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All Boston Red Sox team, 1965–2020
In putting together this team, it was quickly obvious that the Red Sox have had more than their share of great ballplayers. I listened to Hawk Harrelson rave about Carl Yastrzemski for years. Hawk made Yaz sound like an almost mythical character. Well, he wasn’t mythical but he was truly great. He’d be the captain of this team.
Catcher: Carlton Fisk Catcher is one of a number of positions where the Red Sox had more than one viable candidate. Jason Veritek played 15 seasons for the Sox and provided great leadership in addition to his playing skills. He gets an honorable mention. Carlton Fisk is the catcher on two teams, the White Sox and Red Sox. Carlton played 13 years for the White Sox where he was excellent. He played 11 seasons with the Red Sox where he was even better. The quickest way I can sum up Fisk’s value to the Red Sox is say in his 11 seasons with the Red Sox, he had a WAR of 39.3. He also gets bonus points for best body English on his home run that won game 6 of the 1975 World series.
First base: Mo Vaughn Before Big Papi there was Mo Vaughn. Mo was like Big Papi Lite, who played first base, though not a good first base. From 1993–98 Mo hit between 29–44 homers. In 1995 Mo led the league in RBIs with 126 and followed that up with 143 the next year. If you wanted a glove guy, George “Great” Scott would have been your man. For me, Mo’s bat wins…
