Favorites - by position part I (C, 1B, 2B)

With the upcoming induction of Jim Rice into the Hall of Fame it made me think of players I really liked over the years. I'll admit, Rice wasn't even close to being a favorite of mine. Fred Lynn was my first favorite baseball player and to this day my close friends probably could have answered that as a trivia question about me.

So with the Sox in midst of a bad stretch, rather than blog about that and the Yankees recent domination of the AL East, I will instead write about my favorite players in my lifetime, not necessarily the best players at each position but my favorites.

Catcher -


Carlton "Pudge" Fisk ; the moment, 12th inning, game 6. I was 10 yrs old, enjoying my first full season really aware of baseball. I always remember how large he was relative to most hitters and the umpires. After firing a ball back to the pitcher he would be putting his mask back on and be towering over most players (and the ump). Was upset when he was "let go" by the Sox along with Lynn and Burleson.

Notables: Thurman Munson, Johnny Bench, Jason Varitek



Firstbase -

George "Boomer" Scott ; Boomer began his career with the Sox in 1966, sent to Milwaukee for 72-76, brought back in '77 and was part of their version of murderers row in '77 and '78. Scott had a weird knack for hitting some triples every year. He ended with 60 in his career. Somebody that big (listed as only 215 lbs on baseball reference, haha, nice one) should not have been able to get the trips. Loved the helmet in the field at first. Lastly, his wife (I think her name was Cookie or something like that) had a little sports store in Falmouth Ma, which happened to be the home of my grandparents growing up. I used to ride a bike there and shop around hoping Boomer would show up...duh, middle of the summer he isn't likely to be on Cape Cod...

Notables: Tony Perez, Willie Stargell (stars on the hats turned me off though)


Secondbase -



Mark Lemke ; Lemke was known as a poor man's Pedroia. He only sniffed close to .300 in the strike/lockout shortened 1994 season at .294 Offense wasn't what I remember about Lemmer. He was steady but not flashy in the field. Lemke always had a dirty uni. He was a big part of the worst to first turnaround in Atlanta in 1991. In the World Series (one of the best ever; Jack Morris out-dueling John Smoltz in the 10 inning game 7 for the 1-0 clinching win) Lemke hit .417 with 3 triples and likely would have been MVP of the Series had the Braves won it. He currently is doing radio pre-game/post game for the Braves. A few years ago he was player/manager for an independent minor league team and was trying to pitch using a knuckleball as his main pitch.

Notables : Rod Carew, Paul Molitor


Who are some of your favorites at Catcher , first and second base? (during your lifetime) and why?


Coming next : SS, 3B