The 1995 Red Sox Appreciation Thread
- Thread starter Hank Scorpio
- Start date
I think I read one bullish article on Hosey that he could have been Junior (KG) lite. Yeah, right. Fun times
After the strike, I was really disillusioned with baseball. Wakefield's run is what pulled me back in.
One of the side effects of Wakefield pitching was just how quick the games were when he was on the mound. I remember one time, going out to mow the lawn and thinking I'd be able to catch the last three innings by the time I was done... only to have them in the post-game show when I turned the game on.
One of the side effects of Wakefield pitching was just how quick the games were when he was on the mound. I remember one time, going out to mow the lawn and thinking I'd be able to catch the last three innings by the time I was done... only to have them in the post-game show when I turned the game on.
Con: Two-time All-Star player traded.
Pro: Four homers in one game player acquired.
But wasn't Reggie Jefferson already primarily used as a platoon hitter, until he was competing for a battle title, after which they began to play him more or less full time against lefties too?
You know, when I was eight or nine, I remember asking my older cousin how to tell if a player was any good. It was explained to me in pretty simple terms, by batting average.
Under .200 = historically bad
Under .230 = garbage
.230-.250 = bad
.250-.270 = mediocre
.270-.280 = decent
.280-290 = good
.290-.300 = very good
.300+ = one of the best players in the game
He also told me Ted Williams hit .406 once, and no one really came close since (this was pre-Tony Gwynn nearly hitting .400)...
A year or two later, I came across a 1992 Scott Cooper card. His 1991 batting average was a robust .457, after he came up and went 16 for 35. I thought Scott Cooper was a legend.
Too young to remember if there was serious hype around him when he came up in '91... A 23 year old third baseman coming up and hitting .457 sounds really cool. Taking a closer look at his game logs, he came up and hit .263 for 9 games, 19 ABs... then got insanely hot for the final 5 games of the season, going 11 for 17, a .688 clip.
I might be misremembering, but I remember a lot of ado about his PAs/G (or was it AB/G?) - where the rule was you had to average 3.1 per game played by your team. I think one of the newspapers kept track of how close he was to qualifying for the batting title...
This has been discussed before, but deserves repetition. DD (the original DD, not DDski) does not get enough credit, not just for helping to build what Theo would take over, but for being ahead of the curve in a lot of ways. He was an expert dumpster diver who looked for value (the gambits were not always successful of course, and he didn't necessarily strike gold or platinum like Ortiz, but he found some valuable parts that could be used in creative roster construction, not to mention the invaluable Tim Wakefield). He was also willing to use statistical analysis with Mike Gimbel on evaluating players before the moneyball era and Billy Beane--I don't think it was quite Bill James-quality SABR, but he was looking past the counting stat lines when almost no executives seemed to. And DD took some heat for this and got lampooned when word got out.
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I remember that Jefferson was hitting really well against righties one year (I think) and how Jimy Williams used to keep him benched against lefties. Jefferson and the fans were complaining about it because it was costing him the batting tile and finally Jimy gave in and Jefferson just couldn’t hit lefties, went into a tailspin and never recovered.
I believe that was the only time Jimy Williams was right about anything.
Agreed 1000%. Duquette got a bad rap because he wasn’t Lou Gorman spinning tales and telling reporters every single thing he was going to do. DD was a bit more secretive and thought that he was smarter than the reporters and it drove them nuts.
The one thing I like about DD was when a move he made was an obvious mistake, most of the time he’d get rid of the player. Gorman would hope that the player would play out of a slump but DD would cut mistakes Before they hurt the club.
I appreciated that.
Couple that with Phil Plantier OPSing over a thousand, and they were looking setup for having a great offense in 1992 and beyond.
Kevin Marton was my Vaughn Eshelman. Quick arriving lefty who I was convinced was bound for stardom. Valentin was phenomenal. Very underrated. I thought he handled being moved off of SS for Nomar really well. I think he had a one day attitude about it and that seemed to dawn on him that Nomar was different.
Duquette made a good trade deadline deal that season picking up Mike Stanton, but then sent him to Texas in ‘96.
I was at that game too. Annual (back then) pilgrimage to Fenway. Speaking of easy to get tickets … scored a seat directly behind home plate , about five rows up about two hours before the game. (I waved)
Watching Wakefield’s flutter ball up close was amazing.
Actually .. it was this game from August . Wakefield kept the Orioles hitless into the 7th when Palmeiro took him deep.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS199508130.shtml
That was an enormously fun team to watch. Canseco hit an absolute bomb in that game too.
Regarding One M … he loved defence and, as a result his lineups were beyond bad. But , if memory serves he was excellent with the pitchers and ran a great bullpen. Of course KK was manager in 95.
And Duquette … he was great at filling out a roster with cheap, decent affordable players. And he had himself a career two weeks in July, 1997 when he flipped Mike Stanley to the MFY for one Tony Armas (who he subsequently flipped to the Expos (along with Pavano and Rose) for some guy named Pedro.
Two weeks later he sent Heathcliffe Slocumb (is he sill in jail?) to Seattle for Lowe and Varitek.
Edit : was thinking of Ugueth Urbina with the jail reference
Two weeks later he sent Heathcliffe Slocumb (is he sill in jail?) to Seattle for Lowe and Varitek.
Edit : was thinking of Ugueth Urbina with the jail reference
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Right. This had to be 97, I think. And you’re correct Jimy could handle a bullpen but his handling of stars (Pedro in particular) and his lineups were insane.
He drove me absolutely crazy.
Poster child for managing as if trying to justify his own shitty skill set as a player.
That was my theory. He loved the end of the roster and would often fight with the stars. Same thing happened to him in Toronto.
FWIW, Williams was Manager of the Year in 99.
The Sox seemed to have an endless parade of mediocre to bad managers until Francona.
McNamara (argghhhhhh), Morgan, Hobson, KK, Jimy, Kerrigan (interim), He Who Shall Not Be Named
Yeesh. Joe Morgan was decent. Kennedy was OK - sort of the anti-Williams .. never met a bad fielder he wouldn’t start.
The Sox seemed to have an endless parade of mediocre to bad managers until Francona.
McNamara (argghhhhhh), Morgan, Hobson, KK, Jimy, Kerrigan (interim), He Who Shall Not Be Named
Yeesh. Joe Morgan was decent. Kennedy was OK - sort of the anti-Williams .. never met a bad fielder he wouldn’t start.
back then i hated the braves part of the reason was to annoy my good-looking 3rd-4tn grade teach she is a big braves fan so i hated 95 only games i could get was st louis hou and texas
yes i couild also get the cubs braves and white sox as well miss wgn
yes i couild also get the cubs braves and white sox as well miss wgn
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One of Duquette's weaknesses was the managers he would end up hiring: Kennedy, Williams, and, Joe Kerrigan, the last by the far the worst for his trying to destroy Pedro's career.
This was the first team I was able to follow online for every game. I loved Luis Alicea because he walked a lot.
Duquette tried to hire Felipe Alou after firing Jimmy Williams but Alou turned him down.
I might be misremembering things, but didn’t the team have interest in Joe Torre before hiring Kevin Kennedy?
I might be misremembering things, but didn’t the team have interest in Joe Torre before hiring Kevin Kennedy?
I guess Valentin was at the WooSox the other night. Not sure when he became involved in financial assistance:
“Some of the endeavors that he’s in now is helping guys like manage their money and things like that,” Tracy said. “He’s going to just take a few minutes and let them know what he does and if they need help.” https://www.masslive.com/worcesterredsox/2022/08/woosox-notebook-former-red-sox-infielder-john-valentin-drops-by-polar-shares-insight-with-woosox-players.html
“Some of the endeavors that he’s in now is helping guys like manage their money and things like that,” Tracy said. “He’s going to just take a few minutes and let them know what he does and if they need help.” https://www.masslive.com/worcesterredsox/2022/08/woosox-notebook-former-red-sox-infielder-john-valentin-drops-by-polar-shares-insight-with-woosox-players.html
Duquette is underrated, but his other weakness was he was just kind of a dud as a personality.
I saw him speak at my Dad’s “Touchdown Club” in Arlington the one and only time that he was invited (they regularly got Will and Sean McDonough, Doug Flutie, Steve Grogan, and some other great speakers because Tommy Yewcic was the President for years), and he was such a dry, condescending, smarmy dude. He didn’t hang out before or after at all (which almost all of the other guys would do) which didn’t go over well with the fellas.
He did have one great retort which I’ll never forget. He was talking about all of the scouting they were doing overseas, particularly the effort in the DR, and an old racist codger stood up and asked him “Dan, I know you’re talking about all of these boys from the Dominican, but when are we going to see some good, all-american boys back in the Sox farm system?”
Duquette stared directly at him for like 10 seconds silently, then turned to the other side of the room and said “Next question.”
They were definitely interested in Torre and Piniella after they fired McNamara but then Morgan went in a run and they kept him. Torre was already managing St Louis by the time they hired Kennedy and was with the Yankees when they fired him.
Kevin Kennedy went from the Dodgers minor leagues to the Expos bench coach role, where he first worked with Duquette. Having managed Pedro a couple times, he really pushed for Duquette to acquire him. If that first domino led to Pedro coming to the Red Sox five years later, it was 100% worth having him manage the team for a couple years.
Getting a bit off topic (so feel free to break out if needed), but IIRC, Dan Duquette was brought on to help rebuild the Sox farm system, which had become barren in the early 1990's. The rebuild actually started in 1993, with the drafting of Trot Nixon, Jeff Suppan (lost in the 1997 expansion draft), and Lou Merloni. But Duquette did get off to a great start in 1994 with the drafting highly touted pitcher Brian Rose (eventually traded for Mike Lansing after not really accomplishing much) and Carl Pavano (Pedro trade), and, of course, Nomar. But the following year's draft was a disaster, as highly touted pitcher Andy Yount severed a tendon in his hand in his second season, which forced him to eventually try to make the majors (unsuccessfully) as an outfielder. The rest of that draft was similarly cursed: Juan Pena looked great in his MLB debut before his career succumbed to shoulder injuries. Paxton Crawford had a decent debut, but got hurt under some weird circumstances and was eventually busted for PEDs, after which he implicated Varitek and the rest of his teammates.
Their top draft pick from 1996, Josh Garrett, flamed out in AA, although the Sox did get a couple of decent seasons from Shea Hillebrand, and Chris Reitsma netted them a past-his-prime Dante Bichette. The 1997 draft was a washout (David Eckstein was waived by the Sox while he was in AAA). The 1998 draft was interesting. Duquette sold high on top pick Adam Everett, trading him for Carl Everett; unfortunately, that trade ended up blowing up in the Sox face in a big way. Mike Maroth was traded for Bryce Florie. The Sox took a swing on Mark Teixeira, but he did not sign, instead electing to attend GA Tech.
The 1999 top pick, Rick Asoordian, was traded in one of Duquette's final moves for mid-rotation starter Dustin Hermanson, which seemed to be a sell high move, given that Asoordian never threw a pitch in the majors. Unfortunately, Hermanson's career with the Sox never got off the ground when Grady Little let him return to a game after an extended rain delay; Hermanson promptly got hurt and was never the same, and the 93-win Red Sox ended up missing the playoffs entirely mainly due to lack of pitching depth behind Lowe and Pedro. The rest of that draft was barren. The 2000 draft was reasonably successful. While Dumatrait never amounted to anything, Manny Delcarman was a valuable bullpen piece for the 2007 team and Freddy Sanchez (traded for Suppan in 2003) had a decent career with the Pirates. The 2001 draft eventually netted the Sox Shoppach (eventually traded for Coco Crisp) and Kevin Youkilis.
Not a terrible record, but the end result was that many of their draftees were traded, and quite a few picks flamed out, and so the farm was essentially barren again by the time Henry and Co bought the team (Shoppach, Youk and Delcarmen were still a few years away). And Joe Kerrigan was still managing the team when the 2002 spring training began, and the combination undoubtedly led to his prompt dismissal when the sale to Henry was complete.
Their top draft pick from 1996, Josh Garrett, flamed out in AA, although the Sox did get a couple of decent seasons from Shea Hillebrand, and Chris Reitsma netted them a past-his-prime Dante Bichette. The 1997 draft was a washout (David Eckstein was waived by the Sox while he was in AAA). The 1998 draft was interesting. Duquette sold high on top pick Adam Everett, trading him for Carl Everett; unfortunately, that trade ended up blowing up in the Sox face in a big way. Mike Maroth was traded for Bryce Florie. The Sox took a swing on Mark Teixeira, but he did not sign, instead electing to attend GA Tech.
The 1999 top pick, Rick Asoordian, was traded in one of Duquette's final moves for mid-rotation starter Dustin Hermanson, which seemed to be a sell high move, given that Asoordian never threw a pitch in the majors. Unfortunately, Hermanson's career with the Sox never got off the ground when Grady Little let him return to a game after an extended rain delay; Hermanson promptly got hurt and was never the same, and the 93-win Red Sox ended up missing the playoffs entirely mainly due to lack of pitching depth behind Lowe and Pedro. The rest of that draft was barren. The 2000 draft was reasonably successful. While Dumatrait never amounted to anything, Manny Delcarman was a valuable bullpen piece for the 2007 team and Freddy Sanchez (traded for Suppan in 2003) had a decent career with the Pirates. The 2001 draft eventually netted the Sox Shoppach (eventually traded for Coco Crisp) and Kevin Youkilis.
Not a terrible record, but the end result was that many of their draftees were traded, and quite a few picks flamed out, and so the farm was essentially barren again by the time Henry and Co bought the team (Shoppach, Youk and Delcarmen were still a few years away). And Joe Kerrigan was still managing the team when the 2002 spring training began, and the combination undoubtedly led to his prompt dismissal when the sale to Henry was complete.
Great write up. But wasn’t Asoodorian drafted as an outfielder? Or did he turn into one after his pitching career ended?
That’s correct. He attempted to make the majors as a pitcher in the Reds organization after it was clear he would not make it as OF. This was long after he was traded by Duquette.
That is probably the storyline I remembered the most from early in the 1995 season. Jefferson was up around the .370s at one point if I recall, the first chase for .400 prior to the REAL chase for .400 Nomar put on in the 2000 season. I was actually transitioning from HS graduate to college freshman that year, so understandably the team did not have my full attention. But in retrospect this certainly restored my faithfulness in the franchise coming out of the strike, and led me to future ticket purchases and being a more diehard follower in '98-'99 and going forward.
Yeah. I wrote about that a few posts back.He was doing well because Jimy knew when to use him. But Jefferson (and the fans) were getting pissed because they all felt he should be playing every day. As soon as Jimy did that, Reggie fell off a cliff.
It was one of a few times Jimy was correct.
I had forgotten how good Reggie’s numbers were; crazy that he was out of the league at the age of 30. 869 career OPS vs RH and 591 vs LH; and in ‘97 it was 921/494. With more backup position players though, easier to keep a guy like that on the roster and almost totally avoid facing a lefty.
Wakefield got thrown right into the fire, and pitched spectacularly on two days rest to start his Red Sox career. That's when I felt like something magical was really happening.
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pitchinglogs.php?p=wakefti01&y=1995
| Tim Wakefield 1995 Game by Game Pitching Logs In Chronological Order / Tim Wakefield Stats | ||||||||||||||||
| Date / Box | Opponent | W | L | Sv | ERA | IP | SO | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | WP | HBP | BK |
| 05-27-1995 * | at Angels | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.29 | 7.0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 05-30-1995 * | at Athletics | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 7.1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pitchinglogs.php?p=wakefti01&y=1995
I recall the Wakefield move only showing up in the tiny agate Transactions blurb on the last page of the projo sports section. I was like “I remember that guy!” Then all hell broke loose. Not too many dumpster dives ever worked out that well.
Drafted as a power-hitting OF, but yes, I believe he converted to pitching later.
No idea if true or not, but seemed like Duquette prioritized picking New England kids for a bit (Asadoorian and Brad Baker?) when there was the all out push to build a new Fenway. Of course those may have been perfectly legit picks, I don’t recall the consensus at the time.
I felt somewhat distant from the '95 team precisely because I couldn't follow them in any meaningful way. I graduated from college in May '95 and wouldn't have home or work internet for another year or two. I was living in central NY most of that year, so my only Sox news was brief highlights on SportsCenter.
Sadly I was back in New England in time to follow the '96 and '97 seasons in agonizing detail.
Lou Gorman did too. Right before Duquette arrived, Lou drafted Sweet Lumer Loni from Framingham/PC not once but twice.
Interesting to look back at Andy Yount. Incredibly young, but I'm not sure what he did suggested he was headed towards big league success. 10 walks/9 and 10 h/9 is pretty rough
IIRC, Jefferson was originally a switch-hitter who abandoned hitting right handed, maybe right before the Sox picked him up. I can't remember why he did it, but I do remember wondering how bad he must have been as a RHH that he chose to hit lefty against LHP despite how poorly he did it.
Revere’s own. They also grabbed Jay Yanaco from Southern NH, a kid from Portland, ME whose name I can’t remember and Peabody’s Steve Lomasney who had an AB or two in the 2001 season.
I remember the story was that drafting NE kids was some sort of way of taking advantage of good athletes who didn’t have a lot of miles on their arms. The idea was that NE baseball kids (like Tom Glavine and Billy Swift, etc) didn’t play as much as Californian or southern kids so while they might not be as technically as good, their arms should be stronger and you could reach what they need to know in the minors.
I abhor playing the role of spelling police, but it was Jay Yennaco. I know this because he is the cousin of a close friend
Another memorable facet was Dustin Hermanson's amazingly sculpted goatee.
I remember after Asoordian got drafted, he showed up in the NESN booth and seemed a bit overwhelmed. He was being touted as the next Dwight Evans. It's always unfair to label any sport's draft picks as the next anyone, but it is especially hard for baseball draftees.
SSS, but he did hit lefties pretty well in '96, so there was some reason to think to expand his role in '97. Or at least get him in the game against particular types of lefty pitchers.
He faded a bit toward the end of the season, but had a brutal stretch in mid September of 97 - the 12th to the 23rd. 3 hits in 50AB. There were a couple of good lefty starters in there, but I don't see anything that looks like a triggering event or the like. Say, hitting a bunch of LHP and losing his swing entirely as a result.
Anyone know how he hit LHP prior to his season-ending slump?
Some great nicknames there. "THE" Rheal Cormier (that might have been an ESPN one).
"Terrible" Timmy Nehring. That one was probably just in my group at the time. He was wasnt really terrible....but he wasnt really good either.
Hard Hitten Mark Whitten. That one was definitely a ESPN one.
Seems like Troy Oleary was the "Irishman" on here.
"Terrible" Timmy Nehring. That one was probably just in my group at the time. He was wasnt really terrible....but he wasnt really good either.
Hard Hitten Mark Whitten. That one was definitely a ESPN one.
Seems like Troy Oleary was the "Irishman" on here.