Boston Red Sox

From Conservapedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by CMcFreeze (Talk | contribs) at 23:34, December 18, 2008. It may differ significantly from current revision.

Jump to: navigation, search
Fenway Park, the Red Sox's stadium and the oldest active Major League Baseball stadium

The Boston Red Sox are a Major League Baseball team that play in the American League East Division. One of the oldest teams in baseball, with the oldest stadium, Fenway Park; the Red Sox are one of the most storied sports franchises of all time.


AL Pennants: 12 (1903, 1904, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1946, 1967, 1975, 1986, 2004, 2007)

World Series Titles: 7 (1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2007)

Early Years

Origins

The Red Sox started play during the 1901 season in the newly formed American League. They built their team by signing players from the Boston National League club such as Jimmy Collins, who served as player/manager. Their home games were played at newly built Huntington Avenue Grounds.[1] The team was unofficially named the Americans. Charles W. Somers was the first owner of the team. Their first game was an exhibition victory over the University of Virginia on April 5. After their April 24 season opener in Baltimore was rained out, they got started two days later and were handed an 8-6 defeat. League chief Ban Johnson tossed out the ceremonial first pitch with Collins recording the team's first hit and run scored.[2] On May 8, the team kicked off it's home schedule with a 12-4 victory over team Philadelphia. They finished their inaugural season at 79-57, good enough for second behind the Chicago White Sox.

Champions

The Americans went 91-47 in 1903 to win the AL by a healthy 14.5 games over second place Philadelphia Athletics. They won the World Series over the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates, five games to three.[3] After falling back for a few years, the renamed Red Sox won their second title in 1912 over the New York Giants in what was their first year playing at Fenway Park.[4] They went on to win three more titles from 1913-1918.

Sale of Ruth

Following the 1919 season, both the team and fellow players grew tired of Babe Ruth's antics.[5] Ruth complained about his pay and refused to play for the team until he got a raise. He also ignored team rules. The Red Sox were concerned his behavior could rub off on other players. With a strong team, they felt they could afford to move Ruth. He was sent to the New York Yankees for $125,000 after manager Ed Barrow indicated that none of the New York players was worth acquiring.[6] Some have suggested that the sale was done to finance team owner Harry Frazee's play, "No, No, Nanette", however the claim is untrue as the play hadn't even been written at the time.

Yawkee Era

After inheriting a large sum of money, Tom Yawkee looked into buying a baseball team. Yawkee ultimately chose the Red Sox and bought the team in 1933. He immediately opened his checkbook in an effort to turn the team around following fourteen consecutive losing seasons. Unfortunately, he lacked a strong baseball acumen[7] and spent a lot of money on past their prime players. While the team did improve they still finished way out of the running. Some in the media criticized his wild spending ways, arguing for a wiser spending of finances.[8] However, Yawkee continued his spending spree, including a major upgrade of Fenway Park. Despite his spending, the team recorded only three first place finishes during his 45 years owning the team.

Jackie Robinson

In 1945, Boston politician Isadore Mushnick pressured the Red Sox to open their team to black players. The team consented and offered tryouts to Negro League players Jackie Robinson, Sam Jethroe and Marvin Williams.[9] Coach Hugh Duffey oversaw the tryout with manager Joe Cronin watching from the stands. Said Duffy, "We were glad to give them a tryout...(They) (d)eserve the same chance as anybody". During the tryout, a sportswriter claimed to have heard a voice in the stands, possibly GM Eddie Collins, yell, "Get those (people) off the field!" After a delay due to Collins' suffering a broken leg, the team decided not to sign the players. When asked about Boston's chances during the 1967 season, Robinson said, "I'd like to see them lose because (Tom Yawkey) is probably one of the most bigoted guys in baseball."[10]

Recent Years

Dan Duquette

In 1994, team CEO John Harrington hired Montreal Expos GM Dan Duquette to the same position. His stated goal was to build the team through a revitalized farm system. He got off to a solid start by selecting Georgia Tech shortstop Nomar Garciaparra with his first draft pick. Duquette also had a skill for finding talent in players other teams had no use for, such as Tim Wakefield and Troy O'Leary. However when the team surprisingly won the AL East in 1995, he abandoned the farm system and signed several past their prime players in a Yawkey-esque attempt to win a championship. Although he was able to acquire Expos ace Pedro Martinez and future All-Stars Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, he was never able to bring in complementary players. His allegedly pompous style in dealing with the media, players and other executives was said to have hurt the team's reputation.[11]

Sale of the Team

In late 2001, a year after Harrington announced the team was up for sale, three bidders emerged as the finalists; New York lawyer Miles Prentice, Cablevision's Charles Dolan, and a group made up of former Florida Marlins owner John Henry and former San Diego Padres owner Tom Werner. Prentice entered a bid of $740 million. Dolan bid $700 million. Henry, known as "Investor 11" due to his still technically owning the Marlins[12], and Werner also bid $700 million. Due to Prentice's questionable financing, he was eliminated from consideration.[13] With the other two bids being similar, and the Henry group likely to receive a quick approval from the other baseball owners[13], their bid was chosen.

Henry's first decision was to name former Orioles and Padres executive Larry Lucchino as team president. He then announced the firings of Duquette and manager Joe Kerrigan. Duquette's assistant, Mike Port, was named interim GM. The team tried to interview Houston Astros bench coach Tony Pena and Oakland Athletics bench coach Ken Macha for the managerial opening but were denied permission from their current teams. Henry then wanted to hire former Expos manager Felipe Alou, but was overruled by Lucchino's choice of Cleveland Indians bench coach Grady Little.

Management

Current Lineup

Infield:

Outfield:

Designated Hitter:

Rotation:

Closer:

Minor League Affiliates

The Boston Red Sox's minor league affiliates are: [14]

  • AAA - Pawtucket Red Sox
  • AA - Portland Sea Dogs
  • A Adv. - Salem Red Sox
  • A - Greenville Drive
  • SS - Lowell Spinners

Retired Numbers

Uniform numbers retired by the Red Sox[15]

1 - Bobby Doerr

4 - Joe Cronin

6 - Johnny Pesky

8 - Carl Yastrzemski

9 - Ted Williams

27 - Carlton Fisk

42 - Jackie Robinson

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/huntin.htm
  2. ↑ Barnes Jr., WS. "Collins's Men Lose"; Boston Journal, 27 April 1901
  3. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1903_WS.shtml
  4. ↑ Murnane, TH. "Boston Now Supreme in Baseball World"; Boston Globe, 17 October 1912
  5. ↑ Shannon, Paul. "New York Club gives $125,000 for Battering Babe - Biggest Price Ever Paid for Player"; Boston Post, 6 January 1920
  6. ↑ Stout, Glenn. (2000), Red Sox Century, Houghton Mifflin, Page 145
  7. ↑ Stout, Glenn. (2000), Red Sox Century, Houghton Miffin, Page 178
  8. ↑ Daniel, Daniel. "You Cannot Buy a Pennant!"; Baseball Magazine, 1936
  9. ↑ Kountze, Doc. "Three Race Baseball Canidates Impress Red Sox Coach Hugh Duffy"; Boston Guardian, 21 April 1945
  10. ↑ Stout, Glenn. (2000). Red Sox Century, Houghton Miffin, Page 242
  11. ↑ Mnookin, Seth. (2006). Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top, Simon & Schuster, Pages 138-139
  12. ↑ Mnookin, Seth. (2006). Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top, Simon & Schuster, Page 108
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Mnookin, Seth. (2006). Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top, Simon & Schuster, Pages 122-124
  14. ↑ http://www.soxprospects.com/2009.htm
  15. ↑ http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/history/retired_numbers.jsp

See also

External Links

v • d • e
Major League Baseball - American League Teams
Retrieved from "https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Boston_Red_Sox&oldid=590108"