Driving around on Tuesday, I got caught up in a discussion between Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti on their "Felger & Mazz" radio show on 98.5 The Sports Hub. The basis of the discussion was having to make a choice between Carl Yastrzemski and David Ortiz for who they would take to win one game. The discussion did not come completely out of nowhere as Ortiz had passed Yaz on baseball's all-time home run list on Monday night.
This discussion gave me the great idea to choose an all-time Red Sox lineup to win a hypothetical seven game series. This lineup will be based on what I consider to be the player's peak year offensively or on the mound at the position they played that season (all research courtesy of Baseball-Reference). Here are a few other "rules":
1. I am trying to create as well rounded of a lineup as possible. The goal is not to field a team of hitters that crushed a lot of home runs but couldn't get on base. Sorry Butch Hobson fans, that means his 1977 season likely won't make the cut.
2. Winning counts, but it's not the only factor. Winning a pennant or a World Series is not dependent on one player so not winning a championship will not keep a player off this team.
3. Defense counts too, but offense will be the deciding factor in putting together this team.
4. There will be a traditional starting lineup - meaning I'm choosing a left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder and not just three outfielders - and there will be a DH. There will be back-ups at catcher, middle infield, corner infield, two outfielders, and one "wild card" bench spot handed out regardless of position.
5. I will choose five starting pitchers and five relief pitchers. I know that in a playoff series a team usually goes with an extra pitcher but we're going with the extra bat for this team.
5a. Our manager is Terry Francona from 2004. The man who skippered the team who came back from 0-3 to the Yankees and won the first World Series in 86 years is the man I want leading this team.
6. I was born in 1981 and can have been relatively aware of what's going on in Red Sox Nation since 1988. Players that came prior to that time period will obviously be included but I'm not pretending to be an expert on the teams and players that came before my time.
7. I'm not an advanced stats guy so players will be evaluated on batting average (BA), on-base percentage (OBP), slugging percentage (SLG), on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), home runs (HR), runs batted in (RBI), doubles (2B), walks (BB), and hits (H) for the hitters and wins (W), losses (L), earned run average (ERA), walks-and-hits per inning pitched (WHIP), strikeouts (K), and walks (BB) for the pitchers. I will also add other relevant statistics for the relief pitchers. Statistics in bold indicate the player led the league in that category for that season.
Here are the three outfield positions:
Left Field - Ted Williams, 1941 (22-years-old, finished 2nd for MVP)
.406 BA, .553 OBP, . .735 SLG, 1.287 OPS, 37 HR, 120 RBI, 33 2B, 147 BB, 185 H
Center Field - Tris Speaker, 1912 (24-years-old, MVP, World Series champions)
.383 BA, .464 OBP, .567 SLG, 1.031 OPS, 10 HR, 90 RBI, 53 2B, 82 BB, 222 HR
Right Field - Dwight Evans, 1981 (29-years-old, finished 3rd for MVP, Gold Glove)
.296 BA, .415 OBP, .522 SLG, .937 OPS, 22 HR, 71 RBI, 19 2B, 85 BB, 122 H
Who didn't make the starting lineup?
Carl Yastrzemski's 1967 season, Jim Rice's 1978 season, and Manny Ramirez' 2002 season were hard to leave out of the starting lineup in left field but Williams' gem of 1941 is an iconic season.
Jacoby Ellsbury's 2011 season was close for center field but Speaker won the MVP (Ellsbury finished 2nd) and the World Series (Ellsbury's team had a historic September collapse to miss the playoffs completely) so he doesn't start.
Jackie Jensen had an MVP campaign in 1958 but Evans' reputation as an all-time great defensive right fielder carries a lot of weight with me considering how hard it is to play right field in Fenway.
Here are the infielders:
Catcher - Jason Varitek, 2003 (31-years-old)
.273 BA, .351 OBP, .512 SLG, .863 OPS, 25 HR, 85 RBI, 31 2B, 51 BB, 123 H
First Base - Jimmie Foxx, 1938 (30-years-old, MVP)
.349 BA, .462 OBP, .704 SLG, 1.166 OPS, 50 HR, 175 RBI, 33 2B, 119 BB, 197 H
Second Base - Dustin Pedroia, 2008 (24-years-old, MVP, Gold Glove)
.326 BA, .376 OBP, .493 SLG, .869 OPS, 17 HR, 83 RBI, 54 2B, 50 BB, 213 H
Third Base - Wade Boggs, 1987 (29-years-old)
.363 BA, .461 OBP, .588 SLG, 1.049 OPS, 24 HR, 89 RBI, 40 2B, 105 BB, 200 H
Short Stop - Nomar Garciaparra, 2000 (26-years-old)
.372 BA, .434 OBP, .599 SLG, 1.033 OPS, 21 HR, 96 RBI, 51 2B, 61 BB, 197 H
Who didn't make the starting lineup?
Carlton Fisk had one of the most memorable moments in baseball history in 1975 but the stats give it to Varitek's 2003 season.
Mo Vaughn's 1996 campaign was better than his MVP season of 1995 but it's not enough to make this lineup.
Bobby Doerr was very good in 1944 but he loses points because most of MLB's stars were away serving in World War II.
Mike Lowell finished fifth in the MVP vote in 2007 and was World Series MVP but Boggs has several seasons that beat him out.
Joe Cronin had an excellent season in 1937 but Nomar's 2000 season was better.
Our Designated Hitter is David Ortiz, who basically was competing against himself for this spot.
We're using his 2006 season for this lineup, when he was 30-years-old and finished third in the MVP vote.
.287 BA, .413 OBP, .636 SLG, 1.049 OPS, 54 HR, 137 RBI, 29 2B, 119 BB, 160 H
For the bench we'll go with Yaz' MVP season of 1967 and Rice's MVP season of 1978 for the outfield, Fisk's 1975 season at catcher, Lowell in 2007 for corner infield, Doerr's 1944 season for middle infield, and Vaughn's 1996 season over Manny's 2002 as the "wild card" spot.
Here are the starting pitchers:
Pedro Martinez, 1999 (27-years-old, Cy Young Award, 2nd for MVP)
23 W, 4 L, 2.07 ERA, 0.923 WHIP, 313 K, 37 BB
Roger Clemens, 1986 (23-years-old, Cy Young Award, MVP)
24 W, 4 L, 2.48 ERA, 0.969 WHIP, 238 K, 67 BB
Cy Young, 1901
33 W, 10 L, 1.62 ERA, 0.972 WHIP, 158 K, 37 BB
Babe Ruth, 1916 (21-years-old, World Series champions)
23 W, 12 L, 1.75 ERA, 1.075 WHIP, 170 K, 118 BB
Mel Parnell, 1949 (27-years-old, 4th for MVP)
25 W, 7 L, 2.77 ERA, 1.327 WHIP, 122 K, 134 BB
Who didn't make the rotation?
Jim Longborg's 1967 season, Curt Schilling's 2004 season, and Bruce Hurst's 1988 season all deserved a second look but didn't make the cut.
Here are the relief pitchers:
Dick Radatz, 1966 (26-years-old, 5th for MVP)
15 W, 6 L, 66 games, 58 games finished, 25 saves, 1.97 ERA, 1.096 WHIP, 162 K
Koji Uehara, 2013 (38-years-old, World Series champions)
4 W, 1 L, 73 games, 40 games finished, 21 saves, 1.09 ERA, 0.565 WHIP, 101 K
Keith Foulke, 2004 (31-years-old, World Series champions)
5 W, 3 L, 72 games, 61 games finished, 32 saves, 2.17 ERA, 0.940 WHIP, 79 K
Jonathan Papelbon, 2007 (26-years-old, World Series champions)
1 W, 3 L, 59 games, 53 games finished, 37 saves, 1.85 ERA, 0.771 WHIP, 84 K
Tom Gordon, 1998 (30-years-old)
7 W, 4 L, 73 games, 69 games finished, 46 saves, 2.72 ERA, 1.008 WHIP, 78 K
Who isn't in the bullpen?
Derek Lowe's 2000 season was good and I could have chosen Hideki Okajima from 2007 as the lefty specialist but the five I went with are the best in Red Sox history. As for not adding a lefty to the bullpen, all of my relief pitchers other than Radatz were more successful against left handed hitters than they were against right handed hitters in the year that has been chosen. Foulke, Papelbon, and Okajima all were the closers on World Series championship teams too so I trust them to get crucial outs regardless if they're facing a right handed or left handed batter.
Now that you've been numbed with all my statistics, here is the team.
Lineup:
1. Tris Speaker, L, CF
2. Nomar Garciaparra, R, SS
3. Ted Williams, L, LF
4. Jimmie Foxx, R, 1B
5. David Ortiz, L, DH
6. Wade Boggs, L, 3B
7. Dwight Evans, R, RF
8. Jason Varitek, S, C
9. Dustin Pedroia, R, 2B
Bench:
Carl Yastrzemski, L, OF
Jim Rice, R, OF
Carlton Fisk, R, C
Mike Lowell, R, 3B
Bobby Doerr, R, 2B
Mo Vaughn, L, 1B
(Ruth might not be a bad option as a pinch-hitter if needed)
Starting Rotation:
Pedro Martinez, RH
Roger Clemens, RH
Cy Young, RH
Babe Ruth, LH
Mel Parnell, LH
Bullpen:
Dick Radatz, RH
Koji Uehara, RH
Keith Foulke, RH
Jonathan Papelbon, RH
Tom Gordon, RH
Thoughts? Who did I leave off that should have made it? Let me know in the comments section.
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