I just noticed that RedSox.com has up a survey to pick the “All Fenway Team”. This year is the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park. That means two things. First, that it’s the oldest, continually used ballpark in America. Second, that it’s now an official US Landmark and can’t be altered, demolished, updated or renovated without an act of Congress. Literally.
Most of you don’t give 2 spits about the Red Sox, and that’s completely understandable. Everyone has their teams and I’d never begrudge anyone for rooting for theirs. For me though, the survey is a bit troublesome. Look at Left Field for example. You can’t have a “best Red Sox ever” team without BOTH Ted Williams and Carl Yastrezemski. It can’t be done. Picking one over the other is like asking me to choose between breathing and eating. Anyway, just for giggles, and again I know none of you care, I pasted the entirety of the survey candidates below. I also highlighted my choices in red. I mixed my nostalgia, personal favorites and stats leaders all in. For example, Ike Delock probably has better RP numbers, but I’m picking Paps and Gordon. I also picked two or more in the appropriate categories. No need to pick just 1 pitcher when you have a rotation of 5.
SP, right-handed: Roger Clemens, Dennis Eckersley, Tex Hughson, Jim Lonborg, Pedro Martinez, Bill Monbouquette, Luis Tiant, Tim Wakefield and Smoky Joe Wood
SP, left-handed: Ray Collins, Lefty Grove, Bruce Hurst, Bill Lee, Dutch Leonard, Jon Lester, Mel Parnell, Herb Pennock and Babe Ruth
C: Rick Ferrell, Carlton Fisk, Rich Gedman, Birdie Tebbetts, Jason Varitek and Sammy White
1B: Bill Buckner, Jimmie Foxx, Stuffy McInnis, George Scott, Mo Vaughn and Kevin Youkilis
2B: Mike Andrews, Marty Barrett, Bobby Doerr (TIE), Pete Runnels, Dustin Pedroia (TIE) and Jerry Remy
3B: Wade Boggs, Larry Gardner, Mike Lowell, Frank Malzone, Bill Mueller and John Valentin
SS: Rick Burleson, Joe Cronin, Nomar Garciaparra, Johnny Pesky, Rico Petrocelli and Everett Scott
LF: Mike Greenwell, Duffy Lewis, Manny Ramirez, Jim Rice, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski
RF: Tony Conigliaro, J.D. Drew, Dwight Evans, Harry Hooper, Jackie Jensen and Trot Nixon
CF: Johnny Damon, Dom DiMaggio, Fred Lynn, Jimmy Piersall, Reggie Smith and Tris Speaker
DH: Don Baylor, Orlando Cepeda, Cecil Cooper, Mike Easler, Reggie Jefferson and David Ortiz
Bench: Jerry Adair, Bernie Carbo, Alex Cora, Billy Goodman, Dalton Jones, John Kennedy, Ted Lepcio, Rick Miller, Dave Roberts and Dave Stapleton
Bullpen: Ike Delock, Tom Gordon, Ellis Kinder, Derek Lowe, Sparky Lyle, Jonathan Papelbon, Dick Radatz, Jeff Reardon, Bob Stanley and Mike Timlin
Manager: Bill Carrigan, Joe Cronin, Terry Francona, Joe Morgan, Dick Williams and Don Zimmer
So, there’s my all star team. Or, “All Fenway Team” as they put it. A couple of those were weird questions. The “Bench” category was particularly weird. Billy Goodman and Ted Lepcio, were obvious choices being the only ones to be on the team for more than a season or two. The omission of Cy Young from the SP lineup is also a bit odd. For Manager, I had to go with Francona, he was just my kind of manager, always strait forward, friendly with the press (an oddity for Boston), and seemed to be more appreciative of his roll than just about anyone else. He’s also got the RINGS. It might not have ended on a high note, but I’ll never forget what he did for us.
I think you made pretty good choices and would be very similar to my choices. Granted I don’t follow the Sox as much as the Rox, but I know a little baseball. Probably the only position I would radically differ with your choice would be 1B. I would go with Foxx over Youkilis 100 times out of 100. It is an odd outfield given that 4 of the best 5 overall choices are in LF. I love all-time teams, just for the arguments that come with them.
Yeah, that was a tough one. Foxx was certainly legendary, one of the greatest HR hitters of all time. He certainly has the edge in pure numbers. A case could be made though that he’s equally historically important to the Athletics, playing a good 10 years (half of his HRs and 2 of his MVP years) there prior to the Red Sox. Youk, on the other hand, doesn’t have nearly the HR numbers, but is by all definitions a defense machine, and has been in the Boston organization from the beginning.
Plus he can grown an epic playoff beard 🙂
I’d also have to give Foxx the nod over Youk, mostly because Youkilis hasn’t spent all that much time at first. I can go for most of your other choices. The Speaker one is tough, since he only played three years at Fenway. Hard to make an all-Fenway team with only three years. I may have to support DiMaggio. The “Fenway” portion is why Cy Young was left out. He never played there.
Very true. Maybe, since we obviously can’t have both Ted and Yaz playing left, one of them takes center instead of Speaker. lol.
Who knows. It’s fun to speculate on though.
didn’t see your email address anywhere on your site, but I wouldn’t mind striking up a trade…
larsonmorgan [AT] sbcglobal [DOT] net
Happy Birthday to Mrs. Perry!!