Manny Ramirez - 24 - LF
Week 12 - 20-26 June 2005

With two weeks to play before the All-Star break, Manny Ramirez is the top vote-getter on the American League ballot for the starting outfielders, just ahead of Vladimir Guerrero. It’s not surprising as he has been voted as a starter in the mid-summer classic for several years now, going back to his days with the Cleveland Indians, and Ramirez has not disappointed those voters who have put him on top again this year.

Back at his old stomping grounds in Cleveland early last week, Ramirez punished the Tribe, going 6-for-13 at the plate with two home runs and six RBI while scoring four runs. Then, over the weekend in Philadelphia, Ramirez went 5-for-14 with a home run in each of the three games played, including his 19th career grand slam on Sunday, while plating nine runners and crossing the dish four times. Although often criticized for his glovework, he also dazzled in left field. Friday night, he made a sliding, backhanded catch on a fly ball down the left-field foul line by Jim Thome in the fourth; Sunday afternoon, he made an outfield assist by nailing center fielder Jason Michaels at third base. On the season, he’s made ten outfield assists to lead the major leagues and just one error for a fielding percentage of .992.

For the week, Ramirez averaged .407 with five home runs and 15 RBI, a good month for an average player. His six-game hit streak also raised his season average to .275 after dipping to .224 one month ago. He still has his critics who believe that he is too relaxed or takes too many days off (four games in 74 games played by the Sox thus far, the second-most appearances this season for the Red Sox behind David Ortiz), but the reigning World Series MVP helped vault Boston into first place this past week and should only heat up as the summer goes on.

Fred Lynn was drafted by the Red Sox in 1973, three years after he was chosen by the Yankees but opted instead to play college ball to further enhance his skills; over three seasons at USC, he was as part of three College World Series championship teams and was named an All-American in 1972. After signing with Boston, Lynn was immediately assigned to the Double-A affiliate in Bristol, Connecticut and, in 53 games, batted .259 with six home runs and 36 RBI. The next season, he was moved to the Triple-A level in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and enjoyed another solid season, averaging .282 at the dish while stroking 21 home runs and plating 68 runners.

His numbers were impressive enough to warrant a September call-up to Boston and, while the team lost ground in the playoff race and fell to third in the American League East division, Lynn gave everyone a glimpse of what was to come. He batted an eye-popping .419 with two home runs and 10 RBI in 15 games, and his first major league hit came in his first start, when he crushed the very first pitch he saw for a home run.

It was with little surprise the following spring when he was brought to spring training with the promise of making the Boston roster; with manager Darrell Johnson looking for the right mix of astute veterans and hungry youth, Lynn easily won a spot on the Opening Day roster. Just one month into the season, the young center fielder was already winning over the crowds at Fenway Park; while batting .333 with three home runs and 13 RBI, he also dazzled in the outfielder, making acrobatic catches that brought the fans to their feet.

Lynn continued to become a household name in Boston; his batting average climbing to .350 by the end of May and he didn’t commit his first error until the first day of June. He also enjoyed a twenty-game hitting streak between 25 May and 15 June, a stretch in which he batted .366 with five home runs and 19 RBI. Enjoying this great season alongside him was fellow rookie and 1974 International League MVP Jim Rice; so much were both of these youngsters helping the Red Sox that they were nicknamed “The Gold Dust Twins” to underline their value to the club.

On 18 June, the Red Sox squared off against the Tigers in Detroit; it was also the highlight of Lynn’s great season. In what some would consider the greatest single-game performance in the history of baseball, Lynn went 5-for-6 with three home runs and was just a double shy of hitting for the cycle. Although Tiger Stadium was known as a hitter’s park, with the overhang in right field tempting batters, Lynn didn’t need the cozy confines to showcase his picture-perfect swing not seen since the days of Ted Williams. One of Lynn’s blasts caromed off the upper deck roof and the other two landed in the top deck; he nearly had a fourth but the ball struck the fence just a few feet from leaving the yard. In total, his five hits brought home ten batters and he collected an American League record 16 bases.

Lynn continued his torrid pace through the rest of the summer and finished the season with a .331 batting average, 21 home runs, and 105 RBI. He also scored 103 runs and belted 47 doubles while slugging .566 to lead the American League in all three categories. It was no surprise then when, after the 1975 season came to a close, he was the unanimous choice for AL Rookie of the Year and the top vote-getter for the AL MVP, the first time in history that a player had won both honors in the same season.

Perhaps no other player in baseball history has enjoyed such a debut as Lynn did in 1975, with Jim Rice by his side in left field, as he helped lead the Red Sox to the playoffs. Unfortunately, although Lynn continued to enjoy moderate success over the rest of his Red Sox career, he could never equal the magic of his rookie season. After leaving Boston following the 1980 season, Lynn played for several teams over the next ten seasons but averaged just .263 at the plate and nagging aches and pains eventually forced him to retire following the 1990 season. Although his promise never realized a spot in the Hall of Fame, for that one season in 1975, Fred Lynn was a living, breathing dynamo wearing a Red Sox uniform.

At least it’s not as bad as last year when, from day one following a disappointing end in 2003, all the talk focused on the numerous potential free agents on the Red Sox roster and who, if any, the organization would sign to new contracts at the end of the 2004 campaign. Whether it centered on the disgruntled Nomar Garciaparra, the egomaniacal Pedro Martinez, or the temperamental Derek Lowe, the media had its hands full trying to juggle these questions along with Boston’s magical run to a post-season championship for the first time since the end of World War I. Instead of focusing on the field, as most fans were, they were too busy fiddling with some magical decoder rings that are apparently issued with press passes these days, trying to decipher the language from both sides of the issue, the players and the organization, and second-guessing the motives of each party. Surely, they thought, one of these three would be back, or the team would be hard-pressed to remain competitive with the Yankees, who threatened to break the $200 million payroll threshold.

Fast-forward to the present and, with none of these aforementioned players still wearing a Red Sox uniform, Boston sits at 41-30, one win better than the club’s record at this time last season. The loss of these key players have been, for the most part, offset by smart management decisions made by Theo Epstein, who spent his third off-season putting his spin on this organization’s building legacy. With free agents like Edgar Renteria and Matt Clement plugging some of the gaps and seasoned Red Sox players like Jason Varitek still tasting champagne on their lips, it’s been another up-and-down first half but Boston remains hungry to repeat the success of 2004, even with the final outcome still lingering high in the air.

So, of course, with nothing else to interest them as mid-season approaches, it must be time to start talking about free agent possibilities again. This year, the Red Sox again have more than a few guaranteed contracts coming to a conclusion at season’s end, perhaps none bigger than that of center field Johnny Damon, who was a key member of last season’s championship squad and has continued to dominate at the plate over the first half of the season. He might even have the opportunity, if he is not voted in by the fans, to make the American League All-Star roster representing Boston for the second time in his four seasons here.

With his deal, signed by Dan Duquette just before the former general manager got the boot by the new ownership, drawing to a close, the 32-year-old Damon and his agent, the notorious Scott Boras, a “bulldog” as described by one of his other clients, Varitek, are looking for a five-to-six year guaranteed contract. Although no dollar figures have been give, it is likely that he will command considerably more per season on the free-agent market than the $8.25 million he is due to collect by the end of the season.

It is possible that Damon will remain in Boston if he is willing to take the “hometown” discount and accept a contract with shorter terms and only a moderate increase in salary with club options for later years. On the other hand, he also represents the Red Sox through the Major League Baseball Players Association, which endorses the free market system for its players and therefore does not encourage members to negotiate contracts in this manner. Having been elevated to celebrity status since showcasing his talents during last year’s playoff run, he knows that he should be able to command top dollar, even if legions of loyal Red Sox followers want to see him finish out the remainder of his career in Boston, and it will be difficult for him to pass up lucrative opportunities.

As head coach Bill Belichick and vice-president of player personnel Scott Pioli have proven with the New England Patriots over the last five seasons, it is not the value of the individual but rather the collective whole that determines the success of its team, evident by the three Super Bowl victories over than span. Great players like Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy whose demands would have been met less the organization feared a backlash by its fan base have, without much fanfare, been shown the door. Egos are checked outside the clubhouse and players have seen the benefit of putting the team before the individual, knowing that the collective contributions of each member are proof positive of continued success.

I have no other objective this season as a Red Sox fan except to continue to bask in the glow of Boston’s championship for as long as it lasts and see if Boston can win back-to-back titles, even with the knowledge that a few team members may be wearing another uniform next season. As is the nature of sports in the 21st century, the days of a player remaining with one organization for an entire career are fading, for better or worse. It’s a harsh reality for those who remember the days of placing a name to the face of an organization, like Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Ernie Banks, or Cal Ripken, players who never knew the feeling of changing loyalty to a club.

I’ve followed the Red Sox faithfully for more than twenty years; even if they never win another championship, they will always have my unwavering support. That’s not to say that I have no respect for those who wear the Boston uniform; I cheer as loudly as everyone else in the Red Sox family when one of our players makes a diving catch, helps turn two to end an inning, or drives home the game winning run in the ninth. However, as represented by the fact that home uniforms for my beloved team do not have the names of each player sewn above the number on the back, my loyalty will always be to the name on the front of the jersey.

Matt Clement - 30 - RHP
Week 11 - 13-19 June 2005

The Sox originally hoped to replace Derek Lowe with Carl Pavano during the off-season but, after the former Red Sox farm hand signed a contract with New York, the Sox went with Plan B in the form of Matt Clement. The choice was a little surprising and even more surprising was the fact that Boston gave a three-year, $25-million contract to a pitcher who entered the season with a 69-75 career record. Numbers don’t always tell the story, though; a 9-13 record last season with the Chicago Cubs was due in part to getting some of the worst run support in the National League.

After Clement was rocked in St. Louis the previous week, the young right-hander looked to get back on track at Fenway, where he was 3-0 in six starts entering the week. Facing Cincinnati on Monday, he had no problem with the relatively week lineup, allowing just three runs on six hits while striking out nine over eight innings of work as Boston opened a six-game homestand with a convincing 10-3 win over the Reds. Then Sunday, Clement was again in control, making quick work of the Pittsburgh offense and yielding just three hits while striking out nine more in seven innings as he combined with Alan Embree to shut out the Pirates, 8-0, one day after Boston suffered its first shutout of the season and saw a five-game win streak come to an end.

The two wins gave Clement a 8-1 record with a 3.48 ERA and right now puts him in position as the ace of the Boston staff this season. In contrast, Pavano is just 4-5 with a 4.53 ERA and hasn’t won a game since 22 May, going 0-3 in five starts since that start against the crosstown Mets.

Born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, Fisk actually grew up across the Connecticut River in Charlestown, New Hampshire and later attended UNH, playing both basketball and baseball. As 1967 began, “Pudge” realized the dream of every little boy from New England when he was drafted in the first round of the amateur draft by Boston. A military commitment forced him to miss that season but, after being released from active duty as the 1968 season began, Fisk was assigned to extended spring training and then spent the summer playing for a Red Sox farm club in Iowa, batting .338 with 12 home runs and 34 RBI in 62 games.

Late in 1969, Fisk was called up to the bigs but played just one game as a catcher; over the next two seasons at the minor league level, he steadily improved his game offensively and defensively and was recalled late in 1971, playing 14 games behind the plate and batting .313 with two home runs and six RBI. An impressive spring training before the 1972 season gave Boston every reason to believe that his skills were honed enough to be an everyday catcher in the major leagues, and Fisk spent the entire season proving his worth to everyone else.

He batted .293, clubbed 22 home runs, and drove in 61 runs while also leading the league in triples with nine. Although he led the league in errors at his position, he also led in putout and assists, throwing out 36 runners in 92 attempts for a 39% success rate. With numbers like those, he easily walked away with American League Rookie of the Year honors as the unanimous choice of the baseball writers as well as the Rookie Player of the Year by The Sporting News.

His success continued in 1973; despite watching his batting average slip to .246, he hit 26 home runs and drove in another 71 runs, and his numbers behind the plate remained about the same. However, 1974 started out on the wrong foot when an injury in spring training caused him to miss the first weeks of the season. Then, on 28 June with the Sox driving towards a possible playoff berth, Fisk was seriously injured in a home plate collision with Leron Lee of the Cleveland Indians. Knee surgery followed, Fisk was out for the rest of the season, and the Sox ended up losing steam in September. Fisk was back on track the following spring, but an errant pitch broke his arm, and he was sidelined again for the first few months of the season.

On 23 June, nearly a year after making his last major league appearance, Fisk was behind the plate catching for Jim Burton in an 11-3 loss. Although he went hitless in just two at-bats, Fisk caught fire almost immediately after that and, following a doubleheader on 30 June, was batting .318 with a home run and three RBI. Fisk continued to play well through July, raising his average to .333 while Boston, which had moved into first place at the end of June, pushed ahead even further in the AL East division, jumping to nine games ahead of Baltimore and ten games in front of the Yankees.

He slowed down only slight through August but enjoyed a September to remember, batting .371 with three home runs and 18 RBI to finish the year with a .331 average, ten home runs, and 52 RBI in just 79 games played. Fisk also continued to play hard behind the plate, throwing out nearly the same percentage of runners as he has over his first two seasons as the Red Sox went 54-34 over the last three months of the season after the club started at 41-31. Fisk would have even more to add in the post-season, etching one memorable moment into the minds of every Red Sox fan as well as the history of sports.

David Wells - 16 - LHP
Week 10 - 06-12 June 2005

In mid-December, Boston surprised more than a few fans when they decided to take a chance on a former Yankees pitcher who considered Babe Ruth his personal hero. For those people who have lived in a cave on Mars for the past 100 years, Ruth was the player the Sox traded away in 1919, a year after winning their fourth World Series that decade; Boston then waited 85 more seasons before capturing their next title. However, considering the team had been self-labeled as the Band of Idiots, David Wells seemed a perfect fit to the revamped rotation.

Wells began his up-and-down season losing the opener back in New York where Boston had surprised the Yankees last fall in the American League Championship Series. After five starts, Wells was 2-3 with a 4.91 ERA and, after stepping awkwardly off the mound on 25 April against Baltimore, he was on the disabled list for the first time alongside ace Curt Schilling. In less than a month, he was back out on the mound but got rocked in his first start, allowing seven runs in 1-1/3 innings of work, then gave up five more runs in a no decision against Toronto, leaving the Fenway faithful to wonder if he was Ramiro Mendoza in disguise.

In the past two weeks, though, Wells seems to have settled down. In his start against New York on 29 May, he threw 8-1/3 solid innings and gave up just two runs on six hits for his first win in over a month; five days later against Anaheim, he pitched another solid seven innings in a no-decision. As Boston struggled through a 2-4 road trip this past week, one of the few highlights came late on Wednesday evening as “Boomer” evened his record with eight scoreless innings. Wells allowed just four hits without a walk and struck out two in a commanding performance against St. Louis as the Red Sox avoid a sweep at the hands of the Cardinals with a 4-0 shutout. Those last three starts also lowered his ERA from 6.81 to a more respectable 5.07. This former Yankees cheerleader still has a lot to prove to the fans in Boston, but perhaps Wells is finally getting use to his new digs.

Johnson’s major league career began quietly when he was signed as an amateur free agent by the hapless St. Louis Browns in 1949. Three years later, he made his major league debut for the perennial losers and played in just 29 games as a reserve catcher before being traded at mid-season to the Chicago White Sox. After playing another 22 games that season, he toiled in the minors for four years, going back to the Browns and then getting shipped to the Yankees organization before he reemerged again in 1957 to back up Yogi Berra for two seasons in New York. His career was finished by the end of 1962, having jumped between seven different organizations and, if he learned nothing else, waiting on the sidelines for most of his career taught him the patience and understanding that he would need to manage in the major leagues.

Johnson’s first stint as a manager was with the Rochester (NY) Red Wings, Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate, of the International League. In just his second season, he guided his team to the 1964 Governor’s Cup championship. Eight years later in 1972, he led the Louisville (KY) Colonials, then the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, to a first-place regular season finish but lost the IL title to Tidewater (VA).

One year later, after Boston moved the AAA franchise to Pawtucket, he took most of those same players to a 78-68 record and his second Governor’s Cup, besting future Red Sox manager Joe Morgan and his Charleston (WV) Charlies. His team also won the Junior World Series again the American Association League champions Tulsa and Johnson was further honored as the IL Manager of the Year.

His success at the minor-league level had not gone unnoticed by the parent club. Boston needed to replace Eddie Kasko, whom they had fired on the last day of the 1973 season. Although Kasko had compiled four straight winning seasons at the helm of the Red Sox, he had finished second twice in the past two seasons and management was tired of his inability to deal with problems in the clubhouse. With expectations high based on his past managing success, the 46-year-old Johnson was named the Boston Red Sox skipper to begin the 1974 season.

From the beginning, Johnson made it clear that the answer to winning that elusive championship was to mix some of the raw yet eager talent he had witnessed firsthand alongside the seasoned veterans. Johnson’s club responded by staying close for the first half, then a hot August had them up by five over New York. However, with injuries to several key players, the Sox faltered over the last month of the season to finish at 84-78 and a distant third in the American League East.

Still, several young prospects had exceeded expectations that season and, by 1975, youngsters like Dwight Evans, Rick Burleson, and Cecil Cooper, along with rookies Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, were ready to finally lead the club in a pennant race. After a slow start, Johnson had Boston back in first by May and four-and-a-half games up by the All-Star break. Cruising through July and August, he entered the final month with a six-game lead and made it stick, finally returning Boston to the playoffs for the first time since 1967.

After capturing the American League pennant and missing that elusive World Series title, Johnson was expected to lead Boston to the promise land the next season; instead, his team imploded and he lost control. At the end of May, the Sox were in fourth, seven games behind first-place New York; the gap widened to nine by the end of June. Boston was still spinning out of control on 18 July when general manager Dick O’Connell finally pulled the plug on Johnson, ending his brief but memorable tenure as Red Sox manager.

Johnson would return the following season to become the first manager of the expansion Seattle Mariners; he held that position from 1977 until halfway through the 1980 season, when he was fired after posting a .384 winning percentage. He would manage just once more in the majors, replacing Texas Rangers skipper Don Zimmer two-thirds of the way through the 1982 season; ironically, it was Zimmer who had replaced the fired Johnson in Boston in 1976.

Kevin Millar - 15 - 1B/RF
Week 9 - 30 May - 05 June 2005

About two weeks ago, Kevin Millar was trying to get people to give newcomer Edgar Renteria a chance to show his value not just in the field but at the plate. Renteria didn’t just prove Millar right; he easily cruised to Player of the Week honors, not just here, but for the American League. Now, a week later, those who have been critical of Millar’s early season woes might be ready to start giving him his due, too.

Though he sat out a couple of games earlier in the week in favor of John Olerud, a more recent newcomer to the Sox clubhouse, Millar went 7-for-19 (.368) with three doubles, two home runs, and four RBI in five starts. On Saturday in a loss to the Angels, the “Rally Karaoke Guy” was the offense for Boston, going 3-for-4 with a double, both home runs, and three RBI. With his strong showing over the weekend, he not only raised his average from .243 to .255 over the week, his slugging percentage improved more than 50 points from .325 to .378 in that same span.

Last season, Millar also struggled early before a change in his batting stance in mid-July turned around his fortunes. With the warm weather finally returning to the Northeast this past week, perhaps it’s also a sign that the veteran first baseman will only heat up from here.

As they had the previous month, Boston got off to a quick start in June of 1975 as the Red Sox won five of six but, instead of gaining ground on the division, the Sox actually lost ground to New York, who won six straight and jumped to just three games behind Boston in the standings. Three days later, a modest three-game losing streak to close an eight-game homestand at Fenway Park had Darrell Johnson’s club just one game in front of Bill Virdon’s Bronx Bombers for the division. Boston would then alternate wins and loses over the next four games against the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals, which included a twin-bill against the Royals in Kansas City, and suddenly there was a dead-tie for first place between the long-time rivals of the American League.

Feeling the breathe of a hated division foe down their necks, Boston put together a six-game winning streak on the road, taking the final two in a series with the Royals, then sweeping the Tigers in Detroit before dispatching of the Orioles in the first of three in Baltimore. The highlight of the streak came on 18 June when center fielder Fred Lynn, playing like a seasoned veteran rather than a wide-eyed rookie, clobbered three home runs and a triple as Boston pounded Detroit, 15-1, giving Luis Tiant his second win in five days to buoy his record to 9-6. Boston also twice won in extra innings, both 12-frame affairs, as the Red Sox built a three-game cushion between themselves and New York.

Just as quickly, however, the fate of the Red Sox turned again, despite the return of catcher Carlton Fisk from the disabled list on 23 June. Five losses in six games, including a sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Indians in Boston to start a ten-game homestand, suddenly put the Sox a game and a half behind New York, who had put together another winning streak. If by chance, the Yankees then strolled into Fenway Park for a four-game series, giving the Red Sox the opportunity to put themselves back on top.

Boston began the series with Tiant on the mound, who allowed just a first-inning run to the Yanks in a complete-game effort as the Red Sox cruised to a 6-1 victory, highlighted by Fisk’s first home run since returning from the DL. Rick Wise started the second game and nearly matched Tiant’s effort the night before, allowing just one run in a complete-game, 9-1 pasting of the Bombers.

Boston would lose the third game, despite two home runs from Carl Yastrzemski, but the Sox ended the series with a 3-2 comeback victory thanks to Rick Burleson’s one-out double in the eighth to plate Bernie Carbo with the winning run. Roger Moret’s complete game effort gave the 25-year-old southpaw a spotless 5-0 record after starting the season in the bullpen.

Having spent most of June in a divisional battle with New York, Boston finished the month as winners of 18 in 31 chances to sit at 41-31, ten games above .500, a game in front of the Yankees, and two games in front of Milwaukee who, after a sub par start to the month, had won 11 of their last 16 games. The rest of the American League East was well under .500, so it appeared as though one of these three teams was going to come out on top in the end and face the Oakland Athletics, who already looked poised to take the West Division title for the fifth year in a row after putting some distance between them and second place Kansas City that month.