15 May 1999 - On this day nine years ago, Red Sox ownership, led by CEO John Harrington, announces plans to replace 87-year-old Fenway Park with a brand-new complex that features near-identical dimensions across Yawkey Way by 2003; however, plans never got off the ground and new ownership announced the abandonment of any such plan in 2005. The design was to have followed in the spirit of retro-style ballparks like Camden Yards in Baltimore and Jacobs Field in Cleveland, while the old ballpark would have seen new development built in place of what is now center field, the bleachers, and first-base side of the ballpark. However, plans also including turning part of the old Fenway Park into a baseball museum and park. The new plan would also have allowed construction of the new park to take place as the Red Sox played their final games in its historic ball yard.

Ownership claimed that with the current structure, the Red Sox would be unable to stay competitive as player salaries increased; the new stadium, which would be financed by the team, would include 10,000 more seats including luxury boxes and premium seats. All the team asked in return from the state was improvement to the local infrastructure, such as the building of parking garages and improved transportation. However, city, county, and state legislators balked at the idea and, after the sale of the team by the JR Yawkey ownership group in 2002, the idea was scraped as the new ownership, led by John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino, instead poured money into renovations, such as expanded concourses, added bathroom facilities and concessions, and innovations such as the Monster Seats and Conigliaro’s corner that have added close to 6,000 seats to bring the park’s present capacity to just under 40,000. In March of 2005, all plans for a new facility in the foreseeable future were abandoned as the club announced their commitment to remain at Fenway.

Image of New Fenway Park courtesy of Ballparks.com

For Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox, this was not the plan going into the 2008 season. Forced to shelve Curt Schilling until at least the All-Star break and start the season with Josh Beckett on the disabled list, Boston had no choice but to thrust rising talent Clay Buchholz back into the limelight as the club’s fifth starter. The hope was that he could fill that role on the roster while the Sox waited for free agent Bartolo Colon, acquired late in spring training, to make two or three extra starts with Pawtucket before joining Boston’s rotation. Unfortunately, after starting the opener for the PawSox, Colon strained his oblique muscle, hindering his immediate path to the big league club and further entrenching Buchholz on the 25-man roster indefinitely.

To this point, Buchholz has had mixed success. At home, he has been exceptional; in three starts, he has allowed just two runs and averaged nearly six innings per start while posting a 1.04 ERA. On the road, he has been shelled in nearly every start except for a tough-luck 2-1 loss in Tampa on 26 April; take that game out of the equation, and the average is just over four innings and nearly six runs allowed with an ERA of 11.65. In total, he is 2-3 with a 5.53 ERA while the Sox have lost six of his eight starts.

Regardless, the Red Sox are looking long-term with Buchholz, who was signed in 2005 and just last season pitched at Double-A Portland before jumping to Triple-A Pawtucket at mid-season and then getting called up twice late in the season. As with other young pitchers in the system, Boston wants to keep pitch counts and innings pitched totals reasonable so as not to burn out those valuable arms while giving them at least a few years to develop in the minors. Ideally, Buchholz would have started the season with the PawSox and continued his development there; to the team’s credit, the Sox have continued to follow this convention, even at the likely cost of a few wins this season for the club.

The good news is that Colon looked strong in his recent start Saturday against Indianapolis, his first for Pawtucket since the opener; limited to just 55 pitches going into the game, the former Cy Young winner threw 49 over three innings of work, giving up one run on four hits while striking out two. The radar guns even recorded his fastball at 94 MPH and his pitches showed excellent movement, according to Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson.

His next start is scheduled for Thursday in Buffalo and he will likely make at least one more start before a move is made to bring him to Boston. At present, the club has a deadline of 01 June to place him on the club roster at a bargain cost of $1.25 million this season. If and when this happens, Buchholz will likely return to Pawtucket to resume his efforts to eventually become a permanent fixture in Boston.

With a two-run shot off Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Livan Hernandez in the first inning this evening, Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez now stands at 498 career home runs as he tries to become only the 24th player in Major League Baseball history to hit 500 home runs. On the season, Ramirez has eight home runs, including two hit in the first eight games of a 10-game road trip for the Red Sox after a stretch of over two weeks without one; in seven-plus seasons with the club, he has stroked 262. Ramirez, who had never hit fewer than 33 in a single season with the club over his first six years in Boston, was expected to pass the mark last season along with Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome, and Frank Thomas but managed just 20 long balls in 2007. The only other active player with a shot to make the 500 home run mark this season is Gary Sheffield, who stands at 482. Ramirez now also stands at 1630 career RBI that places him 26th all-time.

With five home runs in seven games last week, including two in Wednesday’s loss to Detroit, Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis was easily named American League Player of the Week for the week ending 11 May 2008, his first-ever honor. Youkilis, who also sports a nine-game hitting streak through action on Sunday, went 12-for-32 (.375) over those same seven games to raise his team-leading average to .322 while scoring eight runs and knocking home ten. He now leads the team with eight home runs and 30 RBI in 38 games this season and his home run total is already half his production from 2007. Youkilis also continues to play Gold Glove-caliber defense at first, having now gone 236 straight games without making a fielding error, which continues to add to his Major League record. Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell also gathered consideration for the award, having batted .406 with three doubles, three home runs, and nine RBI over the same span.

The numbers have been processed and the scores have been tallied. We have our top 25 Red Sox pitchers ready to be presented but, before we cycle through the best in team history, let’s see who just missed the cut. After all, these Boston legends were so close to making the rotation or the relief corps…

26. Curt Schilling
RHP, 2004-2008 - 53-29, 3.95 ERA, 574 SO, 9 SV, one All-Star selection
Sixteen years after being part of a mid-season deal that sent him to Baltimore for Mike Boddicker, Schilling returned in 2004 looking to “help break a 86-year-old curse” and did just that, giving his all in winning 21 games during the regular season, posting a 3.26 ERA and 203 strikeouts. He also posted nine saves in 2005 after coming off the disabled list to fill in for regular closer Keith Foulke. In his time here, he’s averaged 7.65 strikeouts against only 1.44 BB per nine innings pitched, placing him fourth and second all-time in franchise history and giving him a strikeout-to-walk ratio second only to Pedro Martinez.

27. Dick Radatz
RHP, 1962-1966 - 49-32, 2.65 ERA, 627 SO, 104 SV, two All-Star selections
He was “the Monster” before that name was given to the left-field wall at Fenway Park, throwing his arms up in triumph after finishing a game for the Sox. Between 1962 and 1965, he averaged 25 saves at a time that the statistic didn’t exist, and he often pitched two or three innings to earn it. He ranks first in hits allowed per nine innings pitched, second in strikeouts per nine innings pitcher, second in games finished, and ninth in WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched)

28. Bruce Hurst
LHP, 1980-1988 - 88-73, 4.23 ERA, 1043 SO, one All-Star selection
He is arguably the best left-handed pitcher in recent years with Boston, a place where southpaws usually struggle. Between 1986 and 1988, he was a remarkable 33-9 at Fenway Park and, in team history, ranks second behind former Boston lefty Mel Parnell with 56 at the place the Red Sox call home. Hurst is one of only six pitchers to record at least 1000 strikeouts in a Boston uniform and also ranks seventh all-time in strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

29. Frank Sullivan
RHP, 1953-1960 - 90-80, 3.47 ERA, 72 CG, 821 SO, two-time All-Star selection
Sullivan was nothing short of a workhorse for the Red Sox during the 1950s. He twice won at least 15 games for the Sox, leading the league in wins with 18 and innings pitched with 260 in 1955 while posting a 2.91 ERA.

30. Roger Moret
RHP, 1970-1975 - 41-18, 3.43 ERA
The sidearm-throwing Moret twice led the American League in win percentage, going 13-2 and 1973 and 14-3 in 1975 for the Sox, though he started only about half of his appearances those seasons. In 1973, he started the season 11-0, including six straight starts at one point, which places him second only behind Roger Clemens for number of wins to start a season without a loss.

The numbers have been processed and the scores have been tallied. We have our top 25 Red Sox positional players ready to be presented but, before we cycle through the best in team history, let’s see who just missed the cut. After all, these Boston legends were so close to making the roster…

26. Frank Malzone
3B, 1955-1965, .276 BA, three-time Gold Glove winner, six-time All-Star
From 1957 through 1964, Malzone was Boston’s everyday third baseman, averaging around 15 home runs and just over 80 RBI per season. In 1957, he was the first player honored with a Gold Glove at third base, and he won it the following two years representing the American League. Five times, he started in the All-Star Game representing Boston. In team history, he ranks ninth in total hits with 1454.

27. Larry Gardner
3B, 1908-1917, .282 BA, 87 3B, 134 SB, 182 SF
When speed mattered, Gardner was one of the best in team history. He ranks fifth all-time in triples by a Boston player with 87, hitting 18 in 1912 and setting a personal best with 19 in 1914. He also swiped 134 bases with Boston, which also places him fifth in franchise history, and recorded 182 sacrifice hits, good enough for third all-time. Between 1912 and 1917, as Boston’s regular third baseman, he played part in three world championships; he later earned another ring with Cleveland and former Red Sox outfielder Tris Speaker in 1920.

28. Johnny Damon
CF, 2002-2005 - .295 BA, 461 R, 98 SB, two-time All Star
He may have been a self-proclaimed “idiot” but Damon was an integral part of the 2004 World Series champions, setting highs of 123 runs scored, 20 home runs, and 94 RBI while his long, dark locks chased him around the bases. In four seasons with Boston, he averaged 115 runs, nearly 25 stolen bases, and 75 RBI per season while averaging just under .300.

29. Ellis Burks
CF, 1987-1992, 2004 - .280 BA, 94 HR, 388 RBI, 95 SB, one Gold Glove
As a rookie, Burks was just the third player in team history to hits at least 20 HR and steal 20 bases in one season. When he was healthy, he was phenomenal; in 1988, he hit another 18 home runs, drove in 92, scored 93 times, and stole 25 bases while batting .294. He also displayed great range in center field, earning a Gold Glove in 1990. That same year, he earned his only All-Star selection with the team, hitting 21 home runs and batting .296 while also taking home Silver Slugger honors.

30. Trot Nixon
RF, 1996-2006 - .278 BA, 133 HR, 523 RBI, 547 R
Nixon was the true definition of a “dirt dog” - tough, gritty, and willing to do whatever was necessary for the team; that, in turn, earned him the admiration of not only his teammates but the Boston fans. In seven full seasons - not including the 2004 season in which he missed all but 48 games - he averaged 18 home runs and 71 RBI while showing great range in Fenway Park’s tricky right field.

Check them out at FenwayFanatics.com!

http://www.fenwayfanatics.com/content/…opening-day-at-fenway-park/

Over 1200 players have picked up a bat and over 700 players have thrown a pitch wearing a Boston uniform, so who has made the most of his opportunity with the franchise? FenwayFanatics.com, home to Boston Red Sox fans everywhere, presents a new series this season that takes a look at the all-time top 25 pitchers and positional players in franchise history. Players past and present who have played at least four years in Boston are ranked according to totals accumulated with the Red Sox through the end of the 2007 season.

To further qualify, pitchers must have started at least 50 games or made 100 appearances and thrown a minimum of 440 innings, while positional players must then have a combined totaled of at least 720 at-bats and walks and played a minimum of 200 games. Rankings are then decided strictly by regular season numbers, so post-season heroics don’t count here, nor do Cy Young and MVP awards, batting titles, no-hitters, and All-Star selections, among others outside factors.

Our inspiration comes from Baseball-Reference.com, the definitive site for statistics tied to every player in Major League Baseball history. In addition to providing the batting, pitching, and fielding statistics of each player, it also ranks players based on the statistics and accomplishments of former players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. One of those is the Hall of Fame Career Standards measurement, which is used “…to measure the overall quality of a player’s career as opposed to single brilliance (peak value)…”[1] and based primarily on similar methods used by Bill James in his book, The Politics of Glory. From there, we tweaked the formula for our own use[2] and the results will be published here over the next six months. Stay tuned!

[1] Leader Glossary. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 07 April 2008.
[2] FenwayFanatics.com All-Time Top 25 Rankings Explained.

On the last play of Wednesday afternoon’s game in Oakland, Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis collected a ground ball from Athletics left fielder Jack Cust and recorded the out at first unassisted; in the process, he set a new major league record for consecutive error-free games by a first baseman with 194. That mark breaks the old mark held by former big leaguer Steve Garvey, who set the mark between June 1983 and April 1985 with the San Diego Padres. Youkilis also went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI single in Boston’s 5-0 win over Oakland.

In 2007, Youkilis broke Stuffy McInnis’s old team record of 119 games and then surpassed the old American League mark of 178 straight games by Mike Hegan. At season’s end, Youkilis not only finished with a 1.000 fielding percentage but was awarded a Gold Glove, the only Red Sox first baseman other than George “Boomer” Scott to win the award at that position. Oddly enough, Youkilis originally joined Boston as a third baseman in 2004 but transitioned to first base full-time in 2006, though he did have some minor league experience at that position.

01 April 1998 - On this day ten years ago, Pedro Martinez makes his debut with the Boston Red Sox, strikes out 11 batters, and allows only three hits in a 2-0 win over the Athletics in Oakland. Martinez, who had pitched the previous four seasons in Montreal, had signed as a free agent with Boston over the off-season in a deal that guaranteed six years and $72.7 million, with a club option for a seventh season at $17.5 million. The previous season, he had posted 17 wins in 31 starts with a 1.90 ERA and 305 strikeouts, easily winning the National League Cy Young award. With the game starting late on the West Coast at 10:40 PM ET, Martinez set down the first eleven batters he faced before giving up a line-drive single to left field to Ben Grieve. The only real threat came in the seventh when back-to-back singles followed by a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out; however, facing his last two batters of the night, Martinez struck out catcher A.J. Hinch and center fielder Jason McDonald to keep Oakland off the board. Darren Bragg provided the only run the Red Sox would need in the fifth with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Darren Lewis, and John Valentin added an insurance run in the seventh with a sac fly that plated Bragg.

Martinez would go on to finish second in the American League Cy Young vote that season behind former Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens, posting a 19-7 record with a 2.89 ERA and 251 strikeouts in 33 starts. The following year, he joined Randy Johnson as the first pitchers to win a Cy Young award in both leagues, the first of two consecutive awards for the ace. In seven seasons with Boston, Martinez would win 117 games against 37 losses, post a 2.52 ERA, and strike out 1683 batters in nearly 1400 innings of work. He would also be part of the club in 2004 that won Boston’s first World Series championship in 86 years, winning Game Three of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals with seven scoreless innings of work. Through 2007, his won-loss percentage of .760 puts him first in franchise history, his win total puts him tied for sixth, and his strikeout total puts him second behind Clemens, though just three ahead of current Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield.

With the opening game of the 2008 Major League Baseball season set to begin in less than 12 hours, the defending 2007 World Series champion Boston Red Sox will bid sayonara to the memories of last season and focus on becoming the first team since the 2000 New York Yankees to successfully defend their title. The road to a possible third championship in the last five seasons begins at the Tokyo Dome in Japan with the Sox facing the Oakland Athletics, with native son Daisuke Matsuzaka set to square off against Joe Blanton. Matsuzaka, who won 15 games in his first full season with Boston in 2007, pitched eight seasons before last season with the Seibu Lions and made his professional debut at the very same venue in 1999. Joining him will be teammate and Red Sox reliever Hideki Okajima, another former Japanese baseball star who also spent his first season in the majors last season with Boston after 11 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants and one year with the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Tomorrow’s contest, set to begin at 6:05 AM ET, is the first of two games in Japan between the American League rivals as Boston’s Jon Lester and Oakland’s Rich Harden will face either other in the second game on Wednesday morning. Both teams will then return to the US and face off in two more games during MLB Opening Week starting 01 April at McAfee Coliseum. The Red Sox then fly to Toronto to face the Blue Jays over the weekend at the Rogers Centre before opening Fenway Park on 08 April against the Detroit Tigers. Boston’s first tilt with New York comes just a few days as the Yankees invade Fenway for three games beginning 11 April.

Boston’s roster remains virtually the same this season, with defending World Series MVP Mike Lowell returning to his position at third base after signing a three-year deal with the Red Sox. The most noticeable difference is in center field, where Jacoby Ellsbury is slated to start the opener in place of Coco Crisp, who has been hampered this spring by a nagging groin injury. Ellsbury stepped in for Crisp during last post-season’s run to the championship, playing the last six games after the latter player got off to a slow start in October. A quick start to the season may find Crisp relegated to a bench role or possibly traded elsewhere.

Other returning positional players include: a healthy David Ortiz, who had successful off-season surgery on his knee that gave him trouble for most of last season; left fielder Manny Ramirez, who is in the last season of a guaranteed eight-year deal with Boston that will pay him another $20 million this season, with the Red Sox holding the option on an additional two years; 2007 Gold Glove winner Kevin Youkilis, who will set a new Major League record for consecutive error-free games at first base if he remains perfect in the field for another four games; 2007 Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia; veteran catcher Jason Varitek; shortstop Julio Lugo; and right fielder J.D. Drew.

Pitcher Josh Beckett, who won all four starts in the post-season, will likely begin the season on the disabled list due to back spasms; he is expected to return to the lineup by the second full week of the season, possibly in time for the opening series at Fenway Park. Another veteran pitcher who will spend far more time on the DL is Curt Schilling, who is out until mid-season at the earliest due to a shoulder injury. Schilling’s injury means that Clay Buchholz, whom the Sox had hoped to start at Triple-A Pawtucket, will instead begin the season with the parent club. Depending on the progress of former Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon, assigned to the minors after signing a free-agent deal this month by Boston, Buchholz may eventually return to the farm to continue development.

On a more positive note, Tim Wakfield returns for his 14th season in Boston after winning 17 games last year to tie his career high in that category. Jonathan Papelbon also returns as the Red Sox closer, looking to surpass 30 saves for the third time in three years this season after recording the last out of the 2007 World Series. Terry Francona also returns with a new deal to manage Boston at least through the 2011 season after becoming the first skipper to win his first eight World Series contests and only the second Red Sox manager to win two titles with the franchise.

As the Boston Red Sox head to Japan to play the first two games of its 2008 regular season schedule in Tokyo against the Oakland Athletics, it is interesting to note that, as well as having had Japanese players like Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima play for Boston, there have been several non-Japanese players with past Red Sox teams that have also logged time with a Far East baseball club.. Perhaps the most well-known of these players is former outfielder and recent Red Sox Hall of Fame inductee Mike Greenwell, who signed on to play with the Hanshin Tigers in 1997 after twelve seasons with Boston. However, “the Gator” unexpectedly left the team during spring training while claiming an undiagnosed back injury, abruptly flew back to the United States, then returned to Japan and rejoined the team in late April. He finally played his first Japanese professional game in early May but, after fracturing his foot with a foul tip, announced his official retirement from baseball after batting .231 in just seven games with the club.[1]

Outfielder Reggie Smith was another former Red Sox great who later played in Japan, though his move to Japan came ten years after he departed Boston. After playing his final season in the majors with the San Francisco Giants in 1982, Smith was lured to Japan to play for the Yomiuri Giants; however, his personality and demeanor immediately clashed with the expectations of the Japanese fans and the media with regards to the norm for a baseball player. After injuring his knee early in the 1983 season, he was dubbed “Million-Dollar Bench-Warmer” by the Japanese media as he sat for two months nursing the injury; he also earned another less-honorable nickname, the “Giant Human Fan,” for striking out too often. Despite this, in just 263 at-bats, he managed a batting average of .285 with 28 home runs, a .409 on-base percentage, and a .609 slugging percentage.[2]

One other more-recent Boston player who donned spikes in the Land of the Rising Sun was Gabe Kapler who, lured by a lucrative contract offer, departed the Red Sox a month after the team won the World Series in 2004 and joined the Yomiuri club. However, after batting just .153 (17-for-111) with three home runs and six RBI in 38 games with the Giants, the team put the veteran outfielder on waivers and Kapler returned to the Red Sox in June of 2005. In addition, other non-Japanese players who have worn both a Boston uniform as well as one for a Japanese club include: John Wasdin, who played for the Red Sox between 1997 and 2000, then signed for one season with Yomiuri in 2002; Larry Parrish, who played a half-season with the Sox in 1988, then played a season each with the Yakult Swallows (1989) and Hanshin (1990); Kip Gross, who played five seasons in Japan for the Nippon Ham Fighters (1994-1998), then returned to the United States to play for Boston for one season (1999); and Benny Agbayani, who also played 13 games for Boston in 2002 and has played the last four seasons for the Chiba Lotte Marines (2004-2007).

[1] Mike Greenwell - BR Bullpen
[2] Reggie Smith - BR Bullpen

17 March 1971 - On this day thirty-seven years ago, former Boston Red Sox third baseman and American League batting champion Bill Mueller is born in Maryland Heights, MO. Drafted by San Francisco in 1993, Mueller signed as a free agent with the Red Sox in January of 2003 and hit .326 over 146 games in his first season with Boston, good enough to win the AL batting title over teammate Manny Ramirez. The switch-hitting Mueller also became the first player in history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in one game on 29 July of that season in a 14-7 win over the Rangers in Texas, and he set career-highs with 45 doubles and 19 home runs.

The next season, Mueller missed significant time due to injury between mid-May and early July, limiting him to just 110 games, and his average dropped to .283; even so, he was part of some memorable moments in Boston’s championship run in 2004. In late July, his walk-off home run against the Yankees at Fenway Park ended a see-saw affair that witnessed Boston catcher Jason Varitek and New York third baseman Alex Rodriguez square off after pitcher Bronson Arroyo hit Rodriguez with a pitch. Then, with Boston down to its last three outs of the AL Championship Series against New York, Mueller’s single up the middle off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, following Dave Roberts’ infamous steal of second base, tied the score at four; David Ortiz would eventually win the game with a walk-off home run three innings later. Overall, Mueller would bat .321 in the 2004 post-season, including .429 in the World Series with two RBI, as Boston won its first world championship in 86 years.

Mueller remained for one more season with the Red Sox, playing in 150 games and batting .295 in 2005, before leaving Boston as a free agent and signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, his career would soon end; he appeared in just 35 games for Los Angeles before a knee injury, the third of his career, ended his season in early May. Mueller would eventually retire after the 2006 season to join the front office of the Dodgers.

It might not equal the excitement of winning a World Series championship but, thanks in part to Red Sox veterans Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Jason Varitek, Boston won its second consecutive Mayor’s Cup over Minnesota, beating the Twins 12-7 Wednesday afternoon to take the Grapefruit League “series” three games to two. Boston had won the first two contests against Minnesota this spring but the Twins came back with consecutive wins against the Sox to force a deciding Game Five at Hammond Stadium. Clay Buchholz, looking to secure a spot in the starting rotation with Boston, earned the decision with 3-2/3 innings of work, beating Francisco Liriano and earning his first decision of the spring. Meanwhile, Varitek hit his second home run in exhibition play while Ramirez went 2-for-2 and Ortiz went 2-for-3, each with an RBI. As both teams spring training facilities are located in Fort Myers, FL — the Red Sox reside at City of Palms Park — the two teams often play each other at least five times in Grapefruit League action. Thus, the Mayor’s Cup is awarded annually to the team that wins the most games against its cross-town rival. Last season, Boston took its first cup home since 2004, also winning three out of five contests between the two clubs.

The Sox will have six more games in the next seven days before leaving Fort Myers to fly to Japan; there, they will play two exhibition contests against Japanese clubs before opening the regular season a week early with a two-game series against the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome beginning 25 March. Boston then returns to the states to play its final three games of the spring against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the second match scheduled to be played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The regular season then resumes for the Red Sox on 01 April with two against the Athletics in Oakland at McAfee Coliseum.

[Ed. Note: Thanks to Red Sox Connection for the tip on a great cause!]

When the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox return to Fenway Park for their 2008 home opener on Tuesday, 08 April, all of Red Sox Nation will have the opportunity to Rally Against Cancer simply by wearing a Red Sox hat or shirt to work or class. In honor of Rally Against Cancer Day, 08 April 2008, all businesses and schools throughout New England are asked to encourage their staff and students to wear their favorite Red Sox apparel to work or school that day. To Rally Against Cancer, employees and students must each pitch in $5 to help the Jimmy Fund’s quest to beat cancer. The top fundraising business and school team will each win a visit from Red Sox infielder Dustin Pedroia.

“Unfortunately, everyone can’t be at Fenway Park for the home opener,” says Pedroia, honorary chair of Rally Against Cancer, “so this is a great alternative for fans to show support for my two favorite home town teams, the Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund.” To get started, every team must designate a coach to help build the roster and the team’s fundraising total, which will be calculated at 11:00 PM on 08 April 2008. The coaches’ main job is to motivate co-workers and help the company or school become a sea of Red Sox gear on the day of the home opener. Interested businesses and schools can step up to the plate and register at www.rallyagainstcancer.org.

Almost everyone has been affected in some way by cancer. When you join the Rally, you help further cancer research while rooting for the Red Sox, and provide hope to adults and children being treated for cancer worldwide. “I’ve been to Dana-Farber and seen first-hand how overwhelming and life-altering cancer can be for families and patients,” adds Pedroia. “Rally Against Cancer is an easy and fun way for everyone to help the Jimmy Fund, ultimately giving hope to the people who are fighting this awful disease.” Rallying against cancer is as easy as putting on a Sox hat and T-shirt. It’s a great way to build team spirit among co-workers and students, and all contributions will be made and tallied online, eliminating the need to collect and/or send any cash.

For more information, contact Charles Savicki at 617-632-5420, visit www.rallyagainstcancer.org, or view a list of Frequently Asked Questions.

About The Jimmy Fund

The Jimmy Fund supports the fight against cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a world-renowned pioneer in discovering and developing innovative, effective cancer therapies for adults and children. Founded in 1948, the Jimmy Fund is an official charity of the Boston Red Sox.

10 March 1986 - On this day twenty-two years ago, former Red Sox second baseman Bobby Doerr, along with catcher Ernie Lombardi, are elected by the Veterans Committee to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The nine-time American League All-Star, who never received greater than 25% of the vote from the Baseball Writers Association of America, gains entrance thanks to heavy lobbying by former teammate Ted Williams, who referred to Doerr as “the silent captain of the Red Sox.” He also holds the distinction of being the only player in franchise history to hit for the cycle twice, once in May of 1944 and nearly three years later to the day in May of 1947. Picked up on the same scouting trip that former Boston general manager Eddie Collins discovered Williams, Doerr played 14 seasons in Boston and averaged .288 at the plate, though he never batted below .270 in any season except for his shortened rookie campaign. Three times, he hit better than .300, batting .325 in 1944 while also leading the league with a slugging percentage of .528.

He proved valuable in the field as well, making an average of just under 140 starts at second base each season, the only position he ever played in his major league career; at one point, Doerr held the American League record for handling 414 consecutive chances without an error. His all-around hustle and determination earned Doerr five starts in nine All-Star appearances between 1941 and 1951. He missed one season due to World War II in 1945; the following season, along with Williams, shortstop Johnny Pesky, and center fielder Dom DiMaggio, he returned to help lead his club to its first American League pennant in 28 years, batting .271 with 18 home runs and 116 RBI. Doerr collected his 2,000 hit in July of 1951 and retired a month later due to severe sacroiliac pain that put a premature end to his career, although Doerr later returned to baseball as a coach for Boston in the late 1960s. Two years after gaining election to the Hall of Fame, Doerr became just the third former Boston player to have his number (1) retired by the Red Sox.

[1] National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Stuffy McInnis enjoyed a long baseball career in the early part of the 20th century; between 1909 and 1927, the Gloucester, Massachusetts native played for six teams, including the Boston Red Sox between 1918 and 1921, and was part of five World Series champions. At the plate, he finished with a .307 batting average, batting over .300 12 times in 19 seasons, and his 2,405 career hits places him just inside the top 100 all-time through the 2007 season. He also finished third all-time in sacrifice hits for a career with 383, one of only 11 players in MLB history with at least 300, and fanned only 189 times in 6,667 at-bats between 1913 and 1927, a rate of 35.3 at-bats per strikeout, ninth all-time. With Boston, McInnis batted .296 with 594 hits and only 49 strikeouts in 2,006 at-bats.

McInnis was also known a great defensive player. He originally broke in as a shortstop, but ultimately moved to first base after a few seasons. In a time known as the “dead-ball” era, first base was a key defensive position and McInnis became part of Connie Mack’s “$100,000 infield” with the Philadelphia Athletics; teaming with second baseman Eddie Collins, third baseman Frank Baker and shortstop Jack Barry between 1911 and 1914, the team won World Series titles in 1911 and 1914 and an American League pennant in 1913. In 1921, his fourth and final season with Boston, McInnis set a record for his position with only one error in 1,651 chances, good for a .999 fielding percentage. He also went a stretch of 163 games between 31 May 1921 and 02 June 1922 without making an error, the first 119 games as a Boston player while spending the latter season with the Cleveland Indians.

Those records stood until 2007 when current Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis managed to go the entire year without making a single error in 1080 chances, the only player in the league to end the regular season with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Youkilis also broke McInnis’s consecutive errorless games streak by a Red Sox first baseman when he lodged his 120th mistake-free contest on 25 June 2007. It should be noted that the streak continues; entering the 2008 season, he has now played 190 straight error-free games at first, a new American League record and three shy of the major league record set by former Gold Glove winner Steve Garvey.

03 March 1950 - Fifty-eight years ago today, former Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little is born in Abilene, TX. Selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 1968 baseball draft, Little never made it to the big leagues, spending five seasons as a minor league catcher in the Atlanta and New York Yankees organization. He eventually began managing at the minor league level from 1980 through 1995, then worked as a coach for the San Diego Padres, Boston, and Cleveland Indians between 1996 and 2001. In March of 2002, with new ownership at the helm, the Red Sox hired Little to replace interim manager Mike Cubbage as the team’s new manager, less than a month before the season opener. In Little’s first-ever season as a manager, the team jumped out the gate, winning 27 of the first 36 games played, and finished second to the Yankees in the American League East with a respectable 93-69 record. The next season, Grady’s team improved to 95-67; though Boston again finished behind New York, the club secured the wild card spot and faced the Oakland Athletics in the divisional round. The Red Sox quickly fell behind with two losses to begin the series but won the next two at home in Fenway Park, then completed the comeback with an impressive 4-3 win in Oakland to set up a rematch of the 1999 American League Championship Series with the Yankees.

After a back-and-forth series between the division rivals, the pennant came down to a seventh game; the winner would advance to the World Series. Boston jumped to an early 4-0 lead and led 5-2 going into the bottom half of the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium; up to that point, Red Sox starter Pedro Martinez had pitched brilliantly for the visitors, allowing just two runs on six hits, with eight strikeouts also to his credit. Expecting Little to bring in reliever Mike Timlin or Alan Embree, Boston fans were surprised when he sent Martinez, who had already thrown over 100 pitches, back out to the mound, and the three-time Cy Young winner secured the first out by inducing a pop-up to short. However, Martinez quickly allowed two runs on three straight hits and, despite the bullpen having surrendered only two runs in 31 innings of post-season play, Little elected to keep the tiring pitcher out on the hill. The result was another hit that tied the score and, three innings later, Aaron Boone’s walk-off home run down the left field line on the first pitch from Tim Wakefield completed the comeback by New York. Despite having won 188 games over two seasons managing the local nine and the possibility that Martinez had persuaded his manager to leave him in the game, Little instantly became the scapegoat in the eyes of angry Boston fans and the media for his Game Seven blunder and, less than two weeks later, was fired as Red Sox manager.

Though numbers have been retired by teams since 1939, when the New York Yankees retired Lou Gehrig’s number 4, it wasn’t until the 1970s that teams began to commonly retire uniform numbers of past players. There are no general guidelines written to determine whether or not a player’s number should be retired, so each team is left to decide its own policy for honoring past performers. In Boston, the only two requirements that must be met by a former player are as follows: (1) a minimum of ten years with the organization, and (2) election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Originally, there was also a third requirement: a player had to finish his career with the Red Sox. However, this requirement was waived in order to allow Carlton Fisk, who had finished the latter half of his storied career with the Chicago White Sox, to be so honored.

Of the thousands of players that have donned a Boston uniform in the 108-year history of the team, only 29 players meet the minimum ten-year requirement and, of these players, only seven have been elected to the Hall of Fame. Five of these players already have their numbers retired by the team: Bobby Doerr (1), Joe Cronin (4), Carl Yastrzemski (8), Ted Williams (9), and Fisk (27).[1] The other two players eligible are outfielder Harry Hooper and third baseman Wade Boggs. Hooper’s absence is explained by the fact that he played for Boston between 1909 and 1920 at a time when the Red Sox did not issue uniform numbers; in fact, it wasn’t until 1931 that the Sox assigned uniform numbers, two years after the Yankees became the first to do so. Boggs’ absence is not as clear, as he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, one year after being inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame. No announcement has been made to this point as to when the Sox would retire his uniform number (26).

There are two other likely future candidates. The first is former outfielder Jim Rice (14), who fell just short of election into the Hall of Fame in January on his 14th ballot; he will have one more opportunity to gain induction next year and chances are very good that 2009 will finally be his year. It is possible that, were this to happen, that both Rice and Boggs would be honored together sometime during next season. The other is former pitcher Roger Clemens (21), who appeared to be a lock for Hall of Fame induction on his first ballot until recent allegations of drug use to enhance performance on the field soiled his candidacy. Should he remain retired, he would first be eligible for election in 2013, the earliest that the Red Sox would consider adding his number to the honor roll.

[1] The number 42 has also been retired by Boston as well as the rest of Major League Baseball in recognition of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American major league baseball player of the modern baseball era.

Monday afternoon, the Boston Red Sox announced that eight people, including Mo Vaughn and Mike Greenwell, were elected to the club’s Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2008. Joining Vaughn and Greenwell will be former pitchers Wes Ferrell, Bill Lee, and Frank Sullivan, shortstop Everett Scott, scout George Digby, and former player development executive Ed Kenney, Sr.. Ferrell joins his brother and former Sox catcher Rick, who was automatically granted induction based on his previous election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984 by the Veteran’s Committee. The committee also selected the home run hit by Ted Williams in his final Major League at-bat as its Most Memorable Moment for Hall of Fame recognition. The induction dinner is scheduled for Friday, 7 November 2008, at the Marriott Copley Hotel in Boston.[1]

This is the seventh class to be honored since the Hall opened in 1995 and elections have been held every two years since 2000. Selections are made by a committee consisting of Red Sox executives and broadcasters, media members and representatives of the New England Sports Museum and BoSox club. To be eligible, a player must have played a minimum of three years with the club and been officially retired from baseball for at least three years, while non-uniformed honorees, like former inducees Curt Gowdy (broadcaster) and Dick O’Connell (general manager), are added only by a unanimous vote of the selection committee.

[1] Vaughn headlines 2008 Sox HOF class. MLB.com, 25 February 2008.

25 February 1933 - Seventy-five years ago today, in the midst of the Great Depression, Bob Quinn sells the Red Sox franchise to Thomas Austin Yawkey, who four days earlier had celebrated his 30th birthday. Quinn had owned the franchise since 1923 and the team had suffered considerably under his ownership; his clubs had averaged 99 loses against only 54 wins and suffered five seasons with 100 or more losses in ten years. In fact, since going 75-51 in the war-shortened 1918 campaign and winning the club’s fourth World Series in seven years, Boston had suffered 14 consecutive losing seasons under Quinn and previous owner Harry Frazee.

In 1932, the team had won just 43 games, fewest in team history, while ending up on the losing end of the score 111 times. Not only was Quinn’s ballclub suffering, Fenway Park had been left to deteriorate as Quinn’s debts mounted. At the same time, Yawkey, who had been born into wealth and whose uncle (and adoptive father) had once owned the Detroit Tigers, was looking to buy a baseball team. He turned down an offer to purchase a minor league team and refused another to buy half of the Brooklyn Dodgers; for him, it was all or nothing. He eventually heard through one of his sources that the Red Sox were available and quickly got his lawyers busy looking into the opportunity. By early 1933, talks were underway and, in the end, Quinn agrees to sell both the team and the park to Yawkey to the tune of $1.2 million dollars, a bargain price even at the time.

Within two years, Yawkey not only had Fenway Park renovated using his own money while employing several out-of-worker Bostonians but, with trusted confidant and former Philadelphia Athletics star Eddie Collins installed as vice president and general manager, also had the team performing better on the field, finishing at .500 in 1934 and winning 80-plus games in 12 of 15 seasons between 1937 and 1951. Yawkey would own the team for 43 seasons until his death in 1976, and ownership would remain in his trust until 2002, when the team was sold to current owner John Henry and his investment group for nearly $700 million.

With two world championships in the last four years to his credit guiding a team that hadn’t won a World Series since 1918, Terry Francona received a three-year contract extension Sunday from the Boston Red Sox that will keep him at the helm until at least through the 2011 season. The contract also includes a club option for two additional years, making it possible that the 44th manager in team history may be with the franchise for several years to come. Francona took over managerial duties in 2004 and immediately found success, taking Boston to its first World Series in 18 years and winning the club’s first title in nearly a century with a four-game sweep of St. Louis. The team repeated that success last season, capping the 2007 season with another four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, and Francona became the first manager in MLB history to win his first eight World Series games without a loss.

In 648 games over his first four seasons, Francona has 375 wins and a winning percentage of .579, the best among Boston skippers with at least three full seasons or 462 games managed. The only other Red Sox manager to equal that mark over the same span of games is Don Zimmer, who took over for Darrell Johnson midway through the 1976 season and remained with the club until being fired with five games left in the 1980 season; his career winning percentage at the helm of the Red Sox is four percentage points behind the incumbent skipper. Francona is also one of only five managers in team history to lead a club to a world championship and the only manager other than Bill Carrigan (1915 and 1916) to lead a Boston club to two titles. In addition, he is one of three Boston managers to win two pennants and the first to take his club to the post-season three times.

As Red Sox players gather in Fort Myers to begin spring training and prepare to defend the team’s 2007 World Series championship, it is a far cry from the very first Boston team pre-season. American League president Ban Johnson had only awarded a franchise in his upstart league to Boston in early January 1901 to Charles Somers and the season was slated to start just over three months later in Baltimore. Looking to directly compete against the well-established National League in Boston, franchise Somers and Johnson spent the first two months of the club’s existence putting together a team and signed Jimmy Collins, who had played for the Boston NL franchise only last season, to manage the club and play third base. Johnson also managed to lure Collins’ teammate, outfielder Chick Stahl, and another big-name National League star, Cy Young, into the fold.

With a roster in place, the team left South Station in Boston on 28 March and headed south to begin practice at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; by coincidence, the “Americans” were on the same train carrying the “Nationals” from Boston, who continued on to their training facility in Norfolk. Unlike major league players today that spend a good percentage of the off-season working out in order to enter camp in near-peak physical form, the stars of yesteryear needed every moment of spring training to prepare for the long season and this remained true for many decades. For Boston’s first training camp, the standards of the day were followed; mornings were spent by the players taking practice at the plate and in the field, while the afternoons were devoted to long hikes in full uniform to build endurance. After less than a week of conditioning, the new club squared off in an exhibition against the squad from the local university on 05 April and soundly defeated the collegians by a score of 13-0. Unfortunately, the game was followed by a week of rain that made practice near impossible, as there were no field houses or indoor batting cages at the team’s convenience. The team managed only a few more practices before finally breaking camp and heading back north to Baltimore, where they would play the first game in franchise history on 26 April 1901 and lose, 10-6.

With pitchers and catchers due to report this Thursday, so begins the defense of the 2007 World Series title by the Boston Red Sox as the club tries to become the first team since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees to win consecutive championships. Unlike the team that tried and failed to repeat as champions following an 86-year title drought, the 2008 Red Sox club is nearly identical to the one that took the field last season. The biggest challenge over the off-season, the re-signing of free agent third baseman Mike Lowell, was quickly put to rest as the 2007 World Series MVP signed a new three-year deal with Boston less than one month after the end of the season, forgoing the opportunity to serve a longer contract for more money elsewhere in favor of remaining with an atmosphere that offered him the most comfort. Veteran pitcher Curt Schilling, who had previously voiced the desire to retire after last season but then decided to continue for at least one more, also signed a new contract while avoiding free agency. However, Schilling will likely be on the shelf for at least the first half of the season as the team and Schilling’s doctor, former team physician Bill Morgan, argue over what the proper course of action will be to treat his ailing shoulder.

Overall, the clubhouse remains intact with relatively few additions and subtractions. While a few high-profile players left via free agency, including pitchers Matt Clement and Eric Gagne and former Rookie of the Year Eric Hinske, these losses have little if any impact on team chemistry. The most significant addition was the signing of veteran first baseman Sean Casey, who comes to Boston via free agency after more than a year in Detroit; although he has enjoyed the position of being a starter for most of his career, he will likely back up current first baseman Kevin Youkilis. Casey should start on days that either Youkilis is given an off-day or when the Gold Glove first baseman is moved to third to give Lowell a rest. Boston also considered an offer from the Minnesota Twins to trade for Cy Young winner Johan Santana, who would have made the Red Sox rotation nearly unmatched in baseball, but the price was considered too steep for their taste or for the Yankees, and Santana instead was shipped to the other New York team, the Mets.

Perhaps the biggest question that will be answered in spring training is whether Coco Crisp or Jacoby Ellsbury will be the Opening Day center fielder. At present, popular opinion is that Ellsbury, who had a strong September and started the last six post-season games for Boston in place of a slumping Crisp, will take that spot; however, Crisp has electrified the center field position defensively in his two seasons with the Red Sox and, barring injury or a poor showing this spring, manager Terry Francona will likely go with the veteran over the rookie flycatcher. Schilling’s injury will also impact the club, but this may also settle the question as to whether Jon Lester or Clay Buchholz will be named the fifth starter. Though Boston would prefer to give Buchholz, who pitched a no-hitter in only his second major league start last September, more time to develop in the minors, those familiar with his stuff feel that he already has the make-up necessary to be an everyday starter. Don’t be surprised, however, if Boston instead looks for a free agent pitcher to fill the void in Schilling’s absence and move forward with starting Buchholz in Pawtucket this spring; there are still several unemployed, free agent pitchers that might consider a chance to pitch in Boston for less money, including the likes of Bartolo Colon, Josh Fogg, and Kyle Loshe, to name a few available starters.

Opening Day is just 42 days away with the Red Sox starting the season against the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, Major League Baseball’s third season-opening series in the Land of the Rising Sun.[1] With 29 other teams looking to knock Boston from its perch at the top of the mountain, 2008 should be an exciting season for Red Sox fans everywhere.

[1] Red Sox, A’s Japan-bound in 2008. MLB.com, 14 November 2007.

17 December 2007 - On this day 100 years ago, the Red Sox’ team name becomes official in an announcement by club owner John I. Taylor. Before that, the team had no true identity other than that of being the American League representative in Boston; in fact, most teams of that era did not have true names other than what creative sportswriters deemed necessary to make good copy. Though Bill Nowlin has shown that the name most often used by columnists was either the “Bostons” or the “Americans” (and not the Pilgrims, as some historic references have falsely reported), the truth was that there was no official nickname used by the team.

So how was Red Sox chosen by Taylor? Following the 1907 season, the National League representative in Boston, managed by Fred Tenney, had switched from wearing red stockings to white on the belief by Tenney that the red dye would cause infection if a player was spiked in the course of action on the ball field. Taylor took note of this and decided to switch his team from wearing uniforms trimmed in pale blue to bright, fire-engine red, though it should be noted that the “Nationals” had worn a dark, deep red. He also took an old nickname that had been used for the NL club, the Red Stockings, and shortened it to simply Red Sox. To emphasize the name, on the center of the jersey, he had a large red sock shown with the name Boston in white letters. That design just lasted one season and the uniforms switched back to read as they had in 1907, with just the name Boston on the front of the jersey, but the name stuck with fans and the media long enough to become synonymous with the identity of the team.