Curt Schilling - 38 - RHP
Week 16 - 18-24 July 2005

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines warrior as …a person engaged in some struggle or conflict; it would be appropriate then to post a photo of Curt Schilling right next to those words. After helping Boston win its first World Series title in 86 years last fall, the veteran pitcher struggled to regain his health as well as his form after off-season ankle surgery sidelined him, for the most part, until after the All-Star break. When he returned, instead of getting inserted back into the rotation, he was moved to the bullpen by manager Terry Francona to help fill a gaping hole left by the loss of a struggling Keith Foulke and bolster a shaky bullpen.

His first game back was one to forget as he gave up a game-winning home run to Alex Rodriguez, but he pitched effectively over the last week, saving two games and earning the win in a third. He notched his first save since 1992 last Tuesday against Tampa Bay, closing out a 5-2 win over the Devil Rays with a perfect ninth inning that included a strikeout. Two days later, Francona asked to pitch two innings; although he blew a save opportunity by giving up a run in the eighth, he was given a reprieve when Manny Ramirez hit a one-out solo shot in the next frame and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the last two batters to “vulture” his first win in over three months. Schilling then made one more appearance on Saturday and was asked to hold a 3-0 lead. After giving up two singles, he stabbed a bounder hit right back to him, whirled and fired to second for one out, and then watched his teammates complete the double play. The last out was a little loud as Timo Perez hit one to the warning track in deep left, but Ramirez again bailed his pitcher out with a running catch to preserve the shutout.

It’s obvious to everyone that Schilling is better suited to serve as a starter than as the closer; he himself would rather get the ball in the first and work from there. However, he also wants to do whatever is necessary to help his team get back to the playoffs and the World Series; if it requires taking on an unexpected role, then so be it. Although he still has more to overcome and there are no guarantees, even if he called it a career tomorrow, this warrior has already earned the respect and admiration of the organization and its fans.

James Edward Rice never knew any other professional organization other than the Red Sox. Drafted in the first round of the 1971 amateur draft, 15th overall, Rice quickly rose through the ranks of the farm system. In 1973, he won the Eastern League (Double-A) batting title at Bristol and, one year later, won the International League (Triple-A) Triple Crown with a .337 batting average, 25 home runs, and 93 RBI. It was no surprise then when the rosters expanded in September of 1974, both he and fellow prospect Fred Lynn, who was also making noise with Pawtucket, were brought aboard for the final month. In 24 games, Rice batted .269 with a home run and 13 RBI; though he was overshadowed by Lynn’s more impressive numbers (.419, 2 HR, 10 RBI), there was no doubt that Rice would be playing for the parent club in 1975.

Rice made his debut not at Fenway Park but at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore on 11 April after sitting for the opening series at Fenway Park and quickly established himself as a presense in the Red Sox lineup; by the end of April, he had stroked two home runs and driven in eight runs in 11 games while batting a respectable .271. Again, Lynn was playing just that much better than him, with three home runs and 13 RBI in 14 games while batting .333. Rice was also making most of his appearances as the designated hitter, as veterans Juan Beniquez and Bernie Carbo got most of the starts in left, while Lynn was already established as the everyday centerfielder before the season even began.

Despite this, Rice continued to quietly produce; by the end of June, he was batting .288 with 10 home runs and 45 RBI. As the calendar rolled over into July, manager Darrell Johnson finally began sticking the young slugger out in the field, having him play both ends of a double-header on 02 July. As the Red Sox heated up that month, the crowds were witness to perhaps one of the greatest rookie outfield tandems in baseball history, with Rice and Lynn working side-by-side in 79 games over the rest of the season. Although not known to have a strong glove, Rice went the entire season without commiting a single error in his position. Soon, the press had labeled the two rookies “The Gold Dust Twins,” amazed at how fortunate for Boston to have such two great rookie talents making their debuts together.

Rice also continued to heat up at the plate. In July, he batted .321 to raise his average to .299 by the end of the month while hitting six home runs and driving in another 27 runners. He continued to produce as the summer rolled on, hitting at an impressive .343 clip in August while raising his home run total to 21 and his RBI total to 90, as he and Lynn continued not only to lead the team in those categories, but the entire American League itself.

It looked like a strong finish as Rice continued to produce in the final month of the season, but then disaster struck. Playing in Detroit on 21 September during the last week of the regular season, Rice was at the plate in the second inning when Tigers starting pitcher Vern Ruhle struck him on the left hand. Though he would get two more at-bats in the game, by the middle of the seventh inning he was in enough pain that he was lifted from the game. It turned out that he had suffered a broken hand; as a result, Rice would miss not only the rest of the season, but the entire post-season as well, only able to watch from the sidelines. Finishing the season with totals of .309, 22 home runs, and 102 RBI, the youngster would also finish third in the AL MVP vote and second in the Rookie of the Year vote, watching both awards deservedly go to his teammate Fred Lynn.

Rice would go on in his career to become one of the most feared hitters over the next decade. At the end of his career, he had amassed 2,452 hits, 382 home runs, and 1,451 RBI, enough to place him third all-time in franchise history in each catergory behind Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski. He also did have one chance to play in a World Series, appearing in the 1986 Fall Classic against the New York Mets and batting .333 (9-for-27) with six walks and scoring six runs, though he did not hit a home run or plate a single runner.

Trot Nixon - 7 - RF
Week 15 - 14-17 July 2005

If you open the Red Sox dictionary and look under the term “dirt dog,” you might just find a photograph of Trot Nixon shown next to the definition. To understand why, just observe his head gear the next time he stands in the batter’s box when his turn in the lineup comes. With pine tar so thick that you can barely make out the B on his helmet, you know that Nixon is one of the toughest, grittiest players on the Red Sox. The longest-tenured member of the organization, perhaps no one other than Johnny Pesky was more deserving of a World Series title than this player, who was drafted in 1993 in the first round, patiently made his way up through the minors, and finally got his shot at being an everyday player six years later.

Though it was a short week for baseball due to the All-Star break, Nixon started hot in the four-game series with New York at Fenway. On Thursday, he went 2-for-4 with a home run, driving in three runs and scoring twice in a tough 8-6 loss. The next night, Nixon collected two more hits, including a two-run double in the first followed by a three-run inside-the-park home run in the very next inning to finish the night 2-for-5 with five RBI and two runs scored. Unforutnately, those would be his only contributions at the plate in a tough series for the Red Sox, but he still finished the week with a respectable .286 average at the plate with two home runs and eight RBI.

On the season, Nixon is now batting .295 with 11 home runs and 50 RBI and has scored 48 runs. Those numbers give him a chance to match some career highs, but his only concern is helping his team do better over the rest of the second half. With first place on the line, he’s going to do all that he can to keep Boston there.

Drafted by the Red Sox in 1970, the man affectionately known as “Rooster” had the advantage of being managed at Pawtucket in 1973 by Darrell Johnson, who was promoted following the end of that season to the major league club after Eddie Kasko was fired after four years at the Boston helm. Having seen the future and wanting to make his mark, Johnson set forth endorsing a youth movement in the Red Sox clubhouse and, after starting the season at the Triple-A level, Burleson was called up in early May to take over as the everyday shortstop. In a rather inauspicious debut, the young rookie commited three errors in the field in front of the Fenway Park crowd, one that helped led to the only run scored in the game in a 1-0 loss to Texas. However, he went on to be a popular figure in Boston for seven seasons, making up for a lack of range with a strong arm that helped turn many a double play.

Burleson appeared in 114 games in his first big-league season, mostly at short but shifting to second base a few dozen times. Sitting near the bottom of the lineup due to his lack of punch at the plate, he managed to finish his rookie season with a .284 average, banging 22 doubles and four home runs while collecting 44 RBI along with 36 runs scored. He also gained an understanding of the pressures of playing in an atmosphere like Boston, which hungered for that elusive championship, as the Red Sox came up just short of reaching the playoffs. Having been with his skipper when Pawtucket won the Governor’s Cup in 1973, he knew the taste of success and was eager to share it with the Boston faithful.

With Johnson adding rookies Fred Lynn and Jim Rice to the roster to begin the 1975 season, Burleson was the perfect fit in the clubhouse where youth and experience were joined in harmony. Now with a year under his belt and his value as a fielder apparent, he would make 157 starts as the everyday shortstop. That gave him plenty of opportunity to hone his skills even further and develop into a legitimate double-play threat, as he turned the trick 102 times. In late May against California, he managed that feat three times with Doug Griffin playing at second, helping to end the defensive half of the eighth and ninth innings for Boston; at the plate, he was nearly as impressive that evening, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a three-run home run as the Red Sox shut out the Angels, 6-0.

Burleson finished that season with a .963 fielding percentage, having made just 29 errors in 784 chances. Although his batting average dipped considerably to just .252, he improved in almost every other catergory, hitting six home runs and driving in 62 while scoring 66 runs. It was good enough to even get some votes for American League Most Valuable Player, although he finished well behind fellow Red Sox teammate Fred Lynn for that honor.

Burleson would play five more seasons with Boston before being granted free agency after the 1980 season and going to California, where he was signed to the most lucrative deal ever given a shortstop, a six-year, $4.2 million contract. However, he would play just one full season under that deal; just a couple of weeks into the 1982 season, he tore his rotator cuff making a throw to first and would play just 133 more games for the Angels over the life of that contract. Rooster would end his career after the 1987 season and finished with a .273 average at the plate and a .971 fielding percentage at shortstop. He also helped turn 827 double plays from his position, including a major league record 147 of them as well as two triple plays in the 1979 season, leading to his only Gold Glove award.

Johnny Damon - 18 - CF
Week 14 - 04-10 July 2005

Johnny Damon’s status was given another boost last week when he was voted by the fans to start in the All-Star Game Tuesday in Detroit after edging Ichiro Suzuki for the final outfield spot. It’s no wonder, with the long-haired Red Sox center fielder perhaps being the most recognized figure on the team outside the Boston fan base. Of course, to no one’s surprise, he decided to celebrate his second trip to the mid-summer classic by enjoying a fine week before the break.

Damon went 10-for-27 (.370) at the plate to bump his average to .343, good enough for second place in the American League behind only fellow All-Star Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles. He also continued to extend the second-longest hitting streak in baseball this season (behind on Carlos Lee of Milwaukee who hit safely in 28 straight). Sunday afternoon in Baltimore, he popped a bloop bunt single down the first base line for his only hit that day, although he also enjoyed a 4-for-5 showing with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored Friday night. Damon also made perhaps the play of the year in the field Tuesday night in Texas when he robbed Rangers outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. of a hit with a diving catch in short center.

Although his home run totals are off from last season, he is on pace to either match or improve on his numbers this year. That will probably make him one of the most highly sought-after free agents at season’s end and it will be interesting to see if the Sox will be willing to shell out the $10-$14 million that he is expected to command after getting $31 million to play four seasonsin Boston. Next to Roberts, Damon has been the best lead-off hitter in baseball this season and is perhaps worthy of MVP honors should he continue to play as he did in the first half.

Signed at age 19 as an amateur free agent by Detroit in September of 1964, Dick Drago spent his first four professional seasons quietly trying to make a name for himself in the Tigers’ minor league system. Playing in the Carolina League in May of 1966, he teamed with Rocky Mount teammate and fellow pitcher Darrell Clark to throw no-hitters in each end of a doubleheader. At the end of the 1968 season, he appeared ready to make a move to the major league, but the Tiger’s rotation was already fairly stacked with star pitchers like 31-game winner Denny McLain, Earl Wilson, and Mickey Lolich, who had bested Bob Gibson in the seventh game of that year’s Fall Classic. Thus, Detroit offered Drago in the expansion draft and he was eagerly picked up by the newly-formed Kansas City Royals.

In five seasons with Kansas City, Drago was by far the ace of the rotation. His most successful year with the Royals came in 1971, when he went 17-11 with a 2.98 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 35 games, earning him consideration for the American League Cy Young award. However, that would also be his only winning season during his tenure; although his win totals entered double figures in four of his seasons and he had a respectable ERA of 3.52, he went just 61-70, primarily due to the young team suffering three losing seasons during his tenure.

Following the 1973 season, the 28-year-old pitcher was traded to Boston; although he would start 18 games in his first season with Boston, he also made several appearances in relief and finished the season at 7-10 with three saves and a 3.48 ERA. The following season, with competition from several seasoned starters including Luis Tiant, Rick Wise, and Bill Lee, manager Darrell Johnson decided that Drago would be more valuable in the closer role, thus effectively moving the veteran into a role that would define the latter half of his career.

Drago’s role was rather diminished in the early going due to a tight shoulder suffered in the second week of the season; he made only three appearances from the bullpen by the end of April and earned just one save. However, by early June he seemed well-established in the role, with five saves and a 2.00 ERA by 06 June. By the All-Star break, he had seven saves under his belt and had even made two emergency starts.

After making a start just three days before the All-Star break, Drago would not pitch again for the rest of the month, but that was more to due with the fact that his role diminished due to strong play by his team. As he sat in the bullpen resting his arm, the Red Sox went on a tear after returning from the break, going 13-5 before the end of the month. Back at the beginning of August, the nearly three weeks of rest for Drago appeared to have been an unexpected stroke of luck for the Sox down the stretch. Over the final two months of the season, Drago would allow just nine earned runs and collect eight more saves, including seven in the month of September, as he finished the season with a 2-2 record, 15 saves, and a 3.84 ERA in 40 appearances.

Drago was traded from Boston to California at the start of spring training in 1976 but would make his return to the Red Sox two years later in 1978, when he was signed as a free agent. In his first season back with the club, he would take a back seat to teammate Bob Stanley in the closer role, but still collected seven saves. The next year, after Stanley was moved into a starting role, Drago reassumed his position as the closer and made 13 saves for the Sox. However, in his last season with Boston in 1980, he was relegated back to a standard relief role and collected just three saves, although he did make seven starts to end the season, going 3-2 in those appearances.

Drago would play just one more season in the majors before handing up his cleats after 13 seasons and a 108-117 record with 58 saves; in five seasons with Boston, he was 30-29 with 41 saves and a 3.55 ERA. His only other claim to fame in his career came on 20 July 1976 as a member of the California Angels, when he served up the 755th and very last home run hit by home run king and Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron.

If defending a World Series championship were easy, we’d already be planning the October parade route through Boston, but winning a title for the first time since Woodrow Wilson was president means that there are 29 other teams looking to knock you off your perch. It’s been another interesting first half for the club and, for the first time in a decade, the Red Sox sit in sole possession of first place in the American League East at the All-Star break and would like to stay there for the rest of the 2005 season. With this being the traditional half-way mark of the baseball season, it’s time to take stock in how this team has done to this point and hand out some type-written hardware.

Team MVP: Matt Clement
First runner-up: Johnny Damon

The loss of Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe in the Red Sox rotation looked even worse on paper when free agent and former Boston prospect Carl Pavano decided to take an offer to play with the Yankees. Clement was the only other viable option available on the free agent market but seemed like a risky option. However, with Curt Schilling out of action for most of the first half, the eight-year veteran has filled in nicely as the club’s substitute ace, earning ten wins in 18 starts and posting a 3.85 ERA, which leads the team in both categories; in contrast, Pavano is 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA in 17 starts and currently sits on the disabled list. Even though he was added at the last moment, the first-time All-Star selection for Clement was well-deserved; through the first half of the season, he has by far been one of the better pitchers in the American League.

Team Goat: Keith Foulke
First runner-up: Mark Bellhorn

Foulke solidified the closer role last season and throughout the playoffs; however, for as good as he was last season, he has been almost as bad this season. Although he is on track to match his save total from last season, his other numbers are cause for alarm; his walk total already equals last seasons total and he has given up seven more earned runs this season (27) than he did all last season (20). His WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) average is 1.56, better than 50% higher than last season’s average, and the opposition is hitting .289 against him compared to just .208 last season. Fans no longer feel confident when he enters a game; four blown saves and recent arthroscopic surgery have deepened those concerns.

Biggest Surprise: Jason Varitek
First runner-up: Mike Timlin

People in Boston already knew that they had an All-Star catcher behind the plate before this season; being part of last season’s championship team made it evident to the rest of baseball. Varitek will make the first of what will hopefully be a few starts for the American League before he calls it a career and he is more than deserving of that recognition after the first half he enjoyed, especially at the plate. Though he has struggled somewhat in the past couple of weeks, his .301 average is nearly 30 point better than his career average; in fact, Varitek was batting .328 and better as recently as a month ago and his numbers will likely climb again. He has also hit 17 doubles and 13 home runs, which has him on pace to match or exceed career highs. Maybe the Sox should have given him that “C” sooner to wear on his chest.

Biggest Disappointment: Ramon Vasquez
First runner-up: Alan Embree

Boston envisioned that Vasquez would serve as this year’s version of Pokey Reese but that never materialized. Although the opportunities came few and far between, with only 27 appearances and just two starts since the start of June, Vasquez was just awful at the plate, batting just .197 before getting optioned to the minors nearly a week ago and then getting traded to Cleveland. As expected, he showed promise with the glove but, without the bat, he made it difficult for the Red Sox to keep a spot reserved for him on the bench.

Second Half Outlook
Keep your eyes forward

Boston enters the break at 49-38, two games ahead of Baltimore and 2-1/2 games better than New York. At the same time last season, they were 48-38 and seven games behind the Yankees for first place in the East. Last season, it seemed like a hopeless cause; this season, it feels more like guarded optimism. Exhilaration has gone hand-in-hand with the usual scattered struggles or setbacks and it is still unclear whether this year’s crusade will match the success of last season’s campaign.

One advantage for the Red Sox in the second half this season is that, after spending what seemed like an eternity on the road in the first half, playing 49 of the first 87 games this season away from home, Boston will get to play 43 of its remaining 75 games at friendly Fenway Park, where they enjoy the best winning percentage in baseball at home since 2003. Right after the All-Star break, they get to start at home with seven games against New York and Tampa Bay, and then follow a week-long road trip with four series out of the next five at home; that means home-field advantage in 19 out of the first 29 contests to begin the second half. Without being overlooked, Boston also gets help from the schedule makers in the second half with 12 games against Tampa Bay, six against Kansas City, and six against Detroit.

Boston also gets what will be like a mid-season acquisition when Curt Schilling rejoins the team after the break. The team may start the second half with the 38-year-old ace, whose ankle should now be fully healed, coming in from the bullpen but, by the end of the month, he will likely be moved to the starting rotation. Should he come back and pitch like he did in 2004 for the Red Sox, it will definitely pick up a few extra wins for the patchwork rotation which did admirably in the first half.

For the Red Sox, winning the East for the first time since 1995 may be the only ticket to the post-season dance this year; the wild card race at this point is packed pretty tight, with five teams within two games of the leader in that battle and nearly equal competition from the Central division. That should equal an interesting September, as the Sox will play home-and-home series against the Orioles and the Yankees, which includes a showdown at Fenway against New York over the final weekend of the season. The Red Sox seem to match up well with the Yankees, winning five-of-nine thus far with two series already played in New York, but they need to play better in the second half against Baltimore and Toronto, who sport a combined 14-8 record against Boston. Do so and Boston will reach the playoffs for a third straight season, something they have never accomplished as an organization.

Mike Timlin - 50 - RP
Week 13 - 27 June - 03 July 2005

Unfortunately for Boston, it hasn’t been pretty in 2005 for the Red Sox bullpen. Keith Foulke has struggled in the closer role after being so dominant a season ago and relievers Alan Embree (1-4, 8.05) and Matt Mantei (1-0, 6.49) have looked almost as bad in their appearances, with Mantei going to the disabled list the day after giving up five runs on one hit and four walks in a third of an inning Friday night against Toronto. However, amongst the carnage stands veteran Mike Timlin, who numbers have actually improved since last season over the first half.

Last week, Timlin made four appearances and went 1-0 with his first save this season as Terry Francona relieved Foulke of his usual duty for at least one night. Although his ERA jumped nearly half a run last week, it still sits at a respectable 1.58 to lead the team in that category and go along with a 3-1 record in 39 appearances, putting him on pace to match his total from last season (76). Those numbers give Timlin a reasonable chance to become the oldest player ever selected to play in the All-Star game for the first time should Francona, who will manage the American League squad, have a open spot after every team gets at least one representative.

Though not the most prolific player wearing a Red Sox uniform these days, at 39 years old, Timlin is second only to David Wells as the oldest member of the club and his 15 years in the majors include three World Series titles. Whether he gets to play in Detroit next week along with the contemporary greats of the present, Timlin has been a valuable presence on this team for three seasons and can hopefully serve as an example to the rest of the staff through what may be the final few months of his career.

With the 1975 season approaching the All-Star break, historically the half-way mark on the schedule, the Red Sox were perched in first place just one game ahead of New York entering July. With Carlton Fisk back on the roster after being out for nearly a year and rookie Fred Lynn looking like a seasoned veteran, Boston’s roster was at full strength and they needed to make a run in order to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the division.

After completing a 4-3 homestand with a loss to Baltimore on 01 July, Boston got on the road to play three in Milwaukee and four in Cleveland. The Red Sox took the opener against the Brewers, but lost the last two games of the series to create a first-place tie between Boston and Milwaukee. Then in Cleveland, the Red Sox lost three-of-four but gained ground on the Brewers, who suffered a four-game sweep to the last-place Tigers in Detroit. Boston again sat alone in first place by one game over the Brewers as well as the Yankees, who had lost five-of-six to start the month.

Putting a 2-5 road trip, the Sox returned home, still sitting atop the division but feeling pressured. A nine-game homestand, broken up by the All-Star break, seemed like as opportune a time as any to try and put some distance between themselves and the competition. The first challenge was a three-game series with Minnesota, who sat in last place in the West division and well out of contention. Boston took advantage of the weak opponent and swept the series, including a 9-8 win in the final game when they scored five runs over the last two innings to win.

The Sox’s next opponent was Texas; although they sat in third place in the West, the Rangers were 13 games behind division-leading Oakland and sat four games under .500. Even so, Boston and Texas slugged in out over the next four games, with sixty runs scored in the series; in the end, the Red Sox had swept their second straight series and suddenly sat four games in front of New York for the division lead.

Following a three-day break for the mid-summer classic, Boston completed its remarkable stretch at Fenway Park with a brief two-game sweep of Kansas City, blowing out the Royals in both games. The Red Sox would then win the first game of a road series in Texas before the Rangers finally stopped Boston’s ten-game win, streak, which had helped them build a 6-1/2 game cushion over the Brewers and a seven game difference with the Yankees.

The Sox then settled into an 11-game road trip and split the opening four-game series with the Rangers. Boston next traveled to Minnesota and, as they had just two weeks earlier, the Sox easily dispensed with the Twins, winning all three games to remain hot.

The conclusion of the trip came in New York, where the Yankees had struggled all month, losing 13 of 21 to that point. Manager Billy Virdon, managing his second season in the Big Apple, was feeling the heat from the media, the fans, and especially George Steinbrenner, and he knew that he needed to make his move now if the Yankees had any hope of catching Boston by season’s end. New York struck first with an 8-6 win in the first game of the series as Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant got knocked for eight runs in seven innings pitched.

However, Boston was determined not to let New York back into the race. Tied 1-1 entering the ninth inning of the second game, the Red Sox put three on the board, sending eight batters to the plate, as Boston held on for a 4-2 win. The two teams then hooked up for a doubleheader on the final day of the series, with Boston hoping for at least a split. In the first game, Bill Lee out-pitched Catfish Hunter and Rick Miller hit a two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth to give Boston a 1-0 win, the game played in just under two hours. In the second game, the Red Sox jumped on the board early, scoring five runs through the first four innings, and completed the doubleheader swept with another shutout, a 6-0 triumph behind Roger Moret’s complete game effort.

Although Boston would return home and lose two-of-three to Milwaukee, they would sweep their second doubleheader in five days against Detroit at Fenway to finish the month with a 22-11 record, a 63-42 overall record, and a nine-game cushion over the Baltimore Orioles, who had jumped just ahead of New York and Milwaukee for second place. Even with two months still to play, manager Darrell Johnson and his club was exuding confidence that they had all the pieces in place to make a run and return to the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons.