Boston Sports Extra

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.

Starting a new historical series of articles, I will cover the worst Red Sox to ever play at each position. This is the follow-up to my series of the five greatest Red Sox at each position. This one is even trickier, trying to find the worst player over the span of more than a century. I won’t bother with players who barely made an appearance. These articles will use some combination of guys who failed miserably in living up to a contract or hype, and those who just failed miserably.

Red Ruffing

Ruffing tops my list for what he did with the team versus what he did after leaving. Ruffing spent five full seasons in Boston and parts of two others. During that time he won 39 games against 96 losses! Despite this record of 57 games under .500, he ended up making the Hall of Fame. Yes, he is one of the weaker members in the Hall of Fame and probably doesn’t belong in there, but it goes to show what he did after.

After going 39-96 with a 4.61 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, just wretched numbers all around, Ruffing was sent to the Yankees. He ended up winning 231 games over parts of 15 seasons with the Yankees. He won 20 games in four consecutive seasons to close out the 1930’s. Ruffing certainly benefited from a potent Yankees lineup, but he pitched much better with the Yankees. That is why this bum comes in at number one.

Red Ruffing of the Boston Red Sox throwing a ball in 1925. (Photo by Sporting New and Rogers Photo Archive via Getty Images)

Daisuke Matsuzaka

It might seem strange to have a guy who finished in the top five of a Cy Young vote at number 2, but he earned it. Daisuke sat on the Red Sox roster, overpaid, for six seasons. Not wanting to lose on their investment, the Red Sox tried to fit him into the rotation year after year, deserving or not. Including the posting fee, Matsuzaka cost the Red Sox over 100 million dollars. For all that he only won 50 games.

Daisuke was one of the most hyped pitchers I have ever witnessed. He came from Japan with a “gyro ball” and a bunch of other phantom pitches he didn’t actually throw. He was also the most frustrating pitcher I have ever watched, nibbling a couple of inches off the plate once he got to two strikes and seemingly going 3-2 on every batter. As a result, Daisuke rarely went deep into games. In fact, in his good season with the team, 2008, Matsuzaka only averaged 5.2 innings pitched per start. Even when he was good, Daisuke taxed the bullpen and relied on them to close out his wins for several innings.

After winning 33 games over his first two seasons in the states, Daisuke won 17 over his last four seasons with Boston. During that stretch he was 17-22 with a 5.53 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. He also walked 4.5 batters per nine innings during that stretch. He was paid 37 million during those four years, on top of the high posting fee the Red Sox had to pay to even negotiate with him.

Year	Tm	W	L	ERA	GS	CG	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	HBP	WHIP	BB9	SO9
2007	BOS	15	12	4.40	32	1	204.2	191	100	80	201	13	1.324	3.5	8.8
2008	BOS	18	3	2.90	29	0	167.2	128	54	94	154	7	1.324	5.0	8.3
2009	BOS	4	6	5.76	12	0	59.1	81	38	30	54	2	1.871	4.6	8.2
2010	BOS	9	6	4.69	25	0	153.2	137	80	74	133	8	1.373	4.3	7.8
2011	BOS	3	3	5.30	7	0	37.1	32	22	23	26	1	1.473	5.5	6.3
2012	BOS	1	7	8.28	11	0	45.2	58	42	20	41	3	1.708	3.9	8.1
2013	NYM	3	3	4.42	7	0	38.2	32	19	16	33	5	1.241	3.7	7.7
2014	NYM	3	3	3.89	9	0	83.1	62	36	50	78	6	1.344	5.4	8.4
BOS	BOS	50	37	4.52	116	1	668.1	627	336	321	609	34	1.418	4.3	8.2

Jeff Suppan

In the nineties Jeff Suppan was a highly touted Red Sox prospect. A 2nd round pick of the team in 1993, Suppan climbed up the ladder successfully. He breezed through both A ball and AA before continuing his success in AAA, leading to his status as the Red Sox top pitching prospect. Suppan made the majors at the age of 20, which might have led to his not panning out. He had some level of success later on, but over parts of three seasons with the Sox to start his career, he posted a 5.99 ERA over 39 games.

After being okay with Kansas City, Suppan went to the Pirates in 2003. In Pittsburgh he won 10 games with a 3.57 ERA. So, what did the Red Sox do? They traded top prospect Freddy Sanchez amongst others to bring him back for the stretch run. Suppan failed the Red Sox again, posting a 5.57 ERA and being left off the playoff roster. He left for the Cardinals in the offseason and had his two best seasons of his career. In 2004 he finally did the best thing he ever did for the Red Sox; he got picked off third base by David Ortiz in the World Series as part of a double play.

Jeff Suppan of the Boston Red Sox throws against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 7, 2003. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Matt Young

Boston brought in Matt Young with talks of his “great arm”. Despite control problems and underwhelming numbers, the Red Sox gave Young a three-year contract for 6.35 million, big money in those days. Young was coming off a season with 18 losses, although his 3.51 ERA wasn’t so bad. However, since his all-star appearance in his rookie season, Young had gone 40-63 with a 4.52 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. Those are some pretty bad numbers for the 1980’s. Despite this, the Red Sox felt strongly enough in Young’s left arm they gave him a big contract,

Young is most famous for throwing a no-hitter that doesn’t count as one. In April of 1992 he threw an 8 inning no-hitter against the Indians. The reason it doesn’t go into the record books as a no-hitter is because he only pitched eight innings. The reason he only pitched eight innings, well, he lost. Matt Young walked seven batters that day and the Red Sox lost 2-1. This game pretty much sums up Young’s career.

Despite a three-year contract, the Sox released Young before the 1993 season began, getting two seasons out of him. In those two seasons Young was 3-11 with a 4.91 ERA and 1.61 WHIP. Young walked 5.4 batters per nine innings pitched.

Matt Young of the Boston Red Sox before a game on April 20, 1991 at Fenway Park.(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Steve Avery

Avery came to the Red Sox following a successful stint with the Atlanta Braves. In Atlanta, he teamed with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz to form perhaps the best rotation in baseball. Avery won 72 games with a 3.83 ERA for the Braves over seven seasons. There were reasons to be skeptical however, as Avery’s play had dropped off in recent seasons. From 1991-93 he went 47-25 with a stellar 3.17 ERA. After a decent strike season, Avery fell off the next two years, going 14-23 with a 4.58 ERA. The Red Sox, needing help in their rotation, and a left-hander, signed Avery to a 4.85 million dollar contract with a second year vesting option.

Avery was brutal in 1997 for the Sox, finishing with a 6.42 ERA and 1.82 WHIP. One start shy of his option vesting for 1998, the Red Sox took him out of the rotation. The next month however, not agreeing with the morality of the move, Jimy Williams started Steve Avery for one final game, causing his option to take hold. Avery did do better his second season, going 10-7. He still was not good though, with a 5.02 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. In fact, Avery walked more batters than he struck out that season, 64 to 57. So his two-year totals with his fat contract came to a 5.64 ERA, 1.67 WHIP and -0.7 WAR.

Steve Avery leaves the game after giving up seven runs to the Philadelphia Phillies in the 3rd inning. (TOM MIHALEK/AFP/Getty Images)

Dishonorable Mention:

Mike Smithson, Vaughn Eshelman, John Smoltz, Mike Torrez, Matt Clement, Brian Rose, Gordon Rhodes, Jack Russell