Season in Review: 2016

The Red Sox went from last place in 2014 and 2015 to first place in the AL East in 2016.  Unfortunately they did not make it far, losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Cleveland Indians in three straight games.

FIVE FAVORITE PLAYERS:

David Ortiz
Ortiz announced at the beginning of the season that 2016 would be his last.  But unlike other players in their final seasons, Ortiz went out with a bang.  He led the Majors in doubles, slugging, and OPS, and led the AL in doubles.  He hit 38 home runs with 127 RBIs and a slash line of .315/.401/.620.  In his final season, Ortiz was an All Star, won the Silver Slugger, and the Hank Aaron Award for best hitter in the league.  His number will be retired.

Mookie Betts
Betts emerged as one of the best players in the game in 2016.  He finished second in the AL MVP vote to Mike Trout and was elected to start the All Star Game for the first time.  He also won his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards and was named the Top Defensive Player in the Game.  He hit .318/.363/.534 with 31 home runs, 113 RBIs, 26 stolen bases, and had 214 hits.

Rick Porcello
After a rough first season in Boston, Porcello proved to be worthy of his contract in a big way by shockingly winning the AL Cy Young Award, the first Red Sox pitcher to do so since Pedro Martinez in 2000 and only the fourth Red Sox pitcher overall.  A large part of that was Porcello's ML-leading 22 wins against just four losses.  Porcello was also in the top five in WHIP, innings pitched, complete games, and ERA while striking out 189.

Xander Bogaerts
Despite a second half slump, Bogaerts won his second Silver Slugger Award while also being named a starter on the All Star team.  Bogaerts had a 25-game hitting streak early in the season which was not actually the longest for the team.  He hit .294/.356/.446 with 21 home runs, 89 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases.

Jackie Bradley Jr.
Bradley proved that his late-season surge in 2015 was not a fluke, but that he was just an incredibly streaky player.  He had the Majors longest hitting streak in 2016 with a 29 gamer.  He was also elected to start the All Star game.  Despite his own late-season slump, JBJ hit .267/.349/.486 with 26 home runs and 87 RBIs.  He led the team in triples with seven and played his typical great defense.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Dustin Pedroia

Pedroia had his best season in years as he hit .318/.376/.449 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs while also playing terrific defense.  He proved he is not washed up yet after a couple of down seasons sapped his power.  He does not run as often as he used, nor is he as fast (he stole just seven bases), but other aspects of his game are just as good.  He also had his second 200 hit season of his career.

Steven Wright

The knuckle-baller stuck in the Majors for the entire season for the first time in his career.  He was the team's most consistent starter at the beginning of the season and worked his way into an All Star berth.  Unfortunately injuries cut short his season but he was 13-6 with a 3.33 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 156.2 innings.

Hanley Ramirez

After a disastrous first season back where his career began, Hanley Ramirez became one of the top power hitters on the team.  He was passable at first base after being one of the worst defensive players in the game in left field.  He had a terrific stretch run that led him to an overall slash line of .286/.361/.505 with 30 home runs and 111 RBIs.  His 30th home run on the last day of the season gave Boston three hitters with 30 home runs.

FAVORITE ACQUISITIONS

David Price

He did not have the season that was hoped for when he was awarded a huge free agent contract, but Price's final numbers were nothing to sneeze at.  He ended up 17-9 with a 3.99 ERA and racked up 228 strikeouts in 230 innings.  His strikeout number is a new team record for a southpaw.  

Craig Kimbrel

Boston's other big-name acquisition struggled with command at times, but otherwise proved why he is one of the top closers in the game.  He was an All Star for the fifth time in his career and ended up with 31 saves and 83 strikeouts in 53 innings.  His ERA was a little high though at 3.40 and he walked 30.

FAVORITE MID-SEASON ACQUISITIONS

Brad Ziegler

The side-arming former closer was picked up in a trade with the Diamondbacks for a couple of low-level prospects.  Ziegler was a reliable arm down the stretch as he pitched to a 1.52 ERA in 29.2 innings.  He struck out 31 and picked up four saves though he was typically used in a setup role.

Drew Pomeranz

It was a controversial trade, and Pomeranz was not the same pitcher he had been in the first half of the season, but he will likely help solidify the rotation for a few more years.  Pomeranz's record was just 3-5 and his ERA was a disappointing 4.59 but he showed flashes of brilliance and struck out 71 batters in 68.2 innings.

FAVORITE ROOKIE

Andrew Benintendi

Not many rookies played for Boston for any meaningful amount of time, and Benintendi is not much of an exception as he will not lose rookie status until some time next season.  But Benintendi was terrific in his short time in Boston, hitting .295/.359/.476 with two home runs, 11 doubles, and 14 RBIs.  He also became the youngest Red Sox player to hit a home run in the postseason.  He is an early favorite for 2017 Rookie of the Year.  

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS

Blake Swihart

He was the starting catcher on Opening Day after a promising season in 2015, but Swihart struggled on defense and was eventually sent to the minors for some more seasoning.  He was groomed to play left field, where Boston struggled to find a fit and came back to the team to play left, but suffered a season-ending injury after playing just 19 games in the Majors.  He will be given another chance at catcher in 2017.

Travis Shaw

After a fast start to the season, Shaw slumped badly and was not able to get back on track.  He struggled defensively early in the season after moving from first to third full-time.  Shaw has a lot of power and hit 16 home runs with 34 doubles and 71 RBIs, but his slash line was just .242/.306/.421.  He heads into the 2017 season as one of several options at third base.

Auto and Game-Used Haul from a Lot

A seller on Ebay was recently selling several lots of game-used and autograph cards.  I was interested in several of the lots, but ended up only winning one.  Still, it brought me three new Red Sox cards.  

1.  Xander Bogaerts.  Well, this was not in the lot, but a single card that I received from a forum member.  Unfortunately, I was supposed to get the base card to finish the team set on my wantlist.  This is the Holo parallel.  Oh well, I won't complain about a free card.

2.  Rubby De La Rosa.  This is the card I was most interested in in the lot.  I don't have many De La Rosa cards.  I was excited about him when Boston got him from the Dodgers and was disappointed when he was traded to the Diamondbacks in the Wade Miley deal.  He is kind of frustrating because he has a lot of talent that he simply cannot harness all the way.

3.  Dustin Pedroia.  Interesting green jersey piece here.  It must be from one of the St. Patrick's Day Spring Training uniforms.

4.  Wade Boggs.  A nice closeup look at Boggs's unusual follow-through here.  Boggs was kind of like Ichiro in that he was immediately in motion after making contract.  Unlike Ichiro though, Boggs was not exactly fast.

Saying Goodbye to Number 34

It is official.  David Ortiz, the face of the franchise since 2003, has retired.

It is often forgotten now that David Ortiz was not guaranteed a starting spot when he was acquired as a free agent after being non-tendered by the Twins.  He was considered to be a left-handed bat off of the bench, backing up Kevin Millar at first base and Jeremy Giambi at designated hitter.  He was not happy with his role and at one point asked to be traded.  But Giambi didn't hit and when Shea Hillenbrand was traded clearing Bill Mueller to play third, Ortiz became the designated hitter.  He ended up hitting 31 home runs and finishing fifth in the MVP vote after displaying a propensity for getting big hits.

2004 was the first amazing season from Ortiz as he hit 41 home runs, was an All Star for the first time, won his first Silver Slugger, and finished fourth in the MVP race.  The legend took hold in the postseason.  He hit a walkoff home run to win the ALDS against the Angels.  Then he had back-to-back walkoff hits in Games 4 and 5 in the ALCS against the Yankees.  It was at that point that his star power outshined Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, and Curt Schilling.

Over the next few years, he finished in the top five in the MVP race each year, was an All Star and won the Silver Slugger.  He led the league in RBIs twice, walks twice, on-base percentage, total bases and home runs once while setting a new team record for home runs in a season.  In 2008-2009 he looked past his prime, after slumping badly early in each season and looking terrible against left-handers.  Each time he came back to post respectable numbers.

Ortiz made adjustments and made a late career resurgence.  He was an All Star four seasons in a row and won a Silver Slugger twice in that period.  As the years went by, he started racking up career milestones, including his 500th home run.  Ortiz also had an amazing World Series in 2013 and won his third ring with the Red Sox.  Only Harry Hooper has more with Boston.

His final season was one for the ages as he hit .315/.401/.620 and led the league in RBIs, slugging, OPS, and doubles.  He ends his career with a slash line of .286/.380/.552 with 541 home runs (17th all-time), 1,768 RBIs and a .931 OPS.  The Red Sox announced that Ortiz's uniform number will be retired right away next season.  No one will ever wear number 34 again in Boston.

David Ortiz will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in a few years.  Two things stand in the way of his easy election.  First of all, he was almost exclusively a designated hitter.  Second, he was named on a list of players who tested positive for some sort of substance that was done in 2003, though there are some major issues with that test that may limit its impact.  But Ortiz has done a lot of great things outside the lines.  I believe that he will make it into Cooperstown.    

Non-Vintage Cards of Vintage Players

Recently I decided to buy up a bunch of Conlon cards from my wantlist, which led me to a bunch of other cards that I also wanted.  Almost all of these cards have one thing in common: none of the players pictured (with one obvious exception) have played for the Red Sox since 1970.  But the cards are recently made or reprinted.  Now one of my biggest obsessions recently is examining the lesser-known periods in Red Sox history.  I am talking about the years from 1920-1933 (post-Babe Ruth and pre-Tom Yawkey) and 1951-1966 (when the team was mostly mediocre).  As a result I have been very interested in picking up cards of players from these time periods.  And a large majority of the players in this post fit that mold.

1.  Skeeter Newsome.  Primarily a utility infielder in his early years and in his first few seasons in Boston, Newsome backed up Joe Cronin, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, and Jim Tabor.  But when WWII struck, Newsome became the starting shortstop, and actually fared well.  In 1945, he hit .290 as the primary second-baseman.

2.  Joe Foy.  Foy was the third-baseman on the Impossible Dream team who had some power in his bat.  He hit 15 and 16 home runs in his first two seasons.  He was later left unprotected in the expansion draft and was selected by the Royals.  After a season in Kansas City he was traded to the Mets for Amos Otis, which worked out badly for the Mets.

3.  Smead Jolley.  He pretty much sums up the Red Sox hitters in the years between Babe Ruth and Tom Yawkey.  A very good hitter, but a horrendous fielder.  Most Red Sox players only had one tool in those days.  Jolley hit 18 home runs for the 1932 Red Sox, the most on the team.

4.  Christian Vazquez.  This is the only recent player in this package.  Vazquez is a great defensive catcher who needs to work on his hitting.

5.  Eddie Lake.  Another WWII standout, Lake was the starting shortstop in 1945 and hit .279 with a league-leading .412 on-base percentage.  Much of the reason for that was his incredible 106 walks.  He also hit 11 home runs and 27 doubles.  He had a very good year, but Johnny Pesky came back the next season and Lake was expendable.  He was traded to Detroit for Rudy York.

6.  Mike Andrews.  Andrews was the second-baseman on the Impossible Dream team.  He had his best season in 1969 when he was an All Star and hit .293 with 15 home runs.

7.  Dennis Bennett.  Bennett was acquired in a trade with the Phillies for Dick Stuart.  This was a poor trade for Boston as Bennett was hurt and his numbers declined dramatically upon arriving in Boston.

8.  Eddie Bressoud.  Bressoud benefited greatly from being traded to the Red Sox.  He suddenly hit for a lot more power (he had never hit more than nine home runs until coming to the Red Sox and hitting 20 in his second season there) and he was named to his only All Star team.

9.  Ike Boone.  Like Jolley, Ike could hit but could not field his position, which cost him a long career in the Majors.  He hit .332 over two-plus seasons in Boston but he never played regularly again,

10.  Tris Speaker.  Speaker, on the other hand, was a complete player.  He was one of the greatest fielding center fielders ever and was a great hitter as well.  He is in the Hall of Fame, but because he spent more time with the Indians and won his only batting title in Cleveland, he represents the Indians in the Hall.

11.  Elliott Bigelow.  He played in 100 games and hit .284 in his only season in the big leagues, but Bigelow was another poor fielder.  He died suddenly in 1933.

12.  Emerson Dickman.  Dickman was a reliever for the Red Sox in the late 30's/early 40's.  He had his best season in 1939 when he was 8-3 with a 4.43 ERA.

13.  Harry Hooper.  Hooper was likely one of the greatest defensive right fielders of all time, unfortunately there is not much video evidence of his greatness.  He made a terrific catch in the World Series.  Hooper was primarily known for his defense but he was a decent hitter as well.

14.  Hal Wiltse.  Wiltse was not as bad as his 18-35 record with the Red Sox would seem to show.  He just had the bad luck to pitch for terrible teams.  His ERA was a little below average, but not to the degree that his record would seem to indicate.

15.  Rick Ferrell.  Ferrell was a terrific contact hitter for a catcher.  For his time in Boston, he hit .302/.394/.410.  He is in the Hall of Fame primarily for his defense, but he was a pretty good hitter for a catcher if somewhat bereft of power.

16.  Joe Cronin.  Cronin was probably a better player than a manager.  He is in the Hall as a terrific hitting shortstop.  He did however lead his teams to two pennants, though did not win a World Series.  Cronin was later a general manager and then American League president.

17.  Fred Haney.  Haney was the anti-Ike Boone.  A terrific fielder, but could not hit at all and had next to no power.

18.  Bob Tillman.  Tillman had some power.  He hit 14 home runs as a catcher in his rookie season and had 17 in 1964.  He slumped after that and was eventually sold to the Yankees after Boston acquired Elston Howard from New York in a separate transaction.

19.  Arnold Earley.  Earley was a decent left-handed relief specialist when such a thing was pretty rare.  He had a very good year in 1964 when he was 1-1 with a 2.68 ERA and 45 strikeouts versus 18 walks in 50.1 innings.

20.  Bill Monbouquette.  "Monbo" was the ace of the staff in the early 1960's.  He had a 20 win season, threw a no-hitter, and was a three-time All Star with the Red Sox.

21.  Bill Spanswick.  I'm not sure how Spanswick got a card in this set.  He spent just one year in the Majors and was 2-3 with a 6.89 ERA in 29 games.

22.  Duffy Lewis.  Lewis played left field at the time Hooper and Speaker were in the outfield.  Lewis had more power than the other two generally but is the only one not in the Hall of Fame.  He was also terrific defensively.

23.  Earl Webb.  Webb STILL holds the record for doubles in a season (though he often cheated by not running out a hit that could have been a triple).  He was, like Jolley and Boone, a poor defensive outfielder.

24.  Alex Ferguson.  Ferguson was a pretty good pitcher that was cursed by pitching for the Red Sox when they were terrible.  In 1924 he won 14 games and had a 3.79 ERA but he led the league in losses with 17.

25.  Joe Vosmik.  Vosmik led the league in hits with 201 in 1938.  He was the left fielder the first season Ted Williams played for the Red Sox.  When he was sold to the Dodgers, Williams moved to left.

26.  Bill Carrigan.  Carrigan was a decent catcher and was player-manager for the 1915-1916 Red Sox.  He is the only manager to lead the Red Sox to consecutive World Series Championships.

27.  Roy Johnson.  Roy and his brother Bob played for the Red Sox about a decade apart.  Roy was a very good hitter who hit .313 in his four years with Boston.

28.  Jim Bagby Jr.  Bagby won 15 games in his rookie season with the Red Sox but slumped for a few years before becoming an All Star with the Indians.  He returned to Boston in 1946 and even pitched in the World Series.

29.  Bill Regan.  Regan was a decent defensive second-baseman who hit enough to justify keeping him in the lineup.  He was a mainstay of the team during the late 1920's at a time when few players stuck around for very long.

30.  Archie McKain.  Primarily a relief pitcher, McKain was 13-12 with a 4.60 ERA in 73 games over two seasons with the Red Sox.

31.  Lefty Grove/Nolan Ryan.  Grove must have been quite a pitcher in his time.  Not too many pitchers were racking up the strikeouts like he was.  By the time he came to Boston, his fastball was not as fast, but he learned how to really pitch.  It helped him win four more ERA titles in his time with the Red Sox and he eventually won his 300th game with them.

32.  Tom Carey.  Carey was a utility infielder with the Red Sox, but he did hit .323 in 1940, albeit in just 43 games.

33.  Bobby Doerr.  Our sixth and final Hall of Famer in the package.  Doerr was a terrific defensive second baseman and was a great hitter too.  He spent his entire career in Boston and had six seasons of more than 100 RBIs.  If he hadn't been forced to retire due to back injuries, he would have been named to the Hall of Fame a lot sooner.


And one more note:
I bought a card from the TCMA 60's Set that made me mad when I looked at it.  It was Chuck Stobbs and the picture shown of him was with the Red Sox.  Unfortunately, the back lists him as a Washington Senator.  Now in my rules, that is a Senators card.  Stobbs never had a card with the Red Sox, other than a few postcards issued by the team.  I was annoyed when I saw that.  He was a decent pitcher for a few years before being shipped to the Senators.  I don't understand why the card listed him as a Senator but showed him in a Red Sox uniform and it bugs me.  I can understand if a player changed teams recently, but this is a card from 1978 covering the 1950's.  There is no reason to do that.  Rant over.

Mailday Roundup With Night Owl and Zippy Zappy

Here is the latest mailday roundup.  I did receive surprise packages from Night Owl and Zippy Zappy that I was pretty happy about.  

On another random note, I am improving my wantlist to a much more comprehensive needs list.  It will be a long project.  I have done 1981-2004 so far.  When I get caught up I will go back from 1980 to the beginning.  As I have been doing this, I have noticed a couple of things.

1.  I have a lot more holes in my collection than I thought I did.  Several team sets that I thought I had completed, are actually not done.  The most annoying was 2002 Upper Deck 40 Man which I swore I had done.  I am missing several cards in fact.  

2.  My collection page is incorrect in several places.  Which means I need to redo it entirely.  This project has now branched from doing a complete wantlist to completely redoing my entire collection.  This is going to take weeks.

But, now for the cards:

1.  Jackie Bradley Jr.  This card highlights JBJ's hitting streak, the longest in the Majors in 2016 and the third-longest in Red Sox history behind Dom DiMaggio and Nomar Garciaparra.

2.  Chris Young.  Young proved to be a very good fourth outfielder with some impressive power.  I am happy he will be back next year.

3.  Harry Hooper.  I love seeing new Hooper cards.  He is kind of a forgotten Hall of Famer.

4.  David Price.  Price can look to Rick Porcello for guidance from a pitcher that was bad his first year in Boston and improved greatly his second year.  We find out Wednesday whether Porcello will win the Cy Young or not.  Even if he doesn't, it has been a great year.

5.  A.J. Pierzynski.  Pierzynski was simply bad in Boston.  It was disappointing coming off a season in which he hit 17 home runs that A.J. played so badly in Boston.  He was just a stopgap and his struggles allowed Christian Vazquez to come to the Majors.

6.  Felix Doubront.  I just got done putting up a big post on Doubront.  He was a favorite player of mine for his time in Boston, particularly in 2012-2013.

7.  Eduardo Rodriguez.  I think E-Rod will have a breakout season in 2017.  You heard it here first.

8.  Brock Holt.  Making Holt the starting left-fielder at the beginning of the 2016 season was a mistake.  He has always been better as a super-utility man.

9.  Jean Machi.  I still wish Boston would have re-signed him.  I liked him a lot in 2015.

10.  Wily Mo Pena.  This is another player I irrationally loved watching.  Most of that comes from him hitting a mammoth home run at a game I attended in Kansas City.

11.  Curt Schilling.  Schilling was up over 50% on the last Hall of Fame ballot.  I know a lot of his opinions are comments are distasteful, but he was a terrific pitcher who deserves to be in the Hall.

12.  Brian Johnson.  This card leaves me with just one more base card to get from 2016 A&G.  Of course it is Xander Bogaerts, a player who seems to elude me frequently.

13.  David Ortiz.  This is a manufactured trophy card of Ortiz and man, is it thick.  This card and the below scan are parts of one of my favorite trades I have made in a long time.

14.  David Price.

15.  Andrew Bailey.  This is one of the Boston Strong parallel cards.  They are hard to find, and I only have two so far.  My two are players who were not on the postseason roster.  I need to keep searching for these.  Bailey was doing reasonably well until going down with an injury, but that opened up the closer position for Koji Uehara, so no real problem there.

16.  Jason Varitek.  I am running out of cards to chase down for Varitek.  I would love to see him show up in Archives next year.

17.  Blake Swihart.  Swihart is likely ticketed for Pawtucket to start 2017 with Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez as the catchers in Boston.  He will be up in Boston soon, unless he gets traded.

18.  David Ortiz.  Just one more SP to go in 2016 Heritage.

19.  Xander Bogaerts.  X is also the last remaining base card I need for Donruss Optic, though I do have this parallel now.

20.  Babe Ruth.  He was the last base card from 2016 Archives, but my first blue parallel.

Up next is the Night Owl package.  Greg took a look at my want list and came up with some cards, though a few cards that he sent ended up being duplicates, just because someone else sent them first apparently.

21.  Carson Smith.  Smith's injury early in 2016 really derailed the bullpen, which is unfortunate because he was great in 2015.

22.  Brian Johnson.  Another casualty to a bizarre situation.  Johnson may be knocking at the Major League door in 2017.

23.  Cy Young.  This is my favorite card from Greg's package.  I had just added this to my Wantlist recently and now I have added it to my collection.  I love cards of Cy Young that use photos that are not used over and over again.

Thanks for the cards Greg!

And now we have the Zippy Zapping:

24.  Tyler Hill.  Hill is a young, rising prospect in the Red Sox system.  He had a terrific season in Lowell and is likely headed to a promotion next season.

25.  Josh Beckett.  This is your standard Zippy Zapping.  Minor league cards and cards from Japan.  This is the card from the Sega Card Gen game.  Beckett seems to be having a resurgence in my collection of late.

26.  Josh Pennington.  Another guy in line for a promotion after a successful season in short-season Lowell.  I am less high on Pennington than Hill personally, but he may be one to follow.

Thanks Kenny!

And last:

27.  Mookie Betts.  Tied once again with JBJ at 94 in the race between the Killer B's for first to reach 100.  Bogaerts is lagging behind at 86.

28.  Wade Boggs.  I really like this Gold Label design.  Boggs is still one of my all-time favorites.

29.  Carl Yastrzemski.  This card celebrates Yaz's 3,000th hit.  He is still the only player to have his 3,000th hit with Boston.  They have had four players hit their 500th home run with them (Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz) and two pitchers win their 300th game (Cy Young, Lefty Grove), but just one with 3,000 hits. 

30.  Ryan Hanigan.  This is a Chrome Sapphire Blue parallel.  I found a seller on Ebay selling singles from this set which was apparently only available online.  The prices were reasonable but I really didn't want to buy a lot of them.  I tried to think of the most obscure Red Sox player from the set, and I came up with Hanigan who played in 89 games over two seasons.  Hanigan is not likely to be back next year.  He was good defensively but simply could not hit.

31.  Aaron Hill.  Another player not likely to be back.  This is the pink parallel numbered to 50.  Hill was unfortunately a disappointment after being acquired from Milwaukee.  He hit just two home runs and hit .218/.287/.290 and cost a couple of prospects, including a pitcher close to the Majors.  Disappointing.

One-Card Wonder Pt. 37: Pedro Ciriaco

What is even worse than the fact that Pedro Ciriaco only has one card issued with the Red Sox (other than parallels) is that you can not even tell if he is wearing a Red Sox uniform in his one card.  In fact it is very likely that this picture shows Ciriaco wearing a Pirates road uniform though he only played in 31 games with the Pirates over two seasons.

Ciriaco was signed as a minor league free agent in January 2012.  No one knew it at the time, but Ciriaco would make an impact on the Red Sox in the Majors.  Due to a rash of injuries and short-sightedly trading both Jed Lowrie and Marco Scutaro, Boston had need of a utility infielder, particularly after trading Nick Punto to the Dodgers.  Ciriaco provided depth by playing second, short, and third and also playing all three outfield positions at least twice.  He ended up playing in 76 games for the Red Sox and was basically a regular player after his call-up in July.

Despite playing in 76 games, Ciriaco provided a spark by being second on the team in stolen bases (16).  He managed to produce a decent batting line, despite only walking eight times all season.  Ciriaco hit .293/.315/.390 and picked up 15 doubles, two triples, and two home runs.  He was particularly effective against the Yankees, against whom he had two four-hit games and two three-hit games.

Ciriaco returned for the 2013 season but only made it into 28 games before he was shipped off to San Diego.  His numbers declined significantly and he was replaced by Brock Holt and Jose Iglesias.  Ciriaco bounced around after that and last played in the Majors with the Braves in 2015 for whom he appeared in a career-high 84 games.

Red Sox in Cooperstown Pt. 27: Ferguson Jenkins

FERGUSON JENKINS
Years in Boston: 1976-1977 (22-21, 3.47 ERA, 247 strikeouts, 79 walks)
Best Year in Boston: 1976 (12-11, 3.27 ERA, 142 strikeouts, 43 walks)

After taking the Cincinnati Reds to the 7th game of the 1975 World Series, the Red Sox decided to try to improve their already impressive starting rotation by acquiring Ferguson Jenkins.  Rick Wise, Luis Tiant, and Bill Lee were all returning and Jenkins would give Boston four starting pitchers that would be aces or number two starters on any other team.  Unfortunately, things did not end up working out as well as expected.

At 33 when he was acquired, Jenkins had already had most of his best years.  He had won 20 or more games seven times, with a career high of 25 in 1974 with the Rangers.  He won the National League Cy Young Award in 1971 with the Cubs when he was 24-13 with a 2.77 ERA and 263 strikeouts.  Jenkins had a little bit of a down season with the Rangers in 1975, going 17-18 with a 3.93 ERA.  Boston did not give up a lot to get Jenkins.  They sent Juan Beniquez, Steve Barr, and Craig Skok to Texas.  Of the three, only Beniquez had much value.

Boston slotted Jenkins into the rotation immediately, he ended up starting on Opening Day in each of the two seasons he spent in Boston.  He pitched a complete game and gave up just one run, but the Red Sox were unable to score and took a hard-luck loss.  Jenkins would have a decent, if not exactly great season for the Red Sox in 1976.  He ended up with a 12-11 record and a 3.27 ERA in 209 innings.  He struck out 142 and walked 43.  It was not his best season, and the rest of the rotation outside of Luis Tiant struggled, leading to Boston finishing third in their division.

Jenkins declined more in 1977, producing just a 10-10 season.  His ERA was a relatively decent 3.68 but he only struck out 105 batters, while walking 36.  Moreover, Jenkins did not get along with Boston manager Don Zimmer, like several other members of the team.  And, like other members of the team like Bernie Carbo and Bill Lee, Jenkins was destined to not last on the team due to not getting along with Zimmer.  After the season, he was traded back to the Rangers for a prospect named John Poloni, who would never appear in a Major League game with the Red Sox.  The trade was not good for Boston as well because Jenkins proved to have enough left in the tank to go 18-8 the next season.

Ferguson Jenkins's stint with Boston can be characterized as a minor detour.  He had decent, but not great seasons in his two years in Boston.  He is in the Hall of Fame primarily for his time with the Cubs, though he had some good years with the Rangers as well.  It is safe to say that he is not remembered for his time with the Red Sox, though he did have more success than he had with the Phillies.

Your 1981 Red Sox Pt. 4: Bill Campbell

In this series, I will look at each player who played in 1981, the year I was born. Because, why not?

Let's look at two seasons from two pitchers shall we?

Player A: 13-9, 2.96 ERA, 140 innings pitched, 31 saves (led league), 60 walks, 114 strikeouts, 4.8 WAR)

Player B: 13-5, 2.17 ERA, 137 innings pitched, 26 saves, 33 walks, 68 strikeouts, 3.7 WAR

Player A is Bill Campbell in 1977.  He finished fifth in the Cy Young vote and 10th in the MVP vote.  Player B is Sparky Lyle in 1977, when he won the Cy Young Award and was 5th in the MVP vote.  My point is that the two pitchers were not really that far apart.  Lyle had a better ERA and fewer walks, but Campbell had more saves and quite a few more strikeouts.

Campbell was Boston's first major free agent signing after going 17-5 with 20 saves all in relief for the Twins in 1976.  Boston needed a big-time arm out of the bullpen and signed Campbell.  His first season was terrific as Campbell was an All Star and won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award.  Unfortunately, pitching 317.2 innings in the previous two years took a lot out of his arm and he suffered through injuries for several seasons.  Campbell's ERA climbed each year from 1978 through 1980 and he only saved 13 games in those three seasons. 

He would never again be a top-flight closer but Campbell was able to transition into more of a setup man.  Campbell appeared to be back to being a big contributor in the pen in 1981.  He made it into just 30 games and pitched 48.1 innings, but he finished 23 games and notched seven saves, which was actually second on the team to Mark Clear, who had nine.  Campbell was 1-1 and his ERA dropped to a respectable 3.17.  He also struck out 37 while walking 20, his best ratio in several seasons.

1981 was Campbell's last season in Boston.  He signed with the Cubs as a free agent for the 1982 season.  He went on to have some decent seasons, but never reached the heights of his 1977 season.  He was released by the Expos early in the 1987 season and retired.  

The Best Red Sox Game Played on May 9

Recently, I finished the book pictured above.  The point of the book was to include one win on each date to come up with a perfect season.  It was a very interesting read.  There was just one problem: it provided an off-day for my birthdate, May 9.  So, being fairly bored and generally just wanting to know, I decided to go through the box scores and find the best games I could find for May 9 through the years.  Unfortunately, since boxscores are not readily available before 1912, I could not include any of those games.

1935

Location: Chicago

Opponent: Chicago White Sox

Score: 10-1

Win: Wes Ferrell (3-2)

Loss: Les Tietje (1-1)

Save: NA

Home Run: Joe Cronin (1)

This was just a good, old-fashioned beatdown.  The White Sox did not score a single run until the bottom of the ninth inning and by then it was way too late.  Wes Ferrell pitched a complete game, scattering eight hits while walking five and striking out two.  He also chipped in two hits in four at-bats with two runs and an RBI.  Ferrell was always a good-hitting pitcher.  Mel Almada had three hits, including two doubles and stole a base.  Roy Johnson, Joe Cronin, and Rick Ferrell all had two hits each.  Johnson drove in three runs to lead the team and Cronin homered.  

1938

Location: Boston

Opponent: Cleveland Indians

Score: 15-3

Win: Jim Bagby (2-1)

Loss: Denny Galehouse (1-1)
Save: NA

Home Run: Joe Cronin (2), Jimmie Foxx (6,7)

Another blowout loss, this time over the Cleveland Indians, this game featured a two-homer game by Jimmie Foxx.  He drove in five runs to lead the team.  Joe Cronin also homered in the game.  Foxx, Joe Vosmik, and Doc Cramer each had two hits.  Cramer contributed a double and Vosmik a triple.  Jim Bagby Jr. pitched a complete game, giving up just three runs.  It was not a particularly pretty game though for Bagby as he walked seven batters and struck out one.  He gave up just six hits.

1939

Location: St. Louis
Opponent: St. Louis Browns
Score: 10-8
Win: Joe Heving (3-1)
Loss: Ed Cole (0-2)
Save: Jack Wilson (1)
Home Run: Jimmie Foxx (4), Ted Williams (4)

Ted Williams was just a rookie in 1939, but he was already a great hitter.  In this game, Williams hit a three-run home run in the top of the 10th inning to take back the lead.  St. Louis had been behind 7-3 going into the bottom of the seventh, but the Browns scored two runs in the seventh and eighth innings to tie the score.  The Browns answered with a run in the bottom of the 10th but it was too late.  Jimmie Foxx also homered for Boston and drove in three.  Jim Bagby started the game but did not figure in the decision.  Joe Heving picked up the win and Jack Wilson, the save.

1940

Location: Boston
Opponent: Detroit Tigers
Score: 6-5
Win: Herb Hash (3-1)
Loss: Al Benton (0-1)
Save: NA
Home Run: NA

Boston refused to quit in this game.  Denny Galehouse started the game for the Red Sox and was in line for the win in the seventh when he ran into trouble.  Herb Hash came on in relief but gave up the tying runs on a single to Earl Averill.  The game stayed tied until the bottom of the 10th inning.  After Joe Cronin doubled, Bobby Doerr and Jim Tabor both walked to load the bases with one out.  Boston manager Cronin pinch hit for catcher Gene Desautels with backup catcher Johnny Peacock, who came through with a walkoff single.  

1958

Location: Baltimore
Opponent: Baltimore Orioles
Score: 13-5
Win: Dave Sisler (4-1)
Loss: Billy O'Dell (2-3)
Save: NA
Home Run: NA

Hall of Famer George Sisler had two sons who played in the Major Leagues.  Dick Sisler was primarily a first-baseman with the Phillies, while Dave Sisler was a pitcher with the Red Sox.  Dave was off to a pretty good start in 1958 with Boston when he came across the Orioles.  He pitched a complete game, scattering 11 hits and giving up three earned runs on his way to a 4-1 record.  He also picked up two hits, including a double and an RBI, in three at-bats while the Red Sox rolled to a 13-5 victory.  Jimmy Piersall had three hits, including a double, and three RBIs.  

1967

Location: Kansas City
Opponent: Kansas City Athletics
Score: 5-2
Win: John Wyatt (2-0)
Loss: Jack Aker (2-2)
Save: Dan Osinski (1)
Home Run: NA

1967 was a terrific season that came out of left field, so to speak.  Boston had finished just a half game out of last place in 1966, but won the AL pennant in one of the greatest pennant races of all time.  Carl Yastrzemski's Triple Crown-winning season was a big part of that.  Yaz came through in the clutch all year long and this game was no exception.  Boston trailed 2-0 going into the ninth inning.  They tied it on a single by Bob Tillman and a bases loaded walk by Joe Foy.  The next batter was Yaz, who cleared the bases with a double.  Boston held on for the 5-2 win.  Jose Santiago pitched well for seven innings, striking out seven, but did not figure in the decision.  

1974

Location: Boston

Opponent: New York Yankees
Score: 2-0
Win: Luis Tiant (2-4)
Loss: Pat Dobson (2-5)
Save: NA
Home Run: Bernie Carbo (4)

In an outstanding pitchers' duel, Luis Tiant of the Red Sox outdueled Pat Dobson of the Yankees in Fenway Park.  Tiant and Dobson each pitched complete games with Dobson striking out six, walking one, and giving up just six hits.  One of those hits though was a home run to Bernie Carbo in the seventh inning to give Boston all the runs they would need.  Dick McAuliffe doubled later in the inning to drive in Juan Beniquez to give Boston an insurance run anyway.  The story of the game though was Tiant, who gave up just three singles, without walking anyone, and struck out four.  It was a dominating performance by the crafty veteran.  

1979

Location: Boston
Opponent: California Angels
Score: 9-8
Win: Bill Campbell (1-1)
Loss: Dave LaRoche (2-4)
Save: NA
Home Run: Butch Hobson (1), Fred Lynn (12, 13), Carl Yastrzemski (6)

Things looked bleak for Boston going into the bottom of the ninth inning.  They led the game 7-5 going into the eighth inning but Dick Drago was not able to hold the lead.  California took a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth with Dave LaRoche on the mound.  After striking out Fred Lynn, Jim Rice walked and Carl Yastrzemski came to the plate.  Yaz blasted a pitch into the right field stands to win the game for the Red Sox.  Lynn had a big game with three hits, including a couple of home runs of his own.

1988

Location: Kansas City
Opponent: Kansas City Royals
Score: 2-0
Win: Roger Clemens (5-1)
Loss: Mark Gubicza (3-4)
Save: NA
Home Run: NA

The Rocket was utterly dominating in this game.  In the midst of a season in which he set a team strikeout record that stood until 1999, Clemens pitched a brilliant game notching 16 strikeouts against the Royals.  Clemens gave up just three singles and walked a batter.  Mike Greenwell drove in the first run with a triple to score Marty Barrett.  Barrett later drove in the second run after being hit by a pitch to score Rick Cerone.  Jody Reed had three hits in the game to lead the offense.

1995

Location: Boston
Opponent: Baltimore Orioles
Score: 4-3
Win: Stan Belinda (1-0)
Loss: Armando Benitez (0-2)
Save: NA
Home Run: Wes Chamberlain (1), Mo Vaughn (5)

Boston had taken a 3-2 lead into the sixth inning when Rheal Cormier was taken out of the game.  Mo Vaughn homered in the first inning to take a lead right away.  The Orioles got to reliever Jeff Pierce to tie the game and that was the way it stayed until the bottom of the ninth.  Derek Lilliquist and Stan Belinda kept Baltimore scoreless and set the stage.  In the ninth, Jesse Orosco struck out lefty-hitting Troy O'Leary and then Armando Benitez was brought in to face Luis Alicea.  But Kevin Kennedy pinch-hit Wes Chamberlain for Alicea and the move worked.  Chamberlain homered to win the game. 

2011

Location: Boston
Opponent: Minnesota Twins
Score: 2-1
Win: Hideki Okajima (1-0)
Loss: Jim Hoey (0-1)
Save: NA
Home Run: NA

Carl Crawford did not have a lot of highlights during his short time in Boston, but this game was one time in which he came through.  It was still early in his tenure in Boston and, though he started off slowly, he was not considered a total bust yet.  Josh Beckett gave the Red Sox seven strong, scoreless innings and the team was leading 1-0.  Minnesota tied the game off of Jonathan Papelbon in the eighth inning though.  Papelbon and Hideki Okajima kept the Twins off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.  In the bottom of the 11th, Jed Lowrie drew a walk after J.D. Drew flied out.  That brought Crawford to the plate and he doubled to score Lowrie with the winning run.  Okajima got the win in what turned out to be his final game with the Boston Red Sox. 

2016

Location: Boston
Opponent: Oakland Athletics
Score: 14-7
Win: Clay Buchholz (2-3)
Loss: Sonny Gray (3-4)
Save: NA
Home Run: Jackie Bradley Jr. (4), Brock Holt (3)

Jackie Bradley Jr. was in the midst of his 29-game hitting streak and was on fire when this game came up.  Bradley drove in six runs on three hits, including a grand slam home run in the 4th inning off John Axford.  Boston had already roughed up A's ace Sonny Gray with seven earned runs in less than four innings.  Brock Holt also homered for Boston.  Bradley, David Ortiz, and Travis Shaw each had three hits.  Shaw and Ortiz each doubled twice.  Clay Buchholz got the easy win, despite pitching just five innings and giving up four earned runs.

MY PICK

If I had to pick one game that should have gone into the book for the May 9 game, I would have a hard time picking between 1988 and 1995.  We have a truly dominating performance from a terrific pitcher going up against a pinch-hit walkoff home run.  That's a tough call.  It would be understandable to go with either game.  And so, a coin flip, because it really is that close.  And the winner is:

Wes Chamberlain's pinch-hit walkoff home run!  Stand up and wave to the crowd, Wes!

Every Little Bit Counts

Two somewhat smaller packages came in on yesterday.  One was just a single card, but that card crossed an insert set off of my want list.  The other was a few more cards, mostly low-end parallels and base cards, but as the title says, every little bit counts.  That is 10 more cards to add to my Red Sox collection.

1.  Dustin Pedroia.  I am not overly enamored with this insert set, at least as far as its purpose goes.  The set looks decent.  I just am concerned about more and more advertisements finding their way into sets.

2.  Josh Beckett.  This is the red Gypsy Queen back card.

3.  Daniel Bard.  I like the throwback uniform here but Bard really did not deserve a 2013 card, particularly over Andrew Miller.  He appeared in just two games in 2013.

4.  David Ortiz.  Here is a different throwback uniform.  And yet again, Ortiz finds his way into a package.

5.  Josh Beckett.  This is one of those insert sets that escaped me when it came out.  My focus was mostly on Jason Varitek cards at the time and there are a lot of holes from the late 2000's.

6.  Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia seems to be increasing quickly in my collection lately.  I have no problem with that.  Pedroia becomes the largest current player in my collection at around 330 cards with the retirement of Ortiz.

7.  Jon Lester.  Lester is a player that I feel is underrepresented in my collection.  Even though he is no longer with the team, it would be nice to increase my collection of him.

8.  Jackie Bradley Jr.  JBJ, Mookie, and Xander are in a race to determine which of the Killer B's will be the first to 100 cards in my collection.  Mookie and JBJ are tied with 93, Xander is at 85.

9.  Rusney Castillo.  He is kind of a forgotten man at this time, but he has several seasons left on his contract.  It will be interesting to see what Boston does with him next season.

10.  Hanley Ramirez.  Hanley is at 75 cards in my Red Sox collection and stands a pretty good shot at coming up to 100 soon as well.  He had been neck and neck with the other three but slowed down.

Cards from Dan

I worked out a second trade with Dan recently who must have spent some serious time pouring over my Red Sox collection page to find this many cards I did not already have.  Most of the cards were parallels, but there was some vintage and some other random stuff thrown in as well.  

1.  Jon Lester.  I wonder what he is pointing at?  Perhaps one of his pickoff attempts got away?  Actually I don't really remember Lester being as bad at throwing to first with Boston as he is now.  Maybe it just wasn't as well-known.

2.  David Ortiz.  You knew Ortiz would sneak in to this package.  Ortiz always sneaks into my packages.  

3.  Mike Carp.  Carp was one of the more underrated stars of the Red Sox championship run in 2013 as he hit .296/.362/.523 with nine home runs and 43 RBIs as a backup and bench player.

4.  Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia bounced back for a strong season in 2016.  With three or four more, he will start to look like a pretty good bet for the Hall of Fame.

5.  Jackie Bradley Jr.  If he can cut back on his strikeouts and pull out of his lengthy slumps, Bradley could be one of the best players in the league.  He certainly looked like it in June when he rattled off a 29 game hitting streak.

6.  John Lackey.  Lackey's turn-around from bust to World Series Game 6 winner should be inspiration for Pablo Sandoval to attempt to come back next season.

7.  Junichi Tazawa.  We may have seen the last of Tazawa.  Expect a big post if we have.

8.  Stephen Drew.  For some reason I did not realize that the Drew brothers were the first brothers to homer in the postseason for the same organization.  J.D. hit a home run in the 2007 ALCS and Stephen hit a home run in the 2013 World Series.

9.  John Lackey.

10.  Ryan Dempster.  Dempster's final season in the Majors was his only year with the Red Sox.  He helped win the World Series.  It was a good way to go out.

11.  Jackie Bradley Jr.

12.  Jake Peavy.  After the 2013 World Series, Jake Peavy bought the duck boat who rode on during the parade.  He has since had it painted in tribute to that championship.

13.  Dustin Pedroia.

14.  Xander Bogaerts.  Bogaerts had a rough season defensively and slumped in the second half.  He has some things to improve on, but he is still just 23.

15.  Tom Burgmeier.  It took me a second to realize this was an O-Pee-Chee card.  There will be more.  Burgmeier was a terrific southpaw reliever for Boston for a few years.

16.  Manny Ramirez.  Manny is eligible for the Hall of Fame in the upcoming vote.  This should be very interesting.

17.  Dustin Pedroia.  These cards were available only in factory sets.  I had the Adrian Gonzalez previously.

18.  Dwight Evans.  Another O-Pee-Chee.  Evans's Hall of Fame case needs to be looked at closely.  He should be on the next Veterans' Committee (or whatever they are called now) ballot.

19.  Bob Montgomery.  The Doug Mirabelli of the 1970's, a surprisingly good backup catcher to Carlton Fisk.

20.  Dennis Eckersley.  Eckersley won 20 games and started an All Star game with the Red Sox.  He was pretty good in Boston.

21.  Ike Delock.  Delock was a pretty decent, if somewhat overlooked, starting pitcher for the Red Sox from 1952-1963.  He spent almost his entire career in Boston, other than seven games in 1963 with the Orioles.  Delock was 83-72 with a 4.01 ERA and 661 strikeouts.

22.  Mike Fornieles.  Fornieles had one of the all-time great Red Sox relief seasons in 1960 when he was 10-5 with a 2.64 ERA in 109 innings over 70 games.  Fornieles struck out 64 and picked up 13 saves.

23.  Manny Ramirez.  I always liked these Trading Card History cards that showed current stars in old card designs.

24.  Jon Lester.

25.  Manny Ramirez.

26.  Nomar Garciaparra.  Ah, one of my favorite players growing up.  I was in high school when he was a rookie in 1997, but he quickly became a favorite player.

27.  Mo Vaughn.  Another favorite player.  My first Red Sox jersey was a Vaughn jersey, which must have looked a little strange for a skinny white kid wearing Vaughn's jersey.  It fits a little better now, but is probably still strange for that other thing.

Thanks for the trade Dan!  Your cards are on their way.

Mailday Roundup November 9, 2016

Here is the mailday roundup from Monday.  There were three packages with nine cards total:

1.  Grady Little.  Little was Boston's manager for two years from 2002-2003.  Boston was a powerful offensive team those seasons, but Little's decision to leave Pedro Martinez on the mound in Game 7 of the ALCS was a huge mistake and led to his dismissal.

2.  Matt Barnes.  Other than a rough stretch from overuse, Barnes had a decent season in his first full season with the Red Sox.  He will be a big part of the bullpen going forward.

3.  Daisuke Matsuzaka.  I always like the Moments and Milestones sets.  I considered trying for a full run of some player.  Matsuzaka was considered.  I may return to that at some point, but I am still working on my Sandy Alomar Jr. Topps Tek run.

4.  Edgar Renteria.  In hindsight, Boston should have re-signed Orlando Cabrera.  The signing of Renteria made sense on paper, but he had a brutal season, hitting .276/.335/.385 and committing 30 errors.

5.  Marco Scutaro.  On the other hand, there was Scutaro who turned in two very good under-the-radar seasons and was a solid defensive player.  The big move is not always the right move.

6.  Curt Schilling.  Here is another Moments and Milestones card.  Schilling was another player that I considered.  Mike Lowell was one of the most likely players I considered.

7.  Jim Rice.  Rice had to wait 15 years before he was elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA.  That will no longer happen as the limit has been reduced to 10 years.  Hopefully Clemens and Schilling can find their way in soon.

8.  David Ortiz.  Here it is, Ortiz's final moment on the field as an active player.  He does look as if he was very emotional.

9.  Hanley Ramirez.  I join in the disdain that others feel about these cards that are essentially advertisements for Franklin.  Although an insert of Hanley Ramirez is hard to pass up.

The Wright Stuff

I have found the cornerstone of my Steven Wright mini player collection:

The patch is a three-colored one from the All Star jerseys.  So yes, the colors are yellow, orange, and brown for the Padres colors.  It is pretty ugly, but still, it is the first real high-end card that Wright has had to date.  I was very disappointed that Wright did not make it into the game, but he had a nice season to build on for next year.  Hopefully Boston does not trade him this offseason and he has a spot on the staff next season.