Red Sox player that you cared most about

[Bergs]

I forgot to mention Tim Naehring. My brothers and I loved routing for him.
It took him a while to establish himself in Boston. He would rake at McCoy every time we got tickets, get called up, then was back in Rhode Island. He broke out in ‘95 and we just never knew if he’d get sent down again. He hung in there and had a great career all things considered.

I really wanted Ryan Lavarnway to work out. He seemed like a great guy to root for. And showed promise
We all love local guys, but I particularly wanted Brian Rose to work out… or at least be better than Pavano

edited for clarity

Good call. I ended up picking him up at an airport in Albany in late 1993 or early 1994 (pre-strike season) and driving him to Vermont for an autograph signing. We had a few beers and he beat me in pool at my local, which pissed me off because I was better than him. Lol. Super chill guy. I was supposed to bring him back to Albany the next day, but he got last-minute notice he needed to see Dr. Pappas in Worcester the next day. He was about to try and juggle connecting flights, and I was like "dude, I'll just drive you to fucking Worcester in the morning. Relax." He was super appreciative. Too bad he fucked up his shoulder, he was gonna have a solid career.

 

[Larry Gardner]

A couple of votes in the thread for Tim Naehring and I thought he could've had a great career if he wasn't injury prone, and I'll add my vote for Timmeh. But there were a couple of guys from those mid-90's teams that I really liked: Reggie Jefferson was just a hitting machine and then the player that had the highest B.A. in the history of MLB with a season of 40 AB or more, Rudy Pemberton going 21-41 in '96. I was in several APBA leagues back then and I couldn't WAIT to see his card and wanted to try to figure out how to use those 41 AB (or more if I could get away with it) as strategically as I could. I remember Rudy making the starting lineup in the beginning of '97 and it just didn't work out for him, but he was definitely our Hurricane Hazel....

 

[sonsoftrotnixon]

Yaz. And I only started really following him as my 8 year old self in 1975. The ‘75 World Series was the first I remember and he had already peaked and was considered an older veteran near the end of his career. My dad used to bring me home the New York Times sports sections from work every day so I could see the box scores. I even made a yaz scrap book of newspaper and magazine articles right up until his retirement. After that it was Trot Nixon.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

They kicked Yaz out of the Hall of Fame? Must be the teeth.

 

[jtn46]

For me that's gotta be Jon Lester. I learned about him for the first time during the A-rod trade drama. I saw him the summer of 2005 in Portland - the year he won Eastern League Pitcher of the Year. I thought about him every day after his cancer diagnosis. Seeing the final box score of the clinching game in 2007 was such a trip. A win for Lester, saved by Papelbon with Ellsbury scoring a run; it felt like all of the promise in the minors was coming to fruition in a big wave and the immediate future was so bright. I was pretty young then so I had plenty of time to watch games and Lester was always must-see TV for me. I followed every out of his no hitter at work and ran home to catch the end with a roommate. Following him as a fan growing up, seeing him win it all twice, watching his relationship with Francona develop early on; he's gotta be my all time sentimental player.

Yeah it’s Lester for me too, it’s been incredible to see him rise above cancer. He’s had a great and interesting career.

 

[curly2]

A tag team for me: George Scott and Rico Petrocelli. I was born in 1965 and when I got a turtle when I was 5 or so, I named him George. When the Boomer was traded, I adopted Rico, and modeled my batting stance after him. His last year was 1976, and Scott returned in 1977. I loved that '77 team. It was the first time, thanks to cable, I could see most of the games, and the Boomer was ripping taters, especially in the first half.

My fantasy team is still The Boomer, with a George Scott photo for the avatar.

 

[RG33]

This has been a great thread. I’m struggling to answer though. It’s hard not to say “the 1986 Red Sox” for me, as an 11-year old baseball fanatic who was always described by his Dad to family friends as “the kid eats, sleeps, and drinks baseball” and he would show me off to his buddies by grabbing a baseball card of one of the Sox and ask “what did Wade Boggs bat in 1979 at AA Bristol?”

“.325”

Like some others, I loved Dewey — he was my favorite player. The crazy stance (that I mimicked in wiffle ball), the rocket arm, even the dashing good looks and the story about his son made him seem heroic. Geddy and Marty Barrett too — which, I’ve gotten to meet Geddy as he is a good friend of a good friend, and I still joke with him about waiting in line at Wilmington Ford in 1987 trying to get he and Bruce Hurst’s autographs. Bruce Hurst was another guy — that curveball.

Anyways, I’m not following the rules here, but I’m going with “1986 Boston Red Sox”.

 

[Al Zarilla]

Al, you’re old enough: what about Tommy Harper?

I kind of missed Harper as a Red Sox, not sure why. Statistically, he does look a lot like Ellsbury. Baseball Reference's top ten similar batters doesn't list Harper in Ells's list, nor Ells in Harper's list. So many players though, whatever the computer decides.

 

[BuellMiller]

I’ll echo some of the previous statements about Boggs, even if his HoF status technically makes him ineligible for this. I also always tracked his stats every day in the box scores, and would get upset if he only went 1 for 3 with a couple of walks, since that often lowered his BA. (8 year old me didn’t know about obp yet). And I’d make sure to buy any baseball “book” at the school book fair that had an entry in him.
That K to end game 1 in 1988 against Eck was most upsetting, as was that completely miserable 1992 season especially as he went to the MFY afterwards. (His Starting Lineup figure of mine suddenly was missing his arms for some reason).
I’ll also add any prospect pitcher that came up in the early or mid 90’s, since we were always hoping for another homegrown stud pitcher like clemens and hurst: so the likes of Sele, Suppan, or the less traveled in Kevin Morton, Gar Finnvold, or Tim Van Egmond.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I thought that Kevin Morton was going to be the latest Seton Hall player to have success for the Sox (with Mo and Valentin).

And I remember that Boggs K against Eck. But unlike you it made me dislike him and really believe that old adage that Boggs got his two hits in the first four innings and took the rest of the game off. I wanted the Scott Cooper era to begin so bad.

I was a dumb kid.

 

[TapeAndPosts]

Somehow I'm always rooting for the guys who get signed and a chunk of the fanbase thinks they're failures before they've even played a game. I want them to show the world they're worth it after all! The first one was Jose Offerman. Everyone was freaking out that Mo Vaughn left and Bernie Williams spurned us and the Duke was clueless enough to tell the world that with Offerman we at least replaced Mo's OBP... I really rooted for that guy to prove he was worth it and for one year he almost did it, too (Jose had a .391 OBP in 1999, Mo's *career* OBP with the Sox was .394). But his bat declined after the first year and his defense got him moved off second to first where he really wasn't adequate in any way. I wanted it to work out, though!

The other big one was JD Drew. He had had a monster year for the Braves and a couple solid seasons for the Dodgers but somehow a lot of people didn't seem to want him. Something about his undemonstrative personality plus the old stink of him and Boras holding out on the Phillies after being drafted left a lot of people with a bad feeling about him that to me seemed wholly undeserved. I was excited when he came and while his 2007 was just okay, his grand slam in the ALCS was a terrific moment (he even pumped his fist a little!). But some fans seemed to go on thinking that was the only good thing he'd done for us... he was a beast in 2008 and 2009, for teams that get under-appreciated for how good they were since they didn't have the same postseason glory. 2010 was still a solid year, and only in the last year did he fall apart... and having a bad final year doesn't help people's impressions. I thought he was great, but I don't think the fanbase as a whole ever really did.

 

[54thMA]

George Scott.

One of my boyhood heroes, was crushed when he was traded away, was happy when they got him back.

He was the manager of a Yawkey League team my team played back in the early 1990's, I couldn't believe I was across the field from George Scott twice a year.

During an all star game, I got a hit and was on second base, he was the third base coach, during a pitching change he called me over to go over strategy once a ball was hit;......................to this day I still cannot remember a word he said, it was like an out of body experience standing two feet away from one of my baseball heroes.

It's examples like this as to why I love sports and those who don't are truly missing out on something pretty special.

That's a memory that I'll always cherish.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

In 1993 Jody Reed came off a good year with the Dodgers. It wasn't great, but the Dodgers were happy with what he did and offered him a three-year $30m deal to stay with the team. (I might be wrong about the numbers and length, but it was around that.)

Reed said thanks, but no thanks and decided to become a free agent. The Dodgers were screwed, now they needed a second baseman and they targeted a good one in Montreal's Delino DeShields. Dan Duquette was the GM of the Expos and said, "Sure, you can have Delino but we want pitching, we'll take, oh I don't know, Pedro Martinez, if he's available." Dodgers GM Fred Claire was hesitant to give up Pedro (if you believe him) but Dodgers manager Tommy LaSorda thought that Pedro was too small and too skinny to last and he needed a second baseman, so he shipped Pedro north.

Pedro obviously went on to star for the Expos for a few years and when he became so good that the club couldn't afford him, Duquette (who by this time was in Boston) traded for him AGAIN this time for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. (based on these two deals alone, Duquette should be in Cooperstown, but I digress ...) and the rest is Red Sox history.

But what happened to Reed, certainly he made his millions, right? Well, he jumped into the free agent pool and no one gave a shit. He floundered in the deep end all winter until Milwaukee threw him a life raft in the form of a one-year, minor league deal worth well south of the $10 million+ dollars he thought that he was worth. He bounced from the Padres to the Tigers after that and was out of baseball by 1997.

So without Jody Reed overestimating his worth, the wheels don't get set in motion for Pedro to be traded to Montreal before coming here. Because if Pedro super-novaed in LA like he did in Montreal, they had the cash to sign him and never would have sent him to the Red Sox. And who knows if we would have won it all in 2004. We may have, but it would have been less fun.

There’s no way in hell anyone offered Reed 3/$30M in 1993, and I’d be shocked if it was even 3/$10M. Wasn’t Clemens getting around $5M at the time, with top players getting maybe $6-7M?

I think the first $10M and $20M annual salaries were only a handful of years apart.

 

[TapeAndPosts]

There’s no way in hell anyone offered Reed 3/$30M in 1993, and I’d be shocked if it was even 3/$10M. Wasn’t Clemens getting around $5M at the time, with top players getting maybe $6-7M?

I think the first $10M and $20M annual salaries were only a handful of years apart.

Hank is correct, the top salary in 1993 was Bobby Bonilla's $6.2M, with Clemens making $4.6M. Salaries shot up after the strike, with Albert Belle making $10M in 1997 and A-Rod $22M in 2001 — by which time the 99th-highest-paid player, one Mike Lansing, was clearing $6.25M, more than Bonilla had as top earner 8 years earlier.

The Dodgers offer to Reed was 3 years/$7.8M. He ended up making $2.2M for those three years. Anyway, that's just a detail (though I admittedly love details), the story of the Reed-Pedro connection remains awesome.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

There’s no way in hell anyone offered Reed 3/$30M in 1993, and I’d be shocked if it was even 3/$10M. Wasn’t Clemens getting around $5M at the time, with top players getting maybe $6-7M?

I think the first $10M and $20M annual salaries were only a handful of years apart.

D’oh.

I meant 3/$10 million. And he made $2.5 million the year before according to bref, so 3/$10m is reasonable.

 

[Heating up in the bullpen]

I don’t really pick favorites at the MLB level. I want the Sox to win and I want everyone who got in a game to go 4 for 4 with a cycle.

But the first guy I really followed closely was Mookie Betts. I had started paying attention to the Sox‘ minor league system a couple years before, and Mookie was the first guy after that to come along and just tear through the system. I was able to catch him as a Salem Red Sox on the last day of the season against the Carolina Mudcats (he didn’t do anything special that day). I couldn’t wait for him to get called up when he was scorching AA. And when he proved he had the goods for MLB, I took a bit of (unwarranted) pride in having followed him through the system.

Rafi was the next player like that. Maybe it was the daily minor league wrap up on Sox Prospects, it seemed like he was going 2-4 or 3-4 with doubles, triples and homers every day in the DSL.

But like I said, once they’re in Boston I want them all to do well.

One thing I like to do regarding individual players is follow the prospects the Sox traded. So for instance, this past summer I’d check Giants box scores to see if Mauricio Dubon played and how he did. And I’d look for Basabe, or Santiago Espinal (I saw him play in Greensboro NC when he was with the Greenville Drive). I’m always glad to see our prospects doing well wherever they land.

 

[Jungleland]

My semi ridiculous answer: Darnell McDonald. I watched the everloving crap out of the 2010 team, and his out of nowhere jump to temporary relevancy felt like the most exciting part to me.

 

[Coachster]

My quick answer is Daniel Nava.

However, I always rooted for the 2nd and 3rd chance guys the Sox got who never amounted to anything. For example, John Olerud, Rolando Arroyo, JT Snow, Sean Casey, Paul Byrd, Bartolo Colon.

You get the idea. I really believed all these guys would be difference-makers. Don't let me EVER become a GM.

 

[Pegleg]

A tie for me: Jimmy Piersall and Harry Agganis.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

My semi ridiculous answer: Darnell McDonald. I watched the everloving crap out of the 2010 team, and his out of nowhere jump to temporary relevancy felt like the most exciting part to me.

I have no clue why but Darnell McDonald reminded me of Curtis Pride and I always rooted for him because of his background (deaf). He had 2 different stints with Boston.

He actually had a much longer career than I thought he did. He stuck around for 11years, accumulating 898 PA in his career.

looking up other deaf players, I never knew Dummy was a common nickname for the deaf and mute. Lots of Dummy's in the MLB.

 

[teddywingman]

I had no idea that Darnell McDonald is deaf. He was a fun player to root for. Fringe underdog vibe.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

I had no idea that Darnell McDonald is deaf. He was a fun player to root for. Fringe underdog vibe.

I don't believe he is deaf. Definitely had a fun run with the Sox, including on the mound.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

I had no idea that Darnell McDonald is deaf. He was a fun player to root for. Fringe underdog vibe.

Every that Crespo wrote after "Darnell McDonald" is in reference to Curtis Pride.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

I had no idea that Darnell McDonald is deaf. He was a fun player to root for. Fringe underdog vibe.

He's not. For whatever reason, his name just reminded me of Curtis Pride. Curtis Pride is deaf.

 

[teddywingman]

Thanks for clarifying. I guess I misread the post.

 

[Earthbound64]

However, I always rooted for the 2nd and 3rd chance guys the Sox got who never amounted to anything. For example, John Olerud, Rolando Arroyo, JT Snow, Sean Casey, Paul Byrd, Bartolo Colon.

You get the idea. I really believed all these guys would be difference-makers. Don't let me EVER become a GM.

Andre Dawson was going to make a huge difference.
Hey, I was hopeful.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

John Olerud

Always rooted for him because he skipped right over the minors and because he wore a helmet on defense due to a brain aneurysm he had right before starting his career.

 

[shaggydog2000]

Always rooted for him because he skipped right over the minors and because he wore a helmet on defense due to a brain aneurysm he had right before starting his career.

Ricky used to play with a guy who did that.

 

[Shaky Walton]

So since it's careD for, as in past tense, my answer is Curt Schilling. Between the Thanksgiving courting, his outspoken comments dissing the Hated Yankees, his SOSH posts, the bloody sock performances (I was at both games) and that he was a big part of delivering on the 2004 title, and breaking that fucking curse, Schilling really won me over.

It's very hard to omit Yaz, Nomar, Pedro and Ortiz, as all of them totally had me, too. Koji also. And oddly, Todd Walker.

But G38 got me the most.

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

I don't think Ellis Burks has been mentioned. I thought him and Greenwell were going to win multiple MVP awards. I liked his style and he was a Red Sox player that actually STOLE bases. I was crushed when they didn't sign him. Wonder what the story was there?

I am glad they gave him a ring in '04.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I don't think Ellis Burks has been mentioned. I thought him and Greenwell were going to win multiple MVP awards. I liked his style and he was a Red Sox player that actually STOLE bases. I was crushed when they didn't sign him. Wonder what the story was there?

I am glad they gave him a ring in '04.

The thing about Burks (and I loved him too) was that he seemed to be a 1980s type of baseball player. He was a fast outfielder who could hit home runs, swipe bases and play terrific defense. Players like Eric David and Daryl Strawberry and Ruben Sierra and Kirby Puckett and Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines were popping up all over the place and just dominating MLB. And then you had a team like the Red Sox who even though they kicked ass in 1986, seemed to win with an old formula. Station-to-station offense led by players who were on the downside of their career.

Burks seemed like a guy that the Red Sox never got, an athlete. So I wanted Burks to be the Boston version of Davis in the worst way. He got hurt a bunch, which sucked. And I don't know if it was because of this or something else, but Boston seemed to go back to drafting and promoting younger, station-to-station players. Sam Horn. Mike Greenwell. Todd Benzinger. John Marzano. Kevin Romine.

I was very happy when Burks got a ring in 2004 too.

 

[bakahump]

He became a villain in the end.....But Roger Clemons.

1986 was right in the wheel house of a young 13yos Bakahumps Fandom. It was a magical season. I mean 24-4. Who does that?! And it was before Baseball was on TV everyday (at least in maine). So everyday it required an effort to check how they did. It was checking the paper to see if Clemons pitched (the concept of a "rotation" might have puzzled me then....or maybe I thought he was superman and could pitch everyday....). 20 ks against the Mariners! What a glorious next day reading about it. I think in maine they may have played a replay on Friday night it was so historic.

Yeah he turned evil in the end.....like many good heroes do.....but for those 4-5 years It was Clemons.

Until Pedro.

 

[Was (Not Wasdin)]

Richie Gedman. It was so huge to see a kid from Worcester play for the Sox. He had that great run from 84-86 that we thought would go on for a long time....and then it didnt.

 

[MtPleasant Paul]

Ike Delock. I really can't say why I cared for him, maybe because he seemed to pitch with an edge. I remember his being thrown out of a game after he came off the mound charging the umpire - the only time I ever saw that until it happened to Roger in the ALCS against Oakland. I thought of him as a lights out reliever back in 56-57 although a check of his stats in Baseball Reference reveals more than a few blown saves in those years.

Delock won 83 games with the Sox over a 10 year career with them and ranks 23rd, I think, among Red Sox pitchers in career wins for the team.

 

[simplicio]

My favorites fall into two camps. One is the scrappers, who found an alternate path to success in the majors and made it work. Daniel Nava, Brock Holt, Wake and Steven Wright. Rich Hill is on the verge of this too, really hope he can continue his success here; his reinvention a few years ago was magic.

Then there are the guys that just made the game a beautiful, joyful dance. The guys who would get on the field and seem to exist in a different physical reality from everyone else, whose highlights I'd still follow even after they left Boston. For me that's Jose Iglesias, JBJ and, for my overall favorite, Koji.

 

[InsideTheParker]

My favorites fall into two camps. One is the scrappers, who found an alternate path to success in the majors and made it work. Daniel Nava, Brock Holt, Wake and Steven Wright. Rich Hill is on the verge of this too, really hope he can continue his success here; his reinvention a few years ago was magic.

Then there are the guys that just made the game a beautiful, joyful dance. The guys who would get on the field and seem to exist in a different physical reality from everyone else, whose highlights I'd still follow even after they left Boston. For me that's Jose Iglesias, JBJ and, for my overall favorite, Koji.

I agree with every word in this post. I would add Pedroia, but I guess he is too great to fit within the perimeter of the thread.

 

[Al Zarilla]

Ike Delock. I really can't say why I cared for him, maybe because he seemed to pitch with an edge. I remember his being thrown out of a game after he came off the mound charging the umpire - the only time I ever saw that until it happened to Roger in the ALCS against Oakland. I thought of him as a lights out reliever back in 56-57 although a check of his stats in Baseball Reference reveals more than a few blown saves in those years.

Delock won 83 games with the Sox over a 10 year career with them and ranks 23rd, I think, among Red Sox pitchers in career wins for the team.

Seeing your mention of Ike Delock made me think of another pitcher of that era that I liked a lot: Earl Wilson. Big, strong pitcher who threw hard, just a .500 range pitcher for the Sox. Then he was traded to Detroit where he really blossomed with 13-6 and 22-11 seasons. The 22-11 one was 1967, when the Sox really, really could have used him as their #2 pitcher after Lonny. But, the intriguing thing about Wilson was his power as a hitter. He hit 17 home runs in 356 ABs for the Sox (and 17 more in 367 for Detroit). The probable reason for his trade to Detroit was ugly and I won't repeat it, but his Wiki page has it. I don't know how accurate it is, but at that time, very possibly true.

 

[GB5]

maybe a tangent here, but I recall Jeff Gray was turning in a really good season with the Sox before he had a stroke at such a young age. I dont recall much about the stroke, other than I dont believe he recovered well enough to make a comeback attempt. He has slipped through the cracks of Red sox recollection, but I thought he was on the verge of becoming a trusted guy at the back of the pen. Did he come from Cincy? Does anyone know what his quality of life was like post stroke?

Another guy who I rooted for was Greg Harris, who wore that ridiculous ambidextrous glove, and he was at least a story during the lean years as he was always threatening to pitch lefty. If I recall correctly, he was on the mound in the Bronx int he 9th inning in that crazy game where he got the third out on the fly ball to Rice in left, but the umpire called time after the pitch was thrown, the batter was given a second life, and of course the Sox ended up losing. My memory also tells me he had an Aaron Sele type curveball, but that he threw it over and over and over..

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

maybe a tangent here, but I recall Jeff Gray was turning in a really good season with the Sox before he had a stroke at such a young age. I dont recall much about the stroke, other than I dont believe he recovered well enough to make a comeback attempt. He has slipped through the cracks of Red sox recollection, but I thought he was on the verge of becoming a trusted guy at the back of the pen. Did he come from Cincy? Does anyone know what his quality of life was like post stroke?

He didn't come to the Sox directly from Cincinnati, but that's where he broke into the big leagues. He made a stop with the Phillies in between, but failed to make the club out of spring training and was DFA. That's when he hooked on with the Sox (Pawtucket at first).

According to his wikipedia page, he coached in the Reds system for a bit and owned a restaurant in Florida, so it seems he made a full recovery from a normal life standpoint. He just never recovered from a baseball standpoint.

 

[Pat Spillane]

I loved the Rich Hill story when he came up and went something like 7-1 and signed the big contract the next year. WIll probably have a soft spot for him next year as well

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

I loved the Rich Hill story when he came up and went something like 7-1 and signed the big contract the next year. WIll probably have a soft spot for him next year as well

You mean the four starts at the end of 2015? It's incredible how huge those four starts were for the rejuvenation of his career (at the age of 35!). In 2014, he pitched 5.1 innings over 14 appearances (talk about a lefty specialist) for the Yankees, then languished in their minor league system in 2015 until finally getting his release. The Sox took a flyer on him to fill out the September rotation in a lost season. Then the A's, in typical Billy Beane fashion, signed him to a one-year deal then flipped him at the trade deadline. Then he scored a $50M deal to stay with the Dodgers (at age 37!). Just a crazy career trajectory.

 

[Jason Bae]

Somehow I'm always rooting for the guys who get signed and a chunk of the fanbase thinks they're failures before they've even played a game. I want them to show the world they're worth it after all! The first one was Jose Offerman. Everyone was freaking out that Mo Vaughn left and Bernie Williams spurned us and the Duke was clueless enough to tell the world that with Offerman we at least replaced Mo's OBP... I really rooted for that guy to prove he was worth it and for one year he almost did it, too (Jose had a .391 OBP in 1999, Mo's *career* OBP with the Sox was .394). But his bat declined after the first year and his defense got him moved off second to first where he really wasn't adequate in any way. I wanted it to work out, though!

The other big one was JD Drew. He had had a monster year for the Braves and a couple solid seasons for the Dodgers but somehow a lot of people didn't seem to want him. Something about his undemonstrative personality plus the old stink of him and Boras holding out on the Phillies after being drafted left a lot of people with a bad feeling about him that to me seemed wholly undeserved. I was excited when he came and while his 2007 was just okay, his grand slam in the ALCS was a terrific moment (he even pumped his fist a little!). But some fans seemed to go on thinking that was the only good thing he'd done for us... he was a beast in 2008 and 2009, for teams that get under-appreciated for how good they were since they didn't have the same postseason glory. 2010 was still a solid year, and only in the last year did he fall apart... and having a bad final year doesn't help people's impressions. I thought he was great, but I don't think the fanbase as a whole ever really did.

I'll second Drew. The grand slam was great but it wasn't until June 2008 when he really started to grow on me. He had a monster month (1.309 OPS) to carry the offense after Papi got hurt. He came up huge twice in the postseason with the go-ahead HR in the ALDS off K-Rod in Game 2, and the walk-off in Game 5 against the Rays.

 

[cantor44]

Dewey. Though he should be a hall of famer.

 

[Huntington Avenue Grounds]

JBJ is far and away the answer for me here, but a solid 2nd is Carlos Pena. Local kid, NU product I was pulling for the Sox to draft him in 1998 but he went to the Rangers two picks ahead. Always rooted for him and when the Sox finally got him 2006 I felt all was finally right in the world. Walk off HR against the White Sox was the high water mark, really the only water, during his tenure. Goes to Tampa and can't stop hitting HR's, was always happy for him but wish he could have stuck here.

Looking back at his stats, he's at lot closer to JBJ than I recalled, hit for more power, a bit less speed.

 

[Pablo's TB Lover]

Mine is Phil Plantier.

It feels like your favorite musicians are those you listened to in high school/college, and your favorite ballplayers are those you follow in middle school. That was the case in 1990 between 7th and 8th grade, when by luck I was away from my single mom in NH to stay with my father in Pawtucket most of the month of August. I tracked Plantier's chase of the PawSox home run record, along with Mo Vaughn who was also up and coming and was the better prospect.

I paid for as few games as possible, so I was part of the "knot hole gang" behind the outfield fence (2 or 3 of us?) and got either #31 or 32 from Plantier's bat that last week of August.

His approach seemed unconventional, so with that youthful hope of an evolving pastime my thought was maybe this kid's found a new way of being successful. Plantier killed it to the tune of a 1.035 OPS and 11 homers in 53 games in 1991, but he faded in '92 followed by the Sox cutting bait.

 

[HangingW/ScottCooper]

I'm a fan of the utility guys... Tim Naehring, Jed Lowrie, Brock Holt

 

[LoweTek]

Mine is Phil Plantier.

It feels like your favorite musicians are those you listened to in high school/college, and your favorite ballplayers are those you follow in middle school. That was the case in 1990 between 7th and 8th grade, when by luck I was away from my single mom in NH to stay with my father in Pawtucket most of the month of August. I tracked Plantier's chase of the PawSox home run record, along with Mo Vaughn who was also up and coming and was the better prospect.

I paid for as few games as possible, so I was part of the "knot hole gang" behind the outfield fence (2 or 3 of us?) and got either #31 or 32 from Plantier's bat that last week of August.

His approach seemed unconventional, so with that youthful hope of an evolving pastime my thought was maybe this kid's found a new way of being successful. Plantier killed it to the tune of a 1.035 OPS and 11 homers in 53 games in 1991, but he faded in '92 followed by the Sox cutting bait.

PTBL, if you would like to PM me your address, I'll send you a nice ball and card display signed by Plantier.

 

[Pablo's TB Lover]

PTBL, if you would like to PM me your address, I'll send you a nice ball and card display signed by Plantier.

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Wow thank you for the incredible offer LoweTek. No need to however, what I didn't say is my brother** brought the homer I caught to the PawSox fan meet and greet the following day for Phil to sign himself. So I have a nice souvenir, it is in storage so can't be photographed at the moment.

** The long story is my brother, his friend and I were playing pickle in the middle of the day in our father's small backyard. I was jumping back quick to beat a throw to my bro's friend but he was quite clumsy, knocked me over, and it took out a huge gash right below my knee from the stone garden edging. So I was in the hospital getting that stitched up while the other two got autographs at the ballpark. My brother did ask Mo Vaughn for an additional "get well" signed ball for me but he did not oblige. We also have Vaughn's regular signed baseball somewhere in our basements.

 

[sonsoftrotnixon]

Another one for me (or rather my son) Brian Daubach. He was re-habbing and playing in Rochester. I took my son to the game and Daubach came up and had at least a 5 minute conversation with him, asking him if he played ball, where he liked to play and so on. Then signed his glove and told him to practice hard and some day he may be in the big leagues. He still has the glove.

 

[Muddy Chicken]

For me it was Dewey and Bruce Hurst. I loved watching those guys in the 80’s.