Back to the future with Tony Conigliaro

Hello again, X Mark here. In this installment of Back to the Future we are going to learn about a player near and dear to X Dad’s heart. Let’s take the WABAC machine to the year 1962. Today we will explore the career of one of baseball’s great, tragic heroes. We set the WABAC controls for the town of Lynn, MA, the city of sin, (let’s hope we come out the same way we went in) and just like that we are standing in the hometown of 17 year old phenom Tony Conigliaro…

Tony Conigliaro was as local as local can be. Born in Revere, he grew up in Lynn and attended St. Mary’s High School. In 1962 at the age of 17, Conig was signed by the home town Boston Red Sox. This was 3 years before the amateur draft so the Red Sox had a unique advantage to sign the young outfielder. Sexy Boston Sports’ Director of Fan Relations Sadie Sloe Gin often comments on how much more fun it would be if pro teams were comprised of mostly local athletes. Setting aside the huge disadvantage that New England teams would face these days (most talent in all sports besides hockey comes from outside this region now), this belief was 100% accurate in the 60’s. After just one season in the minor leagues, in which he hit 24 home runs in only 333 at bats, Conig ascended to the majors and became an instant fan favorite because of his local connection and prodigious talents.

In 1964, Conig opened the season batting 7^th and playing centerfield for the Boston Red Sox. In the second game of the season, the home opener, he homered on the first pitch he saw from White Sox starter Joe Horlen and the legend of Tony C was born. Though he struggled in his first month as the starting center fielder, he shifted to left in May and immediately went on a tear. From May 3 to July 26, Conig posted a triple slash line (AVG/OBP/SLG) of .296/.361/.553 with 18 homers and 15 doubles in 284 at bats. His right handed stroke made him perfect for taking advantage of Fenway’s Green Monster. Sadly, his hot rookie season came to a screeching halt on July 26 when he broke his arm after being hit by a pitch. He would return just over a month later to continue his torrid hitting (.960 OPS in the last month), but the lost month cost him a shot at the Rookie of the Year award (he lost to Minnesota’s Tony Oliva who had 84 extra base hits and a sparkling .323 average).

The following season, at just 20 years old, Tony C was installed as the Red Sox starting right fielder batting cleanup behind future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski. The powerful duo led a strong Red Sox offense that finished third in the league in scoring that season, but all those runs would not be enough. The Red Sox rotation featured just one pitcher with an above average ERA and of the four starters with 30 or more starts, Earl Wilson finished with the fewest losses with 14. They were the worst staff in baseball. The team finished with 100 losses (the last Red Sox team to reach the century mark in losses) and in 9^th place in the 10 team American League. Conig’s considerable efforts that season were for naught.

If his rookie season thrust him onto the baseball scene, his sophomore campaign vaulted him to icon status. Despite missing time with a broken arm from being hit by a pitch for the second consecutive year, Tony C led the American League in home runs with 32. He was (and still is) the youngest home run champ ever. Here are the 10 youngest home run champs:

Rk			HR	Year	Age ▴	Tm	Lg
1	Tony Conigliaro		32	1965	20	BOS	AL
2	Eddie Mathews		47	1953	21	MLN	NL
3	Johnny Bench		45	1970	22	CIN	NL
4	Joe DiMaggio		46	1937	22	NYY	AL
5	Juan Gonzalez		43	1992	22	TEX	AL
6	Ted Williams		37	1941	22	BOS	AL
7	Hank Aaron		44	1957	23	MLN	NL
8	Jose Canseco		42	1988	23	OAK	AL
9	Orlando Cepeda		46	1961	23	SFG	NL
10	Prince Fielder		50	2007	23	MIL	NL

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/27/2011.

That list includes 6 Hall of Famers, a two time MVP winner, the Czar of Steroids and one of today’s biggest superstars, but none of them did it as young as Tony C. 

Stardom was a certainty for the local boy. He was handsome and bold. He dated movie star Mamie Van Doren. He was such a big draw that he released an album in 1965 featuring the tracks “I Can’t Get Over You” and “Little Red Scooter” and he even performed on the Merv Griffin show (this video is a MUST WATCH). What a heart throb.

In 1966, Conig continued to be a terror for American League pitchers, but again, the Sox finished in 9^th place. Then, in 1967, things started to change. The pitching staff that had finished last in the league in 1965, was now middle of the pack. Yaz and Tony C, already the leaders of a potent Red Sox offense, took their games to another level. Yaz, that season’s MVP, would finish the season leading the league in home runs, RBI and average, the last player to capture the Triple Crown. 

Conig was also having his best season, posting an OPS 42% better than league average and making his first All Star team. His season reached its pinnacle on July 23^rd when he stroked his 100^th home run, becoming the youngest player ever to reach this round number. Below is the full list of players who have reached 100 home runs before their 23^rd birthday:

Rk	Player	HR	Age	G	PA	Tm
1	Mel Ott	115	17-22	677	2640	NYG
2	Eddie Mathews	112	20-22	440	1875	BSN-MLN
3	Alex Rodriguez	106	18-22	513	2271	SEA
4	Tony Conigliaro	104	19-22	494	2047	BOS

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 6/27/2011.

That’s it. 4 players. 2 Hall of Famers, one future Hall of Famer and Tony C. If someone said in July of 1967 that Tony Conigliaro would not be a Hall of Famer they would probably be spit on by everyone within ear shot. Barring injury, this kid was on a meteoric rise to super stardom, possibly even challenging Ted Williams as the most prolific hitter in Red Sox history. Unfortunately for our young hero, the lords of baseball are a cruel bunch.

On August 18, 1967, the Red Sox were facing the California Angels at home. The team sat in fourth place, 3 games back of the Minnesota Twins. Gary Bell took the mound for the Sox that day opposing Angels starter Jack Hamilton. Hamilton was a baseball nomad. At 29 years old, he was already on his 4^th major league team, traded to the Angels that season by the New York Mets. He was making his 14^th start for the club that day. Tony C was in the lineup playing right field and batting 6^th. Hamilton blew through the Sox lineup the first time through only allowing one walk and one single, to Conig, and Bell countered with blanks through the first 4 innings as well (he would take a no-hitter into the 7^th).

In the bottom of the 4^th, first baseman George Scott led off with a single, but was erased trying to advance to second. Then, perhaps prophetically, a smoke bomb was launched onto the field, delaying the game for 10 minutes. Centerfielder Reggie Smith followed with a fly out and it was Conig’s turn to bat with 2 down and nobody on. Remember how I mentioned that he had missed time with two separate broken arms from being hit by pitches? Well Tony C was notorious for crowding the plate. "'He hangs over the plate as much as anyone in the league,' Hamilton said later." He also wore one of the old time helmets without ear flaps because they were not yet mandatory throughout the league.

So Conig steps to the plate to face Hamilton in his second at bat. He comes right up to the edge of the plate and leans his chiseled body over in defiance. Hamilton rears back and fires and, “’It was a squish’, recalls (Rico) Petrocelli, the on-deck hitter, ‘like a tomato or melon hitting the ground.’” The ball struck Congliaro square in the left cheek and he dropped to the ground as if he had been shot. Petrocelli and the team trainer ran over to his aid as he lay in a heap in the batter’s box. He was carried off on a stretcher to be treated at a local hospital. He had broken bones in his face and his vision became eternally blurry. As his teammates celebrated their improbable run to the 1967 AL Pennant, Tony C was on the sidelines watching with his one good eye.

Remarkably, he would return to the Red Sox for the 1969 season and would experience the thrill of playing alongside his brother Billy in the Red Sox outfield.. After a mediocre season by his standards, Tony C opened the ’70 season as a man on a mission and finished with a career high 36 home runs. Then, almost immediately after the season, he was unceremoniously traded to the Angels for young second baseman Doug Griffin (Hamilton was no longer on the club). He managed just 266 at bats that year as the eye problems finally got the best of him and he posted just a .620 OPS. For the next 3 years he toiled in the Angels farm system before receiving his release in 1974 and signed with the Red Sox during spring training of 1975. He had 57 at bats for the ’75 AL Pennant winners, but was unable to positively contribute from a DH slot that was needed for youngster Jim Rice. On June 12, 1975, Tony Conigliaro played his last major league game.

Conig would go on to receive some broadcasting opportunities, never wanting to shrink from the spot light. In 1982, on his birthday, he auditioned to be an analyst for the Red Sox for WSBK-TV in Boston. Two days after his audition, his brother Billy was driving him to the airport when he suffered a massive heart attack at the age of 37 and slipped into a coma. He woke up 4 months later, but he had suffered some serious brain damage. For eight years, the once great slugger was reduced to a near vegetative state. Famous for his resolve, it was assumed that eventually the boy wonder from Lynn would pull through, but it was not to be. On February 24, 1990, Tony Conigliaro passed away of pneumonia and kidney failure at the age of 45.

Tony Conigliaro was one of the greatest young hitters the game ever saw. He was Boston’s answer to Mickey Mantle: young, charming, unlimited potential. But for one errant fastball from a journeyman pitcher, Tony C would be mentioned in the same breath as Williams, Yaz and Rice in Boston baseball lore. As it was, he was a dominating force for the first 4 years of his young career and set records that may never be broken. He was an inspiration for millions around Boston including a pre-teen X Dad who marveled at his promise. I’ll leave the final words to Peter Gammons from his de facto obituary in Sports Illustrated over a week after Conig’s passing: "Today's young stars, so arrogant in their celebrity, should take a moment to think about Tony C, whose tragic life testifies to the fragility of human excellence. "

Back to the future with Dwight Evans

Today we are doing some true Back to the Future stuff. Today we are heading way back to 1972. Back to stop Biff from kissing X Mom at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance so that she'll still go to Stonehill and marry X Dad. Then once we take care of that, we'll look at one of X Mom's favorite Red Sox players and her current neighbor. It's time to jump back into the Delorean, evade the Libyan terrorists, crank it to 88 and go to the year of the Watergate scandal, the premier of The Godfather and Don Mclean's release my least favorite song of all time (American Pie). Today we look back fondly on Dwight "Dewey" Evans...

Dwight Evans was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 5^th round of the 1969 draft out of Chatsworth (CA) High School at just 17 years old. He would spend the next three years holding his own in the minor leagues, especially for his age. After posting an .891 On Base Plus Slugging (OPS) with a clean .300 average and 17 HR as a 20 year old in his first taste of AAA, Dewey earned a September call up to the Red Sox in 1972. After 2 pinch hit appearances, he took over left field for the rest of the season, shifting some guy named Carl Yastrzemski to first base to take over for the ineffective Danny Cater. Cater was acquired in a Spring Training trade with the Yankees for Sparky Lyle (maybe that’s why we don’t trade with the Yankees anymore, they kept kicking our asses in the deals).

1972 was significant for more than just launching the career of the best Right Fielder in Red Sox history. This marked the year of the first strike in professional sports history. The results and ramifications of this first strike are another discussion for another day, but the biggest short term effect was pushing the start of the season back until April 13. This caused uneven scheduling for teams across baseball where some teams lost as many as 9 games, while others lost as few as 6. The Detroit Tigers were one of the teams that lost 6. The Red Sox lost 7. So in the same poetic fashion that plagued Boston for 86 years between titles, the Sox and Tigers squared off on October 2^nd for a three game series with the Red Sox standing at 84-68 and the Tigers at 84-69. Whichever team won two games would win the AL East. Of course the Tigers won the first two of the series and the Sox won the final, meaningless game of the season to finish the year at 85-70, a half game behind the 86-70 Tigers. Ah, the joys of labor strife.

Despite the unfortunate end to the 1972 season, things were really looking up for the Red Sox in the beginning part of the 70’s. Carlton Fisk had debuted the prior year and was an instant star, capturing the Rookie of the Year in ’72 and finishing 4^th in the MVP voting. 22 year old future first baseman Cecil Cooper also made his debut in ’72. Bill “Spaceman” Lee was starting to come into his own as a top starting pitcher and elite personality. The 1974 season marked the debut of a trio of talented youngsters that included SS Rick “Burly” Burleson, LF Jim “Ed” Rice, and CF Fred “Freddy” Lynn. And caught in the middle of it all was the maturation of Dwight Evans into an above average (and later superior) major league hitter and elite defender.

The development of all this young talent (especially Lynn’s MVP and ROY season) coupled with the continued excellence of veterans like Yaz, Luis Tiant, Bernie Carbo and Rick Wise came to a head in 1975 when the Sox won the AL East, defeated the dynastic Oakland A’s in the League Championship Series and squared off with the Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. As us Red Sox fans were still hearing “1918” chants up until 2004, we know that the Sox did not win this series. Despite Fisk’s heroics in Game 6 that Robin Williams missed to go see about a girl, the team could not keep the good times rolling and lost in the 7^th game. Evans had a strong series posting a triple slash line of .292/.393/.542 with 1 HR and 5 RBI but the Reds were just too strong for the young Red Sox.

The Red Sox would go on to miss the playoffs every year from 1976 to 1985, including the painful one game playoff loss to the Yankees in 1978 at the hands of Bucky F. Dent, but it wouldn’t be for lack of trying on Dewey’s part. In that time, Dewey never posted an OPS that was below league average. He made 2 All Star games and finished in the top 11 for MVP voting 3 times. He led the league in walks twice, runs and OBP once and in 1981 he led the league in HR, OPS. For this he finished 3^rd in the MVP voting behind the not deserving winner Rollie Fingers and the probably slightly more deserving Rickey Henderson. It was in this stretch also where Dewey’s reputation as a great fielder caught up with his actual abilities as he won all 8 of his Gold Gloves in that time (his 8 are the fourth most all time for a right fielder behind Roberto Clemente’s 12, Al Kaline’s 10 and Ichiro Suzuki's 9).

By the time 1986 rolled around and the Red Sox returned to the World Series, most of the 34 year old Evans’ partners in crime from the 70s were gone (Fisk, Lynn, Yaz, Tiant, Lee, Burleson). The only major player still with Evans on this club was Jim Rice in his final season as an elite player. We all know how that 1986 season ended so no need to rehash here, but it is a good time to start looking at the comparison between Evans and Rice, two players joined at the hip in Red Sox baseball history.

Jim Rice was a really great hitter for the Red Sox for a handful of years. He had his signature 1978 season when he became known as the “Most Feared Hitter” in baseball (even though for his 16 year career he only garnered 77 intentional walks, which ranks 183^rd all time). He parlayed this moniker into acceptance into baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2009 (though it took him all 15 tries to get in). From 1975 to 1979 he was undoubtedly one of the best hitters in baseball and over the next 7 years he had another few strong campaigns. But Jim Rice did not have as good a career as Dwight Evans and their standings with the Hall of Fame should be reversed.

Jim Ed finished his 16 year career with an OPS 28% above the league average for those years. Dewey finished 27% above league average (essentially the same), but played 4 years more. Jim Ed had more power than Dewey but finished with fewer career home runs (385-382). Dewey had waaaaay more walks than Jim Ed (finishing 28^th all time to Rice’s 366^th all time) and was consistently an on-base machine before Billy Beane decided it was cool to walk last decade. Jim Ed had a more clearly defined peak, but Dewey’s best 6 seasons are just as good if not better than Jim Ed’s. 

Even if you want to say they had equal value at the plate (I wouldn’t, I’d say Dewey was better), there’s that little matter of fielding the ball that should be taken into account. I’ve already mentioned that Evans was a great fielder. He covered the cavernous Red Sox right field and had an absolute cannon for an arm, possibly the best right field arm not attached to Roberto Clemente’s body. Jim Ed on the other hand played in the cozy confines of Fenway’s left field and was nothing special. So again, even if you say their hitting was equal, Dewey gets propelled forward like a midget out of a cannon in overall value. And yet, Dewey lasted 3 years on the Hall of Fame ballot before falling off while Jim Ed gave his acceptance speech two years ago.

Dwight Evans was the best right fielder in Red Sox history and one of the best right fielders of all time. He was criminally underappreciated while he played and in the first few years after he retired. Whenever he gets onto the Veteran’s Committee ballot for the Hall of Fame, they better do the right thing and vote him in. His cannon arm, sweet mustache and steady hitting wowed the Fenway Faithful for 19 glorious years. Dewey played for some of the most snake bitten teams in Red Sox history but always did it with class and effort. I’m sad that I was too young to fully appreciate his awesomeness, but he found a spot in X Mom’s heart. Hopefully if she ever needs a cup of sugar from her neighbor, he’ll deliver it with the speed and accuracy of one of his patented bullets to third base.

Back to the future with Tim Naehring

X Mark here. Because I am depressed about the Celtics and the analysis on the last two games boils down to “they all played like the team from Teen Wolf before Michael J. Fox turns into the wolf with Glenn Davis starring as Chubby”, I am going to fall back on one of my running post ideas, Back to the future. Since the first post looked at my favorite player as a kid, X Sister asked that I take a look at her favorite childhood player next. So let’s join Mr. Peabody and Sherman in the WABAC machine and re-visit the career of Tim Naehring…

Tim Naehring, a Cincinnati native, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 8^th round of the 1988 draft out of Miami University (no, not the U). Naehring was immediately assigned to the organization’s New York Penn League club, where as an experienced college player, he expectedly beat up the competition and earned a promotion to the High A Florida State League team in Winter Haven. In 42 games in Winter Haven, he really struggled with the bat but showed good plate discipline, which would later profile as his top skill with the bat. The next year, at 22 years old, he opened the season back a level in the Carolina League. Still old for his league, he posted a solid for a short stop On Base Plus Slugging (OPS) of .768, which earned an aggressive promotion all the way to AAA Pawtuckett (basically the same path Phil Plantier would follow a year later). There he saw a slight regression in his numbers, but as an aggressively promoted 22 year old short stop, he certainly held his own.

In 1990, Naehring opened the year as Pawtuckett’s starting short stop (he would also begin playing 3B and 2B some this year) and all of a sudden discovered a power stroke. After hitting just 8 home runs in 196 previous minor league games, he blasted 15 HR (and 16 doubles) in only 82 games. Due to his new found power (and poor performance by incumbent short stop Luis Rivera), the Red Sox called Naehring up to the big leagues that July and on July 15^th made his debut as a defensive replacement at second. He wouldn’t have to wait long before he got his first start. The next day, Naehring realized his lifelong dream, starting at short and batting 9^th against the Minnesota Twins. He went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts.

For the next month, Naehring played in just about every game (mostly at SS) and hit pretty well, posting a triple slash line (AVG/OBP/SLG) of .271/.333/.412. Unfortunately for the promising young short stop (who was being compared to Cal Ripken Jr. at the time), his season came to an end on August 13 when he suffered a back injury, which would prove prophetic to the rest of his career. The Red Sox would make the playoffs for the 3rd time in 5 seasons that year, but the rookie would have to watch from the sidelines (they fell to the mighty Oakland A's in a 4 game sweep). In the offseason, the Red Sox discovered that Naehring’s legs were different lengths and were the cause of the back issues.

Entering the 1991 season, the Red Sox had plenty of reasons to be excited about their offense. At 3 of the 4 infield positions, they featured an above average hitter (Carlos Quinatana, Jody Reed, Naehring), none of whom were older than 28, and future Hall of Famer Wade Boggs still in his prime even at 33 years old. If that wasn’t enough, if any of the players faltered they had prospects Mo Vaughn and Scott Cooper banging on the door. The outfield had franchise cornerstones Mike Greenwell and Ellis Burks and would later feature uber-prospect Phil Plantier. They even had former NL All Star Jack Clark at DH extending his outstanding (and underrated) career. The pitching looked to be somewhat of a weaker spot, but they were still anchored by 2 time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens (who would win his third that year). But alas, it was not meant to be. Injuries and underperformance from the outfield took their toll on the team and they finished second in the AL East that year to the up and coming Blue Jays and only 7^th in the league in runs scored. Naehring, who made the team out of Spring Training as the starting short stop, accounted for one of the walking wounded as his season ended on May 17^th with the back problems calling for surgery. His .109/.197/.127 performance that year indicates that he probably struggled with the issue all spring.

In 1992, Naehring again opened the season as the starting short stop, but this time would be put into a time share with Rivera. In sporadic playing time (he never started more than 2 games in a row), Naehring really struggled. On July 24^th with a .191 average and just 2 HR, Naehring was sent back to Pawtuckett to straighten himself out. After dominating minor league pitching for 11 games, Naehring returned to the big leagues on September 5^th and went 18 for 50 the rest of the season (.360 average) with 9 walks (.458 OBP). Looking to rebound off a strong finish, Naehring underwent shoulder surgery the following spring.

By the time 1993 rolled around, Naehring had been leapfrogged on the young short stop hierarchy by fellow 26 year old John Valentin, who opened the year as the Sox starting short stop. 1993 also marked the first year since 1982 that a mustachioed red head would not be manning third base, as Wade Boggs had signed with the hated Yankees in the offseason. Unfortunately for Naehring, Scott Cooper had already established himself as the Red Sox third baseman of the future, earning the first of two (yes that’s correct two) All Star births that year. So poor Timmy, after he recovered from surgery, was left to toil in Pawtuckett and make AAA pitchers question their career choice (.307/.408/.465). Finally, on August 11^th, the Red Sox gave AAA pitchers a respite and called him back up to the big leagues in a super utility roll filling in at 3B, 2B, SS and DH. A slow August was followed by a torrid September/October and Naehring finished his brief callup with a .331 average.

1994 saw a (mostly) healthy Naehring stay on the roster for the full year in a utility infielder role (even adding 1B to the mix) and he responded with slightly below average performance before the strike struck. Then, on April 9^th 1995, the Sox traded All Star Scott Cooper to the Cardinals for “Hitten” Mark Whitten and suddenly third base was all Naehring’s. He would reward the team with his best year at the plate, being  among the league leaders in average for the first half of the season. On June 3, he topped out at a .375 average (also on this day, Expos pitcher Pedro Martinez pitched 9 perfect innings only to surrender a leadoff double in the top of the 10^th). He would finish the season with an .863 OPS and, along with strong pitching and performances by MVP Mo Vaughn, AL Wins Above Replacement (WAR) leader John Valentin, and Re-Juicinated Jose Canseco, helped lead the Red Sox back to the playoffs.

The following season was another strong one for Naehring despite short trips to the DL in April and September, but with the pitching regressing and Valentin not doing his Cal Ripken impression again, the Sox dropped back to 3^rd in the division. 1997 saw him get off to a great start (as late as May 31 he had a .900+ OPS) but his season ended prematurely with an elbow injury on June 23^rd, a game he would go 3 for 5 with 1 HR. The following month, he underwent surgery to repair the elbow. Tim Naehring would never again play Major League Baseball.

Naehring had another surgery to remove scar tissue the following spring, but could not resume playing baseball that year. At just 31 years old, his career as a player was over. Fortunately for Naehring, his career in baseball was not. In 1999 he joined the Cincinnati Reds front office where he held various jobs for 8 years. I got the chance to meet Tim, who was a great friend of my boss Jeff Maultsby, and have a few beers with him, listen to some stories and let him know that my little sister had a crush on him. I was also fortunate enough to get one of his old Reds field jerseys to give X Sister as a souvenier. In September 2007, shortly after I left the organization, Naehring was let go from his position as field coordinator apparently due to the organization’s failure to produce home grown pitchers (of course at the time of his firing Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey, Travis Wood, Logan Ondrusek and Carlos Fisher were all in the organization and are now in the big leagues). Almost immediately after he latched on with the Yankees and became my mortal enemy (just kidding). 

For 8 seasons, Tim Naehring offered great promise and strong results but was ultimately not able to maintain a healthy body. He made Sox fans cheer and ladies swoon, but it was just never meant to be. A quiet but funny guy who gives so much back to his community deserved a better shot to make good on those Cal Ripken comparisons. X Sister thanks you for the memories.

Numbers and game records are thanks to www.baseball-reference.com and retrosheet.org. All injury related links are thanks to a blog called The Greatest 21 Days.

Back to the future with Phil Plantier

This year I would like to honor the old dudes. So often we all get caught up in the future. Baseball America and Mel Kiper Jr. (in football) have turned minor leaguers and draft picks into house hold names because of the great hope of the unknown. How can we be disappointed in a player if he has never played a game right? In doing this, I think sometimes we tend to forget about some of our former heroes that graced the diamond. The guys who had entertaining careers, but had fatal flaws that ushered them out of town and out of mind. I think sometimes we (and I am a huge culprit of this) are too quick to want to push the old guard out to pasture and let the new prospect shine with his promise. So in order to keep the memories of our elders eternal, I am going to try to write profiles about former Red Sox players from my youth to pay homage to some really good players and maybe paint the picture of how a young X Mark got so crazed over baseball from watching these guys that he actually tattooed one of their numbers on his chest. So let’s hop in the Delorean, crank it up to 88 and head back to 1990 to visit my former favorite player, Phil Plantier…

Phil Plantier was drafted as an infielder (he would later move to the outfield) in the 11^th round by the Red Sox in 1987 out of Poway (NH) High School. As a 19 year old in his first full season assignment in the Florida State League, he struggled a little bit (.666 OPS) but showed good patience (51 BB in just 399 PA) for a teenager. The next year he took a small step back in league (Carolina League) but made a massive jump in performance. In 528 PA, he hit 27 HR and had a triple slash line of .302/.405/.546, but also started to show the contact issues that  would later doom him with 122 SO. In 1990, at just 21 years old, the Red Sox aggressively promoted him two levels to AAA Pawtucket where his power went from great to prolific, slugging 33 HR in just 507 PA good for an OPS of .906. His average took a little tumble that year and his strike outs increased, but the power and still good patience (62 BB) were enough to earn a call-up to The Show in August. While he didn’t do much in just 14 games that year, Phil Plantier was a Major Leaguer at just 21 years old.

The early 90’s were a transition time for the Red Sox outfield. By this time, Mike Greenwell had ascended to the starting left field position and appeared poised to keep the run of great Red Sox left fielders intact (Williams-Yaz-Rice). Ellis Burks burst onto the scene as a 22 year old in 1987 and gave the team its first really good center fielder since Freddie Lynn got away. The only position that was left unsettled in 1991 was right field. In 1990, with Jim Rice now retired, the Sox shifted Dwight Evans to DH full time. Evans, who was actually a better player than Jim Rice and should be in the Hall of Fame, was possibly the best defensive right fielder of all time and had been with the team since 1972. To replace him in the field in 1990, the Sox traded closer Lee Smith to the Cardinals for Tom Brunansky. Brunansky had a solid year in 1990, but in 1991 he slumped to a .692 OPS, paving the way for Plantier to be called up for good.

In 1991, still just 22 years old, Plantier opened the season in Pawtucket again, but he could not be contained. In 84 games he hit 16 HR, walked 65 times (against 64 SO) and put up a line of .305/.438/.557! With Brunansky struggling, the Red Sox had no choice but to call up the phenom with the prolific power. He played in 11 games with the big club in June and struggled, collecting 4 singles in 18 plate appearances. He was sent down for more seasoning, but returned in August on a mission. In 46 August PA, Plantier hit .412/.565/.794 with 6 Extra Base Hits (XBH) and 11 walks. He followed it up by playing in 29 games in September and October and logging a 1.000 OPS. For the season, he finished with a 1.034 OPS and 11 HR. In just 53 games, Plantier built up enough good will to finish 8^th in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. More impressively, according to several sources on the Internet (though I cannot find the original source), Bill James predicted that Plantier was the player most likely to lead the Major Leagues in HR in the 90s (of course he did not, that honor went to Mark McGwire).

The future looked bright for Plantier after his rookie season. I am assuming this is the year I officially fell in love with him and adopted him as my own (can a 7 year old adopt a 22 year old?). With that crouched stance, a beautiful lefty swing, good patience, and tremendous power, it was easy to envision him becoming the next Red Sox super star. 

In 1992, Plantier made his first Opening Day roster (here is the lineup for the day) as the starting right fielder, batting 5^th behind Greenwell and Burks. In his first at bat, Plantier launched a solo shot off Yankees starter Scott Sanderson to deep center and it appeared that the phenom was no fluke. Unfortunately, this would be the high point of my favorite player’s season. He would not homer again until June 6. His average after the first week would never be higher than .252 (keep in mind that players were still largely evaluated on their averages back then) and his slugging never even reached .400. He was still getting on base at a reasonable clip (44 walks in 399 PA), but he was striking out a lot (84 SO). In August, he was sent down to AAA to regain his swing and dominated the competition yet again with a 1.300 OPS in 12 games. He was called back up in the middle of September and had a decent finish to the year, but the shadow of doubt had spread over the Red Sox front office. While he was just 23 years old, they seemed to be questioning whether or not Plantier’s power would translate to the Majors, or would his strike out issues doom him to AAAA status for the rest of his career.

Unfortunately for me and Phil, the Red Sox decided to not bother finding out what they had. On December 9, 1992, the Red Sox traded Plantier to the San Diego Padres for Jose Melendez, a 26 year old relief pitcher with pretty good numbers, but a reliever nonetheless (Melendez would go on to pitch in just 19 games for the Sox over 2 years and never again see a Major League game). What was once supposed to be one of the team’s foundation players and my absolute favorite, was now being traded away for a spare part. It was my first real experience with heart break (well maybe second, I think it was a year before when my parents took away our cable package and I could no longer watch Nickelodeon). This was a guy I had spent over an eighth of my life watching and without warning he was gone. Since it was before the internet and I no longer had cable to see him on ESPN, Plantier was essentially dead to me. Sure I could see his name in the morning box scores, but that is really no way for a 9 year old to follow his favorite player. I knew I had to move on, but it was just so hard.

The Red Sox right field position would remain unsettled for the next 7 years, featuring such immortals as Brunansky, Carlos Quintana, Billy Hatcher, Troy O’Leary and Darren Bragg until 25 year old Trot Nixon finally claimed the position in 1999. Plantier had a great first year for the Padres in 1993, finishing 7^th in the league in HR with 34 and 9^th in RBI with 100, but his star would quickly fade. In 1994 he would slump to a .220 average and would be traded to his third team, the Houston Astros, in a blockbuster deal involving Derek Bell, Doug Brocail and Ricky Gutierrez (among others) going to Houston for Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Steve Finley and others coming back to San Diego. After 3 more years and 2 more teams, Plantier was out of Major League Baseball in 1997 at the age of 28. He would finish his career with 91 HR, falling 314 HR short of McGwire for the most HR of the 90s. While he never became the superstar that Baseball America, Bill James and I thought he would be, for one summer he captured the heart and mind of at least one impressionable 7 year old, forever cementing that little boy as a baseball junkie. Thank you for those 2 months Phil, and I hope you are doing well wherever you are.

I actually found Plantier writing for a site called Diamond Mind Baseball League. You can find his articles here and he has posted as recently as October 2010. If for some reason you ever read this Phil, I would love to do an interview with you, just email me at mpbergeron41@gmail.com.