Whatever happened to the 10th Player Award? Submit nominations

[Lose Remerswaal]

Remember the days of the Red Sox 10th Player award, which, unfortunately, generally went to a star instead of to the unsung hero, even though the guidelines were (per Bleacher Report):

The criteria for the award is that it should go to the player who has "gone above and beyond" and "most exceeded expectations." The very fact that it is called the "10th Player Award" would seem to indicate that it should probably go to somebody outside of the official starting nine, somebody who has produced nicely in the pinch, filling in for an injured starter or shuffling between positions as needed.

Early winners included:

1975: Lynn
1976: Yaz
1977: Hobson
1978: Fisk

There were no awards in most of the 90's, then 2003 to 2005 saw Mueller, Damon and Timlin win, then the award came back in 2011 to 2013 with Ellsbury, Cody Ross, and Uehara winning.

Assuming the guidelines are still as quoted above, who on this team full of surprises would you nominate for 10th Player Award Winner?

Please nominate no more than 2 players, and BOLD your nominees for an upcoming election.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Rick Porcello in a runaway.


Injury free, Steven Wright probably belongs in the discussion too.

 

[RIFan]

Sandy Leon
Steven Wright

 

[Curt S Loew]

Going by the guidelines, it's Sandy Leon.

 

[joe dokes]

How could it *not* be Sandy Leon. He was the 4th string catcher out of ST. You don't get much more 10th unsung player-y than that.

I'd give Wright all the second place votes. He was expected to contribute, but went beyond that.

 

[johnnywayback]

I think Leon and Wright are the Coke and Pepsi of this discussion, but I'll offer two other nominees who were expected to be minor contributors at best but who have really shored up two positions of weakness.

Chris Young: 290/368/550, including a totally respectable 255/322/482 against RHP.
Robbie Ross: 137 ERA+, 3.10 FIP

 

[Curt S Loew]

I think Leon and Wright are the Coke and Pepsi of this discussion

Then I think you should bold those players and maybe honorable mention Young and Ross. I mean, if we want to make this fake award valid.

 

[simplicio]

Sandy Leon
Steven Wright

HM: Young, Benintendi

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

Wright and Leon

Just close up nominations now and let the debate begin.

 

[phenweigh]

Rick Porcello in a runaway.


Injury free, Steven Wright probably belongs in the discussion too.

I think it's Sandy Leon in a runaway. Porcello is certainly exceeding expectations, but part of that is low expectations from last season's poor start after signing the lucrative extension. A non-emotional expectation for Porcello would have been #3 type starter. That he's a Cy Young candidate is certainly noteworthy, but not nearly as shocking as a light-hitting catcher who wasn't expected to even play in Boston look like Johnny Bench. I'll also go along with Steven Wright as my other nominee, even with the second-half swoon and injury. First-half ace was nuts.

Anyway, if Porcello is an honorable mention, and I think he is, then Betts should be too. Sure, many expected Mookie to be good, even very good. But MVP candidate and Willie Mays impersonator is exceeding expectations similar to Fredrick.

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

Rick Porcello in a runaway.


Injury free, Steven Wright probably belongs in the discussion too.

I'll go just the opposite. Wright has outperformed expectations by a country mile, and even if he never wins another game for the Sox, he earned it by keeping the rotation afloat while Price, et al couldn't keep themselves from tripping over their own shoelaces through the first half.

 

[Saints Rest]

For me, in terms of exceeding expectations, even though they were starters, it's between Porcello and JBJ.

But Sandy Leon fills all the parameters.

 

[soxfan121]

Travis Shaw. Back in late March, the amount of hysteria about Fat Pablo was out of control. Without Shaw, a gaping hole at 3b all season could have sunk this club. While he's been streaky, he's also provided enough to keep the position from being a complete black hole.

Jackie Bradley Jr. Despite last summer's breakout, more than a few around these parts were not sold on Bradley having turned the corner and figured out major league pitching. Another very streaky player, he's played Gold Glove quality defense and been an offensive force when hot.

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

Sandy Leon is the absolute quintessence of what the 10th Player Award was supposed to be about. I don't think in my near-40 years of Sox fandom I've ever seen a more perfect candidate.

 

[YTF]

I fully agree with everyone here that say Sandy Leon. What he's supplied the team in terms of offense and defense wasn't expected from him. In fact he was the 4th guy called on to suit up as catcher this season. I mentioned somewhere in another post that Leon has given us the best of what we hoped for out of Swihart offensively and everything that we expected from Vasquez behind the plate. That said, I could totally see Ortiz being the recipient. He's a sentimental favorite who as definitely gone above and beyond and has exceeded everyone's wildest expectations.

 

[Todd Benzinger]

1) Sandy Leon, 2) Wright... HM: Young

The real question seems to me to be if the award should be renamed in honor of Sandy from here on out, given that he so perfectly exemplifies the concept..

 

[gedman211]

This is a good place to remind everyone that not too long ago we were pining for Hanley to be traded for 10 cents on the dollar. Now he's basically become '03 Manny mixed with Pedroia's hustle, grit and attitude. Now I realize he's paid handsomely to perform like this, but his accomplishments compared with preseason expectations are pretty astounding.

 

[nvalvo]

Well, we have a pretty clear shortlist of Leon and Wright, I'd say. Leon didn't receive a signing bonus from Washington noteworthy enough to have been made public, and Wright was a second rounder who never quite made any prospect lists in the Tribe system, and whom Cherington acquired for post-prospect Lars Anderson, who at the time had about as much value as Bryce Brentz does now. Unheralded players, then, who have posted elite partial seasons that give hope that they've found new levels.

I don't think it can be anybody like Bradley or Porcello: those guys have first round pedigree, but they are just now having prime-year breakout seasons to reach levels of performance that some scout somewhere must have anticipated they might reach. Both were seen as top-ten talents who slipped: Bradley because of an injury, Porcello because of bonus demands (he signed 27th overall for $3.5m). So Porcello putting up a season line that wouldn't stand out on Roy Halladay's baseball-reference page is great, but it isn't really exceeding expectations. (Bradley, likewise, is posting numbers from one of Mike Cameron's best seasons.)

Or Hanley: Hanley was a #10 overall prospect, and while it's awesome that he's hitting well and playing first base acceptably, this is his seventh best season by OPS+, eighth by fWAR.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

I think it's prett clearly Leon and Wright. While I love Sandy and he certainly checks the "unexpected performance" box I think Wright's greater playing time - and hence contributions - gets him the award.

 

[Ale Xander]

After last year, Hanley deserves to be in the discussion. He has clearly exceeded expeditions especially when you consider defense.

My ballot:
1. Wright
2. Leon
3. JBJ
4. Hanley
5. Porcello

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

I think it's prett clearly Leon and Wright. While I love Sandy and he certainly checks the "unexpected performance" box I think Wright's greater playing time - and hence contributions - gets him the award.

Usual caveats aside, it's worth noting that Leon is actually a tenth of a point ahead of Wright in fWAR, 2.9 to 2.8. The gap is even wider in bWAR, 2.7 to 2.2. By that measure, at least, Leon has contributed more overall than Wright. I think that passes the smell test. And I think it's fair to say preseason expectations for Leon were lower; Wright was very much in the conversation for 5th starter, while Leon was the #4 option at C, considered pure AAAA filler.

 

[Sox37937]

I'd like to add another vote for Leon. I like Shaw as a second.
And thanks for the thread...it reminded me that I saw Hobson receive his award before my first game at Fenway, 9/11/77, I believe (a win vs Tigers, grand slam by Rice).

 

[bankshot1]

There are so many players who have exceeded (my) expectations that the candidate pool is deep. Unless I missed it Ortiz has yet to be mentioned, which unless our collective expectations were crazy high seems an oversight.

However in keeping with my definition of the"10th player" the non-star who performs well above expectations, and performs in a stellar manner, Leon is my lead candidate, followed by Wright, Shaw and Hanley (more a comeback player candidate) .

 

[threecy]

There were no awards in most of the 90's

They kept it going at least as long as TV38 was still broadcasting the Sox. I remember Joe Hesketh won the award one year.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

They kept it going at least as long as TV38 was still broadcasting the Sox. I remember Joe Hesketh won the award one year.

Was he Smiling?

 

[bankshot1]

They kept it going at least as long as TV38 was still broadcasting the Sox. I remember Joe Hesketh won the award one year.

IIRC the Sox 10th player award started after the success of TV 38 7th Player award for the Bruins starting in the late 60s.

 

[67WasBest]

IIRC the Sox 10th player award started after the success of TV 38 7th Player award for the Bruins starting in the late 60s.

That is an accurate memory.