All-Time Sox Right Fielders
After a multi-hour respite, check out my related pieces on Sox center fielders.
5. Trot Nixon
This picture pretty much encapsulates the Trot Nixon experience in Boston. He’s grimly determined, and giving it his all. His dive is max-effort. However, he has no elevation there, his glove is turned the wrong way, and he likely under-dove the ball. Played hard and played stupid. When he was good, he was very good…hitting righties at the same quality as such names as Barry Bonds and others. But long term readers know all too well what I think about Nixon’s deficiencies…there is no point to rehash them again.
With Nixon signing with the Indians this winter, he officially ended the Lou Gorman influence on the team…he was the last hold over. He also hands over the Organizational Soldier award to Tim Wakefield. Back when he was healthy and could actually move around a bit, he played a fair amount of center field.
4. Tony Conigliaro
He really is the ultimate ‘woulda coulda shoulda’ in Red Sox history. What could have been, if not for a Jack Hamilton fastball? Conig was no stranger to the injury bug before he was beaned, but the injuries were a broken arm in 64, and a broken wrist in 65 (actually, almost exactly one year apart)…not exactly nagging, chronic injury. He hit his 100th home run when he was 22, and tragically hit only 67 more in his career.
Of course, Tony C was beloved for being a hell of a hitter, and a local boy to boot, and he was compared to Yaz in the same manner of the ubiquitous Manny/Trot comparisons 35 years later. It’s kind of appropriate that the legend of Yaz was built on Tony C’s shoulders. If Conig doesn’t go down in August 67, then the pennant situation likely isn’t as dire (though he was good in 68, Hawk Harrelson was awful down the stretch in 67), and we don’t hear about how the Sox offense was a one-man show in September of that year. With a healthy Conigliaro, it’s likely that the Sox go into that weekend with a game or two in hand, also, which would have sucked the drama out of a memorable pennant race.
3. Jackie Jensen
Jensen is a hard player to actually write about, so here are some notes I have on him:
*Played in the Rose Bowl for Cal.
*Won the First College World Series, beating a Yale team with GHW Bush.
*All American halfback.
*Played for Yankees as DiMaggio’s backup.
*Played for the Senators and was their best hitter.
*Focus of Sox offense when Ted Williams was in Korea.
*Won the 1958 MVP.
*Retired at 32 because he was afraid to fly.
2. Harry Hooper
If you look back on the left fielder thing I wrote, I could basically flip the Duffy Lewis comment over here for Harry Hooper. That Sox outfield had three guys that could play center field, at least anecdotally. Hooper was an interesting character because there was a lot of Mike Mussina in him…he had a civil engineering degree from St. Mary’s, not exactly something that a ballplayer would have today. He could have easily been an engineer, but baseball paid better, even then.
Truth be told, he should be the #1 rightfielder in Sox history. Not only did he play forever, but he was a very good hitter and a great fielder. But there is a very good reason he’s not the top ranked right fielder…
1. Dwight Evans
My homage to Rolling Stone picking ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ by Dylan and ‘Can’t Get No (Satisfaction)’ by the Rolling Stones song’s 1/2 in their list of 500 best pop songs a few years ago.
I mean, look at the site name.
I’ve got to say that I was surprised that Dewey didn’t also make the list of top firstbasemen. I know I would have put him there. d8^)