Who is the first Red Sox First Baseman you can remember?
- Thread starter Lose Remerswaal
- Start date
Boomer—I still have impressionistic memories of the ‘67 Impossible Dream season when I was 4 years old.
[QUOTE="I do remember running home from CCD after school to catch the rest of the playoff game in 1978...sigh.[/QUOTE]
I remember my fifth grade teacher letting me walk home early so I could go watch the game. And bawling unconsolably at Bucky Effing Dent.
I remember my fifth grade teacher letting me walk home early so I could go watch the game. And bawling unconsolably at Bucky Effing Dent.
1967. George Scott. And also I vaguely recall Tony Horton.
The Boomer is probably my favorite Red Sox of all time. I've told stories on SoSH before of watching my Grandpa defending him to other fans in the stands when the Boomer was miserable in 1968, and running with him around Fenway when He was attempting a comeback in 1980 and trying to get in shape; I was a freshman at BU running my daily route of 3 or so miles. We would just meet up on our respective runs and run together for a bit. What a thrill for me. I just loved that man.
The Boomer is probably my favorite Red Sox of all time. I've told stories on SoSH before of watching my Grandpa defending him to other fans in the stands when the Boomer was miserable in 1968, and running with him around Fenway when He was attempting a comeback in 1980 and trying to get in shape; I was a freshman at BU running my daily route of 3 or so miles. We would just meet up on our respective runs and run together for a bit. What a thrill for me. I just loved that man.
This made me recall one of my favorite lines from Ball Four, which I think Bouton ascribed to Boomer: "I got Dunlop disease - my stomach done lopped over my belt."
Wasn't the story that when Jim Rice broke his hand in 1975, Darrell Johnson asked Yaz if he could still play left field, and Yaz replied "In my sleep"
I remember being very concerned about Yaz "moving" to LF. I expressed this to my father who, with a big grin on his face, said something along the lines of: Don't worry, I think Yaz knows what he is doing out there
The funny thing is I strongly remember Evans playing a lot of 1B late in his career, but he only manned the position in 143 games over two seasons. As I recall, it began as McNamara's way of getting more playing time for the young outfielders that were forcing their way into the lineup in 1987. After Evans filled in a few times, they released Bill Buckner, leaving them with a glut of outfielders (Rice, Henderson, Greenwell, Burks, Benzinger, Evans) but no one to play at first full time so it became Evans' job. Then he kept it through the start of 1988, reluctantly if I remember right. It wasn't until McNamara was fired that Joe Morgan moved Evans back to the outfield more or less full time with Benzinger becoming the regular 1B. It was a much better defensive arrangement.
Appropriate that this thread was started yesterday, as it marked the 41st anniversary of the trade that sent Cecil Cooper to the Brewers for George Scott and Bernie Carbo.
Dick Stuart. Is he a real person?
I’ve had a couple of strokes recently but this seems right.
My favorite baseball picture of all time is one of Boomer standing behind the batting cage at Fenway waiting his turn with the fat end of a bat stuck in his back pocket.
This.
As a little kid I remember not being able to quite wrap my head around the idea that he was the first baseman, left and was now back.
By around 1979 I was also just dumbstruck by the idea that Cecil Cooper had really been on the Red Sox, somehow just before I entered into some level of consciousness.
I remember Mo Vaughn. I went to my first game at Fenway when I was 10 or 11. I remember that Vaughn had ignited some controversy having to do with a strip club and the Fenway faithful were particularly harsh on him.
I of course knew the name, but I think I would have a much better chance of recognizing him from the time he was on Curb Your Enthusiasm than a picture of him during his Red Sox days. But I was 8-10 years old when he played for us.
Carlos Quintana. What an unmemorable stretch of 1Bs between Buckner and Vaughn. Evans, Benzinger Esasky, each for a season, and then Quintana for 2.
Boomer 1.0. I grew up near Pittsfield where he had played for the minor league affiliate. God they loved him there - everyone had stories. My great aunt and uncle ran a diner where he used to go for cheeseburgers (a few times per day).
Buckner for me. Even when I was a kid--before Game 6--he was tough to watch at first. He looked brittle and with his high-top cleats, it seemed that he was always going to fall over. But man, he really hustled and worked hard. McNamara set him up to fail.
Then there was Dewey and Benzinger and Esasky and Quintana before Big Mo.
Then there was Dewey and Benzinger and Esasky and Quintana before Big Mo.
So we're not going to have a ghost of Red Sox past who could give us a Stuffy McInnis or a Candy LaChance, huh?
