Inspired by the 70's "Big Red Machine" discussion in the MLB thread, what is (in your opinion) your teams best ever starting lineup.
Mine for the Red Sox is easy......it's the late 70's era lineup.
2B- Jerry Remy: Says Pahk the cah in the yahd.
SS- Rick Burleson No criticism, but knew when it was time to leave Dodge
CF- Fred Lynn. Fair weather Freddie, good for 140 games a year, and capable of coasting just enough to make every routine catch into a diving catch.
DH- Jim Rice: the guy who took his uniform shirt off in the dugout during one of the greatest Red Sox comebacks of all time, the guy who started a fight with a 60 year old coach, the guy who bunted on his own during the prime of his career after he had grounded into over 20 double plays by the all-star break. And the guy who, even in his prime, couldn't hit the best pitchers. Rice hit .400 against the mediocre pitchers. I remember that at one point in his career, Yaz had a .380 average against Nolan Ryan. Somewhere on the internet, there is a site that shows the records of every hitter against every pitcher. I'll try to find it and see how Rice hit against Nolan Ryan. (In fairness to Rice, Mickey Mantle struck out 12 times in 16 at bats against Dick Radatz)
LF- Carl Yastremski: World's greatest sulker and pouter. The Red Sox lost productive years from Ben Ogilvy, Cecil Cooper and Juan Beníquez to make room to keep Yaz's has-been bat in the line-up
RF Dwight Evans: Dewey became a major league star in 1981. Before that he was the WORST RBI man in baseball. I think he, Fred Lynn and Rick Monday are something like the only three players to ever drive in fewer than 60 RBI in a season while hitting over 20 homers. I'll have to look that one up
C- Carlton Fisk: The human rain delay
1B- George Scott: Cementhead. Hit about .190 in 1968. In 1978, he struck out 20 times in 25 at bats but then followed that streak with a mammoth home run, and the fans cheered wildly, waiting for Scott to acknowledge them but Scott wouldn't come out and the opposing pitcher wouldn't pitch, so Luis Tiant ended the impasse by pretending to be George Scott. He rolled up his baseball jacket and put it under his jersey to look like Scott's gut and put on Scott's helmet, which was his trademark because he even wore it in the field, and Tiant came out and waved to the crowd until they sat down. Never saw a curveball in the dirt that he didn't like.
3B- Butch Hobson: Cokehead. Bil James once wrote that the only things Butch Hobson knows about playing defense are, run as hard at the ball as you can, and when you get it, throw it as hard as you can. He once led the American League in errors while playing third. I think he had 47. That might have been the only time a 3rd baseman led a league in errors.
And about Yaz: In the fall of 1966, Yaz had a novel idea. He would work out during the off-season. That really was a novel approach back then. Then Yaz, who had already been a three time allstar but who had never hit more than 20 homers in a season, hit 44, 40 and 40 in three of the next four years. Then, major league baseball outlawed the use of human growth hormone, which was widely used by NFL players, in the off season between the 1970 and 1971 seasons, and Yaz never again hit even 30 homers in a season. Hmmmm....
