Red Sox: Who gets their number retired next?
By Sean Penney
Dwight Evans – No. 24
His career technically ended in Baltimore, but we can forgive “Dewey” Evans for that considering he spent the first 19 seasons of his 20 year career in Boston.
Evans was a steady contributor at the plate, producing a career slash line of .272/.370/.470. He once led the league with a .402 OBP in 1982, while finishing first in OPS twice (.937 in ’81, .920 in ’84). His power didn’t develop until his mid-20’s, by which point he became a consistent source of 20+ homers. He even led the league in ’81, despite hitting a mere 22 that seems fairly average by today’s standards.
As productive as Evans was with his bat, it was his glove that really made him shine. The 8-time Gold Glove award winner played right field as well as anyone ever has at Fenway Park. One of the more memorable examples of what Evans could do defensively will always be the time he robbed Joe Morgan of a home run in the 1975 World Series, then fired the ball back into the infield to double-up Ken Griffey.
Evans may seem a bit overshadowed after playing so many years sharing an outfield with more accomplished hitters like Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice, but that doesn’t diminish his own accomplishments.
The 2,505 games that Evans played in a Red Sox uniform are the second most in franchise history. When you spend that much time playing in Boston at the high level that Dewey did, you deserve to have your number hang in the outfield forever.
Next: Manny Ramirez