Unknown Heroes Pt. 31: Bob Zupcic

Who?  Well, why do you think he is mentioned as an Unknown Hero?  Bob Zupcic kind of came out of nowhere.  He was drafted in the first round in 1987 but I do not think I heard anything about him until he was suddenly in the Major Leagues in 1991.  He did not hit real well in the minors, although he did have an 18 home run season in 1991 leading up to his Major League call-up.  He played in 18 games in 1991 for the Red Sox, never really doing much.

In 1992 though, Zupcic became a personal favorite of mine.  He lead the team in hitting with a .276 average which tells you how bad Boston's offense was that season.  But it was the home runs that really helped.  On June 30, Zupcic came up against Mike Henneman and the Tigers.  The Red Sox were behind 5-4 and had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th.  Zupcic hit a walkoff grand slam home run.  Then on July 10, he came up again with the bases loaded and Boston losing 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th and again hit a grand slam against Bobby Thigpen.  He only hit one other home run on the season, but those grand slams were huge.

Zupcic played regularly in 1993, getting into 141 games all over the outfield.  His versatility in the outfield was what kept him around.  His numbers were not terribly impressive though, with a slash line of .241/.308/.360 with two home runs and 26 RBIs.  Zupcic was released early in 1994 and found his way to the White Sox.  I actually saw him play with the White Sox that year.  It was the last time he was in the Majors.

One Year Wonder: Rob Deer

Every once in awhile, the Red Sox pick up a veteran player for a year, or just the stretch run that was a star at one point that I become fascinated with. It's a player that is basically only a role player at that point in their career, but may show flashes of their old brilliance. It's so unusual to see them as a member of the Red Sox, that I try to find as many of their cards as possible. This series will be about some of those players.

ROB DEER
Rob Deer was a true all-or-nothing player. He struck out a ton, but he also hit a lot of home runs. He did not have much speed and he did not walk a lot, but when he hit the ball, he hit it real far.

Deer was a member of the Brewers when I first became interested in baseball and later went to the Tigers. He was a particularly interesting player to me in those days because of his all-or-nothing approach. He is also the first big-name player the Red Sox acquired midseason since I started paying attention.

Deer was picked up in a trade from the Tigers in 1993. He played about as well as expected upon arriving in Boston. He hit seven home runs and stuck out 49 times in 143 at bats. He hit a home run in his first plate appearance as a member of the team. He was only 32 at the time, but he was basically washed up. He offered a little extra power out of right field, where Boston had been playing Carlos Quintana and Bob Zupcic, neither of whom had any power.

Deer was let go as a free agent after the year and ended up in Japan. He later returned to the majors with San Diego, but did not have anything left. Despite his performance, I still found myself drawn toward finding Red Sox cards of Rob Deer.