Unknown Heroes Pt. 43: Felix Doubront

Boston has historically had a very difficult time developing pitchers, in particular left-handed pitchers.  Since the time that I started watching the team, Boston's minor league system has only produced three southpaws that spent a significant amount of time in the Major Leagues.  Jon Lester of course has been a very impressive pitcher and Casey Fossum had his moments.  The third of these was Felix Doubront who, for a couple of years, was a big part of the pitching staff.

Doubront was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Venezuela in 2005.  He was just 17 at the time, so he spent some considerable time in the minor leagues before making his Major League debut with the Red Sox in 2010.  He won his Major League debut on June 18, 2010, starting the game and going five innings against the Dodgers.  Ultimately, Doubront did not spend a lot of time in the Majors in either 2010 or 2011 and he bounced between Boston and Pawtucket several times during both seasons.  

It was 2012 when Doubront emerged for good in Boston.  Due to injuries and inconsistency in most of the rest of the starting rotation, he was able to stick around.  He tied for second on the team in games started but was third in innings pitched, mostly due to high pitch counts taking him out of the game early.  He tended to walk a lot of hitters, but also struck out a lot of hitters.  In fact, Doubront led the team, racking up 167 strikeouts in 161 innings.  He also tied for the team lead in wins, going 11-10 with a 4.86 ERA.  Doubront started and won the only game I attended in 2012, on May 7 in Kansas City, though it was not one of his better games that season.

Doubront was expected to build on his success in 2013, and to a degree, he did.  He was better overall in 2013 but his strikeout numbers decreased and he started two fewer games, though he did appear in relief twice.  He was able to cut down on home runs hit against him, but still walked too many batters.  He finished the season at 11-6 with a 4.32 ERA in 162.1 innings.  He struck out 139, but walked 71 for the second year in a row.

The Red Sox won the World Championship in 2013 and, while Doubront was not a starter, he did appear in four games in the postseason.  He did not make an appearance in the ALDS against the Rays but then showed up in two games in the ALCS against Detroit.  In Game 2, he pitched 1.1 innings keeping the Tigers from scoring and ultimately setting up a win for the team.  He was on the mound when David Ortiz tied the game with a grand slam off Joaquin Benoit.  Uehara replaced him and recorded the win.  Doubront also finished the Game 4 loss with a scoreless inning of relief.

In the World Series in 2013, Doubront pitched 4.2 innings in two games.  He pitched two innings of scoreless relief in Game 3, though Boston ended up losing that game on the interference call on Will Middlebrooks in the ninth inning.  He came back the next day to pitch 2.2 innings, giving up just one ultimately meaningless run while striking out three.  He was credited with the win in relief.  He finished the postseason with a 1-0 record, 1.93 ERA, and four strikeouts.

Unfortunately, conditioning was a problem for Doubront throughout his career.  He struggled greatly in 2014.  He was 2-4 with a 6.07 ERA in 17 games with the Red Sox when he was traded to the Cubs for a player to be named later, who turned out to be Marco Hernandez.  He struck out 43 and walked 26.  He pitched in just four games for the Cubs and then pitched for the Blue Jays and Athletics in 2015.  He did not appear in the Majors in 2016 but remained the Athletics system.  He was outrighted in October and is now a free agent.  Who knows, maybe Boston could seek out a reunion.  They need a left-hander in the bullpen and he could be a low-risk, high-reward signing.  He certainly performed well out of the bullpen in the 2013 postseason.

Doubront's career has taken a downward turn after a highly successful 2013 postseason.  He never really played enough with his other three teams to appear on a card with any of them.  All of his Major League cards are with the Red Sox.  He was once one of my favorite players and was the subject of a sort of mini player collection.  He never really rose to stardom but I really enjoyed watching him.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt.1: Dale Alexander

Failure is often even more fascinating than success.  I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time.  The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Well, it was not all bad all the time.  Dale Alexander won the batting title, the first Red Sox player to do so, despite having players like Tris Speaker, Jimmy Collins, Buck Freeman, and Babe Ruth spend time with Boston since 1901, it took until 1932 before a Boston player won the batting title.  Under current rules, he would not have qualified for the batting title though.

Dale "Moose" Alexander did not start the 1932 season with the Red Sox.  He came up with the Detroit Tigers in 1929 and led the league in hits while hitting 25 home runs, driving in 137 runs, and hitting .343.  It was a very impressive rookie season.  His numbers declined a little the next season and then dropped dramatically in 1931 to the point that he hit just three home runs.  He started the 1932 season slowly, hitting just .250 with no home runs and four RBIs through 23 games when he was traded to the Red Sox along with Roy Johnson for Earl Webb.

The Red Sox definitely got the best of the deal.  Johnson will be talked about in a later post.  As mentioned, Alexander came back to win the batting title in 1932.  In 101 games with the Red Sox the rest of the season, Alexander's bat came alive.  He knocked out 140 hits in 432 plate appearances.  While his power did not return to his 1929/1930 levels, he was still one of the more powerful bats in the Red Sox lineup, as he led the team in slugging percentage (.524 with Boston), was second in RBIs (56), tied for second in doubles (27), and was third in home runs (8).  For the Red Sox, Alexander batted .372/.454/.524 to improve his season line to .367/.454/.513.  He finished 11th in the MVP vote.

Early in his career, Alexander was not a very good defensive first-baseman.  He led the league in errors twice early on.  This improved considerably by the time that he was acquired by Boston.  He cut his errors all the way down to six and finished third in the league in fielding percentage by a first-baseman.  His range was probably not very good, and perhaps the decrease in errors came as a result of not getting to as many balls.

Alexander played just one more season in the Majors.  He stayed with Boston for the 1933 season, but his numbers declined considerably.  He hit just .281/.336/.380 with five home runs and 40 RBIs.  Injuries likely had an effect and probably led to him never making another Major League appearance.  He played a few more years in the minor leagues.

Dale Alexander was one of the few bright spots for the Red Sox in a miserable 1932 season.  His career was short, but he proved to be a great hitter whose time was cut short due to defensive deficiencies.  He is an interesting answer to the trivia question of who was the first Red Sox player to win the batting title.

Blah Blah Mailday Blah Blah

Not the most exciting of maildays today.  Just three cards, but one pretty interesting one:

1.  Roger Clemens.  As the years go by, it seems like his time with other teams is becoming more of an afterthought.  One of these days he will be elected to the Hall and he should wear a Red Sox cap on his plaque.

2.  David Ortiz.  Ho hum, another Ortiz.  Just kidding.  I need 10 more Ortiz cards to tie for third place.

3.  Steven Wright.  This is the color-swap variation card.  It was not as hard to find as I expected.  Now, the Sandy Leon throwback is another story.

Mailday Roundup

Work has been very busy this week.  I have had multiple hearings every day, often in different courthouses requiring quite a bit of travel.  On top of that, I had to do a deposition this afternoon, which took up that much more time.  So I have not had a ton of time to go through and scan my new cards and do mailday posts.  So therefore, this is going to be a long multi-mailday post:

Up first, Tom from Waiting 'Til Next Year, who I imagine will be searching for a new blog title and is likely still recovering from the events of Wednesday night:

1.  David Ortiz.  Ortiz's option was recently picked up, even though he is retiring.  This was done so that if he decides retirement is not for him, he can't sign elsewhere next season.  Tom felt bad about sending me an extra card recently that turned out to be a duplicate.  He shouldn't feel bad, but I will never turn down extra cards.  Especially when it is a card off of my wantlist.  Thanks Tom!

Up next is a minor league card package encompassing the next two scans.  Each of these players appeared in Major League games with the Red Sox, yet have no Major League cards.  All of them will be covered in upcoming Red Sox with No Cards posts, so I won't go too in-depth on them, other than to possibly explain why they have no Red Sox cards.

2.  Joe Thurston.  Thurston played in all of four games in 2008.

3.  Matt Fox.  Fox played in three games in 2010.

4.  Aaron Cook.  This one is surprising.  Cook was a big part of the rotation in 2012 and made it into 18 games with 94 innings-pitched.  He should have found his way into an update set, especially since he was viewed as a decent low-risk, high-reward signing.

5.  Clayton Mortensen.  50 games over the course of two seasons is apparently not enough to ensure your appearance on a card.  This one is annoying.

6.  Justin Germano.  We go to the other extreme: one game, 5.2 innings.

7.  Che-Hsuan Lin.  This one upsets me because Lin should have gotten a Bowman Draft card at some point due to winning the MVP of the Futures Game.

8.  Oscar Villarreal.  Huh.  I guess he never actually appeared in a game.  I thought I remembered him being in a game at some point.  Apparently I was thinking of Brayan Villarreal.

9.  Pedro Beato.  14 games over two seasons.

10.  Quintin Berry.  13 games, including a home run and appeared on the postseason roster in 2013, appearing once in all three series.  This one is kind of annoying too.

11.  Jemile Weeks.  Rickie's little brother appeared in 17 games over two seasons.

12.  Andrew Miller.  And here we have the most annoying and the reason I bought these cards.  Miller is a big star now, but managed to never appear in a Boston Red Sox uniform on a card, despite pitching in 157 games over the course of four seasons.  Ridiculous.

Next we have a trade post that locked down the remaining base cards I needed from Topps Update, plus a card of my newest mini-player collection:

13.  Steve Wright.  This is the Gold version of the All Star card.  I now have both Gold versions.  My Wright collection is starting to take off.

14.  Aaron Hill.  The trade for Hill made sense, but he did not really work out.  He won't be back next year.

15.  Chris Young.  Oops.  Double.

16.  Xander Bogaerts.  Hopefully just the first of many All Star seasons for the X-Man.

17.  Mookie Betts.  It was recently announced Mookie is one of the finalists for a Gold Glove.  He should be the favorite for right field too.  He did win a Fielding Bible Award.

18.  Brad Ziegler.  I am very excited about this one.  I love side-arm pitchers, especially when the cards show it as this one does.  Chad Bradford never appeared on a card, so it is good that Ziegler does.

19.   Junichi Tazawa.  I would have preferred if Topps had skipped Taz in the Update set in favor of Robbie Ross Jr.  Don't get me wrong, I really like Taz, but he had a bad year while Ross was a very steady reliever.

And next we have a very large package with a large variety of different players and some nice inserts:

20.  Daniel Bard.  I prefer to remember Bard as he was from 2009 through the first half of 2011.  He was unhittable and a terrific setup man.  He hasn't been able to find the strike zone since.

21.  Josh Beckett.  I was recently trying to think of players that I kind of overlooked during their time in Boston and Beckett was near the top of the list.  Sure I have over 200 cards of him, but I never really seemed to seek them out.  And he was the ace for several seasons.

22.  Yoenis Cespedes.  It is safe to say that he will not be coming back to Boston.  Not that they really need him, but he did not seem to enjoy his time in Boston and management did not seem to enjoy it either.

23.  Bryce Brentz.  His Red Sox career is likely at an end, but his numbers don't look too bad if it is.

24.  Mike Carp.  He never appeared on many cards, but his walkoff grand slam against the Rays in 2013 was one of Boston's biggest wins of the season.

25.  Carl Crawford.  An absolute disaster in Boston, which was very disappointing to me.  I was so excited when he signed.

26.  Chris Carter.  This is the rarer photo variation of the player Boston received when Wily Mo Pena was traded to the Nationals.  I was not aware there were photo variations.

27.  Joel Hanrahan.  Another bust.  Hanrahan was supposed to be the closer in 2013, but needed Tommy John surgery early in the season.  The trade cost them Mark Melancon, among others.  At least Boston also got a player coming up in the next scan.

28.  Jonny Gomes.  Tons of clutch hits, weird diving catches, and a fun personality made Gomes one of the more fun players to watch in 2013.

29.  Brock Holt.  This is the other aforementioned player Boston got along with Joel Hanrahan for Mark Melancon and he does make the trade a little more fair.

30.  Tommy Hottovy.  His Red Sox career consisted of just eight games, yet I have nine cards of him.  Compare that with Andrew Miller earlier in this post.

31.  Jean Machi.  I was a little disappointed that Boston cut Machi after the 2015 season.  I thought he had some potential to be a decent bullpen piece.

32.  Carl Yastrzemski.  These Crusade cards look terrific, but might look even better if Panini had a Major League license.

33.  Cy Young.  It is always fun to find a photo on a card of Cy Young that has not been used a thousand times.  I'm not sure what Young is wearing here, but this is the first time I have seen this photo.

34.  Shane Victorino.  This package is quite heavy with the 2013 team.  Victorino was one of the biggest heroes of the team, with some timely hits in the postseason.  He was on fire down the stretch.

35.  Tris Speaker.  Obviously a Cleveland uniform, but still a Red Sox card.

36.  David Pauley.  Pauley was acquired in a trade with the Padres in which Boston gave up Dave Roberts.  He made it into nine games over two seasons with Boston but he later became a big bullpen piece for the Mariners.

37.  Travis Shaw.  He had kind of a rough first full season, but his power is very real.  He will be given the chance to keep the third base position next season.

Sorry about the scan.  Photobucket is down.

38.  Hideo Nomo.  One of my all-time favorite One-Year Wonders.  Nomo was a favorite player when he was with the Dodgers and he had a reasonably successful season with the Red Sox in 2001.

39.  Eduardo Rodriguez.  While Andrew Miller was blowing people away in the postseason, people were upset that Boston had traded him away.  Boston received Rodriguez in the deal, and he has a lot of potential and seemed like he was starting to really develop in the second half.  It would have been nice to keep Miller, but Rodriguez could be an impressive starter.

40.  Will Middlebrooks.  He was ultimately a bust, but Middlebrooks had one of the most impressive games that I have personally witnessed when he hit two home runs with a double and five RBIs in a game at Kansas City in 2012.  By the way, Jason Varitek had the best game I have personally witnessed when he hit three home runs.

41.   Daniel Nava.  Yet another 2013 Red Sox.  Nava had one of the best under-the-radar seasons of the team that year.  

And next, we have another card of my recent mini-player collection:

42.  Steven Wright.  This the Black parallel.  These have kind of lost their luster with this year's Topps design I think.  I much preferred the full black border.

Next, I traded a couple of relics, including a very rare auto/patch card of Pete O'Brien for a bunch of pre-1970 vintage and one very big rookie card:

43.  Ted Bowsfield.  Bowsfield was coming off of a decent rookie season in which he was 4-2 with a 3.84 ERA.  He played parts of two more seasons with the Red Sox before being traded to the Indians for Carroll Hardy and Russ Nixon.

44.  Ted Lepcio.  He never really lived up to expectations, but he did have some decent seasons with Boston and hit 53 home runs over eight seasons with the Red Sox.  Not too bad for a middle infielder in the 1950's.

45.  Marty Keough.  Keough was included in the trade with Bowsfield that brought Carroll Hardy and Russ Nixon.

46.  Jim Lonborg.  This card was on my want list.  Lonborg is kind of under-represented in my collection.  He seems somewhat forgotten these days, mostly due to only really having one great season, in 1967 when he won the Cy Young Award with the Impossible Dream Red Sox.

47.  Jose Tartabull.  Danny Tartabull's father did not have his son's power but had more speed and provided some good moments for the Impossible Dream team.  

48.  Jim Lonborg.  This now gives me 19 Lonborg cards.

49.  Roger Clemens.  This was the big rookie card, the last of the three Clemens rookies.  I do already have the 1984 Fleer Update as well.  The Donruss has eluded me however.  I think these cards were well worth the O'Brien card.

And yet another knuckle-baller:

50.  Steven Wright.  This is the Gold version of the jersey card.  Nice ugly yellow jersey swatch, huh?

And finally, we have another trade package, this one cost me a Mike Trout jersey.  Again, I think it was worth it:

51.  Mike Napoli.  This is just a terrific-looking auto of yet another member of the 2013 team.  Napoli was one of the primary instigators of the beard look.  He hit 53 home runs in less than three seasons with the Red Sox.

52.  David Ortiz.  This card celebrates the Red Sox signing Ortiz as a free agent.  It was not big news at the time and Ortiz was not immediately a starter, but it turned into one of the best free agent deals of all time.

53.  David Ortiz.

54.  Dustin Pedroia.  This knocks off the last non-SP base card from 2016 Gypsy Queen I needed.

55.  Dustin Pedroia.  With the retirement of Ortiz, Pedroia becomes my largest current player at 330 cards.  He is also a finalist for the Gold Glove Award.

So, 55 new cards.  A lot of scans and a lot of writing.  That's good for now.

All-Time One-Year Wonder Team: First Base

I'm going to do something a little different with the One-Year Wonder posts.  I have decided to go position-by-position and see if I can determine who the best player at each position would be who only spent one year with the Red Sox.  This requires a lot of time and research.  I am not naming every single player who spent just one season with the Red Sox at each position, but just the better-known players.  At the end of the post, I will pick the single best player for each position.

FIRST BASE

LARRY MCLEAN - 1901
Larry McLean was a beast.  Playing at the turn of the 20th century, McLean was an imposing 6'5" and 225 lbs.  He made his Major League debut with the Boston American League team in 1901 and played in just nine games.  He was not quite ready for the Majors as he hit just .211 with only a double in 19 plate appearances.  McLean re-emerged in 1907 as a legitimate Major Leaguer, becoming a catcher for Cincinnati and was their starter for the next six years.  He could hit a little bit but as a Dead Ball Era player, did not hit for a ton of power.

ED MORGAN - 1934
He did not play for a real long time, his Major League career lasted just seven seasons, but Eddie Morgan made a big impact for the Cleveland Indians for a few years in the late 1920's/early 1930's.  He had an incredible season in 1930, hitting .349/.413/.601 with 26 home runs and 136 RBIs.  Half of his career home runs came in that one season.  Late in his career, he played for Boston for one season in 1934, but whatever magic he had a few years before was gone.  Morgan played in 138 games, but hit just .267/.367/.352 with three home runs and 79 RBIs for the Red Sox.  He was sold to the Cardinals after the season, but never made it back to the Majors.

DOLPH CAMILLI - 1945
A big-time slugger for the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1930's and 1940's, Camilli was a two-time All Star and the NL MVP in 1941 when he led the league in home runs (34) and RBIs (120).  Camilli hit 239 home runs in his career.  After a poor season in 1943, Camilli was sent to the minors.  Boston picked him up in mid-1945, a wartime year in order to add some pop to their lineup.  Unfortunately, it was obvious that Camilli was well-past his prime.  He hit just .212/.330/.288 with just two home runs.  He was released after the season and retired.

RAY BOONE - 1960
Ray Boone was the first of three generations of Boones to play in the Major Leagues, so far.  He was primarily known as a shortstop and third-baseman who was a two-time All Star with the Tigers.  He also spent several years with the Indians earlier in his career.  Boone led the league in RBIs (116) in 1955 while hitting 20 home runs at third base.  Boone bounced around quite a bit in his later years and was traded by the Braves to the Red Sox in 1960 for Ron Jackson.  Boone played in 34 games and hit .205/.300/.256 with one home run and 11 RBIs as a first-baseman.

BOB WATSON - 1979
Watson is one of three players to hit for the cycle in both leagues, and was the first to do so.  He was a star for the Houston Astros for several years and was named an All Star twice.  For his career, Watson hit .295/.364/.447 with 184 home runs.  At the age of 33 in 1979, Watson was traded to the Red Sox for two guys named Pete Ladd and Bobby Sprowl.  Watson played in 84 games with the Red Sox and was very impressive, hitting .337/.401/.548 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs, solidifying the first base position for Boston.  He also played a little DH for Boston.  He hit for the cycle for the Red Sox.  He defected to the Yankees after the season.

LARRY PARRISH - 1988
One of the big stars for the Montreal Expos in the 1970's, Parrish came in third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1975 and was an All Star in 1979 after hitting 30 home runs.  He finished fourth in the NL MVP race that season.  He was an All Star with the Rangers as well in 1987 after hitting 32 home runs with 100 RBIs.  Parrish closed out his career with 52 games for the Red Sox after being released by the Rangers in July.  Parrish was decent, hitting .259/.298/.424 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs.  He retired after the season.

NICK ESASKY - 1989
Esasky had been a decent hitter for the Reds for a few seasons.  He was traded to the Red Sox along with Rob Murphy for Todd Benzinger and Jeff Sellers for the 1989 season and found that his right-handed swing was tailor-made for Fenway Park.  He exploded for 30 home runs and 108 RBIs, both career highs by far.  He hit .277/.355/.500 and also contributed a career high in doubles with 26.  He parlayed these numbers into a free agent contract with the Braves after the season, but vertigo prematurely ended his career.

RICO BROGNA - 2000
Brogna was a first-round draft pick of the Tigers in 1988 who was traded to the Mets in a challenge trade for 1989 first-round draft pick Alan Zinter.  The Mets won.  Brogna hit 22 home runs in 1995 for the Mets.  After a down season in 1996, he was traded to the Phillies and had three straight seasons of 20 home runs and more than 80 RBIs.  Brogna suffered from Spondylitis, an arthritic spinal condition, which led to another down season in 2000.  The Red Sox picked him up off of waivers in August and he played in 43 games, hitting just one home run and batting .196.  That home run was a grand slam though.  After the season, he signed with the Braves where he finished his career.

TONY CLARK - 2002
Clark was another former All Star that spent just one season with the Red Sox.  He had been a big star with the Tigers, one of their few good players during his time there, and hit 30 home runs in three consecutive seasons.  Despite being the club's only All Star in 2001, Clark was inexplicably placed on waivers after the season.  Boston jumped on him with the idea that he would take advantage of Fenway Park.  It did not work out.  Clark may have been too involved in the Players' Association impending strike, and his numbers suffered.  He had his worst season to that point, hitting just .207/.265/.291 with just three home runs and 29 RBIs.  He rebounded over the next few seasons wiht the Yankees and Diamondbacks.

DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ - 2004
He spent just a short amount of time with the Red Sox, but Doug Mientkiewicz will be remembered as the player who made the final putout of the 2004 World Series that finally broke Boston's 86-year drought.  Mientkiewicz had been a big part of some good Twins teams in the early 2000's and was traded to Boston as part of a big four-team deal that also involved Nomar Garciaparra heading to the Cubs and Orlando Cabrera coming to Boston.  Mientkiewicz played in 49 games and hit just .215 with one home run and 10 RBIs.  His defense was the primary reason for acquiring him and he did his part.  After the season he was traded to the Mets for a prospect and bounced around for a few seasons afterward.

JOHN OLERUD - 2005
Olerud had been a great hitter in the early 1990's with the Blue Jays and won a batting title in 1993.  Despite this, he was only an All Star twice, in 1993 with the Blue Jays and in 2001 with the Mariners.  Olerud was better known as a very good defensive first-baseman with an uncanny ability to get on base, and was well-known for wearing a batting helmet while in the field to protect his head.  He won three Gold Gloves and had a lifetime OBP of .398.  Olerud spent his final season of his career with the Red Sox in 2005.  Olerud had a good final season hitting .289/.344/.451 with seven home runs and 37 RBIs.  He retired after the season.

J.T. SNOW - 2006
A gifted defensive first-baseman, Snow won six Gold Gloves with the Angels and Giants.  He was a pretty decent hitter as well and hit more than 20 home runs three times and drove in 100 RBIs twice.  Despite that, Snow was never an All Star.  Boston brought him on in 2006 to serve as a backup in case Kevin Youkilis struggled with the transition from third to first.  Snow was coming off of a rough season and struggled even more hitting .205/.340/.205 and driving in just four runs in 38 games, mostly as a late-inning defensive replacement.

SEAN CASEY - 2008
Casey had been a three-time All Star with the Reds and had a lifetime slash line of .302/.367/.447.  At one point, he had some big power having three seasons of more than 20 home runs.  The Reds were not going anywhere in the mid 2000's and Casey was shipped to the Pirates.  He then played with the Tigers before signing with Boston as first base depth in 2008.  Casey only played in 69 games and did not hit any home runs, but he did hit for a high average.  Casey hit .322/.381/.392 with 14 doubles in his final Major League season.

CASEY KOTCHMAN - 2009
It is difficult to imagine now, but Kotchman was once so highly-regarded he was traded for Mark Teixeira.  He was the 13th overall pick in the 2001 draft and looked like he was on his way to becoming a good player with the Angels when he was traded to the Braves in the aforementioned deal.  Kotchman was having a decent season in 2009 when the Braves and Red Sox swapped first-basemen, the Braves getting Adam LaRoche in return.  Kotchman played in 39 games for the Red Sox and hit .218/.284/.287 with one home run and seven RBIs.  After the season, he was shipped to the Mariners for Bill Hall.  Kotchman played for four teams over the next four seasons.

JAMES LONEY - 2012
In 2012 the Red Sox started the season with All Star Adrian Gonzalez at first base.  But after a disastrous season, Boston traded Gonzalez, as well as fellow high-priced players Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to the Dodgers, mostly for salary relief and some prospects.  James Loney was the only Major Leaguer they received.  Loney had been a decent player for the Dodgers, but never really lived up to expectations.  That did not change in his brief stint with the Red Sox as he hit just .230/.264/.310 with two home runs and eight RBIs.  After the season he joined Tampa Bay as a free agent and did have some success.

THE BEST ONE-YEAR FIRST-BASEMAN:

It is very hard to beat a 30 home run season.  Esasky was a decent enough hitter and once hit 22 home runs for the Reds, but he exploded for 30 home runs and 108 RBIs as a right-handed pull hitter in Fenway Park.  Bob Watson had a better slash line, but Esasky's power and the fact that he played the full season for the Red Sox won out.

Red Sox Team of the Decade: 1920-1929

Ugh, the 1920's.  Coming off of the team's most successful decade in history came their worst decade in history.  It started off terribly when, in early January 1920, the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees.  Things did not improve from there.  It was a time of financial desperation for the Red Sox and the team was constantly selling off whatever few stars they had.  While the Yankees were blossoming, the Red Sox finished under .500 every year, including in dead-last place several seasons.  But the decade was not without some stars.  Unfortunately, few players stuck around very long, so there was often a choice to be made.

THE TEAM:

CATCHER - VAL PICINICH
Catcher was a weak position for Boston this decade.  It was fairly close between Picinich, Muddy Ruel, and Johnnie Heving, with Picinich winning based on a higher WAR score over three years.  Heving had a .319 average one season and played more games and seasons, and Ruel was the best defender, but Picinich played three seasons with some high on-base percentages.  For his Red Sox career, Picinich hit .268/.373/.368.  Picinich was originally acquired in a trade with the Senators basically in exchange for Ruel.  Unfortunately, Ruel played much better than Picinich after the trade, which was not the case for his time in Boston.

FIRST BASE - GEORGE BURNS
A surprisingly strong position for the decade, Boston started the first two seasons with Stuffy McInnis, but Burns and Phil Todt were the primary competitors for the lead.  Todt played several seasons in Boston as compared to the two by Burns, but Burns was terrific in both of his seasons while Todt was basically average.  In 1922, Burns hit .306/.341/.446 with 12 home runs and 73 RBIs and then followed that up with a .328/.386/.470 with seven home runs and 82 RBIs.  Burns also turned an unassisted triple play at one point.  Burns was acquired along with Joe Harris for McInnis and was later traded away for a package including Bill Wambsganss and Steve O'Neill.  Burns later won the precursor to the MVP award with the Indians.

SECOND BASE - DEL PRATT
There was not a lot of competition at second base.  Pratt was terrific in a two-year stint and only Bill Regan, who played five years, comes close, and that is only due to the length of time he played.  Pratt was far and away the best player at the position for the decade.  Pratt was one of the few players the Red Sox acquired from the Yankees who actually played well for Boston, though he cost them Waite Hoyt and Wally Schang.  Pratt hit .324/.378/.461 with 10 triples, five home runs, and 102 RBIs in 1921 and then .301/.361/.427 with six home runs and 86 RBIs the next season.  He was also a great defensive second-baseman.  Pratt was later traded to the Tigers in a pretty good deal for Boston that brought them Howard Ehmke.

SHORTSTOP - TOPPER RIGNEY
Another very weak position over the course of the decade, shortstop came down to Everett Scott, who played the first two seasons in the midst of his consecutive games streak, Rigney, and Buddy Myer.  Myer though will be dealt with later.  Rigney spent just one full season with the Red Sox and eight games the next season when he was traded for Myer.  Rigney hit .270/.395/.377 with 32 doubles, six triples, four home runs, and drove in 50.  He drew 108 walks and was a terrific defensive player.  Rigney was the best player on a bad Red Sox team in 1926.

THIRD BASE - BUDDY MYER
Yes, Myer also qualified at third base and was the best option there, despite Doc Prothro's .313/.390/.383 line in 1925.  Myer played almost two full seasons with the Red Sox and was the best player on the team in those years.  He was primarily the team's shortstop, other than 14 games at third, in 1927, and played all of his games at third in 1928.  In 1928, he hit .313/.379/.390 and led the league with 30 stolen bases.  He was traded back to the Senators after the season for a bunch of players, who did very little.

RIGHT FIELD - IKE BOONE
Harry Hooper played just one more season in 1920, and was pretty good, but afterwards, Boston had some trouble filling the position the rest of the decade.  Ike Boone was one of the rare Red Sox players blessed with power during the decade.  Despite being a terrible defensive player, Boone was one of the better hitters Boston had in the 1920's.  His defensive deficiencies prevented him from having a long career, but his two-plus seasons in Boston were impressive as he hit .332/.404/.487 with 22 home runs and 168 RBIs.

CENTER FIELD - IRA FLAGSTEAD
A rarity for the Red Sox in the 1920's, Flagstead was a good player who actually stuck with the team for a number of years, in his case, seven years.  Flagstead was recently named to the team's Hall of Fame based on a line of .295/.374/.411 with 27 home runs and 299 RBIs.  Flagstead was acquired in a minor deal with the Tigers in 1923 and immediately solidified the center field position for the Red Sox and held it down the rest of the decade.

LEFT FIELD - JOE HARRIS
Left field has historically been a position of strength for the Red Sox, and the same was still true in the 1920's.  Mike Menosky, Ken Williams, and Bobby Veach all had decent seasons but were not good enough to unseat Harris.  Harris came to Boston in the same deal as George Burns and played three-plus seasons with the Red Sox, mostly in left field.  For his time in Boston, Harris hit .315/.393/.475.  His best year was 1923 when he hit .335/.406/.520 with 11 triples, 13 home runs, and 76 RBIs while walking almost twice as often as he struck out.

UTILITY - JACK ROTHROCK
Utility came down to Wally Schang's excellent 1920 season (playing catcher and outfield) versus Rothrock's five seasons during the 1920's (and three more in the 1930's).  Rothrock was the very definition of "utility player" in 1928 when he played every position, including pitcher and catcher.  Rothrock mostly played infield, though he was the primary center-fielder in 1929.  With the Red Sox, Rothrock hit .278/.335/.375.  He had his best season in 1929, hitting .300/.361/.408 and stole 24 bases.  He was later part of the deal that brought Smead Jolley to Boston.

PITCHER - SAD SAM JONES
The Red Sox pitching staff of the early 1920's was still impressive as the team had a number of holdovers from the great staffs of the late 1910's.  Jones spent just two years with the Red Sox in the 1920's, one of which was a 13-16 season with a 3.94 ERA.  But in 1921, Jones finished with a 23-16 record with a 3.22 ERA.  He led the league in shutouts with five.  Unfortunately, he was traded to the Yankees the next season, although the Red Sox did receive Jack Quinn in the deal.

PITCHER - HERB PENNOCK
Pennock emerged as a star for the Red Sox pitching staff in 1919, and had three more good seasons in the 1920's.  In 1920, Pennock was 16-13 with a 3.68 ERA in 242.1 innings.  The next two seasons were not as impressive from a record standpoint, but those teams were pretty bad, so Pennock is not entirely to blame.  For his Red Sox career, which consisted of two stints (1915-1922 and 1934), Pennock was 62-59 with a 3.67 ERA.  Pennock was traded to the Yankees, where he excelled, after the 1922 season.  Pennock is one of four players from the Red Sox during this decade to make it to the Hall of Fame (Harry Hooper, Waite Hoyt, and Red Ruffing were the others).

PITCHER - BULLET JOE BUSH
Bush was another pitcher that was a major part of the 1918 Red Sox starting rotation.  After just two games in 1919, Bush made a big comeback and was 15-15 with a 4.25 ERA in 1920 and then 16-9 with a 3.50 ERA in 1921.  Bush was yet another star pitcher that was then dealt to the Yankees, in the same deal as Sad Sam Jones.

PITCHER - JACK QUINN
Quinn, like Del Pratt above, was one of the few players acquired by the Red Sox from the Yankees who actually played well.  Quinn was 38 when he was acquired, but went on to play several more seasons in the Majors.  Quinn was with the Red Sox from 1922 to 1925.  During his four years with the Red Sox, Quinn was 45-54 with a 3.65 ERA.  He was used both as a reliever and a starter during his stint with the Red Sox, giving the team a lot of versatility.  

PITCHER - HOWARD EHMKE
The only no-hitter pitched by the Red Sox in the 1920's came from Howard Ehmke on September 7, 1923.  Ehmke was acquired from the Tigers and proceeded to win 20 games for a very bad Red Sox team that season.  He was one of the brightest pitching stars for the Red Sox in the 1920's.  The first year in Boston, he was 20-17 with a 3.78 ERA in 316.2 innings pitched.  The next season, he led the league in losses with 17, but also won 19 games.  He also led the league in innings pitched with 315 and had an impressive 3.46 ERA.  The next year, he dropped to 9-20, but still had a decent 3.73 ERA.  He further declined in 1926 and was traded to Philadelphia.

PITCHER - ED MORRIS
Near the end of the decade, Ed Morris emerged as a top-flight starting pitcher for the Red Sox.  After a short stint with the Cubs in 1922, Morris spent several seasons in the minors before finding a home with the Boston Red Sox in 1928.  He was an immediate success, managing to win 19 games (while losing 15) for a team that lost 96 games.  His ERA was an impressive 3.53 which also led the team.  Morris was both a starter and reliever that season before becoming primarily a starter in 1929.  The next season he was 14-14 with a 4.45 ERA.  Morris struggled a bit the next two seasons then died before the 1932 season when he was stabbed in an argument at a party then attempted to swim to safety.

Topps Now and Heritage Packages

Getting tired of mailday posts?  Me too, but yet here we are.  I try to make things somewhat interesting by giving a little info about the players, but they do get a little tiring.  Nevertheless, here is another one:

1.  Andrew Benintendi.  This was the sole bright spot for the Red Sox during their failed postseason run.  Benintendi became the youngest player in Red Sox history to hit a home run.  Game 1 of the ALDS also featured home runs from Brock Holt and Sandy Leon.  Together they were the only three players to homer for Boston in the postseason this season.

2.  Xander Bogaerts.  This is the action image variation of Xander Bogaerts.  A few days ago I lamented that Bogaerts had slowed down in my collection, but he got a little bit of a boost in this package.

3.  Drew Pomeranz.  I am going to have to resort to trades to get the rest of the base cards from Heritage High Numbers.  I am having terrible luck with packs.  This was a step in the right direction.

4.  Hanley Ramirez/Dustin Pedroia.  Here we have the right side of the Red Sox infield in 2016.  Both players had great seasons.  Pedroia is a finalist for the Gold Glove Award at second base and had a return to form at the plate.  Hanley was one of the hottest hitters down the stretch.

5.  Mookie Betts/Xander Bogaerts.  Two of the three Killer Bees.  Mookie Betts is another finalist for the Gold Glove and a contender for the MVP.  Bogaerts struggled in the second half but had a strong overall season.

6.  David Ortiz.  I have said before: David Ortiz keeps finding his way into packages.  It will not be long before he ends up third in my collection.

1991-2016 All-Underrated Team: Shortstop

I have been watching baseball for 26 years now. In that time, I have been obsessed with under-the-radar players. These are my picks for an All-Underrated Team. I have picked one player for each position and their best season.

While the Red Sox were absolutely collapsing down the stretch, one player was quietly having one of a very good season, and no I am not referring to Jacoby Ellsbury.  Marco Scutaro's power was a little lacking and he had dealt with some injury issues, but he was one of the few players that was actually playing better down the stretch.  

Scutaro had been acquired as one of multiple free agents prior to the 2010 season that were known for being good defensive players.  His signing was a little less high-profile than Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron.  Scutaro was a steady offensive player with a very good glove.  He was not flashy, but he was dependable.  Scutaro delivered on that reputation in 2010, hitting .275/.333/.423 with 11 home runs, 56 RBIs, and providing good defense at shortstop.

But it was 2011 when Scutaro really proved to be worth his contract.  Despite injuries limiting him to 113 games, Scutaro hit for a career high .299 batting average and walked more than he struck out.  He finished the season with a .299/.358/.423 line with seven home runs and 54 RBIs.  He also contributed 26 doubles.  

His overall numbers were not eye-popping, but during the second half of the season as the rest of the team was faltering, Scutaro was hitting .329/.382/.467.  He had 20 of his doubles in the second half and drove in 39 of his RBIs.  He was terrific in the second half.

Unfortunately, Boston traded Scutaro to the Rockies for Clayton Mortenson prior to the 2012 season, despite having already traded apparent heir Jed Lowrie to the Astros.  Scutaro was traded midseason to the Giants and again had a terrific second half, on his way to winning the NLCS MVP.  His 2012 season was even better than his 2011 season.  Meanwhile, Mike Aviles was playing shortstop for Boston.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
John Valentin (1993) - He won the Silver Slugger in 1995, so that year does not qualify

Stephen Drew (2013)