Who is your all-star line up

[PapaSox]

It’s been a long, dragged out off season. To bring some fun into things I thought I’d offer up a Thread. What is your all star Red Sox team for positional players?

The rules are simple:

• The player must have played at least 3 years with the Sox
• The player must have been with the Sox from 1970 forward.
• The player played their position for at least 3 years with the Sox.
• Only your starting 9 are to be listed. No bench players.
• You must present your lineup for the players you picked.

Players:
1B Mo
2B Pedey
SS Nomar
3B Boggs
C Fisk
RF Evans
CF Lynn
LF Yaz
DH Papi


Line up:
Pedey
Nomar
Papi
Mo
Yaz
Lynn
Evans
Boggs
Fisk

I stand corrected ... pedey

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

I was hoping to get a Manny/Peddy combo

 

[pokey_reese]

Is 'Peddy' canonical spelling?

 

[Minneapolis Millers]

I love Yaz. He was my favorite player growing up. But your rules cut off much of his prime. 1970 was his last great season. He still made ASGs, but none of the rest were MVP-caliber (top 10) seasons, and most were DH/1B hybrids. You can't pick his 30s-40s for LF over Rice's whole career, or Manny's 8 mostly great seasons (unless you disqualify Manny because of PEDs).

I agree with the rest.

 

[Ale Xander]

3B Wade Boggs (L)
2B Dustin Pedroia (R)
DH David Ortiz (L)
LF Manny Ramirez (R)
1B Mo Vaughn (L)
SS Nomar Garciaparra (R)
CF Johnny Damon (L)
C Carlton Fisk (R)
RF Dwight Evans (R)

 

[glasspusher]

I was hoping to get a Manny/Peddy combo

Treat yourself to a facial while you're at it!

 

[glasspusher]

1970 Yaz was better than 1978 Jim Rice. Yaz it is.

 

[glasspusher]

So if we talk PED-free, no Nomar, Mo, Manny? You can say with Tizzle the end of his career still stands out.

I started watching Manny in Cleveland when I was there in the late 90s in grad school. I never got the Manny love as much as most sox fans.

 

[Martin and Woods]

3B Boggs (L) .415(!)/.443 OBP/SLG
RF Evans (R) .370/.470, became an on-base machine in 80s
DH Papi (L) .380/.552
LF Rice (R) .352/.502
1B Yaz (L) .379/.462, much of career during a time when offense was way down in MLB
SS Nomar (R) .361/.521
CF Lynn (L) .360/.484
2B Pedroia (R) .366/.441
C Fisk (R) .341/.457

Manny only played 7+ yrs with Sox, so I give nod to HOFer Rice (and I'm hearing that the fantasy league commissioner is considering suspending him for PEDs). Mo only played 8 yrs with Sox, so going with my favorite player growing up.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

1B Youkilis- 2010
2B Pedroia- 2008
SS Nomah- '97-2000
3B Boggs- '83-'88
DH Papi- '05-'07
C- Fisk
LF- Rice
CF- Lynn
RF- Dewey

SP- Pedro

 

[PapaSox]

I love Yaz. He was my favorite player growing up. But your rules cut off much of his prime. 1970 was his last great season. He still made ASGs, but none of the rest were MVP-caliber (top 10) seasons, and most were DH/1B hybrids. You can't pick his 30s-40s for LF over Rice's whole career, or Manny's 8 mostly great seasons (unless you disqualify Manny because of PEDs).

I agree with the rest.

I know but I remember watching Yaz in LF and thinking they built it for him. Even the Wall seemed to be there for his use. However, I would agree Rice is the choice if we were to bump Yaz.

I like Trotsky's choice of Youk. He would be my defensive choice. However, MO is his prime was such a devastating hitter.

 

[shaggydog2000]

3B - Boggs (L)
2B - Pedroia (R)
DH - Ortiz (L)
LF - Manny (R)
1B - Mo Vaughn (L)
SS - Nomar (R)
C - Varitek (B)
RF - Betts (R)
CF - Ellsbury (L)

SP - Pedro

This team is heavily weighted to who I saw play, and who I saw the most. So no 70's players, and limited 80's players. And part of it is weighted by who would be the most fun to watch, since that is what All-Star games are about, right? This is why Ellsbury makes it over Damon for example.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Not sure about the 1970 cutoff .. in my mind the modern Red Sox started with the Impossible Dream season - featuring Yaz, Conigliaro, Boomer, Rico, Smith etc.

Even including that bunch that would only affect Yaz in LF .. and maybe Reggie Smith in CF.

So ..

3b - Boggs
RF - Evans
LF - Yaz
DH - Papi
SS - Nomar
1B - Vaughn
C - Fisk
CF - Lynn
2b - Pedroia

SP - Pedro

The only real debates are LF - Yaz, Rice and Manny - and 1B - Vaughn and Youkilis. I suppose you could put Yaz at 1B and slot in Rice.

 

[Captaincoop]

Mo over Youk at first base. I wouldn't have given Youk much thought at all if he wasn't mentioned here. Mo was bonkers in his prime.

 

[grimshaw]

I went alternating L/R. And weirdly I can't see too many debates, really even with two Hall of Famers left off (Dewey is in my mind). Manny was so much better than Rice.

Really it's Betts vs. Dewey. I give it to Betts because he's already been an MVP candidate and is just now in his prime.

RF -Betts
3B -Boggs
LF -Manny
DH -Papi
SS - Nomar
CF -Lynn
C -Fisk
1b -Yaz
2b -Pedey

This would be my bench, just for fun taking roster construction into consideration. Vaughn, Rice, and Youk still don't make it. They'd only be pinch hitting for Pedey really anyhow. Going with 11 pitchers - not enough bullpen innings to go around.

OF - Evans and Ellsbury in the outfield. Both over Rice, because of defense and Ellsbury being a terror on the base paths.

C - Varitek (Stanley was a much better hitter, but I'm going with intangibles/defense)/

Middle - Valentin and Jody Reed. Need a back up SS or Youk would be there.

Pitching is tough. Eck was almost exclusively a starter, but there were 5 better, and he was toast as a reliever in his 2nd go around. Miller was really completely dominant only in his final half season, but I used him as a loogy. Schill was close, but had the losing character tiebreaker so I left him off.

SP 1 - Pedro
SP 2 - Clemens
SP - 3 Tiant
SP - 4 Bill Lee
SP 5 - Lester

Bullpen -
Lowe as the long man.
Bob Stanley
Andrew Miller
Lee Smith
Koji
Paps

 

[PapaSox]

I went alternating L/R. And weirdly I can't see too many debates, really even with two Hall of Famers left off (Dewey is in my mind). Manny was so much better than Rice.

Really it's Betts vs. Dewey. I give it to Betts because he's already been an MVP candidate and is just now in his prime.

RF -Betts
3B -Boggs
LF -Manny
DH -Papi
SS - Nomar
CF -Lynn
C -Fisk
1b -Yaz
2b -Pedey

Removed for Brevity

Pitching is tough. Eck was almost exclusively a starter, but there were 5 better, and he was toast as a reliever in his 2nd go around. Miller was really completely dominant only in his final half season, but I used him as a loogy. Schill was close, but had the losing character tiebreaker so I left him off.

SP 1 - Pedro
SP 2 - Clemens
SP - 3 Tiant
SP - 4 Bill Lee
SP 5 - Lester

Bullpen -
Lowe as the long man.
Bob Stanley
Andrew Miller
Lee Smith
Koji
Paps

You jumped the gun on me. I was holding off on the rotation and pen until later in February if things dragged on.

 

[SumnerH]

Miller was really completely dominant only in his final half season, but I used him as a loogy.

Okajima had at least 2 full seasons in Boston that are better than Miller's final half season, and for his career in Boston had a 149 ERA+ compared to Miller's 111, with a lower WHIP to boot and a 3.1 BB/9 compared to Miller's 4.6.

Add in Okajima's comparative health (all 4 of his first seasons he pitched more innings than Miller ever managed with Boston) and Miller's not even particularly close, IMO.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

CF - Dwayne Hosey
LF - Wil Cordero
1B - Billy Jo Robidoux
DH - Jeremy Giambi
3B - Jack Brohamer
2B - Julio Valdez
RF - Ryan Sweeney
C - Marc Sullivan
SS - Craig Grebeck

My all star lineup of "holy shit, he was once an Opening Day starter at that position?" guys.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

There is only one correct answer in my mind:

CF - Johnny Damon
2B - Mark Bellhorn
LF - Manny Ramirez
DH - David Ortiz
C - Jason Varitek
RF - Trot Nixon
1B - Kevin Millar
3B - Bill Mueller
SS - Orlando Cabrera

 

[soxeast]

I also looked at an individual season and as OP stated at least 3 years.

1-- 3b Boggs
2--- ss Nomar
3-- DH Ortiz
4-- LF Manny
5-- 1B Mo V
6-- RF Dwight Evans (on-base machine. A complete terror vs lefties. and solid vs righties in 1981. Mookie's best season was 2016. He struggled vs lefties.)
7-- CF Reggie Smith (Fred Lynn's best 3 seasons his OPS vs lefties under .800)
8-- C Fisk
9-- 2b Pedroia

What about starters and bullpen? And bench?

 

[grimshaw]

Okajima had at least 2 full seasons in Boston that are better than Miller's final half season, and for his career in Boston had a 149 ERA+ compared to Miller's 111, with a lower WHIP to boot and a 3.1 BB/9 compared to Miller's 4.6.

Add in Okajima's comparative health (all 4 of his first seasons he pitched more innings than Miller ever managed with Boston) and Miller's not even particularly close, IMO.

No argument here. Forgot about Okajima.

 

[Rich Garces Belly]

3B- Boggs (L)
RF- Dewey (R)
DH- Ortiz (L)
LF- Manny (R)
1B- Mo (L)
SS- Nomar (R)
CF- Burks (R)
C-Fisk (R)
2B- Pedroia (R)

4 straight righties at the bottom of the lineup is tough but they can hit both righties and lefties. I was a huge Burks fan and loved that he ended his career with the Sox.

 

[YTF]

I know but I remember watching Yaz in LF and thinking they built it for him. Even the Wall seemed to be there for his use. However, I would agree Rice is the choice if we were to bump Yaz.

I like Trotsky's choice of Youk. He would be my defensive choice. However, MO is his prime was such a devastating hitter.

You could have both by bumping Mo and going with Yaz and Papi to 1B and DH (place either where you prefer)

 

[redsox2020]

CF Johnny Damon
3B Wade Boggs
DH David Ortiz
LF Manny Ramirez
1B Mo Vaughn
SS Nomar Garciaparra
RF Mookie Betts
C Carlton Fisk
2B Dustin Pedroia

 

[Hawk68]

Batting
Order Hits Position Player Comment
1 L 3B Boggs Nobody close
2 R 2B Pedroia QED
3 L 1B Yaz The Captian, 96bWAR
4 L DH David Ortiz This is his F$%*&@* City
5 R RF Dewy Better than Rice
6 S CF Reggie Smith JBJ - with a track record
7 R LF Rice Jim Ed Rice - HOF
8 R C Carlton Fisk He is not from New England, he is OF New England
9 R SS Petrocelli No PED - no Nomar

 

[RIrooter09]

C Fisk
1B Yaz
2B Pedey
SS Nomar
3B Boggs
LF Rice
CF Lynn
RF Evans
DH Ortiz

Boggs
Ortiz
Rice
Evans
Yaz
Nomar
Lynn
Fisk
Pedey

 

[wiffleballhero]

Without looking at anyone else

Batting order

Boggs 3b
Pedroia 2b
Papi DH
Rice lf
Mo 1b
Nomar ss
Lynn cf
Evans rf
Fisk c

I like the left/right and I think Nomar is gonna feast on fastballs with all those guys on base in front of him.

Considering dropping Rice for Manny, but I can't quite do it. Yeah, Fred Lynn is gonna be a black hole in this line-up, but I am thinking I get 75 Lynn all season.

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

CF - Otis Nixon
2B - Mark Loretta
3B - Adrian Beltre
LF - Cliff Floyd
DH - Matt Stairs
1B - John Olerud
SS - Edgar Renteria
C - Damon Berryhill
RF - Dave Roberts

SP - Hideo Nomo
SP - Jamie Moyer
SP - Erik Hanson
SP - David Cone
SP - John Smoltz

CP - Rick Aguilera
RP - Mark Melancon

The one-year-on-the-Sox All Stars!

 

[snowmanny]

Marichal and Seaver should be on that starting staff. And Fingers should close.

 

[Oppo]

3b Boggs
RF Betts
DH Ortiz
LF Manny
1b Mo
SS Nomar
C Tek
2b Pedroia
CF Damon

 

[ookami7m]

3b Boggs
RF Betts
DH Ortiz
LF Manny
1b Mo
SS Nomar
C Tek
2b Pedroia
CF Damon

This is pretty much exactly my list. The only one I struggled with was CF - Damon has the numbers and Ellsbury's aren't far behind but Ellis Burks always will hold a place in my heart from my early years as a Sox fan. First man off the bench for me (once Nomar gets hurt) is John Valentin

 

[DeweyWins]

3B Boggs... no one comes close at 3B... yet
RF Dewey... proven over a long time, and a moneyball player long before Youk was dubbed the Greek God of Walks
DH Papi.. 'Nuff ced!
LF Rice... after 1970 he wins over Yaz. He was never as boneheaded a LF as Manny.
1B Vaughn... his prime years were beastly!
SS Nomah... he was the best SS in his prime, and had the best name to be pronounced
CF Lynn... '75 beats out Burks 20/20 rookie campaign, Ellsbury stealing home on Pettite
2B Pedey... ROY, WS, MVP, 'Nuff ced!
C Pudge... barely over Tek, but I'm splitting their playing time 50/50, unless Wake's pitching. Then it's gotta be Mirabelli

 

[Sampo Gida]

1B Yaz
2B Pedroia
SS Nomar
3B Boggs
DH Papi
C- Fisk
LF- Manny
CF- Reggie Smith
RF- Dewey

SP- Pedro

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

Here's my lineup:

Boggs 3b
Youk 1b
Rice lf
Ortiz dh
Betts rf
Ellsbury cf
Valentin ss
Varitek c
Pedroia 2b

I didn't start following the Sox till about 1980, so Fisk and Lynn aren't candidates for me. The tough calls here were Youk vs. Vaughn, Rice vs. Manny, Betts vs. Evans, and Valentin vs. Nomar. I think Youk really was a better player than Mo; nearly as good a hitter, and a significantly better defender. Basically same deal for Rice/Manny. Betts doesn't have the track record yet, but I think he can be an even better player than Evans if he can stick around long enough. Valentin is a bit of a sentimental choice; it's a stretch to claim that he was as good as Nomar, but he was much closer than he's usually given credit for, and a personal fave.

 

[Sausage in Section 17]

1B Yaz *
2B Pedroia
3B Boggs *
SS Nomar
C Fisk *
RF Betts
CF Lynn
LF Rice *
DH Papi

* = H.O.F., which is worth noting, I think.

Tough to leave Manny off, but Rice in his prime was a half notch above every other right handed power hitter, in a lower power era.

Right now, I'd take JBJ over Lynn, but he needs a little more on his career resume.

I love Dewey Evans as one of my all time Red Sox, but Mookie Betts is easily the best right fielder I've seen, and would be the best OF the Sox have had IMO, except for Jackie.

The rest were uncomplicated for me.

Order:

1 Betts
2 Boggs
3 Rice
4 Papi
5 Nomar
6 Yaz
7 Fisk
8 Lynn
9 Pedroia

 

[BuellMiller]

CF - Otis Nixon
2B - Mark Loretta
3B - Adrian Beltre
LF - Cliff Floyd
DH - Matt Stairs
1B - John Olerud
SS - Edgar Renteria
C - Damon Berryhill
RF - Dave Roberts

SP - Hideo Nomo
SP - Jamie Moyer
SP - Erik Hanson
SP - David Cone
SP - John Smoltz

CP - Rick Aguilera
RP - Mark Melancon

The one-year-on-the-Sox All Stars!

Your bench can be Carlos Baerga, Rickey Henderson, and Willie McGee. And maybe make an exception for Dave Henderson at CF, since he was technically on the Red Sox for just over 1 years (by about ~2 weeks).

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

No Canseco?

 

[Dewey'sCannon]

1b - Yaz (over Mo and Youk)
2b - Pedroia
ss - Nomar
3b - Boggs
LF - Rice (over Manny)
CF - Lynn (barely over Burks and Reggie - Damon and Ells not that close)
RF - Dewey (gets the nod over Mookie until Mookie does it longer)
C - Fisk
DH - Papi

Close call on Yaz 1b/Rice LF vs. Yaz LF/Mo 1b

 

[BuellMiller]

No Canseco?

He was there two years, before being traded for Wayback.

 

[Hoodie Sleeves]

Mo over Youk at first base. I wouldn't have given Youk much thought at all if he wasn't mentioned here. Mo was bonkers in his prime.

Youk's highest OPS+ season was 157, and his career was 123. Vaughn's highest was 153, with a career of 132. I think the enormous gulf in defense is more important than the smaller difference in them as hitters. (Youk's best 3 year period is 144-146-157, Vaughn 150-152-153)

I think people sometimes forget how good Youk was for that 3 year prime.

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

Youk's highest OPS+ season was 157, and his career was 123. Vaughn's highest was 153, with a career of 132. I think the enormous gulf in defense is more important than the smaller difference in them as hitters. (Youk's best 3 year period is 144-146-157, Vaughn 150-152-153)

I think people sometimes forget how good Youk was for that 3 year prime.

And if you substitute wRC+ -- which I think is a better metric -- the offensive gap narrows further:

Career: Mo 129, Youk 127
Best single season: Mo 151, Youk 159
Best three-year run: Mo 148.5 (1996-98), Youk 149.8 (2008-10)

Not to mention that Youk was a decent baserunner for a slow guy (FG shows him averaging 1.5 BsR through his six years as a Sox regular; Vaughn averaged -0.25 for his seven years).

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

Your bench can be Carlos Baerga, Rickey Henderson, and Willie McGee. And maybe make an exception for Dave Henderson at CF, since he was technically on the Red Sox for just over 1 years (by about ~2 weeks).

Like others, I tried to only consider guys I actually remembered, which eliminated Dave Henderson as I started paying attention in the early 90s. Rickey was an oversight on my part, though, I guess put him in LF, move Floyd to RF and send Roberts to the bench for pinch-running duty. If I were to make an actual bench beyond Roberts, I'd want either Pokey or Rey Sanchez as a backup middle infielder, Dave Valle as a backup catcher, and someone who can backup 3rd and 1st - I'm torn between Ed Sprague and Dave Hollins on that one.