Baseball is by far the most nostalgic of the "Big Four" sports. It could be because of how the form of the game hasn't changed in over a century of the American and National Leagues being unified, or the multi-generational bonds that are formed within families by rooting for the same team through their highs and lows, or possibly how teams become rooted in their local cultures and become a touchstone for people to gravitate towards. Whatever it is, baseball fans are drawn to the past, and looking back on memories, both happy and sad.
One of the most fun memory exercises for baseball fans (especially for Immaculate Grid players) are one-season wonders — guys who spent one year with your team, but their contributions won't be forgotten by passionate fans. Now that we've hit the quarter-century mark in the new millennium, we'll dive into the last 25 years of Red Sox history and build a lineup of these cult heroes.
Each player in this lineup had to play fewer than 162 total games for the Red Sox, which caused a really tough cut from the original lineup (we'll get to that later). Are all of these guys the most notable names? Definitely not. There are a couple of repeats from a previous piece on guys you may have forgotten played for the Red Sox, but let's look through the annals of Red Sox history and build this lineup.
C: 2012 Kelly Shoppach
Admittedly, this team is not off to the hottest of starts behind the plate, but thanks to guys like Jason Varitek, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Christian Vazquez having extended stretches holding down the position, there weren't a lot of good options for catcher. Out of our options, Kelly Shoppach fits the bill for this team (he did play 9 games for the 2005 Red Sox, but he falls easily within the 162-game limit).
Shoppach played 48 games for the best-if-forgotten 2012 Red Sox, serving as one of the backups for the aforementioned Saltalamacchia. His small sample size for Boston was strong, putting up 1.4 bWAR and an OPS+ of 113, which was 6th best on the team out of anyone with at least 150 plate appearances. The 2001 Red Sox draft pick missed out on more playing time due to Salty hitting a team-leading 25 home runs that year, but there's a strong case for Shoppach to be considered the best catcher on that team.
1B: 2023 Justin Turner
A little bit of cheating goes into this pick, as first base was not Turner's primary position for the Red Sox in 2023. But, much like the Shoppach pick, there weren't a lot of good options for this exercise at first base, so Turner's 41 games at first base are good enough.
One of the welcome surprises on the 2023 Sox, Turner defied Father Time on his way to a strong season on a disappointing Red Sox team. JT hit 23 home runs and knocked in 96 runs (second on the team behind Rafael Devers) in 146 games, good enough for a 2.1 bWAR and an OPS+ of 114. Turner lent a strong veteran presence to the team, and overperformed expectations as the primary DH that year. The only other competition at first base was 2005 John Olerud in his farewell season, but Turner beat him out.
2B: 2005 Tony Graffanino
After 2004 Red Sox legend Mark Bellhorn was cut after a bad start to 2005, the Sox traded for Tony Graffanino from Kansas City, and he immediately became the starting second baseman. In 51 games for the Sox, Graffanino put up a .319/.355/.457 slash line, helping the Red Sox make the playoffs as the Wild Card team once again.
Unfortunately, Graffanino's most famous moment as a Red Sock is a negative, as his error in Game 2 of the ALDS helped lead the eventual champion White Sox to sweep Boston. While his time with the Sox ended in infamy, Graffanino was a strong player for a good Red Sox team that ultimately underperformed expectations coming off of 2004.
3B: 2010 Adrian Beltre
The true face of this team, Adrian Beltre's 2010 season for the Red Sox helped give a hurting team a fighting chance to make the playoffs again. At the same time, it also helped set up the second half of a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
After a disappointing stretch with the Mariners, Beltre found his way to Boston on a one-year "prove it" deal, and prove it, he did. As the primary third baseman, Beltre made his first career All-Star team, won his second Silver Slugger award, and finished 9th in MVP voting. Little did we know, 2010 would be the catalyst for Beltre to receive MVP votes in seven straight seasons, and it helped him lock up a six-year contract with the Texas Rangers to ultimately become a Hall of Famer.
SS: 2005 Edgar Renteria
The self-imposed 162-game maximum rule came back to hurt us with this pick, as Stephen Drew, who was the original pick, played 163 games in total for the Red Sox. Because of that, we go to the backup plan, a man lovingly referred to as "Rent-a-Wreck".
Edgar Renteria came off a strong stint as the shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals to join the team that just swept him in the 2004 World Series. He stepped in as the Sox's shortstop after Orlando Cabrera left (who probably should have this spot in the lineup), and it was a mixed bag with Renteria. Renteria, as a hitter, was fine, putting up 1.4 bWAR, but a league-leading 30 errors in the field caused Boston fans to be very impatient with Renteria, leading to his stint with the team coming to an abrupt end after the 2005 season.
It stings because Renteria turned around and had an All-Star campaign with the Braves the next season, but his time in Boston needed to end. Renteria's career, as a whole, was strange, since he bookended it with World Series-winning hits, but he always should have been a little better than he actually was. Pokey Reese would be ashamed of Renteria's performance wearing the number 3.
OF: 2024 Tyler O'Neill
A true masher of the baseball, Tyler O'Neill's righty power at the plate was exactly what the Red Sox needed for the lineup last year, and he rewarded the front office with his performance. O'Neill in 2024 was the closest he's come to repeating his 2021 performance for the Cardinals, hitting 31 home runs and reaching a 133 OPS+ in 113 games as a corner outfielder for the Sox.
Sox fans fell in love with O'Neill in 2024, but there was no way he was going to work in the Red Sox lineup, especially with Wilyer Abreu becoming an everyday player, Roman Anthony's expected promotion later this year, and Rafael Devers becoming our DH. On top of that, the Orioles definitely overpaid for a player who has been inconsistent at best throughout his career, so letting O'Neill walk after one year didn't hurt Boston.
OF: 2023 Adam Duvall
Adam Duvall helped shore up an outfield that was constantly in flux that year. While he ended up missing a large chunk of time due to a broken wrist in the middle of the season, Duvall was a strong player when he was available.
Playing across all three outfield positions in 92 games, Duvall put up an OPS+ of 119 and a bWAR of 1.6 (higher than Masataka Yoshida in 48 fewer games), while also not committing a single error in the field. Nothing more than a stopgap until they figured out more of what we had with Jarren Duran and Yoshida, along with giving guys like Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela more time to develop, Duvall was a perfectly solid bat for the Red Sox lineup that year. While he was never a long-term solution, one year of Duvall was fun to experience.
OF: 2021 Kyle Schwarber
Like a shooting star, Kyle from Waltham's time with the Red Sox burned bright but ended all too soon. We could be convinced his home run off of Gerrit Cole in the Wild Card game and his grand slam against the Astros are both still flying through the Boston air.
Boston only got 41 games in the regular season with Schwarber in the outfield, DH, and first base, but it was extremely worth giving up Aldo Ramirez. Schwarber put up a career-best at the time OPS+ of 155, and was a key bat to have in the lineup as the '21 team made their borderline miraculous run to the ALCS that year. Schwarber immediately felt like he had been a Red Sox for years, and he's one of those rare players beloved by every fan base he's played for. Congrats to Schwarber for reaching 300 career homers, and he remains missed in Boston.
DH: 2012 Cody Ross
Another member of the 2012 Red Sox makes their way into the lineup, as the DH role will serve as a spot for the next best hitter that didn't make the cut. Filling the J.D. Drew sized hole left in right field, Cody Ross came in and became one of the best Red Sox on the team. While his 2.2 bWAR being 5th on the team says a lot more about the dire situation of the 2012 Red Sox, Ross's performance would have been considered strong on any team in the majors that year.
SP: 2022 Michael Wacha
Easily the best starter of the 2022 Red Sox, Michael Wacha's season was hampered by a couple of stints on the injured list that limited him to 23 starts. When he was healthy, Wacha showed flashes of his form with the 2013 Cardinals that made everyone excited about him as a pitching prospect. His 2022 ended with an 11-2 record and an ERA+ of 127, accumulating a career-best (at the time) 3.3 bWAR for the season. If Wacha had managed to stay healthy for the full season, he could've earned a second All-Star selection, as he was the best pitcher on the team by far, even in an abbreviated season.
Considering how much the Red Sox have struggled trying to shore up their rotation in the past few years, Wacha should have been re-signed. Especially since he only got another 1-year deal with the Padres for 2023, it would've been easy enough to lock him up for a few years and have a solid pitcher to stick in the middle of the rotation.
RP: 2009 Takashi Saito
In arguably the last good season in Takashi Saito's career, he signed with the Sox after three strong years with the Dodgers to start his brief MLB career (he was a 36-year-old rookie, after all). Saito served as a setup option for Jonathan Papelbon and pitched his way to being one of the best pitchers overall on the staff that year. The only full-time reliever with a lower ERA than Saito that year was Papelbon, as Saito racked up an ERA+ of 193, a mark he only came close to once after this season.
This season gets a little lost to history since the 2009 Red Sox exited the playoffs unceremoniously, but Saito's performance deserves recognition. They made the right call in letting him walk after 2009, as Saito only accumulated 0.8 bWAR in 3 seasons after leaving Boston.