CATCHER - TONY PENA
Catcher was one of the tough position battles. The best individual season belonged to Mike Stanley in 1996, at least from an offensive standpoint. He hit .270/.383/.506 with 24 home runs and 69 RBIs that season, but there is a reason he was moved to designated hitter the next season. He led the league in passed balls in 1996. Jason Varitek also developed in the late 1990's, but his only full season was 1999 when he hit .269/.330/.482 with 20 home runs and 76 RBIs, but he will have another chance at this. Then there was Scott Hatteberg, who had two decent seasons as the starting catcher in 1997 and 1998, hitting .276/.356/.440 with 22 home runs and 87 RBIs between them. Good seasons, but together, not as good as Stanley or Varitek. So, the honor goes to Tony Pena, who was the starting catcher for four seasons. He was the weakest hitter among the four players mentioned, but was significantly better behind the plate. Pena hit just .234/.290/.313 during his four seasons, including a dreadful 1993 season in which he hit .181, but regularly among the league leaders in most defensive categories, and that means something. He was awarded with a Gold Glove in 1991.
FIRST BASE - MO VAUGHN
With apologies to Carlos Quintana, one of my favorite players when I first got into baseball, this was the easiest position on the team. Vaughn's Red Sox career spanned most of the decade, starting in 1991 and continuing through 1998. During that time, The Hit Dog was an All Star three times, the AL MVP in 1995, and won a Silver Slugger Award. Vaughn started off slow, only hitting 17 home runs during 1991-1992, but became the team's best slugger in 1993. What made him particularly impressive during his time in Boston was that he was not just a power hitter, he was a terrific hitter in general, as his team statline of .304/.394/.542 will attest. In 1998 he finished percentage points behind Bernie Williams for the batting title. Vaughn led the league in RBIs in 1995 and hit 40 home runs twice. He was the face of the Red Sox for the better part of the 1990's. No one else was seriously considered for first base on this team.
SECOND BASE - JODY REED
In contrast to first base, second base was one of the most difficult positions to determine. There were no true standout players at the position throughout the decade. Jose Offerman, of all people, was the only Red Sox All Star at second base, but only played one season for the team during the decade. He had perhaps the best season offensively, hitting .294/.391/.435 and led the league in triples. Scott Fletcher was decent in 1993, but poor in 1994. Luis Alicea was also good in his one season with the team. Jeff Frye also had a good 1997, hitting .312/.352/.433 with 19 stolen bases, but he was more of a jack-of-all-trades type. And so, it comes down to Jody Reed, who led the league in doubles in 1990 with 45. He was definitely not a power hitter, hitting just 17 home runs during his time with the Red Sox, and he was not that much of a base-stealer either, stealing 23 bases in his career with Boston. But he was a steady, dependable contact hitter, and an ideal number two hitter in the lineup. In the 1990's for Boston, he hit .274/.348/.364, with 484 hits and 114 doubles. Those numbers may have looked better, but for a bad 1992 season. Second base was tough, and so it comes down to the dependable Reed.
At first glance, shortstop would seem to be very easy. Nomar Garciaparra put up some terrific numbers, but he was the starting shortstop for just three seasons, as compared to John Valentin's four. But I found a way to deal with that issue. Nomar gets the shortstop position as a result of his 1997-1999 seasons. In that time, he was an All Star twice, the unanimous Rookie of the Year in 1997, second in the MVP race in 1998, and won the batting title in 1999. He put together one of the all-time great rookie seasons, hitting .306/.342/.534 with 30 home runs and 98 RBIs, while stealing 22 bases. Along the way, he led the league in hits (209) and triples (11), and all of this was out of the leadoff slot in the lineup. The next season he was even better, and then won the batting title in 1999. There was some competition for Nomar though, but see the below entry for third base.
THIRD BASE - JOHN VALENTIN
This is probably the biggest upset on the team. Scott Cooper was a two-time All Star, but did not really deserve it and Tim Naehring was pretty decent, but neither player was considered very strongly. Wade Boggs spent the first three years of the decade as the team's third-baseman, while Valentin was the third-baseman the last two-and-a-half seasons, but Valentin's time as the team's shortstop from 1993 through 1996 gives him the edge. The problem with Boggs is that his 1990 season was very good, but not great, and his 1992 season was bad for him. 1991 was his only Boggs-ian season. Valentin on the other hand had a 1995 season nearly as good as Boggs's 1991, and very good seasons from 1993 through 1998. His best season came as a shortstop when he hit .297/.399/.533 with 27 home runs, 102 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases and won the Silver Slugger. He had a very good year in 1997, which he split between second and third, and then had his best season as a full-time third-baseman in 1998 when he hit 23 home runs. This is probably a controversial pick, but Boggs had his time in the 1980's, and I wanted to get Valentin on this team somehow.
RIGHT FIELD - TROY O'LEARY
Right field came down to two players: Tom Brunansky or Troy O'Leary. Trot Nixon was just emerging as the 90's came to a close and the less said about 1993 and 1994, the better. Brunansky came to Boston in a trade for Lee Smith early in the 1990 season and was expected to help solidify the lineup, but it never really worked out that way. He never hit more than 16 home runs for Boston, despite coming off of eight straight 20+ home run seasons. O'Leary arrived in Boston via a waiver claim from the Brewers in 1995 and took over when Mark Whiten failed to impress. O'Leary promptly hit over .300 then the next year added some power. His best season as a right fielder came in 1997 when he hit .309/.358/.479 with 15 home runs and 80 RBIs. Like Valentin, O'Leary is ultimately helped out by his work at another position. In his case, left field. His power numbers increased when he moved to left as he hit 23 and then 28 home runs. He was the only Red Sox outfielder in the 1990's to drive in more than 100 runs when he drove in 115 in 1999. So, O'Leary gets the nod partially due to his left field time.
CENTER FIELD - ELLIS BURKS
This is likely the most difficult call on the team. There was constant turnover in center field after Burks left, and even during his last couple of seasons as he was injured frequently. Of the multitude of options, I considered Billy Hatcher, Otis Nixon, Lee Tinsley, Darren Bragg, and Darren Lewis in addition to Burks. Hatcher's best season in Boston resulted in him having an OPS+ of 93 which is not great. Nixon stole 42 bases in his one season in Boston, but had no power at all. Tinsley was only marginally better than Hatcher in his best season of 1995. Bragg had his best year as a right fielder and his years in center were not any better than Hatcher or Tinsley. And finally Lewis was not any better than any of the others. So it comes down to Burks, who was the only All Star in center field during the 1990's. His All Star season came in 1990 when he hit .296/.349/.486 with 21 home runs and 89 RBIs. He also won the Silver Slugger and the Gold Glove that season. His speed numbers were unfortunately down as he stole just nine bases. Burks declined significantly in 1991 and dealt with a number of injuries in 1992, but his great 1990 season was the only real successful season for a Red Sox center fielder in the 1990's and won him the nod.
LEFT FIELD - MIKE GREENWELL
Taking Troy O'Leary out of consideration leaves Greenwell to compete only with Wil Cordero, which is absolutely no competition. Cordero's 18 home runs in 1997 were more than Greenwell hit in any season in the 1990's, but he does not match up in any other way. Greenwell had his best seasons in the 1980's, but he had a fair amount left in the tank during the 1990's. He was the primary left fielder other than when injured through the 1996 season. Greenwell's best season in the 1990's was 1993 when he hit .315/.379/.480 with 13 home runs and 72 RBIs. For the decade, he hit .294/.354/.437 with 71 home runs and 411 RBIs. He also hit 166 doubles and stole 45 bases. Greenwell was a dependable hitter throughout his career. He was not flashy in the 1990's, but he got the job done and he spent a number of years with Boston. That is certainly worth something.
DESIGNATED HITTER - JOSE CANSECO
I went back and forth on this one. Jack Clark had one good season with the Red Sox in 1991, but was bad in 1992. Andre Dawson was well past his prime by the time he made it to the Red Sox. Mike Stanley was mostly in a platoon when he was the DH. So that brings it down to Reggie Jefferson and Jose Canseco. Jefferson spent the most time at DH during the decade and had some impressive numbers, hitting .316/.363/.505 with 50 home runs and 215 RBIs. He was a very underrated hitter and took to the DH position like a fish to water, though he was often a part of a platoon and only twice played in more than 100 games. Even though Canseco played just two seasons with the Red Sox, he eclipsed Jefferson's home run total. Canseco had two very good seasons with the Red Sox that were derailed by injuries. In 1995 he hit .306/.378/.556 with 24 home runs and 81 RBIs and then hit .289/.400/.589 with 28 home runs and 82 RBIs in 1996. He might have had one of his best seasons ever in 1996 had he not gone down at the end of the year with an injury. So Canseco's two great seasons were enough to beat out Jefferson's larger body of work.
STARTING PITCHER - ROGER CLEMENS
The Rocket was still at the top of his game in the early 1990's. He had a terrific season in 1990, leading the league with a 1.93 ERA and winning 21 games while striking out 209. He should have been the Cy Young Award winner that year, but Bob Welch's 27 wins blinded the voters. Clemens did win the award in 1991 and finished third the next year. He led the league in ERA all three seasons and strikeouts in 1991. 1993 saw Clemens decline significantly, but he rebounded to some degree for his final three seasons with the Red Sox. Injuries were taking their toll in 1994 and 1995, but he impressed when he was on the mound. In his final Red Sox season in 1996 he led the league in strikeouts once again with 257 and matched his single game record of 20 strikeouts. He did have a losing record though and the GM played hardball with him and Clemens left as a free agent after 1996. He was still the winningest pitcher on the team throughout the decade, going 97-66 with a 3.05 ERA and 1,375 strikeouts.
STARTING PITCHER - PEDRO MARTINEZ
Boston finally got their replacement for Clemens in 1998 when they traded for Martinez. Despite pitching just two seasons in the 1990's, this team would be incomplete without Pedro. He was an All Star both seasons and won the Cy Young Award in 1999 while finishing second in the MVP vote. In 1998, he was 19-7 with a 2.89 ERA and 251 strikeouts. He was even better in 1999, going 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA, and 313 strikeouts, leading the league in all three categories. Martinez also won the 1999 All Star Game MVP award. Martinez is a very easy pick to make this team even given his short tenure with the team during the decade.
STARTING PITCHER - TIM WAKEFIELD
The knuckleballer Wakefield was acquired as a minor league free agent after being released by the Pirates organization and took the team by storm upon being called up in 1995. He challenged for the Cy Young Award (3rd in voting) and MVP (13th in voting) with his incredible run of success that started to taper off later on. He finished the year 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA and 119 strikeouts. Wakefield generally had higher ERAs, but was a workhorse, throwing more than 200 innings each of the next three seasons. He was particularly impressive again in 1998 when he was 17-8 with a 4.58 ERA and 146 strikeouts. He was a valuable role player in 1999 when he spent some time as closer, saving 15 games. Wakefield stayed with Boston throughout the entire next decade.
STARTING PITCHER - DANNY DARWIN
I have discussed Darwin's 1993 season a number of times on this blog, and it is the biggest reason why he appears on this post as well. Darwin was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox after leading the NL in ERA with the Astros in 1990, despite being primarily a reliever. He struggled in 1991, but started to come around in 1992, by finishing 9-9 with a 3.96 ERA. In 1993, he had a terrific season, going 15-11 with a 3.26 ERA and 124 strikeouts while leading the league in WHIP with a 1.068 mark. He then went 7-5, but with a ghastly 6.30 ERA in his final season with the Red Sox. Other starting pitchers to be considered for these spots were Mike Boddicker, Aaron Sele, Erik Hanson, and Bret Saberhagen.
PITCHER - TOM GORDON
While it is undoubtedly true that the primary reason that Gordon is here is due to his 1998 season as closer, Gordon also had some success as a starting pitcher. Gordon had a few good seasons with the Royals before coming to Boston as a free agent in 1996. He was 12-9 in his first season with the Red Sox, but had a 5.59 ERA while striking out 171. He was very impressive in 1997, the team's most reliable starting pitcher before converting to closer after the trade of Heathcliff Slocumb. That season he was 6-10 with a 3.74 ERA, striking out 159 and saving 11 games. He was an All Star as the closer in 1998, saving a team record 46 games including setting an AL record for consecutive saves. He finished 7-4 with a 2.72 ERA and struck out 78. The next season he picked up another 11 saves but struggled and suffered an injury. Other starter/relievers considered for this list were Greg A. Harris and Joe Hesketh.
RELIEF PITCHER - JEFF REARDON
After a long career as a closer with the Mets, Expos, and Twins, Reardon was brought to Boston to be a co-closer with Lee Smith. Smith though, did not like the idea and was traded during the season, leaving Reardon to become the team's closer. He was impressive in his time with the Red Sox, saving 88 games in just under three seasons. He set a then-record 40 games in 1991 and was an All Star. His biggest accomplishment in Boston was breaking Rollie Fingers's career saves record in 1992, shortly before being traded to the Braves. That was since broken many times over, but it was a noteworthy accomplishment in team history. Jeff Russell was also briefly considered for this spot, and of course, Tom Gordon.
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