Is it time for the Sox to pull the trigger?
Will Middlebrooks had two home runs, a double and five RBI last night powering the Red Sox out of their losing streak with an 11-5 win over the Royals in Kansas City.
Hmmmmm, that’s three homers and nine RBI in his last two games!
Do you think Kevin Youkilis has visions of Wally Pipp in his head this morning? Or even closer and more relevant, Carney Lansford? Who? You remember him don’t you?
Carney Lansford was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the California Angels in December of 1980. The Sox traded fan favorites Rick Burleson and Butch Hobson to the Halos and received the 24-year-old third baseman along with outfielder Rick Miller and relief pitcher Mark Clear.
All Lansford did was hit .336 becoming the first right-handed hitter to win the American League batting title in a decade. And he led the team with 15 stolen bases. A pure contact hitter Lansford only struck out 28 times and quickly became a Fenway favorite in his own right.
The following season an ankle injury forced Lansford to the bench and the Red Sox called up the kid third baseman from Pawtucket. That kid’s name was Wade Boggs. All Boggs did was hit .349 embarking upon a career which would land him in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Boggs won five batting titles while playing third base for the Red Sox in the 1980s, four of them in a row.
Will Middlebrooks has played in four games. He is hitting .381 with three homers and nine RBI. Six of his eight hits are for extra bases and he has generated more excitement in four games than the team has exhibited all year. He is 23 years old.
Middlebrooks hit .333 with nine homers and 27 RBI this year in Pawtucket, in only 93 at bats.
Kevin Youkilis is on the disabled list hitting just .219. He has missed 102 games the past two seasons and he is 33 years old.
“Youk’s” best season was 2008 when he hit .312 with 29 homers and 155 RBI.
“Youk” has played an integral part of the Red Sox story for the past five seasons. He has fought hard and given his all.
Carney Lansford went on to great success with the Oakland A’s after leaving the Red Sox. “Youk” deserves nothing less, but it’s time, it’s time for the Sox to look to the future and the first step to doing so has presented itself.
If you were to ask Middlebrooks, I think he might tell you, the future is now!
And so it is on this date in Fenway Park history, May 8, 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.
Will Middlebrooks had two home runs, a double and five RBI last night powering the Red Sox out of their losing streak with an 11-5 win over the Royals in Kansas City.
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