From the 80's thread:
Boggs was also mentioned in another thread. Again, I'm a bit puzzled at the apparent lack of the 'nation's appreciation for him. People have pointed out the signing with the Yankees, the Margo Adams thing, the invisibility, the chicken, the OCD ritual-ness, the Tampa hat, the lack of a signature moment. I'm still puzzled though. I wonder if one (or two) of these things were erased, if he wouldn't be a quirky but brilliant former player.
I can't think of a former Sox player of his caliber that is so marginalized by the fan base. Well, sorta. There's Clemens who has a ton of baggage and sort of openly spat on the fan-base. On the other hand there's Manny who, while he led people to pull out their hair, is still very much appreciated as a player and, to an extent, as a personality.
That got me to looking up some careers on baseball reference. Some odd bits: John Valentin's WAR with the Sox is higher than Fred Lynn's. Bob Stanley's WAR with the Sox is higher than Lowe, Beckett, Eck's and Shillings's. Nomar's WAR with the Sox isn't all that far from Ortiz's.
Anyway, given Boggs's place as the third greatest hitter (in terms of contribution to the Sox) that the Sox have ever had, I was curious as to what everyone thought about under/over-rated Sox players.
Anyone I should add to the poll?
(edited per request to add Nomar to over valued)
(edited per request to add Manny to over valued)
The early 80s for me were about the end of Yaz and the start of Boggs. Watching Boggs was remarkable--the batting eye, the ability to foul pitches off, the consistent solid contact, the ritual at the plate, the unique stroke. You would plan your game-watching around making sure you saw all his atbats.
In 1985 he had "three pop-ups in 758 plate appearances."
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-07-31/sports/sp-20020_1_wade-boggs
Boggs was also mentioned in another thread. Again, I'm a bit puzzled at the apparent lack of the 'nation's appreciation for him. People have pointed out the signing with the Yankees, the Margo Adams thing, the invisibility, the chicken, the OCD ritual-ness, the Tampa hat, the lack of a signature moment. I'm still puzzled though. I wonder if one (or two) of these things were erased, if he wouldn't be a quirky but brilliant former player.
I can't think of a former Sox player of his caliber that is so marginalized by the fan base. Well, sorta. There's Clemens who has a ton of baggage and sort of openly spat on the fan-base. On the other hand there's Manny who, while he led people to pull out their hair, is still very much appreciated as a player and, to an extent, as a personality.
That got me to looking up some careers on baseball reference. Some odd bits: John Valentin's WAR with the Sox is higher than Fred Lynn's. Bob Stanley's WAR with the Sox is higher than Lowe, Beckett, Eck's and Shillings's. Nomar's WAR with the Sox isn't all that far from Ortiz's.
Anyway, given Boggs's place as the third greatest hitter (in terms of contribution to the Sox) that the Sox have ever had, I was curious as to what everyone thought about under/over-rated Sox players.
Anyone I should add to the poll?
(edited per request to add Nomar to over valued)
(edited per request to add Manny to over valued)