Were you expecting someone else?

As incredible as Ted Williams was, it is lost a bit, as to just how good he was.  Part of this because so much time has passed; part because his Red Sox only won one American League Pennant. 

Dustin Pedroia debuted in 2006 with the Red Sox two seasons after he was drafted in the second round, and it did not take him long to prove that he belonged in the upper tier of American League players.

There will be a question one day as to just who is the greatest Designated Hitter of all time.  For many, there is no question, as it is David Ortiz.

The Montreal Expos were a small market team, and as quickly as they developed stars, they were always poised to lose them.  Pedro Martinez won the National League Cy Young Award in 1997, but he was due to be free agent, so the Expos did what they always did.  They traded him for parts.  The Red Sox were the recipients of the deal, and not only did he pick up where he left off, but he also got even better.

Roger Clemens was one of the most successful Pitchers of all-time, and the legend of the "Rocket" began in Boston, where he was a must-watch attraction at Fenway.

Playing all 14 of his Major League seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Bobby Doerr began his career in 1937 and became the permanent Second Baseman the season after.  Throughout his career, he was considered to be among the better defensive infielders of the game.  In 1941, Doerr would be chosen for the first of what would be nine All-Star Games, and for his time, he was one of the better hitting Second Basemen.

Lefty Grove was an elite pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, and he would win the ERA Title four years in a row, from 1929 to 1932.  In the first three of those years, Grove took the Athletics to three World Series, winning the first two.  His work in Philadelphia was probably enough to earn him a spot in Cooperstown, but in Boston, he had a beautiful end to his career.

The Hall of Fame career of Tris Speaker began in Boston, where he debuted in 1907.  Entrenched as their starting Centerfielder in 1909, Speaker developed into one of the most outstanding players in his role.  He batted .309, and from then on as a member of the Red Sox, and he would continue to reach that mark, hitting as high as .383 in 1912.  In 1910, Speaker would produce an On Base Percentage of .404, and he would never have a season after that with an OBP under .400 with Boston.  He won the OBP Title in 1912 with a stat of .464, and would also lead the American League in Doubles (53), Home Runs (10), and would be named the MVP.  Speaker would lead Boston to a World Series Championship in both 1912 and 1915.

In our methodical process to present the top 50 players of all of the franchises of the big four, our next goal is to take a look at how each one of them honor their past players and/or executives. As such it is significant news to us that the Boston Red Sox, one of the most popular sports teams in the world has announced the latest members of their Hall of Fame.

The Red Sox have announced that Derek Lowe, Kevin Youkilis and Mike Lowell will be the newest members, all of which were members of recent World Series wins for the Sox. John “Buck” Freeman and Alphonso Green were also chosen.

A member of the Red Sox from 1997 to 2004, Derek Lowe would split time between the starting role and the bullpen for his first two years before securing the closing role in 2000. It was an All Star season for Lowe, as he would lead the American League in Games Finished and Saves. 2001 was not as kind as he lost the closer’s role and was relegated to set-up and middle relief roles but a return to the starting rotation in 2002 would produce the best regular season of Derek Lowe’s career. The sinkerball specialist went 21 and 8 with a 0.974 WHIP and notably pitched a no-hitter at Fenway. Lowe made a second All Star Team and finished third in Cy Young voting.

Lowe followed up with solid campaigns in both 2003 and 2004 and was a large contributor in the 2004 World Series Championship as he went 3 and 0 in that post season. Lowe is 70 and 55 with a 19.8 bWAR as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

Kevin Youkilis was also a member of the 2004 World Series team, though it was in his first year and he was not a major contributor for that team. Youkilis would become the Red Sox’ starting First Basemen in 2006 and would go to three All Star Games and earn a Gold Glove and was vital in the 2007 World Series win. Youkilis would have a Slash Line of .287/.388/,487 with 133 Home Runs and a bWAR of 31.4 with Boston.

Youkilis was originally a Third Basemen, but he was moved to First, due to the arrival of the third Hall of Famer, Mike Lowell. Arriving as a Free Agent from The Florida Marlins, Lowell took over at the “Hot Corner” and brought a balanced attach of offense and defensive skill. Lowell was with Boston for five seasons (2006-11) and by far his 2007 campaign was his greatest ever.

No only was Mike Lowell named to the American League All Star Team, he would also finish 5th in MVP voting. Lowell’s regular season production accelerated in the post season where he batted .333 in both the ALDS and ALCS and was named the 2007 World Series MVP with a .400/.500/.800 Slash Line.

John “Buck” Freeman played for the then named Boston Americans from 1901 to 1907. He helped Boston win the World Series in 1903 and he was a two time RBI leader. He had 879 Hits with Boston in his career.

Alphonso “Al” Green has spent the last 44 years with the team working in the Fan’s Services Department for most of it. He is 90 years old.

The newest members of the Hall will be honored at a gala on May 24, 2018.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the latest members of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.

The Boston Red Sox have announced the next four members of their organization’s Hall of Fame.

Former Catcher, Jason Varitek headlines the group.  Spending fifteen seasons with Boston (1997 to 2011), Varitek would win two World Series rings, and would make three All Star Games.  The popular player was also a one time Gold Glove and Silver Slugger recipient and was the captain of the team for seven seasons.

Famed knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield also joins the Red Sox Hall.  Like Varitek, Wakefield was a two time World Series Champion.  He would play for Boston for seventeen seasons, and holds the record for the most starts in franchise history (430) and Innings Pitched (3,006).  He also had 2,046 Strikeouts and 186 Wins in a Red Sox uniform.

The third inductee will be Ira Flagstead, who played seven seasons with Boston in the 1920’s.  The Outfielder would finish his run in Boston with 867 Hits and a Slash Line of .295/.374/.411.

The final inductee is Larry Lucchino, who was the President/CEO for fourteen seasons overseeing Boston’s three World Series Titles.

This group will be officially inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame during a gala on May 19th and will be honored the following day with a ceremony prior to the game before the Cleveland Indians.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame class.

Athletes are competitive by nature, but 99.9 percent of them paled to the competitive juices of Wes Ferrell.  He was known to get violent whenever he lost and take it out on himself and inanimate objects.  He may have been animated himself at times, but his teammates have always said they wanted him on their side.

It is often the case for various Halls of Fame to discriminate based on the likeability of the candidate.  Carl Mays was not necessarily the most liked player in his day, and his brushes with controversy probably pushed Mays on the opposite side of the bubble.

Outside of Boston, it may be forgotten how good Dwight Evans was.  It could be because he played on teams with the more popular players, but Evans was a huge component in both the 1975 and 1986 World Series runs.

In the late 70’s Hall of Fame pitcher, Don Sutton famously noted that Steve Garvey was not the best player on the Dodgers, it was Reggie Smith. Garvey may have been the most popular, but Sutton was not alone in his assessment of Reggie Smith.

In the long and illustrious (often tortured) history of the Boston Red Sox, a case can be made that of all the men who graced Fenway’s mound Luis Tiant was the most popular of them all.  Considering the number of great athletes who have donned the Red Sox uniform this is an impressive accolade indeed.

The Boston Red Sox have announced that they will be finally retiring the number 23 of Wade Boggs, the first ballot hall of famer who spent the best years of his career playing in Fenway.

In the 80’s, Boggs was regarded as one of the best contact hitters in baseball, his only rival being Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres.  Boggs would go on a tear, winning the Batting Title five times, the On Base Percentage Title six times and would have seven consecutive seasons collecting over 200 Hits.  The popular third baseman would be an All Star in Boston eight times.

Wade Boggs overall numbers as a member of the Red Sox is astounding.  He would have 2,098 of his 3,010 Hits in Boston.  He would smack 422 Doubles, with 85 Home Runs, have a Slash Line of .338/.428/.462 with a bWAR of 71.6.

Boggs has not played in Boston since 1992 and has hid share of controversy, which has likely delayed this accolade.  There was the longtime affair with Margo Adams, which ended as acrimonious as possible.  The fact that he would later player for Boston’s bitter rivals, the New York Yankees and would later (allegedly) broker a deal where by he would go into the Hall of Fame wearing a Tampa Bay Devil Rays hat did not do him any favors. 

Boggs would however go into Cooperstown wearing the Red Sox cap, as the Baseball Hall stepped in and took the decisions away from the player to prevent something like that occurring.

None of this matters anymore as Fenway is retiring a number that more than holds it own.

The event will take place on May 26.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Wade Boggs and the many fans of the Boston Red Sox who will be on hand to celebrate that day.



We wish we could be there too!

We talk about Roger Clemens here a lot don’t we?

Let’s do it again!

Recently, we discussed Clemens and the Baseball Hall of Fame and in a recent interview with 98.5, the Sports Hub in Boston had this to say:

Honestly, I am a sucker for a good farewell tour.

The now 40 year old Boston Red Sox, Designated Hitter, David Ortiz has announced that next year will be his final season in Major League Baseball and that has led to one inevitable discussion:

Is David Ortiz a Hall of Famer?

If it seems like we just asked that question, it is because we dd.  Ortiz made a bit of noise when he stated a few months ago that he was a Hall of Famer and maybe he is. 

Let’s break down the pros and the cons each voter will face in six years:

The Pros:

The Power Numbers:

He has already eclipsed the magical 500 HR barrier and will probably add 30 more.  He is 26th all-time in Slugging, 43rd in OPS and 18th in Doubles, all numbers that are very hard to ignore.  Offensively, he has been a beast for twelve years!

The Titles:

Under Ortiz’ tenure in Boston, the curse of the bambino was lifted, and he was a key player with an ALCS and World Series MVP.  To date he has 82 playoff games under his belt with 17 Home Runs and a .295/.409/.553 Slash Line.  Do playoff stats matter?  You are damn right they do!

The Man:

David Ortiz is a likable guy, media friendly and you don’t have to be a fan of the Red Sox to understand his impact and remember what he has done in Baseball.  All of that matters!

The Cons:

Ortis is a Designated Hitter and nobody who has played the percentage of games that he has in that role has come close to the Hall of Fame.  Edgar Martinez won’t get in, and Frank Thomas and Paul Molitor all played less than half at DH.  Ortiz is well over 75%.

PED in 2003:

Ortiz was named one of the 104 men who took PEDs in that year, though he stated that he was just taking what everyone else was taking at the time.  It should be noted that he has taken such a hardline stance against anyone who is caught stating that they should be banned for a year, and seems so genuine about it that it may have wiped out a lot of the potential damage.

WAR:

If voters are basing it at bWAR (and let’s face it, a lot of people are using that as the key metric now), it will be difficult.  His 50.6 is very good, but not what people are looking for Cooperstown.  If you go by his JAWS, it is 41.8 (placing him with First Basemen (and only 33rd overall for that position) and puts him out of the mark for the average HOFer at that position, which is 54.2.  Should that matter?  Believe me, it will to some of the decision makers!



What it appears is that for every argument there is a counter-argument.  The voting for Ortiz will be one of the most hotly debated when he is eligible and no matter what happens to him in regards to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the game is better off for having him in it.

Even amidst the constant controversy that surrounds the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is always something magical about Cooperstown, and when they have a former player from the modern era elected it makes the ceremony that much more special.

This year they have four.

On what was a beautiful summer day in front of 40,000 fans and forty-nine Hall of Famers in upstate New York, four baseball legends are now enshrined with a bronze bust that will forever be on display.

Rather than recap the accomplishments of the four (regular visitors know that we have done that often), let’s read the etchings on each of the four new inductees.

CRAIG ALLAN BIGGIO: HOUSTON, N.L. 1988-2007

GRITTY SPARK PLUG WHO IGNITED ASTROS OFFENSE FOR 20 MAJOR LEAGUE SEASONS, BECOMING FIRST PLAYER IN HISTORY WITH AT LEAST 3,000 HITS, 600 DOUBLES, 400 STOLEN BASES AND 250 HOME RUNS.  TRANSITIONED FROM ALL-STAR CATCHER TO GOLD GLOVE SECOND BASEMAN TO EVERYDAY OUTFIELDER, AMASSING 3,060 HITS, INCLUDING 668 DOUBLES – MOST BY A RIGHT-HANDED BATTER – AND A MODERN-DAY RECORD 285 TIMES HIT BY A PITCH.  A SEVEN-TIME ALL-STAR, WON FIVE SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS AND FOUR GOLD GLOVE AWARDS.


JOHN ANDREW SMOLTZ: ATLANTA N.L. 1988-99, 2001-08; BOSTON, A.L. 2009; ST.LOUIS, N.L. 2009

A WORKHOUSE POWER PITCHER, TRADED HIS STARTING DOMINANCE TO DEVELOP INTO PREMIER CLOSER BEFORE RETURNING TO ROTATION.  BECAME THE FIRST PLAYER IN HISTORY WITH 200 WINS AND 150 SAVES.  WITH A DYNAMIC FASTBALL, A DECEPTIVE SLIDER AND A DARTING SPLITTER, FANNED 3,084 BATTERS AND WAS NAMED TO EIGHT ALL-STAR TEAMS, THE 1996 N.L. CY YOUNG AWARD WINNER AND 1992 NLCS MVP.  SET N.L. RECORD WITH 55 SAVES IN 2002.  PITCHED BEST WHEN GAME WAS BIGGEST, RECORDING A 15-4 POST-SEASON RECORD, HELPING BRAVES TO 1995 WORLD SERIES TITLE.

PEDRO JAIME MARTINEZ:  LOS ANGELES, N.L. 1992-93; MONTREAL. N.L. 1994-97; BOSTON, A.L. 1998-2004; NEW YORK, N.L. 2005-08; PHILADELPHIA, N.L. 2009


FEATURING AN ELECTRIC ARSENAL OF PITCHES THAT VANQUISHED BATTERS DURING AN ERA OF HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE, THE FIERY RIGHTY FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OWNED THE INSIDE PART OF THE PLATE WITH AN EXPLODING FASTBALL AND CONFOUNDING CHANGE-UP.  LED LEAGUE IN E.R.A. FIVE TIMES AND STRIKEOUTS THREE TIMES EN ROUTE TO THREE CY YOUNG AWARDS AND EIGHT ALL-STAR SELECTIONS.  FIRST PITCHER TO RETIRE WITH 3,154 STRIKEOUTS IN FEWER THAN 3,000 INNINGS.  WON 219 GAMES WITH AN ASTOUNDING .687 WINNING PERCENTAGE.  POSTED 117-37 RECORD IN BOSTON HELPING TO LEAD RED SOX TO 2004 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP.


RANDALL DAVID JOHNSON:  “RANDY” “THE BIG UNIT”:  MONTREAL, N.L. 1988-89; SEATTLE, A.L. 1989-98; HOUSTON, N.L. 1998; ARIZONA, N.L. 1999-2004, 2007-08; NEW YORK, A.L. 2005-06; SAN FRANCISCO, N.L. 2009

AT 6’10’, A TOWERING AND INTIMIDATING LEFTHANDER WHOSE CRACKLING FASTBALL AND DEVASTATING SLIDER PARALYZED HITTERS FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES, FIVE-TIMES CY YOUNG AWARD WINNER, INCLUDING FOUR CONSECUTIVE, 1999-2002.  LED LEAGUE IN STRIKEOUTS NINE TIMES AND POSTED SIX 300 STRIKEOUT SEASONS.  TEN-TIME ALL-STAR AND THREE-TIME 20-GAME WINNER, RANKED SECONS ALL-TIME ON STRIKEOUT LIST (4,875) AND FIRST IN STRIKEOUTS PER NINE INNINGS (10.6) UPON RETIREMENT.  WON 303 GAMES AND LED LEAGUE IN E.R.A. FOUR TIMES, WON THREE GAMES IN 2001 WORLD SERIES WITH CHAMPION DIAMONDBACKS EARNING CO-MVP HONORS. 


Capital letters do make it more emphatic doesn’t it?

Do you want to know what makes it even better?

The fact that Randy Johnson was inducted with his mullet is far greater to us than his hat (the first for Arizona) and the hat worn by Craig Biggio (Astros, also a first.

So what do we do now?

What we always do!

We look forward to the next class of Baseball Hall of Famers and debate their merits.

Hopefully, all of you will participate and lend us your opinions as to who you want to see in the next Baseball Hall of Fame class.

It will take us time, but we here at Notinhalloffame.com are planning to take a look at the greatest players of each major franchise and subsequently how each one of them looks at their respective Halls of Fame/Rings of Honor or Retired Number selection.


Saying that one of the most prestigious baseball teams, the Boston Red Sox have announced that they will be retiring the number of former Pitcher, Pedro Martinez, marking the ninth time in franchise history that the team has offered that accolade.  His number 45, will join that of Bobby Doerr (#1), Joe Cronin (#4), Johnny Pesky (#6), Carl Yastrzemski (#8), Ted Williams (#9), Jim Rice (#14), Carlton Fisk (#27) and the mandated retired number 42 of Jackie Robinson.  The ceremony will take place on July 28, two days after he is to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.


In the seven seasons that Pedro Martinez compiled with the Red Sox, Martinez collected two Cy Young Awards, won the ERA title four times, the WHIP title four times and compiled a stellar 117 and 37 won/loss record.  Martinez was also a large part of the 2004 team that won the World Series.


We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Martinez on achieving this accolade.