Boston Red Sox: Top 5 displaced homegrown players in history
With Tom Brady’s latest departure from the New England Patriots, we’ve decided to list the top 5 displaced homegrown Boston Red Sox players.
After learning about Tom Brady‘s decision to leave the New England Patriots, a team he’s been with since the very beginning 20 years ago, I started jotting together a list of players out of New England; homegrown players who were later traded or signed elsewhere to never return.
As the list grew and grew, I decided to whittle it down to New England’s sole baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. I then further shaved that list down to five players, ranked by their average Baseball-Reference’s and FanGraphs’ Wins Above Replacement ((bWAR + fWAR)/2) scores.
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Before we jump into it, I wanted to acknowledge a number of players that barely missed being on the list. Players who deserved more from their hometown Boston Red Sox.
I’m talking about guys like Smoky Joe Wood, one of the original two-way players. Wood came up through the Red Sox system in the early 20th century. In all, he is a top 10 Boston player all-time.
In February 1917, Wood’s contract would be sold to Cleveland for $15,000. In his six seasons there, he went on to slash .297 / .374 / .431. He also appeared in 7 games as a pitcher, going 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA.
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Then, there was Hall of Fame right fielder Harry Hooper. Hooper won four World Series titles as a member of the Boston Red Sox. After playing 12 seasons with the Red Sox, however, Hooper was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Shano Collins and Nemo Leibold.
In Chicago, Hooper slashed .302 / .383 / .436, all improvements from his time in Boston.
The third honorable mention belongs to none other than the “Sultan of Swat” (aka Babe Ruth). The Babe’s departure from Boston was such an epic fail, it triggered an 86-year-old curse.
What’s more, Ruth went from being the greatest player in the sport in Boston to superhuman with the New York Yankees. While a member of the “Bronx Bombers,” Ruth would go on to win the World Series 4x. He’d also become the single-season and all-time home run king.
Finally, we have Reggie Smith, a 2x All-Star and Gold Glove award winner as a member of the Red Sox. In 1973, Smith was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Rick Wise and Bernie Carbo. He’d go on to win the World Series as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981.
Top 5 Displaced Homegrown Red Sox Players in History
5. Carlton Fisk | 38.9 WAR in Boston
Carlton Fisk‘s Hall of Fame plaque features a bust of the catcher in a Boston Red Sox cap even though he mostly played with the Chicago White Sox. Regarding this, Fisk told reporters…
“I would like to say that this always has been my favorite hat and I will be wearing this hat probably the rest of my career,” Fisk said. “I think I’ve known for a long time. It’s not like a light bulb came on or I had a vision. I think this has always been a part of me.”
Sure, it was a part of him for 11 of his 24 MLB seasons, but his decision to wear the cap might not really have anything to do with that.
You see, Fisk’s departure from Chicago was one of the worst to memory. At 45-years of age, Fisk was a shell of himself during the 1993 MLB season. As a result, the White Sox decided to cut him.
What’s more, according to fellow Call to the Pen writer David Hill, Fisk was “told he was being released in his hotel room in Cleveland while the White Sox were in the midst of a road trip. He was also ordered to fly back to Chicago immediately, by himself, and to turn in his equipment tp the team before heading back.”
It just doesn’t get uglier than that.
None of this would be the case, however, had the Boston Red Sox decided to keep their homegrown catcher. I mean, we’re talking about a player here who made SEVEN All-star appearances wearing the iconic “B” for Boston on his hat.
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What’s worse, in just 11 seasons, Fisk would establish himself as an all-time great for Beantown. In fact, according to Baseball-Reference, Fisk is prominently featured as a top-24 player all-time for the franchise.
Thankfully, Fisk holds no grudges against Boston. In return, they decided to retire the number 27 in his honor in 2000.
Top 5 Displaced Homegrown Red Sox Players in History
Tris Speaker | 55 WAR in Boston
Before Babe Ruth, there was Tris Speaker, a homegrown member of the Boston Red Sox and the best player on his team for a number of years. In his time in Boston, Speaker won two titles and an MVP award.
He’d slash .337 / .414 / .482 as a member of the Red Sox before being traded to the Cleveland Indians for Sad Sam Jones, Fred Thomas, and a mere $55,000. That would be like the Milwaukee Brewers trading away Christian Yelich for a starter who’s ERA hovers around 4, a minor leaguer and $1.4M.
Speaker would go on to solidify his Hall of Fame career as a member of the Indians, Washington Senators, and Philadelphia Athletics by slashing a combined .349 / .437 / .512. What’s more, while with Cleveland in 1920, Speaker won his third World Series title, leading the Indians to defeat the Brooklyn Robins in 7-games.
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At the time of his retirement in 1928, Speaker was 2nd on the all-time hits list with 3514 H. Today, he has dropped three notches to the 5-spot.
Unlike Fisk, Speaker’s Hall of Fame bust features him in a Cleveland Indians ball cap. His plaque proclaims him “the greatest center fielder of his day.” It’s hard to disagree with that.
Top 5 Displaced Homegrown Red Sox Players in History
RF, Dwight Evans | 65.4 WAR in Boston
Much like Tom Brady, Dwight Evans spent the better part of two decades with one team: the Boston Red Sox. As a matter of fact, Evans played 19-years in front of the Fenway Faithful before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 1991.
With Boston, Evans wasn’t one of those once-in-a-lifetime types of players. He was a workhorse who knew his place on the ballfield.
In 19 seasons with the Red Sox, Evans would be selected to THREE All-Star games, win EIGHT Gold Gloves and TWO Silver Slugger Awards. In all, his slash line in Boston was a respectable .272 / .370 / .470.
He was essentially what Paul O’Neill was for the New York Yankees throughout the ’90s; a “warrior.”
After a decent single season in Baltimore in 1991, a season that saw an increased batting average and OPS from his previous year, Evans decided to hang it up. 20-years is a long time for a ballplayer, and there’s nothing better than to see a player walk away with some semblance of dignity and competency on the field.
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Evans would miss making it to Cooperstown after failing to make the threshold in 1999. He would appear on the Modern Era Ballot 20-years later, but again fail to garner the votes necessary to be inducted.
In Red Sox history, he is viewed as a legend. A legend not worthy of a proper sendoff in the uniform he wore for 19 of his 20 years in baseball.
Top 5 Displaced Homegrown Red Sox Players in History
3B, Wade Boggs | 71.3 WAR in Boston
Wade Boggs became one of the first in a line of elite Boston Red Sox players to be allowed to walk away starting in the 1990s. Though he was just one year removed from a phenomenal season in which he hit .332, in 1993 the Red Sox allowed Boggs to sign with the arch-rival New York Yankees.
In five New York seasons, Boggs continued his raking abilities by slashing .313 / .396 / .407 and taking home a World Series title in 1996.
What’s more, Boggs gave Yankees fans – like me – one of the most memorable moments. After the celebration on the mound, Boggs hopped on a police horse and took a ride around the ballpark, cap tilted and waving one finger in the air as Kool & The Gang’s “Celebrate” blasts through the speakers.
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Boggs was one of those players who defied all logic in the batter’s box, especially in the current state of the game. For his career, he walked more than twice as much as he struck out, which kind of defines his career.
In the end, Boggs would retire as one of the founding players on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In his final season, at the age of 41, Boggs hit for an average of .301, again walking (38) more than striking out (23).
Top 5 Displaced Homegrown Red Sox Players in History
SP, Roger Clemens | 78.8 WAR in Boston
Last but not least, we have “The Rocket,” Roger Clemens. Prior to finding himself again in Toronto, Clemens had spent 13 years with the Boston Red Sox. In that time, he established himself as the best pitcher in baseball after winning THREE AL Cy Young awards, an MVP award, winning more than 63% of his games and striking out 2590 batters.
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Had he called it a career before signing with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1996, Clemens would be a surefire Hall of Famer. It’s a rare feat to win the Cy Young 3x. It’s even rarer to win an MVP award as a pitcher. His 2590 strikeouts in Boston? Well, that would place him just under another Hall of Fame pitcher, Tom Glavine, who has 2607.
Instead, Clemens went on to pitch another 11 years, racking up four more Cy Young awards and two World Series titles along the way. He’d also be implicated in baseball’s PED scandal when his trainer accused him of taking HGH. Friend and teammate Andy Pettitte would corroborate this story under oath, but Clemens continues to deny it to this day.
At the end of the day, Clemens went on to play 24 MLB seasons and is 9th all-time in wins with 354. His 4672 strikeouts are third-most in the history of baseball behind Hall of Fame pitchers Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson.
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Today, though the Fenway Faithful have welcomed “The Rocket” back, claiming them as one of their own again, he remains the only pitcher of his stature not to be enshrined in Cooperstown. With his vote percentage increasing with each season, there’s hope that one day he’d make it to the Hall of Fame… and he should.