Red Sox all-time washed up player All-Star team (part two)
By Drew Athans
(Dis)Honorable Mentions
These last few players weren’t guys who had careers that were even borderline Hall of Fame worthy, but they had been very good, productive players in their younger days and had all been at some point among the best in the league at their positions. First up is Kevin Mitchell, who won the National League MVP in 1989 and who was instrumental in helping the New York Mets defeat the Red Sox in the 1986 World Series.
Mitchell’s best years had been with the Mets and San Francisco Giants, so when he got to the Red Sox in 1996 at the age of thirty-four, he was already ten seasons and multiple offseason incidents into his career (Mitchell was not a good guy). He spent only half a season with the Red Sox, appearing in 27 games and hitting .304 with 2 home runs and 13 RBI before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds.
Next is Gary Gaetti who manned third base for the Minnesota Twins for ten seasons between 1981 and 1990, helping them to win the 1987 World Series (he was also the ALCS MVP that year). After nineteen seasons in the league spent with five different teams, Gaetti brought his 360 career home runs to Boston in 2000 at the age of 41. He only appeared in five games and went 0-10 at the plate (for an average of .000) with no home runs and one RBI before retiring.
Finally, the last one is a player who looked to be washed up when he got to Boston at the end of a long career but who actually had a couple of productive seasons with the team. Bret Saberhagen spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Kansas City Royals and helped them win the 1985 World Series. He was also the MVP of that series and won two Cy Young Awards and a Gold Glove with the team as well as throwing a no-hitter for them.
After short stints with the New York Mets and Colorado Rockies, Saberhagen missed all of 1996 due to injury before being signed by the Red Sox. In 1997, at the age of thirty-three, he went 0-1 in six starts, but in 1998 and 1999 he was very good. In 1998 he posted a 15-8 record (31 starts) with an ERA of 3.96 and 100 strikeouts, while in 1999 he went 10-6 with a 2.95 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 22 starts.
Top Red Sox players of the 1970s. dark. Next
He missed the 2000 season due to injury and tried to come back in 2001 but only made three starts, going 1-2 for the Red Sox before retiring at the age of thirty-seven.