Fred Lynn

From SoSH

Freddie Lynn ponders his future mustache choices.

Born:	February 3, 1952
Birthplace:	Chicago, IL
Hometown:	La Costa, California
Height:	6'1"
Weight:	190
Bats:	Left
Throws:	Left
Drafted:	3rd Round, 1970 by New York Yankees; 2nd Round, 1973 by Boston Red Sox
College:	University of Southern California
High School:
Other Teams:	California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres
Years with Boston:	1974-1980

Fredric Michael Lynn (born February 3, 1952 in Chicago, IL) was the center fielder for the Boston Red Sox from 1975-1980, and wore jersey number 19.

1 Overall Career
- 1.1 Dawn of Free Agency, Trade from Boston
2 Moments in the Sun
3 Career Awards/ Achievements
4 Trivia

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Overall Career

Fred Lynn was drafted by the Red Sox out of USC in 1973 in the 2nd round of the amateur draft. After showing promise as a farmhand in the Boston system, Lynn made his debut as a September callup late in 1974, and he made the most of it. Lynn hit .419 in 43 ABs, stroking two home runs and driving in ten runs in limited time. The performance would eventually earn Lynn the starting spot on the 1975 team. Lynn took over and dominated, bursting onto the team with one of the best rookie seasons in baseball history, becoming the first player in major league history to win both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards.

As a left handed hitting CF, Lynn hit 21 HR, drove in 105 runs and scored 103 more. Over 528 ABs, Lynn hit .331/ .401/ .566 for an OPS of .967 and an OPS+ of 162. Lynn also had 120 runs created, good for a RC/ 27 of 8.50. His VORP that season was 63.2 (5th in MLB), his EqA .325, WARP3 9.3, while playing excellent defense in center, for which he also won his first of four Gold Gloves. Lynn was also an integral middle-of-the-lineup presence for the 1975 Red Sox, who won the American League pennant and took the Cincinnati Reds to seven games in what many consider the greatest World Series of all time. Lynn hit .280 in the Series, but had a crucial three run home run early on in the epic Game 6, which was eventually won by Carlton Fisk's walkoff home run.

Lynn was solid once again in 1976, but impending contractual issues and nagging injuries lead to what was easily one of the worst seasons of his career in 1977, when he hit .260 with 18 HR and a .262 EqA. 1978 was a bounceback however, with Lynn playing the most games of his career to that point and improving in nearly every offensive statistic from the previous year. His EqA that season was an even .300, he won his second Gold Glove, finished 25th in MVP voting, and lead his team to a one-game playoff against the New York Yankees for the AL East title. The Sox lost, with Lynn going 1-for-4 with an RBI in the game.

In 1979, Fred Lynn was 27 and entered the season as a star, with his team conceivably good enough to build on the previous season and hopefully return to another World Series. While the Red Sox faded by season's end, Lynn did not, having his greatest season as a major leaguer. Lynn lead the AL in BA (.333), OBP (.423), SLG (.637), OPS (1.059), runs created (143), was tied for 2nd in HR (39), 3rd in total bases (338), and 4th in RBI (122) and runs scored (116). Lynn's EqA that season was a robust .339, his WARP3 10.6, and his major league leading VORP of 82.8 was 11.6 points higher than that of the next man, his teammate Jim Rice. Lynn, however, finished 4th that season in the MVP voting, behind winner (and DH) Don Baylor, Ken Singleton and George Brett.

1980, which would be Lynn's last season as a Red Sox, was another solid one, although injuries again limited his playing time and his power. Down from 39 HR in 1979 to 10 in 1980, Lynn was eventually traded in the ensuing offseason by general manager Haywood Sullivan with Steve Renko to the California Angels for SP Frank Tanana, RP Jim Dorsey, and OF Joe Rudi.

Lynn went on to have four more strong years with the Angels, with the exception of his woeful

Lynn's plaque in the Sox HoF

season in strike-shortened 1981. Starting in 1982, however, Lynn entered into a phase in his career where he started a remarkably consistent string of seven seasons with California, Baltimore and Detroit wherein he averaged 22.8 HR, exactly 70 RBI, and hit somewhere between .240 and .300. Lynn never got his numbers up to Fenway levels again, but coupled with his defense, Lynn was a very good major league player for the remainder of his useful seasons, which rounded out in 1988 after being traded at the deadline from Baltimore to Detroit for Chris Hoiles. The twin peaks of his post-Sox career came in 1982 and '83, respectively, when Lynn hit .611 in 18 ABs during the 82 ALCS (which the Angels lost to the Brewers), and in the '83 All Star Game, where Lynn hit the only grand slam in the game's history, winning the MVP in the process.

Lynn finished his career out after signing as a free agent with the San Diego Padres, close to his SoCal roots. After a sub-par season of spotty playing time and nagging injuries, Lynn called it quits after the 1990 season at the age of 38.

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Dawn of Free Agency, Trade from Boston

After the 1975 World Series and the famous Andy Messersmith decision effectively ending baseball's reserve clause, Fred Lynn stood to become a very valuable commodity, and hired agent Jerry Kapstein (along with teammates Carlton Fisk and Rick Burleson). After talks of a potential trade to the Dodgers, Lynn signed the first long-term contract extension in club history, a five year $1.65M contract that took him through the 1980 season, with an option for the 1981 season.

As that contract ran out in the winter of 1980, the Red Sox had to contend with three of their core players- Lynn, Fisk and Burleson- coming up for free agency. Early on, Sox GM Haywood Sullivan determined that all three would be difficult to sign (agent Jerry Kapstein representing all three and looking to maximize their market value), and there were varying levels of contention between the parties as all struggled to come to grips with the new process of free agency. Sullivan determined that instead of letting all the players go for nothing, he would shop Lynn and Burleson, try to sign all three, and go hard after Fisk.

The Sox fielded offers from the Dodgers (Steve Howe, Joe Beckwith, Mike Marshall/ Mickey Hatcher), Angels (first offer- Tom Brunansky and pitching), and Yankees (Ron Guidry and Ruppert Jones). Eventually, when an arbitration hearing declared a particularly murky bit of language on the Lynn/ Fisk/ Burleson contracts would make them free agents that offseason, the Sox front office had to scramble to trade Lynn, and could not wait for the interleague trade period. They were held over a barrel by the Angels, and received Frank Tanana (coming off two years of arm trouble), minor league pitcher Jim Dorsey (never effective in the majors before or after the trade), and a declining Joe Rudi (who had 315 ABs left in him).

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Moments in the Sun

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October 21, 1975 (Fenway Park)

Lynn hits a first inning fastball from Gary Nolan into the bullpen in left with Carl Yastrzemski and Carlton Fisk on base. The Sox would need all three runs with the Reds