Votes are now being taken for the All Fenway Team at the positions of catcher and first basemen.
http://mlb.mlb.com/bos/fenwaypark100/index.jsp
Just as a reminder my All Fenway team is a squad of 25 players, not the “best” player at each position. My pitching staff has been selected and it consists of starters, Smokey Joe Wood, Babe Ruth, Lefty Grove, Mel Parnell, Luis Tiant, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and Jon Lester with Dick Radatz and Jonathan Papelbon in the bullpen.
Today the All Fenway battery is completed with the addition of two catchers and I am not sure there is an easier selection than these two players. First, is a native New Englander who actually played four decades in the major leagues. He was the third Red Sox player to be named American League Rookie of the Year and in his nine full seasons at Fenway Park, he was an all-star six times.
His number hangs in retired glory at Fenway Park.
He is the author of what is perhaps Fenway Park’s most iconic moment.
He was tough.
Fearless
and unrelenting.
He was a leader.
He is Carlton Fisk and he is the greatest catcher in the history of Fenway Park and the Boston Red Sox.
And one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game.
The other catcher was acquired, along with Derek Lowe from the Seattle Mariners for Heathcliff Slocum. Who? Yea I know it is one of the best trades in Red Sox history. He spent his entire career in a Red Sox uniform catching 15 seasons. He is a three-time all-star and a Gold Glove winner who hit 11 post season home runs. He is the Red Sox all time leader in games caught.
He is the only catcher in baseball history to catch four no-hitters.
He twice, made his way from behind the plate to take the World Championship leap into the arms of his pitcher.
He was tough
fearless
and unrelenting.
He was a leader.
He is Jason Varitek and he is one of only three Red Sox captains since 1943.
In five years he will make his first appearance on the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot and until then he will await history’s judgement knowing that he is one of the two best catchers to ever don a Red Sox uniform and call Fenway Park home.
Carlton Ernest Fisk and Jason Andrew Varitek, Pudge and Tek, the catchers on the All Fenway team!
And so it is on this date in Fenway Park history, March 7, 2012.
About fenwaypark100
Hello and welcome, my name is Raymond Sinibaldi. A retired history teacher, after 26 years in the classroom, a baseball fan for three score and five, I have authored 13 books. Eight about baseball and her glorious history; most recently Yankees in the Hall of Fame and Dodgers in the Hall of Fame. An aficionado of the Kennedy Administration, I have written four books in that realm and also co-authored a book of motivational stories for coaches. The first, The Babe in Red Stockings which was co-authored with Kerry Keene and David Hickey and released in 1997. It is a chronicle of Babe's days with the Red Sox. We also penned a screenplay about Babe's Red Sox days so if any of you are Hollywood inclined or would like to represent us in forwarding that effort feel free to contact me. In 2012 we three amigos published Images of Fenway Park in honor of the 100th birthday of Fenway Park. That led to the creation of this blog. The following year, 2013 came my first solo venture, Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota. This is a pictorial history of spring training in those two Florida cities. The spring of 2014 brought forth the 1967 Red Sox, The Impossible Dream Season. The title speaks for itself, and it also is a pictorial history. Many of the photos in this book were never published before. The spring of 2015 brought 1975 Red Sox, American League Champions. Another pictorial effort, this will be about the Red Sox championship season of 1975 and the World Series that restored baseball in America. The spring of 2016 brought 61 Motivational Stories for Every Coach of Every Sport. My first JFK effort was in 2017 with John F Kennedy in New England, which was followed by JFK From Florida to the Moon (2019) and JFK At Rest in Arlington (2020). Jackie's Newport came about in 2019 and in 2023 came both Yankees in the Hall of Fame and Dodgers in the Hall of Fame. I was fortunate enough to consult with sculptor Franc Talarico on the “Jimmy Fund” statue of Ted Williams which stands outside both Fenway Park and Jet Blue Park Fenway South, in Fort Myers Florida. That story is contained in the near 300 posts which are contained herein. Throughout the years this blog has morphed from an exclusive Red Sox focus, to a broader baseball perspective to a blog about life, with baseball a large portion of it. This year, 2024, I have reactivated this blog which lay dormant for quite some time. Welcome aboard, pass the word and feel free to contact me about anything you read or ideas you may have for a topic. Email me at fenwaypark100@gmail.com.
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