One fan's Magnificent Seven in Red Sox history
The best ballplayers I've ever seen play in a Red Sox uniform
I have been a Red Sox fan since 1953 and a baseball fan since 1952. The Braves picked up the tent and hustled off for a short stay in Milwaukee, and I quickly switched allegiances.
That is quite a time frame, and, no I never saw Tris Speaker in a Boston uniform. Speaker already had been traded to the Indians, so that is a falsehood.
The possible list can be extensive and includes players not easily recognized -- possibly a second and third team or even players who left scared memories, such as Tony Conigilaro, Roger Moret, Oil Can Boyd, Tony Horton, and Harry Agganis. That said, I will go to a more upbeat approach.
So my perspective of players I have seen play starts with Ted Williams and traversers to the present. Just who left an impression? Swiping a title from a great movie, I have my own magnificent seven, and the list is easily recognized by even the most casual of fans.
There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived
The natural starting point for pre-boomers would be Ted Williams, the best hitter I ever saw. I was certainly not alone in that assessment, and I did have the opportunity to meet Williams near the end of his career, and the end is just where I will begin with Teddy Ballgame.
In 1959 Williams was coming off two batting titles (1957 and 1958), and the anticipation was the 1959 season could be his last. Williams was 40 years old and playing for a lackluster team with 500 career home runs, a goal, and further statistical padding, but Williams was racked by injuries and hit just .254. Time to quit before his reputation soured like milk set out in the hot sun.
Williams returned for 1960, and so did the injuries, but what didn't return was a season-long slump. Williams managed 113 games and 390 plate appearances but slammed 29 home runs and hit .316. The last plate appearance was a home run at Fenway Park and retirement instead of coming to New York and an end-of-season series against the Yankees
The numbers attached to Williams's career are legendary, including a .482 career OBP. Williams is still in the picture, with a recent hit streak by Masataka Yoshida tieing Williams on a multi-hit game. If I had to pick a TSW season, it would be 1949, but others are close - he was that good a hitter.
The greatest individual season in Red Sox history
My next choice is Williams's replacement in left field, Carl Yastrzemski, and the heir apparent had hit .339 in his Triple-A season in Minneapolis. Big things were expected of Yaz, and with a team that was dreadful to watch, you needed a diversion.
I attended the opening day, and Yaz went one for five and tossed out a runner. An excellent start, but as the season wore on, two other rookies outperformed Yaz.
Second baseman Chuck Shilling played solid defense and hit .259. Schilling was another example of what could have been as injuries and poor performance gutted his career. Still, the lithe infielder finished third in the Rookie of The Year balloting.
Don Schwall, a towering righty, won the ROY Award and notched 15 wins for Boston. A deadly sinkerball hurler with a league-best 0.4 HR/9, Schwall soon faded, and a promising career was done.
Despite winning a batting title, Yaz was a disappointment for the next several seasons. There was even talk of Yaz being traded for Johnny Callison of the Phillies. Then came 1967.
How is it even possible to describe Yaz in 1967? Yastrzemski did it if an offensive or defensive play was necessary to win a game. A Triple Crown and MVP Award -- and MVP that was not unanimous. That piece of voting idiocy can be found here.
Yaz was in his career sweet spot for the next several years, but as the years collected, so did the numbers started to deteriorate. Still, the work is outstanding, even with a healthy dose of longevity.
This is our **** town!
Imagine Red Sox history without David Ortiz? Ortiz was a castaway from the Twins who signed with Boston with the assistance of Pedro Martinez. The list of offensive accomplishments is extensive, with several Silver Slugger Awards and numerous All-Star selections.
Ted Williams's farewell season was unique, but Papi exceeded that with his last year topping the AL in doubles (48), RBI (127), OPS (1.021), and slugging (.620). Ortiz also hammered 38 home runs and even stole two bases. The Red Sox finished first and then got blown out 3-0 by the Indians.
Ortiz was a clutch hitting machine, and it showed in the 2004 ALCS when Papi became MVP. In 2013 the Cardinals, for some bizarre reason, continued to pitch to Ortiz, who wailed their staff to a .688 tune and a WS MVP.
My most notable Ortiz moment was not with the bat but with the microphone as Ortiz spoke to the crowd so eloquently after the Boston Marathon bombing. There are times when even the coarse of language resonates.
A HOF career cut short
Dustin Pedroia was on track to join the Baseball Hall of Fame until a persistent knee problem robbed the Muddy Chicken of several seasons and forced his retirement. That could start the whole Manny Machado debate but not today.
Pedroia was the ultimate energizer bunny extracting every ounce of talent via hard work and hustle. Pedroia may have been physically small by baseball standards, but his ego was not. Statistically, it is all there: A ROY, MVP, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, and championships. Pedroia finished just one hit away from a career .300 average.
Pedroia's interaction with teammates and the opposition is legendary, and his classic is Ortiz not knowing Pedroia's name after being teammates for nine seasons.
There was the time during the 2007 World Series when Rockies security refused to let Pedroia into the park, and his reply was, "Go ask Jeff Francis (Rockies pitcher)." Pedroia had homered off Francis in the previous game.
My favorite moment was a pre-game ceremony when a Little League team was being honored, and the players when out to stand next to their MLB positional counterparts. The kid standing next to Pedroia was taller than Petey.
Manny being Manny
Where do you start when you discuss Manny Ramirez? The best starting point is the beginning and the expensive gift of the old team owners to the new regime led by John Henry. Ramirez had an eight-year deal at $160 million, and the Red Sox attempted to dump Ramirez to anyone willing to pick up the contract. Thankfully there were no takers.
Manny's Boston career had a batting title, a home run title, a locker full of Silver Sluggers, and several All-Star nods. There were no Gold Gloves for an apparent reason, and that brings up one of the many highlights of Manny being Manny. Catch, a high five, and a toss for a DP.
I remember sitting in left field as Manny goes out to take position waving a small American flag. Manny had just become an American citizen and proudly marched to left field as the fans cheered Manny on.
With Ortiz hitting from the left side and Manny from the right, this was a formidable combination of a one-two punch that Joe Louis would admire.
Manny left Boston on a trade to the Dodgers, and the inevitable slide began, including suspensions for PEDs. Manny's eight years in Boston produced a .312 batting average and 274 home runs but no Gold Glove awards.
Under the HOF mango tree
The ultimate identifier of an athlete is just using one name, and everyone knows who you are talking about. There is only one Pedro, and that is Pedro Martinez.
I still remember the howls when the Red Sox traded Carl Parvano and later Tony Armas to the Expos for Martinez. You take your shot when a talent like Martinez is available since it can be a franchise-changing event. This one certainly was.
When Martinez started, Fenway Park was electric before and during the game. You can't describe it since you had to experience it. As for Martinez, I have seen all the great pitchers of the last 60 years in action - Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, Sandy Koufax, and Bob Gibson and for five seasons, Martinez was the best I ever saw.
Pedro remains a quote machine and has an effervescent personality. My favorite was referring to the Yankees as his daddy after getting smoked for five runs. Could Pedro rest under the famous mango tree? Of course, the rest may happen after he nails Babe Ruth.
The Red Sox chose not to resign Martinez, and it was the smart move. The years had left a testy arm and eventually ended his Hall of Fame career, but damn, could he pitch!
Greatest single pitching performance in team history
Curt Schilling displays the circle of baseball life as Boston originally drafted him in the second round of the 1986 draft. Schilling was traded to Baltimore and then moved around the MLB landscape before being traded back to Boston. The 37-year-old had raised the ire of many in RSN who hated to part with promising lefty Casey Fossum. How did that work out?
A TV commercial became a prophecy as Schilling is seen hitchhiking to Boston to win a title. That segues into one of the more dramatic moments in baseball history as Schilling's damaged ankle is sutured up, and the rest is history. It is stopping the Yankees and then the Cardinals to end the curse.
For Shilling, that possibly derailed a pile of potential wins as Schilling went just 8-8 the following season. Schilling still stuck around and was part of the 2007 championship team doing what Schilling did best - winning big games and going 3-0 in the playoffs.
I remember watching on TV as Manny made fun of Schilling in his notebook. Schilling kept his record of every pitch to every batter. It was as detailed as today's most advanced metrics.
Schilling had a remarkable 11-2 record in the playoffs and was on three championship teams. This is a HOF pitcher and as good as it gets when you need a big win.
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