Who is the first Red Sox First Baseman you can remember?
- Thread starter Lose Remerswaal
- Start date
I remember Todd Benziger, but had no idea he played 1B, ditto Esasky. So the answer is Quintana.
Who is that?
Scott in 66-67 with a vague recollection of my older siblings discussing Stuart earlier.
Dropo also. He was ROY in 1950. I do remember Billy Goodman, who Baseball Ref says was the primary first baseman in 1948 and 1949, but I don’t remember those seasons except for when they blew it at the end in 1949 to the MFYs. Said I was through with the Red Sox forever.
Mo Vaughn, although before that I was generally aware of the players on the Red Sox, but not so much their positions.
I was reading baseball cards as early as 1987, when I was 5. When I asked an older cousin how to tell which players were good based on their stats, he told me "good players have a batting average over .300" -- and I knew certain players and teams who were good around 1988-1990... The A's and Jays... Canseco, Fielder, McGwire, Clemens, Boggs, Ripken... 1995 was my first year being a hardcore Red Sox fan though.
I was reading baseball cards as early as 1987, when I was 5. When I asked an older cousin how to tell which players were good based on their stats, he told me "good players have a batting average over .300" -- and I knew certain players and teams who were good around 1988-1990... The A's and Jays... Canseco, Fielder, McGwire, Clemens, Boggs, Ripken... 1995 was my first year being a hardcore Red Sox fan though.
I assume it refers to Hawk Harrelson, who played some 1B in 1968 and then opened 1969 as the starting 1B (Tony C had returned) before being traded to Cleveland in mid-April.
I was remembering him as a RF. Totally forgot he was the starting 1B at the start of 1969.
Based on your post, I just tried to do that. I got the whole '86 starting 9 (post august), the 3 best starters and two relievers. I totally blanked on the pre-Spike Owen SS, three of the 6 top starters, and the reliever with the second highest number of saves.
I was pretty good with the '04 team, but the '07 was more difficult and I had to to search for specific memories of great post season plays to help me out.
Did anyone else have a similar "still know my first squad/year" effect?
And as a side note, I'm curious if there's consensus as to the "least memorable" starters/key pitchers for post -season clubs. Or least memorable post season club. (That 1990 team has to to be in the running.)
Quintana. That was about the age when I actually started to know most of the player's names. Before that it was basically 3-4 guys I would recognize.
This pretty much sums it up for me to, we're the same age. I could tell you who played almost every position on the 89 Bruins and Celtics and I remember a lot about the mid 80s to early 90s Patriots, but for some reason can't remember before 95 for the Sox.
I remember my dad taking me to a game that Clemens pitched in the early 90s and can remember cheering for Greenwell and Boggs, but don't remember much outside of 95.
The first 3rd basemen I remember is also Tim Naehring so it lines up well.
I'm with you Lose - George Scott. Although I grew up in southwestern VA, for some reason I developed an early affinity for the Red Sox (maybe because my despicable older brother settled on the Yankees). I was 11 for Scott's rookie year - a very good opening campaign it was.
1972 Danny Cater, being a longtime Sox fan like many here I always loved seeing Boomer Scott out there the most though
While everybody else was going gaga for Yaz in 1967, the late great Boomer was six-year-old MJ's first favorite player. Not only because of his general awesomeness, but also because we had the same birthday: March 23.
Which we are both proud now to share with Gordon Heyward and Kyrie Irving.
Which we are both proud now to share with Gordon Heyward and Kyrie Irving.
I was a fan of Scott Cooper, because of the all-star selections. I was surprised to find I can still recall the 1995 main starting lineup, but it gets kinda fuzzy after that until 2003-2004, specifically with certain revolving door positions. Wilton Veras, Shea Hillenbrand, Wil Cordero, et al...
Same.
And in terms of the other question around lineups you can remember, 88 was probably the first one from organically following the team, but also 86 and 91 because of video games (RBI baseball and Roger Clemens baseball on NES)
George Scott for me starting in 67. My Grandmother from Southie loved "her Boy" , as she called him. Her favorite player. Devastated when he was traded. I was more a Tony C then Yaz fan but the Boomer always had a smile so you had to like him.
Sep 14, 1957 at Fenway -- I watched Wertz (on tv) playing 1st base hit a grand slam in the top of the first and a three-run homer in the top of the second. A couple of years later he was with the Sox.
Mo Vaughn, Greenwell, and to a lesser extent Dwight Evans were the Sox gods when I was a kid. I wanted to pitch like Clemens & Mike Boddicker(lol) in little league, field like Jody Reed & Luis Rivera, hit like Mo. I followed them in the sense of they were fan favorites and stats hadn't entered the equation. Vaughn was the first 1B I remember, but I started following the team in earnest in 1997(I'm 36) and it wasn't until Daubach arrived that I realized not every 1B hit massive bombs.
George Scott in 1968.
I vaguely recall the 1967 World Series but we lived out of state at the time so the sox weren’t a big cultural happening locally.
The Internet says Scott played 112 games at first base in 68 but my first game at Fenway on September 28, 1968, featured Dalton Jones at first vs the Yanks. It was also Mantle’s last game.
We lost 4-3 but my uncle Pat drove us there in his convertible and bought us every souvenir in the park so it was all good.
I vaguely recall the 1967 World Series but we lived out of state at the time so the sox weren’t a big cultural happening locally.
The Internet says Scott played 112 games at first base in 68 but my first game at Fenway on September 28, 1968, featured Dalton Jones at first vs the Yanks. It was also Mantle’s last game.
We lost 4-3 but my uncle Pat drove us there in his convertible and bought us every souvenir in the park so it was all good.
Norm Zauchin, 1955. First seen live: Mickey Vernon, 1957, in Yankee Stadium (but the only thing I remember about the game itself was Ted Williams' home run; I had to resort to bbref to see who'd played 1B).
George Scott 1977. Boomer was part of the Over the Wall Gang that hit 213 homers that year, a monstrous total in that era.
We used to think he was a really good fielder because he was good at scooping up throws in the dirt and would do a near full split stretching for the ball. Alas, we didn't know what his real value was and in '77, despite his 33 homers he was only a little better than average offensive player. But the good moments were pretty damn sweet.
We used to think he was a really good fielder because he was good at scooping up throws in the dirt and would do a near full split stretching for the ball. Alas, we didn't know what his real value was and in '77, despite his 33 homers he was only a little better than average offensive player. But the good moments were pretty damn sweet.
