Wantlist: 1991

1991 STADIUM CLUB RED SOX

Complete!

1991 Topps Stadium Club Charter Members - RED SOX

Ellis Burks

1991 Topps Stadium Club Members Only - RED SOX

Roger Clemens

Jeff Reardon

Visitor's Views

It’s once again time to inject some opposing viewpoints into this blog. Since the Detroit Tigers will be visiting Friendly Fenway tonight, I contacted Sam of Roar of the Tigers. I asked Sam to answer a couple questions for me since it’s a RotT is an amazing Tigers blog. Sam, thankfully, agreed. I asked the same questions I asked all my visiting fans. I wonder how the answers compare. Here we go:

When did you start blogging?
I took over Roar of the Tigers in June 2005. But I had been blogging elsewhere since 2001, and I had been blogging about baseball since about 2003. Long story there, I won't bore you with it. Suffice to say that a Red Sox messageboard played a vital role.

What is the theme/goal of your blog?
Roar of the Tigers is a blog about the Detroit Tigers, written by a crazy person, for crazy people, or perhaps for mostly-normal people who have the ability to appreciate a little crazy in their lives. Also sometimes the only way I can express my feelings about a player or game is via Terrible Cartoons, and it's nice to share those with the Internet.

Which member/group of the Tigers are you most confident in?Miguel Cabrera. I would say Brennan Boesch but as he's still a rookie, I'm waiting to see if the other cleat is going to drop on his adorable head.

Which member/group of the Tigers concerns you the most?
Pitching. I am too used to thinking of Bondo as injured to trust him with my heart, Verlander throws too many pitches, Scherzer is very hot-and-cold, FredFred (that's Rick Porcello) had to be sent down to the minors already this year, and who the hell is even in the 5th slot for us these days? Armando? Poor bastard. The bullpen, aside from Papa Grande and Phil Coke's Magnificent Mohawk, has been awfully inconsistent. Well, I guess Eddie Bonine has been ok. But nobody even knows he exists, so he doesn't count.

Which member of the Red Sox scares you the most? (Yes, you have to pick one)
Clay Buchholz. I'd be afraid he would sneak up on me and steal my laptop.

Which member of the Red Sox do you like the least?
I don't know how closely you read RotT or whatever, but I am actually a dual Red Sox and Tigers fan. I live in MA these days. I don't generally hate on the team, although I have loads of anecdotal evidence that Kevin Youkilis and Jonathan Papelbon are both asswipes off the field, and Dice K is starting to make me hate him on the field. That might be partly Scott Boras' fault, though, because Scott Boras ruins everything.

What’s your prediction for the upcoming Red Sox/Tigers series?The Tigers will probably drop at least 2, because the Tigers always seem to lose when I see them at Fenway.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say the number “36”?
Three feet. Seriously, that was the first thing. My second and third thoughts were 'pentagon' and 'krypton', so... I get the feeling this is not what you were aiming for. The fourth thing I thought of was Brad Thomas, Aussie Extraordinaire. There's your baseball.

I hope these questions offer some insight into the Visitor’s Section. (If you have a question you wish I had asked, let me know. If I do this again with other visiting teams, maybe I’ll use it.) Thanks again to Roar of the Tigers for helping me out. I wish the Tigers luck.

Once they stop playing the Red Sox.

Red Sox A-Z: S is for…

Slocumb, as in Heathcliff.

Heathcliff Slocumb pitched for the Red Sox in 1996 and 1997. He was able to save 31 games for the 1996 club. He picked up another 17 in the first half of the 1997 season. Not bad totals, really. But it’s the “half” part of that 1997 season that is really Slocumb’s legacy.

Closers are an interesting breed. There are the elite, lights-out closers. Papelbon is a good one. Billy Wagner looks to be one as well. Then, there are the other guys. Guys who collect saves, but may look particularly dominant doing it. Imagine Dice-K as a closer. When you look it over, in a vast majority of his innings, he doesn’t give up three runs. He would save a large majority of his chances. He’d be a good closer. Would anybody like watching it though? Slocumb was one of those. So, by the middle of the 1997 season, Boston was tired of it. Whether it was perception, or performance, everyone was ready to dump him. So, they did. At the trade deadline, he was shipped off to Seattle for a couple minor leaguers. Anybody who’s reading this blog certainly knows that the two minor leaguers were Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe. Varitek, obviously, went on to have the best catching career the Red Sox have ever seen. Lowe ended up being an all-star as a closer…and as a starter. In fact, he started the 2002 game. So, in exchange for Slocumb, the Sox got four all-star appearances. Not too shabby. Theo didn’t even get that when he traded away Nomar. Or Manny, come to think of it. Or Hanley. Hmm.

My only specific memory of Slocumb didn’t come when he was with the Red Sox. I’ve mentioned before that I was at the home opener in 1998 when Slocumb came in as a member of the visiting Mariners. His attempt to “save” a 7-2 lead failed spectacularly. We all joked in the stands that the Sox had a chance once he entered the game…even if nobody really believed it. The Sox scored three runs off him on three hits on their way to winning the game.

So, while his time in Boston won’t be remembered as fondly, Slocumb himself certainly will. Would the Sox have won the World Series in 2004 without Lowe and Varitek? I doubt it. That makes Slocumb a pretty important piece of Red Sox history. Just ask Dan Duquette.

S is for Slocumb, Heathcliff

TTM Request

Fresh off my fantastic responses from Tim Wakefield and Jonathan Papelbon, I’ve decided to dip my toe into the TTM waters once again. Who am I choosing this time?

Well, I’m going out on a limb with this one. I’m attempting Red Sox owner, John Henry. I’ve never tried a member of the off-the-field personnel before. I’ve only done players and coaches. But, I figured it was worth a shot. One thing that is different about someone like Henry is that he has a day job. Unlike a players whose main responsibility is to play baseball, Henry has to do something with the company that allowed him to buy the Sox in the first place, right? I can imagine the players and coaches having some downtime during the day. But, the chairman of John Henry Co must have some duties to attend to during the day, correct? So, I’m not expecting a lot form this request. Frankly, a response similar to Wake and Pap would be fabulous.

But, it should be obvious why the attempt is warranted. John Henry has proven himself to be an excellent owner. He cares about the fans, and how they relate to his team. Sure, some of the ideas the Sox come up with are a bit corny. Sure, Henry might not be Mr. Personality. But, the Sox have two rings since he took over. What more can a fan want?

So, I’m excited to see how this one turns out. Anyone else ever had any luck with front office staff? As always, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Deep Drive By: Mike Lowell, with Rob Bradford

Deep Drive covers the life and career of World Series MVP Mike

Lowell. It follows him through the lows of cancer, to the high of World Series Championships. On every step of the journey, it displayed how Lowell battled through it all to become the player and person he is now.

This book had a different feel to it. It didn’t feel like I was reading a sports autobiography. It felt as if I was reading a self-help book. It was a nice change of pace, though it sometimes affected the flow of the story. The book didn’t follow his life from childhood to World Series. It did a lot of jumping around as life lessons were learned and relearned over time. It was interesting to see how a challenge he faced once, often came up to face him again.

It’s also strange reading this book now. The book concludes with the off-season following the 2007 Championship. The copy I read included an update for the 2008 season. Reading the book now, with Lowell on the DL, wishing he were traded somewhere else, and the Sox practically begging other teams to make that happen made me wonder. What would a new update look like? Would the tone of the book be any different? I also notice that the front cover includes a quote from Manny Ramirez, complimenting Mike on how hard he plays the game. The back cover has another quote from many, saying what a great teammate Mike was. So, there are five quotes on the covers of the book. Two of them are from a guy Mike helped run out of town the following season. Things change.

This stands as a great read. After the mountains of books published covering the 2004 championship, it’s nice to read some talking about 2007. It’s definitely something to pick up. Even in 2010.

Rating: 3 bases