The Closers

The closer each year has almost always been a favorite player of mine.  I have no idea why.  Closers are just fun.  They often have an outrageous personality.  You almost have to be arrogant to be a closer.  It's only annoying when they do not perform well or you like the other team.  So yeah, ever since I got into baseball, I have been a very big fan of closers.

The below are a year by year look at the Red Sox closers since I was fan:

1991

JEFF REARDON:  Reardon was the first Red Sox closer I was aware of and he had a terrific 1991 season.  Reardon was an All Star in 1991 and set a new Red Sox record for saves in a season with 40.

Others recording saves: Greg Harris (2), Jeff Gray (1), Tony Fossas (1), Dan Petry (1)

1992

JEFF REARDON:  Reardon was 36 in 1992 and was starting to show his age.  He did break the career saves record and had 27 saves before being traded to the Braves.  They went with a committee after the trade.

Others recording saves: Greg Harris (4), Danny Darwin (3), Tony Fossas (2), Joe Hesketh (1), Paul Quantrill (1), Ken Ryan (1)

1993

JEFF RUSSELL:  After trading Reardon in 1992, Boston was on the lookout for a closer for the 1993 season.  Russell was signed after the team nearly signed Tom Henke.  Russell racked up 33 saves and a 2.70 ERA in a very good season.

Others recording saves: Greg Harris (8), Paul Quantrill (1), Ken Ryan (1), Joe Hesketh (1)

1994

KEN RYAN:  Russell started the season as the closer but had a rough time and was eventually traded to Cleveland.  Ken Ryan took over and lead the team with 13 saves with a 2.44 ERA.

Others recording saves: Jeff Russell (12), Greg Harris (2), Chris Howard (1), Tony Fossas (1), Todd Frohwirth (1)

1995

RICK AGUILERA:  The Red Sox started the season with Ryan as the closer but he struggled.  They then went with Stan Belinda for a little while but eventually decided to pick up Aguilera at the trade deadline in order to have a shot at the playoffs.  Aguilera was great down the stretch notching 20 saves and a 2.67 ERA.

Others recording saves:  Stan Belinda (10), Ken Ryan (7), Mike Maddux (1), Joe Hudson (1)

1996

HEATHCLIFF SLOCUMB:  Aguilera returned to the Twins as a free agent after the 1995 season so Boston acquired Slocumb in a trade with the Phillies.  Slocumb had a great season in 1996 picking up 31 saves and 88 strikeouts in 83.1 innings.  He had a 3.1 WAR as a closer, which is impressive.

Others recording saves: Stan Belinda (2), Pat Mahomes (2), Mike Stanton (1), Joe Hudson (1)

1997

HEATHCLIFF SLOCUMB:  1997 was not nearly as good for Slocumb.  He only had 17 saves for Boston and blew some big ones.  He was eventually traded to the Mariners in what would be a terrific trade for Boston.  Tom Gordon took over after the trade.

Others recording saves: Tom Gordon (11), Butch Henry (6), Kerry Lacy (3), Jim Corsi (2), Chris Hammond (1)

1998

TOM GORDON:  In what was easily one of the greatest seasons by a Red Sox closer, Gordon set a new single season saves record for the team with 46 and was an All Star.  He even received votes for MVP.

Others recording saves: Derek Lowe (4), Dennis Eckersley (1), Rich Garces (1), Ron Mahay (1)

1999

DEREK LOWE:  Gordon started off the season as closer but had some injury problems.  Lowe and Tim 

Wakefield actually tied with 15 saves, but Lowe finished more games.  

Others recording saves: Tim Wakefield (15), Tom Gordon (11), Rod Beck (3), John Wasdin (2), Mark Guthrie (2), Rich Garces (2)

2000

DEREK LOWE:  The sinkerballer was terrific in 2000, saving 42 games with a 2.56 ERA, and an All Star berth.

Others recording saves: Rich Garces (1), Hipolito Pichardo (1), Bryce Florie (1), John Wasdin (1)

2001

DEREK LOWE:  Lowe started to falter as closer in 2001, but still recorded 24 saves.  He was moved to the rotation later in the season and Ugueth Urbina was acquired to serve as closer.

Others recording saves: Ugueth Urbina (9), Rod Beck (6), Rolando Arrojo (5), Tim Wakefield (3), Rich Garces (1)

2002

UGUETH URBINA:  Urbina was an All Star in 2002 with 40 saves and a 3.00 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 60 innings.

Others recording saves: Tim Wakefield (3), Alan Embree (2), Frank Castillo (1), Casey Fossum (1), Rolando Arrojo (1), Willie Banks (1), Chris Haney (1), Wayne Gomes (1)

2003

BYUNG-HYUN KIM:  2003 was the year of the ill-fated closer-by-committee approach.  It did not work. Boston eventually traded Shea Hillenbrand to the Diamondbacks for Kim, who saved 16 games in 2003 with a 3.18 ERA.  Scott Williamson did some great work as closer in the postseason.

Others recording saves: Brandon Lyon (9), Chad Fox (3), Mike Timlin (2), Tim Wakefield (1), Casey Fossum (1), Alan Embree (1), Jason Shiell (1), Bronson Arroyo (1), Robert Person (1)

2004

KEITH FOULKE:  After having trouble with the closer-by-committee in 2003, Boston signed the best closer available on the free agent market in Foulke.  He saved 32 games with a terrific 2.17 ERA and was lights-out in the postseason.

Others recording saves: Curtis Leskanic (2), Mike Timlin (1), Scott Williamson (1)

2005

KEITH FOULKE:  Foulke struggled in 2005, leading to an infamous comment about Burger King.  He only picked up 15 saves and Boston had to resort to some desperate measures as will be seen by some of the other pitchers who saved games in '05.  Foulke's ERA was an ugly 5.91

Others recording saves: Mike Timlin (13), Curt Schilling (9), Alan Embree (1)

2006

JONATHAN PAPELBON:  Rookie Papelbon solved the closer problem for the long term.  He had a fantastic season and came in second in the Rookie of the Year vote, and might have won it had he not been injured the final month of the season.  He saved 35 games with a remarkable 0.92 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 69.1 innings.  He was also an All Star.

Others recording saves: Mike Timlin (9), Julian Tavarez (1), Javier Lopez (1)

2007

JONATHAN PAPELBON:  Papelbon had another strong All Star season, saving 37 with a 1.85 ERA and 84 strikeouts in only 58.1 innings.

Others recording saves: Hideki Okajima (5), Mike Timlin (1), Manny Delcarmen (1), J.C. Romero (1)

2008

JONATHAN PAPELBON:  Another terrific All Star season for Papelbon (41 saves, 2.34 ERA, 77 strikeouts), but his mouth was starting to be a problem.

Others recording saves: Manny Delcarmen (2), Craig Hansen (2), Hideki Okajima (1), Mike Timlin (1)

2009

JONATHAN PAPELBON:  Ho hum, another All Star season for Paps (38 saves, 1.85 ERA, 76 strikeouts).

Others recording saves: Takashi Saito (2), Daniel Bard (1)

2010

JONATHAN PAPELBON:  Papelbon actually had a rough year.  He still picked up 37 saves, but his ERA ballooned to 3.90.  His strikeout rate was in line with his averages.  He missed the All Star game for the first time in his career.

Others recording saves: Daniel Bard (3), Ramon Ramirez (2), Felix Doubront (2)

2011

JONATHAN PAPELBON:  He blew the save on the last game of the season, but Papelbon actually had a decent season.  He had 31 saves and a 2.94 ERA with 87 strikeouts.

Others recording saves: Alfredo Aceves (2), Daniel Bard (1), Scott Atchison (1), Felix Doubront (1)

2012

ALFREDO ACEVES:  Papelbon bolted as a free agent to Philadelphia before even being offered arbitration.  The Red Sox made two trades to acquire closers in Andrew Bailey and Mark Melancon.  Injuries or ineffectiveness limited both of them, so they turned to Aceves who struggled at times.  He finished with 25 saves, a 2-10 record, and a 5.36 ERA.

Others recording saves: Andrew Bailey (6), Vicente Padilla (1), Mark Melancon (1), Franklin Morales (1), Junichi Tazawa (1)

2013

JOEL HANRAHAN:  Boston attempted another trade to bring over a closer.  Hanrahan has been a little rough so far this year, but he has notched three saves.  He blew a big one and is currently on the disabled list.

Others recording saves: NONE

Unknown Heroes Pt. 11: Byung-Hyun Kim

I know I am probably in the minority here, but until he gave the finger to the Red Sox fans, I really liked Byung-Hyun Kim. The diminutive (5'9" and 175 lbs.) pitcher from South Korea with the funky sidearm delivery was a lot of fun to watch. When he was pitching well, he was unhittable. It was unfortunate that Boston had him towards the end of his effectiveness as a pitcher.

Kim was acquired in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks partway through the 2003 season for Shea Hillenbrand, who threw a massive tantrum. The Red Sox had been trying out a closer-by-committee approach that year which was an unmitigated disaster. Kim was acquired to solidify the back of the bullpen, and for the most part succeeded. Kim went 8-5 with a 3.18 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 79.1 innings, with only 18 walks allowed. Kim saved 16 games. Later in the year though, he began to have difficulties and he did not pitch more than one game in the postseason. Kim was being groomed to be a starter the next year.

In 2004, Kim suffered through several serious injuries and only pitched in seven games, starting three of them. After the season, Boston decided to cut ties with him and traded him to Colorado for Charles Johnson (who was immediately released) and Chris Narveson.

Kim hung on for a few more seasons with Colorado and Florida, but never even came close to matching his successful 2003 season.

Feature: Red Sox Scouting in Asia

Dan Duquette was obsessed with finding the diamond in the rough. He struck gold with Tim Wakefield in 1995 and he attempted to replicate that success for the rest of his tenure as the Boston Red Sox general manager. After Hideo Nomo exploded onto the scene in 1995 with the Dodgers and Korean right-hander Chan Ho Park came later, Duquette, and several other general managers, decided to try to mine the Japanese baseball leagues and other Asian leagues. Duquette may have been the most active, but his efforts were not met with a ton of success.

Below is a list of the players that made it to the Major Leagues with the Red Sox. As you can see, there is not much success here and Duquette did not find his diamond in the rough in Asia.

ROBINSON CHECO
Checo was the first of the Red Sox Asian efforts to make the Major Leagues in 1997. Though Checo was not of Asian ancestry, he was Dominican, he had been pitching in Japan when he was signed. He was expected to be a good starter or reliever with high strikeout potential. Checo spent parts of two seasons with the Red Sox, going 1-3 with a 5.57 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 21 innings. He only pitched in seven games for the Red Sox in all.





JIN HO CHO
Cho had the most hype of any of the Red Sox Asian signings and was expected to be a good number two or three starter. Cho pitched in 13 games for the Red Sox over two seasons from 1998 to 1999. He went 2-6 with a 6.52 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 58 innings.








SANG-HOON LEE
Lee was something of a free spirit, with long, bleached hair. He only pitched for the Red Sox in nine games as a reliever and had a 3.02 ERA and six strikeouts in 11.2 innings.









SUN-WOO KIM
Kim stuck around a little bit longer, although his status as a starter or a reliever was never made clear. He pitched in 35 games for Boston from 2001 to 2002, starting four. His record was 2-2 with a 6.50 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 70.2 innings. He did go on to a reasonably long career, pitching in the Majors through 2006.






TOMOKAZU OHKA
Ohka was the most successful player from this group, but that is not saying much. He pitched parts of the 1999, 2000, and 2001 seasons, mostly as a starter. He went 6-13 with a 4.61 ERA and struck out 85 in 134.2 innings. He was unusual in that he never pitched in the professional leagues in Japan and was brought over to the US as an amateur.






Also signed were Seung Jun Song, Takayasu Kato, and Byeong Hak An, though none of them made it to the Major Leagues.

About the best thing that can be said about the Red Sox efforts is that they made great trade bait. Ohka was traded along with another minor leaguer to the Expos for Ugueth Urbina, who was an All Star closer for the Red Sox in 2002. Kim and Song were traded to the Expos as well, but for slugger Cliff Floyd who helped the Red Sox during the 2002 stretch drive. An was traded along with another minor leaguer to the White Sox for reliever Bobby Howry.