Red Sox Hall of Fame

Six former Red Sox players were inducted into the team’s hall of fame on Friday night. The former Sox included Mo Vaughn, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Frank Sullivan, Mike Greenwell, Wes Ferrell and Everett Scott.

Good to hear the team is recognizing Mo Vaughn. I was pretty bummed out when he left Boston. I’m not going to lie I spent a large part of my childhood practicing his batting stance for wiffleball. And he and Nomar combined for 75 homers in 1998 and he won the MVP in 1995. Guy was pretty good until left Boston that is.

The other two guys that stood out for me were the Spaceman and Mike Greenwell. I absolutely loved Mike Greenwell when I was a kid. I had a Mike Greenwell glove and the Mike Greenwell Starting Lineup figurine when I was a kid. I loved the fact that he played left field at Fenway with the Green Monster.

The Green Monster and Mike Greenwell are probably two of the biggest reasons I am as big of a baseball fan as I am today. There is no other quirk in sports quite like the Green Monster. As a kid playing little league and RBI Baseball on Nintendo I wanted to play left at Fenway with the Monster, none of this three-foot chain length fence garbage. Thankfully I got to live out my dream playing wiffleball this summer with the Gooch in Billerica.

I doubt any of this has anything to do with the Sox inducting him to the team hall of fame. More likely it’s his .303 lifetime batting average and the fact that he averaged 93 RBI, 35 doubles and 17 homers. He was also a five time All Star and finished second in the MVP voting in 1988.

As for the Spaceman, well what can you say about the Spaceman that hasn’t already been said. I mean the guy was anti-designated hitter, smoked weed to try and combat the fumes of the city, threw the Leephus and ran for President in 1988. Are you at all surprised that he lives in on a farm in Vermont?

Bill Lee rules.

Oh yeah he and I also have the same favorite “Free Ted’s Head” t-shirt. I was about two seconds from calling this blog Free Ted’s Head by the way.

He holds the Red Sox record for most games pitched by a left-hander (321) and this summer at the age of 61 he got the win in the 103rd Midnight Sun game in Alaska pitching six innings, striking out three and giving up four earned runs.

edit - I don't agree with his feelings on Manny though...I love Manny but it was time.

*as always all stats are courtesy of Baseball-reference.com