Earlier this month, Joe of The Shlabotnik Report had a post where he took the
most common surnames and determined who were
the greatest Mets players with those surnames. It was a fun post and I couldn't help but think of who the Red Sox
counterparts were. So now of course I'm writing a post with my findings as
well.
Joe used the
10 most common surnames in the 2010 U.S. Census, plus a bonus surname (Ramirez) since the idea came from an article debating
who the greatest Ramirez was in Guardians History (I'm guessing Jose or
Manny!). I'll be doing the same.
1. Smith
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1971 Topps #305 Reggie Smith |
No offense to Hall Of Fame reliever Lee Smith, who spent parts of 3 seasons
in Boston, but the greatest Smith in Red Sox history was easily Reggie
Smith. Reggie spent the first 8 seasons of his career in Boston, where he
won a Gold Glove, made 2 All-Star teams, and had a 4-year stretch where he
got MVP votes.
2. Johnson
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1983 TCMA 1944 Play Ball #10 Bob Johnson |
"Indian Bob" Johnson was an 8 time All-Star who finished his career playing
in Boston in 1944 and 1945 (He made the All-Star team both of those years).
When he retired, his 288 career home runs ranked 8th all-time! (If you're
curious, he's 174th all-time now).
3. Williams
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1957 Topps #1 Ted Williams |
Who else but Ted? One of the greatest to ever play the game, Ted Williams
isn't just the greatest Williams to play for Boston, but in MLB
history.
4. Brown
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1975 TCMA 1946 Boston Red Sox #NNO Mace Brown |
Among the half-dozen Browns to have played for the Red Sox, there wasn't any
standout players. The nod here goes to Mace Brown, the only one to play more
than 100 games for the team. He also deserves the nod for spending over 40
years with the Red Sox as a scout and coach. He was the Red Sox scout who
discovered a young slugger by the name of Jim Rice.
5. Jones
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1991 Conlon Collection TSN #140 Sam Jones ('16CH) |
"Sad Sam" Jones won two World Series Championships in Boston (1916 and
1918). He was part of the trade that sent Hall of Famer Tris Speaker to
Cleveland.
6. Garcia
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2024 Topps #359 Luis Garcia |
In the 124 seasons the Red Sox have been in existence, they have never
had a player with the surname of Garcia until this past trading deadline
when they made a trade with the Angels for relief pitcher Luis Garcia.
7. Miller
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1984 Fleer #403 Rick Miller |
Rick Miller spent 12 of his 15 season over two stints with the Boston Red
Sox. His biggest Boston claim to fame is marrying Carlton Fisk's sister.
8. Davis
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2024 Choice El Paso Chihuahuas #03 Austin Davis |
"Davis" has appeared on the back of a Red Sox uniform three times, but
unfortunately, none of them played well. The best Davis is reliever
Austin Davis, who not only played the most games of the three, but also has
the best nickname ("Big Fudge").
9. Rodriguez
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2019 Topps #461 Eduardo Rodriguez |
Eduardo Rodriguez was a member of the 2018 World Series Champions and spent
a total of 7 season with the Red Sox. He won 19 games for the team in 2019.
10. Martinez
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2005 Ultra #69 Pedro Martinez |
This group is led by a trio of great players. Catcher Victor was an All-Star
in 2010. Hitter extraordinaire J.D. became the first hitter to win a Silver
Slugger Award at two positions in the same season. The greatest Martinez
however could only be Pedro, the Hall of Famer who won 2 Cy Young awards in
Boston and helped break "The Curse".
Bonus: Ramirez
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2008 Topps #26 Manny Ramirez (PSH, ALS) |
Manny may not be the greatest Ramirez to have played in Cleveland, but he's
easily the greatest to have played in Boston.
Thanks for the idea Joe! Hopefully other bloggers will do other teams!
