s a .425 average. .425 is beyond comprehension. They’ve turned into peak Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Tony Gwynn, at the most critical times of the game.

The only other team in the same stratosphere is another old timey Titan. That’s the 1910 Philadelphia A’s. You remember them. Lead by a young Eddy Collins, they hit .394 in those situations.

The Bullpen

Tip of the cap. High Five. Way to go! The Red Sox bullpen, so maligned and beleaguered during the year, continued to dominate. Of note, Nathan Eovaldi, building an MVP case, pitched a clean 8th inning for the second game in a row. Along with Price, they set down the final 16 Dodgers hitters in a row.

Outfield Defense

Another day, another outstanding outfield catch. This was in the top of the 5th with the Dodgers trying to to increase their 2-1 lead. Brian Dozier thought he had a lead-off hit, but yet again there was Andrew Benintendi. Consequently, it was just another out.

Viewing Note

Commissioner Rob Manfred did an interview with Felger and Mazz on 98.5 The Sports Hub yesterday. You can find it here in the second half of the run-time. The interview starts off contentious. No surprise there. Up for debate: pace of play.

The incorrigible Felger hammers Manfred on pace of play in the postseason and Manfred takes exception. More or less Manfred downplays it and says pace of play is not as big of a deal as Felger is saying it is.

When it’s the 9th inning of Game 2 of the World Series, the score is 4-2, and the closer is on the mound? That is what drama and tension and watch-ability is all about. Most importantly Legends are made and Goats are birthed in these situations.

What do I see on my screen between batters coming to the plate? A split screen ad. Because Fox knows there’s all kinds of time between batters coming up and between pitches. They used it in Game 2 to throw ads at us, not between innings, but between pitches.

If that’s not a mic drop argument that there is way too much time wasted in the game of baseball, I don’t know what is. Commissioner Manfred, it is appalling you are allowing this to happen.

On To LA

The 2018 Sox are making themselves into an all time juggernaut. They’re up 2-0 in the World Series and headed to LA, the land of swimming pools and movie stars. Get ready for your glamour shot boys!

Eck vs. Price: Feuding at 30,000 feet

It all started when…

All of this stems from an incident where Price took issue with the fact that Eck criticized him for not hustling to cover the first base bag on a ground ball. According to multiple reports, the other incident that sent Price over the edge was hearing Eck say, “yuck” as Eduardo Rodriguez’ stats flashed across the screen during a game on the NESN broadcast. These incidents apparently rubbed Price the wrong way. Price took it upon himself to call out Eck on a team flight with other members of the Sox cheering on the pitcher.

Here is a detailed look at the Price – Eckersley situation via The Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy:

On the day of the episode, Price was standing near the middle of the team aircraft, surrounded by fellow players, waiting for Eckersley. When Eckersley approached, on his way to the back of the plane (Sox broadcasters traditionally sit in the rear of the aircraft), a grandstanding Price stood in front of Eckersley and shouted, “Here he is — the greatest pitcher who ever lived! This game is easy for him!”

When a stunned Eckersley tried to speak, Price shot back with, “Get the [expletive] out of here!”

Many players applauded.

Eckersley made his way to the back of the plane as players in the middle of the plane started their card games. In the middle of the short flight, Eckersley got up and walked toward the front where Sox boss Dave Dombrowski was seated. When Eckersley passed through the card-playing section in the middle, Price went at him again, shouting, “Get the [expletive] out of here!”

Now, if this entire story is true, which I believe it is because Shaughnessy doesn’t have a reason to make this up, then I am not only embarrassed for Eck but I am also embarrassed for guys like David Price, Dustin Pedroia, and John Farrell as well.

Man up and stand up

First, let me start off with Pedroia. He is one of my favorite Sox players of all time and has been here long enough to realize that what Price did was no joke. Price landed a verbal slap on the face to a HALL OF FAME player who is beloved in Boston. Pedroia needs to step up in this situation and just tell Price to sit his a** down on the flight and stop causing a distraction for a team fighting for a playoff berth again (same can be said for “manager” John Farrell).

Secondly, in my opinion that Price is 100% wrong in this situation and had no right to belittle and embarrass a HOF player just because he did his job by voicing his opinion. Eck’s job as a commentator for this team is to watch and call the games. Sometimes that means criticizing the team if something is done incorrectly or just plain poorly. Eck, as the professional that he is did exactly that, but it just so happens his criticism was directed towards one of the SOFTER players in baseball who doesn’t think a broadcaster matters even if he is in Cooperstown.

Farrell under fire

Finally, John Farrell deserves criticism. As a sports writer who covers our home teams (teams I have loved since a kid) the lack of respect and maturity on Farrell’s end baffles me. This guy is suppose to be an adult, the manager of men. But on the team plane he seems to tolerate one of his guys acting like a child who had an outburst because he didn’t get his way. Farrell should have demonstrated some leadership by telling Price to sit down and shut his mouth. Farrell seems to be completely lost. It feels like this team wins in spite of him from his terrible in-game management skills and his questionable decisions off the field as well.

Eck brings mad skills to the booth

In closing I just want to take the time to show my support for Eck, who always makes the games enjoyable to watch with his funny quotes and one liners about, “hair,” “lettuce,” and “cheese,” with the list going on and on. Not only does Eck bring much needed humor to the broadcast booth but he also brings knowledge having pitched in big games as a pitcher for the Red Sox in his storied HOF career. This man has more accomplishments on his resume right now than David Price could dream of. So if a little criticism hurts this guys feelings rather than pushing him to be a better ball player then he can take his money, and his ball and go right on home….wherever that may be!

Boston Sports Extra

By Boston Fans, For Boston Fans