Red Sox: Boston’s all time washed up player All-Star team
By Drew Athans
The Red Sox have a history of acquiring great players past their prime. Here’s a look at some of the best players who spent their twilight years in Boston.
When I was a kid, my dad always used to point out how the Boston Celtics (our favorite basketball team) seemed to trade for or sign star players from other teams when they were way past their prime. Something the Red Sox have done plenty of times in their history.
I remember being so excited, for example, when the Celtics got players like Artis Gilmore, Dominique Wilkins, and Xavier McDaniel only to be disappointed that they were old and broken down and not nearly as good as they had been when they were younger and played for other teams.
My dad also used to say that the Red Sox did the same thing and looking back even at just my childhood years, it’s hard to argue with him. I remember being so excited, for instance, when the team signed Andre Dawson in 1993 only to realize once the season started that he was a shell of himself.
As a kid, it took me a while to realize that judging a player’s acquisition based on what they did years before in their prime wasn’t always wise.
Obviously, with age and hindsight, it’s easy to see what the Red Sox were getting when they signed these over the hill stars and that got me thinking: is it just me or have the Red Sox signed a disproportionately large number of formerly great players who were well past their sell-by dates by the time they put on a Red Sox uniform?
I don’t know if they have or if it just seems that way, but I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the best players in baseball who were no longer great once they got to Boston. Let’s call them the All-Time Washed Up All-Stars. This list isn’t meant to belittle or poke fun at these players, but rather look at what the Red Sox got (or rather, didn’t get) from these formerly great players.
As always, in no particular order, let’s begin!