Wade Boggs. My dad and I commiserated over a bottle of brandy. Lester's leaving just left me in a rage.
What made it even more of a, "strange man making breakfast in your mom's kitchen" kind of moment was seeing Burleson and Lynn in a California Angel's uniform and Fisk in a Chicago Whitesox (the silly ones) uni'. Saw the Angels in Seattle and the Whitesox in Oakland. It was strange.Fisk, Lynn, and Burleson, in that order.
Fisk was only the best catcher in the history of the organization, a natural leader, and a New England kid to boot. I'm still convinced Lynn would be in the Hall of Fame had he spent his career in Fenway banging doubles off the Wall and playing great CF. Rooster was a feisty, no-nonsense, dirt-dog, lead-by-example guy who wouldn't tolerate less-than-full effort. Given a bit of pitching, that late 70s-early 80s team should have won a World Series or two, but management ripped it apart, right up the middle.
After that horrible off-season, I knew I'd be able to survive any future organizational incompetency and still be excited for the day pitchers and catchers report.
Then where do Needham kids buy underwear now???I was in that Calverts yesterday. Love me some Trader Joe’s.
I don't think you can buy underwear in Needham. Have to cross the border to Marshall's on Needham Street (almost the same thing?) or sneak into Dedham when the folks aren't watching.Then where do Needham kids buy underwear now???
Personally, I think it's more the media that creates these narratives than the team, with the notable exception of Terry Francona. I mean, we've heard nothing but good things about Cora.I haven't really followed the free agent departures for other teams, but do the Red Sox have a weird history of kicking players, managers and executives in the ass on the way out? There seems to be a lot of gossip and acrimony whenever anyone leaves the team.
As I recall the printer for his lithographs was in his hometown of Pawtucket. My uncle worked as a printer and got me one of the image used for the wood statue Lamontagne created of Ted Williams. It hung on my bedroom wall for years. I have no idea what happened to it, but I wish I still had it.my 12th birthday present... lithograph by armand lamontagne, numbered and signed by the artist and the subject. not a cheap gift from my parents... but still hangs in my office, next to the individual media collage from each WS victory season's day-after newspaper front pages.
That's one of the better TJ's IMHO. Much better than the Back Bay, Brookline, and Newtonville ones.I was in that Calverts yesterday. Love me some Trader Joe’s.
I remember that trade. It's gotta be pretty rare in baseball history, even back when MLB player of MLB player trades happened fairly regularly, that a starter at one position was traded straight up for a starter at the same position. And between arch-rivals no less!I was oddly fond of Mike "Hit Man" Easler. In one of the "why bother?" Red Sox trades of the 1980s, Easler (a DH) was traded, straight up, for Don Baylor (another DH). The idea was that Easler was left-handed, but Baylor was right-handed, and thus Baylor would hit a million balls over the Monster. All I knew was we were bringing in friggin Yankee castoff and the Hit Man was headed out of town.
Even thought I hit righty, I emulated Easler's batting stance when I was 14. I hit .260 that year, which made me the 24th man on the roster, instead of the 25th.
You youngsters may recall Easler's stint as a battering coach. I recall him coiled like a cobra, ready to take Jim Palmer deep.
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It was the first one on the East Coast and is/was the location of their East Coast HQThat's one of the better TJ's IMHO. Much better than the Back Bay, Brookline, and Newtonville ones.
This. Add in spending like $6M a year on Offerman, when maybe a little more could have gotten Robbie Alomar.I still remember Thanksgiving, looking up on-line to see what was happening in the baseball news and seeing that not only had Mo Vaughn signed with the Angels, but that Bernie Williams was returning to the Yankees. I didn't want Vaughn to leave, but the one possible silver lining was getting another offensive piece, that played a more challenging position, and would make the Yankees weaker. Losing out on both was a real 1-2 gut punch.
That's how I felt. My daughter was devastated when Johnny Damon left though.Nomar and Pedro, even tho they were the right moves
AND then meekly got his Jesus-locks shorn like a sheep.I was pissed that Damon went to the MFY. I liked Damon well enough as a player, but for him to go to the MFY really stung. I didn't mind that they let him walk, just moreso who he ended up with, so maybe that doesn't count.
I also hated that they let O-Cab walk after 2004.
But wrong only because of a trip on the dugout steps, perhaps..Mo Vaughn for me. I was devastated and thought it was a catastrophic error.
I was wrong.
I am, perhaps, the oldest fart here...Tony C's departure was so painful on so many levels that it, to me, transcends the sport and the laundry the players wear. It was a downright HTG tragedy.I am shocked that only two of us old farts have picked Tony Conigliaro.
I say it counts; a lot. And it's right up there for me, as well.As a kid it was Fisk and Burleson.
As an adult, it was Damon, because that was my daughter's first favorite player and she was crushed he'd defect to the MFY's.
And, if it counts, no one leaving has bothered me in a long time more than Orsillo.
Your youth must have insulated you from the way "insult was added to injury" with Fisk's departure.Fisk was a tough one as I was a LL catcher who wore 27 and loved his play and NE stoicism, but I was young at the time and the disappointment was shared across the Lynn and Burleson losses.
When Mo was allowed to leave, I was compelled to write the Red Sox to express my disappointment at the time, though in retrospect we kind of dodged a bullet with him, as a typical "age poorly" guy.
But for me, it was Cecil Cooper - largely because I was lucky enough to attend the HoF game in Cooperstown, and he was the only player who, after getting on the bus, opened the window and signed autographs, which made a real strong impression on a young fan. I can't say whether his departure was good or bad for the team, but I liked and missed him.
Lester was the same age when he was traded as Vaughn was when he left.At the time, it seemed as though both Clemens and Vaughn were in the twilight of their careers, so giving up on them made some sense. The Lester screw-up was epic. A very good to great pitcher in his prime, lost because some nitwit couldn't see how good he was.