#424 Rick Miller

Card thoughts: Rick Miller is not a pitcher, although he looks like he’s warming up one in the bullpen before a game.

The player: Rick Miller was on a team for one reason: His defense. Although he hit righthanders well enough to be platooned occasionally, his real value was as fourth outfielder who you could count on not to blow the big play.

Miller won a basketball scholarship to Michigan State, but when he injured his ankle, he turned to baseball, where he was converted from a pitcher into an outfielder. After winning the Big Ten batting title, Miller was drafted by the Red Sox. In the minors, he showed good defense, but his tendency to try for home runs, despite his small size, led to mediocre batting averages. Despite this, he was called up to the Red Sox at the end of the 1972 season as a defensive replacement for their lumbering outfield. In 15 games, Miller hit .333, including a double in his first at bat.

Playing more in 1973, usually backing up Tommy Harper in center, he hit just .214. Slated for the same role in 1974, injuries to Reggie Smith, and lackluster play by #60 Dwight Evans, allowed Miller to get into 143 games (a career high) and steal 12 bases. Miller also married #290 CarltonFisk’s sister after the season.

The next 3 seasons saw Miller’s playing time decline, as youngsters Jim Rice and Fred Lynn needed less defensive backup than their forbears. In addition, they rarely came out of the lineup, meaning Miller had to be content in a pinch hitting role. The low point in his career was in 1975, when he hit just .194. While his number rebounded some the following seasons, it looked like his days as a regular player were over.

But then came free agency, and the owners didn’t really know how to lavish their money in those days. For some reason, the Angels chose to sign Rick Miller, a 30 year old reserve outfielder as their starting centerfielder after the 1977 season. As the team’s leadoff hitter, he hit .263, with an on base percentage of .341. On the other hand he was caught stealing 13 times, while stealing just 3 bases. But in the field, he was as good as ever, winning the Gold Glove.

1979 was Miller’s best year, as he hit .291 in the regular season, and .250 in the ALCS. After another year with the Angels, Miller came back to the Red Sox, this time as their starting center fielder. But as he was always a stopgap solution, Miller was perpetually in danger of losing his job when someone better came around. This time, it was #255 Tony Armas in 1984.

The rest of his career was uneventful on the field, as he mostly pinch hit. But in his last season, Miller ended up going after some fans in the stands in Anaheim after they spent the game heckling his family.

Rear guard: Miller's 1,000th hit came off the Angels' Ken Forsch, and was a pinch hit double (Miller was pinch hitting for #35 Glenn Hoffman). Furthermore, the hit score the first run of the game in the eighth inning. Unfortunately, Miller was thrown out at the plate by Gary Pettis while attempting to score on a single to center by Jerry Remy. The Red Sox could have used that run as Bob Stanley couldn't hold the lead in the ninth,

#396 Red Sox Leaders

Card thoughts: The Red Sox were one year away from winning the pennant, and many of the same players played for them in 1985—just not as well. In 1985, the Red Sox went 81-81 to finish fifth in the AL East. The improvement in their pitching was the reason they got better so quickly (especially Roger Clemens, a non-factor in ’85).

The player: Dewey is discussed at great length in this post.

Rear guard: The Red Sox had a well rounded offense. Note that Jim Rice does not appear on the leader board anywhere, although he still had a solid season. Also note that Bill Buckner, despite playing on two bad ankles, led the team in steals (18 steals in the lowest number of steals leading a team in 1985).

On the pitching side, Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd was the ace, as both Bruce Hurst and Roger Clemens had yet to come into their own.

#375 Rich Gedman

Card thoughts: You seldom see an action shot like this in this set: Gedman’s body is tensed; his eyes drift skyward, as he obviously thinks he got all of a ball. Gedman was in the middle of three straight seasons when he was one of the top catchers in baseball.

The player: Gedman, a local boy from Worcester, MA was not drafted out of high school. Signing as an undrafted free agent, his learning of the catching position greatly enhanced his value to the Red Sox.

Despite Gedman’s undrafted status (a newness to the catching position), he was both a great receiver and hitter in the minors. Unfortunately, when Gedman was signed, long time star catcher #290 Carlton Fisk blocked his progress to the majors. But by 1981, Fisk had signed with the White Sox, opening up the position. As a rookie that season, he shared time with Gary Allenson, whom he easily outperformed in the strike shortened season (he had a “triple slash” line of .288/.317/.434). Gedman came in second in Rookie in the Year voting that season.

A sophomore slump in 1982 (.249 batting average), was followed by a much better season in 1983, partly because of the hiring of Walt Hrniak as a hitting coach, considered one of the better coaches in that era. Gedman would have his best season in 1984, where he finally began hitting for power, blasting 24 home runs and driving 79, in the first of three all-star caliber seasons in a row. Even his catching improved, as he threw out 41% of base stealers that season.

Including 1984, Gedman would lead the league in caught stealing for three straight seasons, and he continued his good hitting in 1985, with a career high 80 RBIs, earning first of two straight all-star appearances. Although his hitting was about as good in 1986 (and he threw out 50% of all base runners), Gedman led the league in passed balls with 14, which might be attributable to overwork (he had caught over 130 games the past two seasons). This would come into play in the World Series that season, as it was commonly believed that the Bob Stanley “wild pitch” that allowed the Mets to tie Game 6, was really a Gedman passed ball.

In a freak accident after the season, Gedman was struck by a warm up toss on a barnstorming tour of Japan, fracturing his cheek bone. This limited his playing time to 52 games in 1987. Even worse, along with 9 other players, Gedman remained unsigned as a free agent after January 8 in that off season, which meant that if he was not offered a contract by another team, he couldn’t re-sign with the Red Sox until after May 1. The owners colluded against many of these players, which led to Gedman not getting an offer from another team, which forced him to sit out the first month of the season, before re-signing with the Red Sox.

Gedman ended up hitting .231 that season, but that would be the highest he would hit in his last five years in the majors. Poor hitting led to his relegation to the bench after the Red Sox signed Rick Cerone before the 1989 season; the arrival of Tony Pena the next year made his presence on the club superfluous, and he was traded early that season to the Astros as a part of a “conditional” deal, whatever that means.

With the Astros, he would hit .202; but as a backup with the Cardinals in 1991, he would hit an incredibly low .106!  Gedman’s offense was so poor that season, he had a negative OPS+, and he got only 10 hits all season (but 40% of them for extra bases—3 home runs and 1 double). He raised his offensive production considerably in 1992, but a .219 average is still really bad, and Gedman was released. After playing a brief time with the Yankees AAA club the following season, he retired.

Gedman has stayed active in the Worcester baseball scene, managing the local independent league team for six seasons. Staying close to home, he was named the hitting coach for the Red Sox short-season team in Lowell in 2011, but moved away to Virginia to fill the same role for the Salem Red Sox in 2012.

Rear guard: Rudy York was quite a player in the late 30s/early 40s, mostly for the Tigers. He had just been traded to the Red Sox for Eddie Lake, when he had his big day. York hit two home runs (one of which must have been a grand slam) and a double to drive in those 10 runs. For the season, York drove in 119 for a team that scored 792 runs in 154 games.

#349 Mark Clear

Card thoughts:  Clear looks cold, on that strange planet he’s pitching on.

The player: Clear possessed a hammer curve and blazing fastball. When he kept his walks down, he was effective. He was the first pitcher to strikeout over 100 men without making a start.  Unlike today’s relievers, many of Clear’s saves came by “accident”: He was generally pitched several innings in relief, and just happened to finish the game after his team came back.

Clear was one of those players who had a great season just about every other year, but in between he was merely serviceable. As a rookie with the Angels, Clear made the all star game (where he blew a save), and received Rookie of the Year and MVP votes, on the strength of both his 11 relief wins and 14 saves, and the fact that the Angels made the playoffs for the first time. He also had the support of his uncle Bob, who was the bullpen coach that year.

In 1980, out of the 58 games Clear pitched, he either won, lost, or got the save in over 50% of them a feat that harkens back to the Roy Face days of early relief pitching specialists.  Although his wins and saves were reduced, he was striking out over a batter an inning (a big deal in those days), and his ERA dropped to 3.30.

Then, in a deal in which the Angels got royally rooked, Clear was sent to the Red Sox with future batting champ Carney Lansford and Rick Miller for Butch Hobson (.657 OPS in his only Angel season), and former all-star Rick Burleson (injured for most of his Angel career). Clear had his best overall season with the Red Sox in 1982, when won 14 games, saved another 14, and struck out 109 in 106+ innings. He made the all star game again but did not play.

Clear must have been sorely overused in ’82, because he suffered through his worst season the next year. He became a mop up man after giving up 101 hits in 96 innings, along with 68 walks. This ballooned his ERA up above 6, and he almost got traded in the winter. But Clear bounced back a bit in 1984, although he barely struck out more than he walked.

It was “clear” that Mark could no longer be relied on to close games for the Red Sox (#91 Steve Crawford and Bob Stanley shared that role), so he became expendable. He was traded straight up to the Brewers for utility infielder #317 Ed Romero after the 1985 season.  The Milwaukee team hoped a change of scenery would help Clear and they were right. He rebounded with a strong 1986 campaign, posting career lows in ERA (2.20) and walks per 9 innings (4.4), with a career high 16 saves. At one point, he pitched 26 straight innings without giving up a run.

Clear regressed a bit in 1987 (4.48 ERA, 6.3 walks per 9 innings), and was pitching well in 1988 when he pulled a muscle near his elbow in July, which kept him out of action for a month (he had previously inflamed the elbow in May). He later injured the elbow again and was shut down for the season after August 20.

Clear was out for the entire 1989 season, and, after pitching 4 games in May for the Angels, signed with the Cubs on a minor league contract.  He was released for good after pitching 1 inning for AAA Iowa.

Rear guard: Josh Beckett is now the last Red Sox pitcher to hit a home run. 

Marty Pattin had been traded the year before from the Brewers, so that home run would have been extra sweet. He actually hit two home runs that year, and drove in 9 runs. The home run on September 26 was off Bill Parsons. Here's Pattin's card from that season.

#320 Jim Rice

Card thoughts: An in-action shot on deck. Not often you see one of those, but a nice “quiet moment” in a game picture.

The player: You can make the case that Jim Rice has benefited as much as Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens from steroids. In his case, his borderline Hall of Fame power numbers looked pretty unimpressive when stacked against sluggers in the steroid era. But voters had to vote for someone to put in the Hall, and they had already sent in the obvious hitting stars of the 80s: (Mike Schmidt, George Brett, and um Kirby Puckett?). So Rice was chosen for the Hall in 2008, despite having numbers similar to Andres Galarraga and Carlos Lee.

Known as “Ed” growing up in the segregated south, he was one of the first African-Americans to attend a previous all white high school in Anderson, South Carolina. But Jim was not the aggressive type, despite his size, and his arrival did not seem to cause a lot of racial tension (well, it was the early 70s and attitudes were changing).

Drafted in the first round by the Red Sox out of high school, Rice showed a great power stroke at ever minor league stop. The leagues he played in (New York-Penn, Florida State, and Eastern) are notoriously pitcher friendly, so the numbers were even more impressive in context.  By the time Rice got to AAA Pawtucket in 1974, it was clear he was ready for the majors as he won the Triple Crown and MVP awards at that level.

In his first year as a regular (1975), Rice barely missed a step clubbing 22 home runs and driving in over 100 en route to a second place Rookie of the Year showing (his teammate #55 Fred Lynn won the award, in what must have been the best rookie outfield duo in history). Unfortunately for the Red Sox, a Vern Ruhle pitch broke his hand near the end of the season, keeping him out of the World Series. It took awhile for the hand to heal, and Rice endured a sophomore slump (although hitting 25 homers and driving in 85 is still pretty impressive). But that season highlighted Rice’s only weakness, as he led the league in strikeouts with 125. The other weakness was his lack of patience. Despite being a slugger, Rice generally only walked 50 times or less a season.

The lack of patience didn’t seem to affect him during a remarkable three year stretch (1977-1979) in which he led the league in total bases each time (a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since Ty Cobb) and won the MVP award in 1978, when the led the league in hits (213), triples (15), home runs (46), runs batted in (139), slugging (.600) and OPS (.970).

After that remarkable three year runs, Rice’s hand was injured again in 1980, leading to three straight years or good, not great, power numbers. However, in 1982 he might have saved a young boys life. A toddler was hit in the head by a foul ball, on Rice, in the on deck circle, leapt into the stands and carried him into the Red Sox club house to be seen by the team trainer.

1983 was a renaissance year for Rice, as he once again led the league in home runs (39) and RBIs (126) while hitting .305. Three more years of over 100 RBIs followed, but on the bad side, Rice was grounding into over 30 double plays a year (with a record 36 in 1984), one of the reasons that pitchers were so apt to pitch to the dangerous Rice with people on base.

After his last season with 200 hits (1986), Rice began to slow down. While still a fearsome presence at the plate, he would never again hit over 20 home runs or drive in over 100. The issue was eyesight, elbow, and knee problems.

Rice would play his entire 16 year career with the Red Sox. When he retired, he had 382 home runs, 2,452 hits, and 1,451 runs batted in with a .502 slugging percentage. His home run total was 10^th best in American League history when he retired. 

Rear guard: Two of Rice's home runs were solos; the other drove in fellow Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.

#307 Dave Sax

Card thoughts:  There's always something odd about a catcher without his gear on. This would be Dave Sax’s only Topps card. He was issued a Donruss card (with a stupid looking mustache) in 1984.

The player: Sax is the older brother of previous blog subject #175 Steve Sax. The Sax brothers' careers was more reminiscent of the Aarons, rather than the Alous or Uptons. Almost all of the talent in the family seemed to flow Steve’s way, although he always said that Dave was the better hitter, only he didn't really ever get a chance to prove it.

Signed by the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent the same year as his brother, Dave played with Steve at Lethbridge, Clinton, Vero Beach, and San Antonio. But while the younger brother was making his mark in the majors, Dave Sax was being pigeonholed as an organizational catcher. Many seasons, he wasn’t even the starting catcher on his minor league team.

From 1982 to 1983, Sax got 10 at bats for the Dodgers but never got a hit. He became a 6-year minor league free agent after the 1984 season and signed with the Red Sox. Sax would have his most amount of the playing time in 1985. In 22 games, he managed to hit over .300 while filling in at catcher and the outfield.

The following season, Sax broke camp with the Red Sox as the third string catcher behind Rich Gedman and Marc Sullivan. But it took him so long to get in a game that season he was awarded the a-Trophy award, a mock award given the player that took the longest after being on the major league roster at the start of a season to get into a game (it took Sax 34 games).  Despite hitting .455, it was a small sample size, and it was back to the minors for Sax.

His final two appearances in the majors came in 1987 with the Red Sox. Afterwards, he hung on in AAA until 1992.

Rear guard: Sax's first hit (a single) was right in the middle of a rally where the Red Sox would score 2 runs.