29 May 1984 - Twenty-three years ago, the first two uniforms ever retired by the Red Sox are for former players Ted Williams (9) and Joe Cronin (4) during pre-game ceremonies in a contest eventually called off due to rain. Williams, one of the most famous players to ever wear a Red Sox uniform, played from 1939 until 1960 and compiled a .344 batting average with 521 home runs; were it not for the fact that he missed better than four years due to wartime commitments, he might have easily surpassed the 600 home run mark and amassed 3,000 hits. Cronin, traded to Boston from Washington after the 1934 season, spent 11 seasons playing shortstop and managing the team at the same time; after retiring as a player following the 1945 season, he came back the next season and led his club to 104 wins and the brink of a World Series title.

Having your number retired by Boston is no easy task; unlike most clubs, the Red Sox employ a rather strict policy on adding numbers to the façade above the right field grandstand. To be considered, you need first to have played a minimum of ten years with the team and you must also be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. At present, only five players have earned this distinction; aside from Williams and Cronin, the other three are Bobby Doerr (1), Carl Yastrzemski (8), and Carlton Fisk (27). In addition, Jackie Robinson’s number 42 also hangs there after his number was retired by Major League Baseball in 1997. Former Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs is one player who is eligible at some point to have his former number (26) but, to date, no announcement has been made, although he has been honored with induction into the Red Sox Hall of Fame. Pitcher Roger Clemens (21) also meets the necessary criteria but is still an active player as of 2007. The only other former Boston player with the potential to be added to the honor roll in the near future is former outfielder Jim Rice (14), who appears on the verge of induction to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Michael Jay Andrews, drafted by the Red Sox in 1962, was another example of Dick O’Connell and Dick Williams‘ young core of players that revitalized the Red Sox five years later. After a quick cup of coffee in 1966, five games and with three hits and a run scored, the 23-year-old second baseman was brought up to fill a volatile position for the Boston organization, as there had not been a consistent presence in that role since Chuck Schilling covered the right half of the middle infield between 1961 and 1963.

Andrews got off to an impressive start in his first full year in the major leagues; by the end of May, despite some ups-and-downs, his average stood at .290, thanks in part to a 10-game hitting streak, in 38 games played. Though his average would tail off by the end of his rookie season, batting only .254 from 01 June forward, he finished a respectable .263 with eight home runs, 40 RBI, and 79 runs scored. Though not perfect at second, finishing with 16 errors and a .976 fielding percentage, he solidified his position by appearing in 139 games in that role for the foreseeable future.

Although the team stumbled the year following the “Impossible Dream” season as Williams’ club struggled from start to finish, Andrews was one of the few players who improved, though only slightly. As a sophomore, he batted .271 and drove home 45 while hitting seven home runs and crossing the plate 77 times. The next year, 1969, was the pinnacle of Andrew’s brief career; he batted .293 with 15 home runs, 59 RBI, 79 runs scored, and made his lone All-Star game appearance as the backup second baseman, grounding out in his only at-bat.

Andrews took a slight hit in 1970 as his batting average dropped 40 points to .253, though he appeared in 151 games while also posting career highs of 17 home runs, 65 RBI, and 91 runs scored. He also continued to be somewhat erratic at his position; his fielding percentage continued to hover just above .970 and he committed 19 errors in 148 games at second. With the front office making several bold moves after the end of the 1970 season, Andrews found himself traded to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for perennial Gold Glover and future Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio. He enjoyed a mild rebound in his first season in the Windy City, batting .282 in 109 games played, but his average dropped hard the next year as he finished 1972 at .220.

Following his release from Chicago midway through his final season, Andrews was picked up by Oakland and reunite with his old manager, Williams, as the Athletics made their way towards the teamâ’s second straight World Series title. Despite just 18 appearances to conclude the season there, it was his brief stay out on the West Coast where he became the focal point of a heated controversy. In Game Two of the 1973 Fall Classic against the New York Mets, two consecutive errors by Andrews in the top of the 12th inning allowed three unearned runs to cross the plate as the Mets went on to win 10-7. Despite the fact that errors by three other fielders had totaled two more unearned runs earlier in that game, owner Charlie Finley forced Andrews to sign a false affidavit saying that he was disabled, making him ineligible to play for the remainder of the Series.

The immediate response from Williams, Andrew’s teammates, and the public over Finley’s unfair actions resulted in then-baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn forcing the owner to reinstate Andrews. Back on the bench, he made what would be his final appearance in the majors late in Game 4, grounding out to third base as a pinch hitter in an eventual 6-1 loss that knotted the Series at two games apiece. Though his hand had been forced by the league office to keep Andrews on the roster, Finley ordered his manager to bench him for the rest of the series; fed up with his owner’s meddling in the whole affair, Williams announced that he would resign following the end of the Series. Today, forty years after making his debut with the Boston Red Sox, Andrews is the chairman of the team’s official charity, The Jimmy Fund, an event fundraising organization affiliated with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Boston.

With two wins over the past week, Red Sox rookie pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was named American League Player of the Week for the week ending 20 May 2007. The Japanese import pitched a complete game on Monday night against the Detroit Tigers, scattering six hits and allowing just one run while striking out five, as the Red Sox won 7-1 to take the opener of a four-game series. In his next start on Saturday afternoon in the opener of a day-night doubleheader, Matsuzaka went eight strong and allowed just three runs on nine hits while striking out six. Since starting the season at 1-2 in his first three starts, Matsuzaka has five wins and one no-decision in his past six starts to improve to 6-2 with a 4.06 ERA, 58 strikeouts, and a 1.18 WHIP while opponents are batting just .235 against him. The honor is Matsuzaka’s first as a Major League Baseball pitcher; prior to this season, he pitched eight seasons in Japan with the Seibu Lions, going 108-60 with 1355 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA, and won Rookie of the Year honors in 1999, going 16-5 with a 2.60 ERA and 151 strikeouts.

Through Sunday, Boston’s record is 30-13 on the regular season, which puts the team 10-1/2 games in front of second-place Baltimore and New York for the lead in the American League East. However, believe it or not, this only ties the second-best record to start a season to this point. In 2002, Boston also began the season at 30-13 through 22 May but, to that point of the season, the Red Sox were only one game in front of the second-place Yankees, who had started 31-16. Two days earlier, Boston had improved its fast start to 30-11 after thumping the Chicago White Sox 9-0 at Fenway Park behind Derek Lowe’s eight-inning masterpiece on the mound and home runs from Jason Varitek and Shea Hillenbrand, but had dropped the final two games of the series. Boston would go on finish at 93-69 in skipper Grady Little’s first year as manager but 10-1/2 games behind eventual division champion New York.

In 1946, Boston’s record after 43 games of play was an amazing 34-9, in part thanks to a team-record 15-game winning streak between 25 April and 10 May of that season, which put their record to that point at an unbelieveable 21-3. The Red Sox had gone on to win another 13 of 19 and put themselves seven games in front of second-place New York. Boston would finish the season at 104-50, the second-best record in team history behind the 1912 club that had won 105 games and the World Series, and easily won the American League pennant by 12 games over Detroit and 17 games over New York. In contrast, the team’s worst record after 43 games was 8-35 in 1932 on a club that would finish with 111 losses that season, a franchise record for futility.

17 May 1971 - Boston signs Luis Tiant after the veteran pitcher is released two days earlier by the Atlanta Braves, five weeks after being let go by the Minnesota Twins at the end of spring training. The son of a legendary Cuban pitcher who once struck out Babe Ruth in an exhibition game, Tiant was signed by the Cleveland Indians midway through the 1964 season after he impressed scouts who has seen him pitch in the Pacific Coast League. There was immediate success as he went 10-4 in a shortened rookie season; four years later in 1968, he won 21 games, posted a 1.60 ERA with Cleveland, and seemed destined for greatness as he made his first All-Star appearance. Unfortunately, his career took a tumble as he went 9-20 in 1969 and wound up in Minnesota to start the 1970 season. Despite going 7-3 with a 3.40 ERA in 18 apperances, injury forced him to miss two months of that season; to the Twins, it appeared that Tiant was past his prime and, after an abysmal spring training, released him outright six days before the season opener. Atlanta would sign him over two weeks later as a free agent but the Braves would, in turn, release him about one month later.

Fortunately for Tiant and the Red Sox, he was given a shot by Boston general manager Dick O’Connell to resurrect his flailing career. Over the next seven-plus seasons, as he developed into a fan favorite in Boston with his generous smile and odd yet highly successful delivery, “El Tiante” won 122 games, including 20 or more in three of four season between 1973 and 1976, while recording a 3.36 ERA and striking out 1075 batters. He also earned two more All-Star selections in 1974 and 1976 and was a key member of Boston’s 1975 American League pennant-winning team, punctuated by three complete game wins in the post-season versus Oakland and Cincinnati.

Signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox in May of 1962, George Scott made his mark by winning the Eastern League Triple Crown and MVP with Double-A Pittsfield in 1965; his efforts at the plate as well as on the field at first base made it easy for new Red Sox general manager Dick O’Connell to promote the youngster to Boston for the 1966 season. Although just 22 years of age, he made a quick impression in the American League, tearing out of the gate with 11 home runs and a 14-game hitting streak between late April and the middle of May, putting his batting average as high as .355. His fast start earned the man nicknamed Boomer a nod as the starting first baseman in the Mid-Summer Classic of 1966, the first rookie to start an All-Star game since former American League Rookie of the Year and Red Sox first baseman Walt Dropo in 1950. Though he would tail off as the season progressed, hitting just .245 and striking out 152 times, he hit 27 total home runs and collected 90 RBI playing all 162 games that season, enough to earn him third place in the Rookie of the Year vote.

Despite his success in 1966, Scott was met with resistance to begin 1967, not because of the color of his skin, which had for several years made it next-to-impossible for a black ballplayer to make it with Boston, but because new manager Dick Williams was not going to show favoritism to anyone, starting All-Star first basemen included. Only five games into the season and batting .182 despite getting a hit in four of those starts, Scott was benched and given pinch-hitting duties for three straight games as punishment. When asked about his relationship with the second-year player, Williams growled: “Trying to talk to George Scott is like talking to cement.”[1] Though his tactics seemed irrational and demeaning on the surface, it was the rookie skipper’s way to try and motivate his players to reach a level where the club had not been for more than two decades. Back in his starting role after his brief stay in Williams’ doghouse, Scott responded with six hits in his next thirteen at-bats to raise his average up to .270, the start of a 20-game span in which he got at least one hit per game 18 times and raised his average to a more-impressive .311. His season would end with a .303 batting average, good enough for fourth in the American League, 19 home runs, 82 RBI, and AL MVP consideration. Also, despite 19 errors at first for a .987 fielding percentage, Scott won the first of two consecutive Gold Gloves with Boston and eight all-told in his career.

As well as Scott did at the plate in his first two seasons, no one expected him to slump as badly as he did in 1968, dropping his average to .171 in 124 games played, while stroking on three home runs and 25 RBI. The next season, he was moved across the diamond to third base and stayed there for nearly two seasons as he regained his stroke. His average climbed each season (.253 and .296, respectively), while hitting another 32 home runs combined. In 1971, he returned to his regular position at first base and won a third Gold Glove award, appearing in 143 games in that role while making just 11 errors for a .992 fielding percentage. However, despite 24 home runs and 78 RBI, numbers which approached his then-career highs, his average slipped once more to a mediocre .263. With 1967 a near-distant memory in Boston, O’Connell and the front office, feeling pressured to return to the playoffs at any cost, sent Scott, fellow 1967 teammate Jim Lonborg, and four other Red Sox players to Milwaukee shortly after the season ended in a huge ten-player deal.

Scott did no better in his first season with the Brewers but seemed to regain form in 1973, stroking 24 home runs and 107 RBI while establishing a career-high in batting average of .306; two years later, he batted .285 while further establishing career highs with a league-leading 36 home runs and 109 RBI while making his second All-Star team. His defensive skills had not diminished, either; he won Gold Gloves in each of his five years with Milwaukee, which today places him third all-time at that position behind Keith Hernandez (11) and Don Mattingly (9) for career Gold Gloves. He also proved durable, appearing in all but 22 games over that time. In 1977, Scott returned to Boston in a trade along with Bernie Carbo for Cecil Cooper, and enjoyed one more great season with a career-high 103 runs scored, 33 home runs, and 95 runs driven in while batting .269 and slugging .500, earning another appearance on the American League All-Star roster. Unfortunately, his homecoming was short-lived; the next season, he batted only .233 for the Red Sox while slipping to just 12 home runs and 54 RBI in 120 games played.

He would play just one more season before hanging up his cleats for good, finishing his career with a .268 average and 271 home runs; with Boston, he hit 154 home runs, placing him 15th all-time in franchise history. In 2006, along with his former manager from the “Impossible Dream” season, Dick Williams, George Scott was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame.

[1] Stout and Johnson, Red Sox Century: The Definitive History of Baseball’s Most Storied Franchise, Expanded and Updated (Sport in the Global Society). Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 2005. 544 pp.

With Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett failing to earn the win this afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles, he now sits alone in second place in Red Sox team history for the most starts to begin a season without a loss or a no-decision at seven behind former Boston pitchers Babe Ruth, Boo Ferriss, and Roger Moret.[1] Ruth, better known for slugging home runs but who began his remarkable career as a dominating lefty pitcher, won his first eight starts in 1917 before the team lost in Chicago against the White Sox on 18 May; he would finish the season with a team-leading 24 wins coupled with 13 losses in 41 games. Born David Meadow Ferriss, Boo, a rookie in 1945, also won his first eight before a 3-2 loss to the Yankees in New York ended that streak on 10 June; he would finish the season at 21-10, coupled with an All-Star nod. Moret, who spent most of the first half of the 1973 season as a reliever before becoming a regular starter on 06 August, did not earn a loss or a no-decision in a start until 12 September, when he was already 11-0 thanks to three additional wins in relief.

Thanks to Boston’s six-run, ninth-inning rally against Baltimore this afternoon in a dramatic 6-5 victory over the Orioles, Beckett still has an opportunity to set a club record for wins as a starter to begin a season. In 1986, Roger Clemens won his first five decisions before earning a no-decision on 09 May, then won his next ten starts to begin the season 14-0, the club record; he would finish the season at 24-4. In 1991, “The Rocket” would win his first six decisions before a no-decision and a loss ended that streak. Both seasons, he won the American League Cy Young award.

[1] Red Sox rally to edge Orioles, 6-5. Associated Press, 13 May 2007.

07 May 1903 - On this day 104 years ago, at Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston and New York meet for the first time in this storied rivalry as the home team wins over the visitors, 6-2. This was not the first time that the two franchises had played each other, however; in 1901, the future New York Yankees had debuted as the Baltimore Orioles and played for two seasons there before making the move to New York to become the Highlanders (New York would not adopt the name Yankees until 1913). Since 1903 through the 2006 season, New York holds a distinct advantage over Boston in terms of wins head-to-head, 1076 to 882, not including postseason play. Boston’s best season against New York came in 1912, the year in which the franchise won a record 105 games and the World Series, when the Red Sox won 19 of 21 meetings between the two clubs. Likewise, the Yankees’ best season against the Sox came in 1927, when Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the rest of Murderer’s Row took 18 of 22 against the Sox and also went on to win the World Series that fall.

Once more at 9:00 PM Sunday night, May 6th, Jeff Moon from FenwayFanatics.com will be part of discussion panel appearing live with Dave Devlin, host of Up On The Monster Radio. The radio show, which will be broadcast on BlogTalkRadio, is an extension of the Up On The Monster web site and message board and dedicated to bringing a point of view on the Boston Red Sox from the fan’s perspective. The show will include a look back on the most recent games with the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and the Minnesota Twins as well as a preview of the week ahead, with games schedule against Toronto and Baltimore.

The goal is to involve the views of the membership of Up On The Monster as well as those from guests of other Red Sox sites, blogs, and message boards, like FenwayFanatics.com, as different points of view are what make for great conversation. In addition to tonight’s broadcast, future shows are schedule for Sunday nights at 9:00 PM on BlogTalkRadio.

With a modest record of 8-6 to begin the month of May in 1967, Boston was just one game out of first place in the race for the American League pennant. The Red Sox opened the month scheduled to play nine games in ten days on the road, beginning in Anaheim against the California Angels. In the opener of that three-game series, pitcher Dennis Bennett not only pitched a shutout but helped his own cause with a three-run home run to right field in the fourth inning as the visitors cruised to a 4-0 victory. However, over the final two games with of that series, Boston would lose consecutive one-run contests, including a demoralizing 2-1 loss in the final game of the series when starter Jim Lonborg, trying to go the distance, gave up a one-out RBI single in the ninth to tie score at one run apiece, then allowed the winning run to cross the plate on a wild pitch. Two losses to start the next series against the Twins in Minnesota dropped Boston to 9-10; four days later, the Sox would limp home having dropped six games in nine tries on the trip, quickly dropping them 4-1/2 games out of first.

With Detroit in town to begin a nine-game homestand, Boston would lose the first two games of the series, with former Red Sox pitcher Earl Wilson earning the win for the Tigers after a ninth-inning rally by the home team fell one run short. However, Boston would save face in a series-ending Sunday doubleheader; while both teams combined for 28 extra-base hits in the two games (an American League record), including 16 by the Red Sox, the home team made it a sweep, with Lonborg winning the opener 8-5 over Denny McLain and Jose Santiago besting Mickey Lolich 13-9 on the back end. For Lonborg, it was his third win of the season, while for Santiago, it was his first win as a starter in 1967. One week later, after losing three-of-four at Fenway Park facing Baltimore and Cleveland, the Red Sox swept another doubleheader, this time against the Indians. In the opener, down 3-0 entering the bottom of the eighth, Carl Yastrzemski hit a one-out triple to score two runs and George Scott followed with a home run, his third of the season, to complete the comeback for Boston. That win sparked a modest four-game win streak for the Red Sox, who bettered their record to 18-17 after winning 1-0 over the Tigers in Detroit on 24 May behind a complete game shutout from Lonborg and a solo home run from third baseman Dalton Jones.

Just as quickly, however, Boston faltered again, losing three straight by a combined score of 6-23. A 10-0 shutout in Baltimore, only three days after Lonborg’s gem, featured four errors from Red Sox infielders, including two by backup first baseman Tony Horton, soon to be traded in early June to Cleveland for pitcher Gary Bell, and one by starting pitcher Bucky Brandon, who would give up seven Baltimore runs in four-plus innings of work. The ugly loss was the club’s worst performance to date but the team responded the next day with a 4-3 win to avoid a series sweep by the Orioles; Lonborg won his fourth straight start, pitching into the eighth and improving to 6-1, while Rico Petrocelli hit a solo home run and speedy Reggie Smith doubled, took third on a sacrifice bunt from Mike Andrews, then scored the winning run on a wild pitch. With yet another doubleheader on 30 May, the fourth one for Boston that month due to a rainout the previous day, the Red Sox swept a twin bill for the third time, besting the Angels 5-4 in the first game after falling behind 4-0 early in the game, then cruising to a 6-1 win in the second game. The team then closed the month of May by edging Minnesota 3-2 at Fenway Park, which gave the club a record of 22-20 and place them four games behind second-place Chicago and 4-1/2 games behind first-place Detroit.