NAME: Birdie Tebbetts
POSITION: Catcher.
WHY IS HE HERE?: Local-ish catcher (from Vermont) who spent three-plus seasons in Boston during a period when the team was competing with the Yankees for the pennant. Tebbetts was a two-time All Star and hit .287 during his time with Boston. He was a highly-respected leader behind the plate.
WOULD I PUT HIM IN IN 2001?: Probably not.
ANY BETTER CHOICES IN 2001?: Tebbetts is one of four catchers in the set, two of whom clearly belong here. Tebbetts is a bit of a weird choice, but he was a two-time All Star. But so was Rich Gedman, who also played longer than Tebbetts. Other possible choices that did not appear in this set were Bill Carrigan, who was a player/manager and is the only manager to lead the team to consecutive World Series titles (should have gotten him in right there) and Sammy White, who was an All Star and spent most of the 50's behind the plate.
WOULD I PUT HIM IN NOW?: No. Since this set, there are even more choices that would be better than Tebbetts.
ANY BETTER CHOICES NOW?: Obviously there is Jason Varitek, who had only been in the Majors for four seasons at the time this set was released, and had not yet been an All Star. Victor Martinez was a short-term player, like Tebbetts, who was an All Star. There's also Christian Vazquez, who had a nice career with Boston.
I recently focused a blog post on Tebbetts and the fun fact that he finished his career with exactly 1,000 hits. His time with the red Sox was short, but he had a fascinating career as a player, manager, and scout.
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