Top 5 Favorite Red Sox Players In My Lifetime

Chair gave me the go ahead to post on this, so I’m going to take the permission slip that I was given and run with it.

 I love the Red Sox.  

I was brought up to love the Red Sox, and throughout my formative years the Red Sox showed up at my house unannounced, woke me up from a peaceful nap and slapped me across the face (figuratively, of course [editor's note: Will Cordero did break into Crowley's home and slap him across the face]).  

I remember Mo Vaughn riding on a horse after the Sox won the AL East in 1995 just as vividly as watching Time Wakefield give up the Boone shot in 2003.  1999 and 2001 postseason failure also helped fuel a “why does God hate me?” look at life.  2004 brought the Sox to the promised land and 2007 rekindled some great 04 memories.  

The ups and downs, the peaks and valleys of a sports fan help build character and can in some ways define them.  That sounds incredibly lame, but it is true.  I pour my time, money and allegiance with a group of individuals who do not know nor care if I exist.  I’ve dealt with that.  I don’t care, I still love these guys.  I am excited to bring you this list and explain myself in hopes of conjuring up some memories and discussion.  

Without further ado:

5. Marty Barrett-#17-2B-Red Sox (1982-1990)

Yes, I do realize I was only 3 and barely capable of using the toilet properly during Barrett’s last season, but I have done a good deal of research and have heard my family talk about this guy for a long time.  I guess when I was 3 someone in my family bought me a Marty Barrett pin and gave me a couple Barrett baseball cards.  One of the reasons for this was due to his number being the same as my birth date, 17.  I have no further information on why I still have his pin anda variety of his baseball cards throughout the years.  As you will see later in the list, I have a thing for undersized second basemen who went to Arizona State.  My mom tells me that I would always watch his at-bats, but I think that’s kind of bullshit.  Still, I love the type of player that Barrett was, and since he was the first player whose cards I collected, although it was unknown to me at the time, I feel as though he deserves to be on the list.

4. John Valentin-#13-SS/2B/3B-Red Sox (1992-2001)

Valentin had a monster year in 1995, the first year that I fully remember falling totally in love with baseball.  I loved watching him play.  Playing youth baseball, I was always number 13 because of John Valentin.  Seeing his knee injury ranks among the most disgusting things I’ve seen, only behind Bryce Florie’s eye pretty much exploding and seeing the SI cover of Tony Congliaro after taking a pitch to the eye.  He also had the same initials as me, and was a team player when phenom Nomar came up.  Nomar is to be covered later, but John Valentin was a class act a one of my first Sox heroes.

3. Dustin Pedroia-#15-2B-Red Sox(2006-present)

Dustin Pedroia is the next big thing in baseball.  An undersized, balding 24 year old man has already accomplished so much.  I remember hearing about him coming up through the minors and looking into him and then writing him off completely…that is until I saw him play towards the end of the year in 2006.  They screwed the pooch down the stretch and ended up finishing 3rd in the AL East, but Pedroia made his mark on me (in a non-ARod/Will Cordero sort of way).  I remember getting shit from all angles from my friends in April of 2007 when Pedroia was barely hitting his weight, and then in May the hits started dropping and then came pouring out.  I love watching him play.  His swing looks violent and you can see the energy coming from his feet up, but it’s so pretty when he pulls one over the Monster or slaps it into a gap.  He will not hit the most home runs in Red Sox history, but the bomb to lead off the 2007 World Series will certainly always be remembered.  He is married to a smoke show and a half, won the Rookie of the Year, was in integral part to the 2007 WS win, has a cult-like following, started the All-Star Game in his 2nd full season in the Majors and is in the top 5 in league in hits.  His range is surprising for a little guy and he plays the game the right way.  He is going to be bald by 30, but hopefully will still be producing at the 2B position for the Sox.  It is great to watch him play everyday.  He turns 25 in a couple weeks and has accomplished more in his life already than I will.

2. Mo Vaughn-#42-1B-Red Sox (1991-1998)

As I said earlier, one of the happiest moments of my young life was watching Mo ride around Fenway on a horse smoking a cigar in 1995 after winning the AL East.  During my first Fenway trip/Sox game I met Mo and got his autograph, always a special moment in a young baseball fan’s life.  I emulated Mo’s swing, his hulk-like presence and catlike reflexes at first.  Mo hit BOMBS at Fenway.  He was probably my first hero.  Everybody loved Mo.  When the MLB decided to retire Jackie Robinson’s #42, they let Mo keep wearing it because his family enjoyed watching Mo play and had a relationship with him.  Mo wore the number in honor of Jackie, just like Mo Rivera, who was also allowed to keep wearing the number until he retires (sidenote, please retire Rivera..we get it, your cutter makes baseball’s best look like amateurs, enough).  Even though some of the stories surrounding Mo involved nightclub violence, I refused to believe he could do anything wrong.  One of my saddest memories is watching Mo go to Anaheim just as Nomar was hitting his stride.  Mo and then GM Dan Duquette did not have the best relationship, leading to a premature departure from the Red Sox for the Hit Dog.  I still kept my MoMentum poster up in my room and refused to believe the Red Sox made the right decision.  Mo was in an inspiration to me, and watching him hit the shit out of the ball as a big husky lefty made me feel like I could do it too…I was wrong, but I still love Mo.

1. Nomar Garciaparra-#5-SS-Red Sox (1996-2004)

I saw Nomar play for the PawSox in 1996 and fell in love.  I forget the stats, but he had an absolute monster game, and I can remember waiting with anticipation for him to get called up to the big leagues.  Watching Nomar at bat was amazing.  From his stance to his inability to lay off the first pitch and have so much success offensively and defensively(some of his errors were on balls no other shortstop would even come near), there was not much to dislike about the guy.  I loved Nomar.  He filled the void when Mo left.  He was the superstar the Sox needed and at the time I couldn’t imagine him playing anywhere else.  His friendship with Ted Williams was beautiful, his smile was electric and his bat was hot.  I went to his baseball camp in 1999, during the All-Star Break and got to meet him and have my picture taken with him.  That was the first time I think I was awestruck, and I was by no means the only one.  I still have the picture and signed 8×10 framed.

I remember having the news on in 2004 and hearing about a Boston superhero having a weird injury.  Sure enough, Nomar was the player who had tendinitis.  Looking back, Nomar was possibly [editor's note: Almost DEFINITELY] on steroids and this was a common injury.  I mean he was a little guy and was JACKED…just look at the SI cover, but I still refuse to believe it was true.

Nomar had sort of gone on a decline in 2003, but I didn’t care.  I remember July 31, 2004 just like it was yesterday.  I remember hearing rumors of a Nomar trade, but nothing had surfaced by the time I headed into work at the local sports bar as a dishwasher/fry cook.  I walked into the building and saw no news…ten minutes later I headed out and saw the breaking news.  Nomar was now a Cub.  I walked back into the kitchen and cried.  Sure, the Red Sox had broken my heart in 2001 and 2003, and they did again on July 31, 2004.  I couldn’t believe it actually happened, and to add insult to injury Orlando Cabrera, Nomar’s replacement hit a home run in his first at bat.  Nomar was the poster boy for Boston, and turned into chopped liver during the 2004 season after accusations of not trying and rifts with upper management.  

Looking back, the deal had to be done and if it hadn’t I don’t see the Sox winning in 2004, but it still hurts that Nomar hasn’t won a World Series (I mean counting on the Cubs to win the World Series is never the safest bet, same with the Dodgers to an extent).  I hope he does win at least one.  His career was sort of like Mo’s.  After he left, he had some success, but then has led an injury plagued life.  He is still my favorite Sox player and the only player who has come close to eclipsing him for me is little Dustin.  I miss you Nomie, you were the best.

 

So there it is..my top 5 with commentary.  I enjoyed writing it, whether or not you enjoyed reading it.  Baseball has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember andI don’t see much changing in the future.  Even though soccer( my second favorite sport) is the Beautiful Game, baseball is a beautiful game as well and has provided me with a lot of smiles and frustration.  Let’s Go Sox!

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