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2025 Topps Now #734 Clayton Kershaw |
While doing my last post, I did some research and discovered that Dodger great
Clayton Kershaw played with exactly 50 players who had donned the Boston
uniform at some point in their career. It was too much research for just a fun
bit of trivia, so I decided to maximize the results of my efforts.
After his Dodgers won the World Series, Kershaw retired on top and started the
clock for his certain Hall of Fame induction. In honor of this great player, I
thought it would be fun to list the 10 greatest former Red Sox who had the
honor of playing with "Kid K" over the course of his 18 years in Los Angeles.
The players chosen have the greatest combined WAR from their time in both
Boston and LA.
1. Mookie Betts (75.2 combined WAR)
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2019 Topps Big League #200 Mookie Betts |
Who else would you expect to head this list but another future Hall of
Famer? Betts has played an even 6 years for both ballclubs, and still
has a higher WAR as a member of the Red Sox (42.4) than he does with the
Dodgers (32.7).
2. Nomar Garciaparra (42.9 combined WAR)
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2002 Stadium Club #24 Nomar Garciaparra |
Nomah! Garciaparra was on a Hall of Fame path himself until injuries hit him
and made him an average player for the back half of his career. Although he
bounced back for one more All-Star season as a Dodger in 2006, he three year
tenure there only accounts for 1.7 WAR. The rest (41.2) is all Boston.
3. Manny Ramierez (39.5 combined WAR)
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2008 Topps #26 Manny Ramirez (PSH, ALDS) |
When the Red Sox (33.2 WAR) traded Manny to the Dodgers (6.3 WAR) in 2008,
Kershaw had just 10 MLB starts under his belt. He got a first-hand look at
"Manny-wood"!
4. Justin Turner (36.7 combined WAR)
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2017 Topps Archives #182 Justin Turner |
Turner becomes the first player here with more WAR as a Dodger (34.6) than as
a Red Sox (2.1). The 2x All-Star had a brief 1 year layover in Boston in 2023.
5. Derek Lowe (32.6 combined WAR)
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1999 Fleer Tradition #499 Derek Lowe |
The first pitcher to make the list is Lowe. Despite spending twice as many
years in Boston (19.4 WAR) than L.A. (13.2 WAR), Lowe WAR splits between
the two teams are pretty close. He was a workhorse for both teams, making over
30 starts each year from 2002 - 2011.
6. Josh Beckett (24.6 combined WAR)
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2008 Upper Deck #744 Josh Beckett (SH) |
In 2012, Frank McCourt sold the Dodgers to a group that includes sports
legends Magic Johnson and Billy Jean King. To show they were serious
contenders, they made a massive trade with Boston to acquire 3 of their
largest contracted players, including Beckett. Beckett was a World Series hero
with the Red Sox (22.3 WAR), but his career eventually fizzed out as a Dodger
(2.3 WAR).
7. Adrian Gonzalez (24.3 combined WAR)
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2016 Stadium Club #134 Adrian Gonzalez |
Along with Beckett, Gonzalez came over in that same trade. He was an offensive
powerhouse in less than 2 seasons with Boston (9.9 WAR), and continued to be a
solid middle of the order bat afterwards in LA (14.4 WAR)
8. Kenley Jansen (20.8 combined WAR)
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2017 Topps - MLB Awards #RLY-2 Kenley Jansen |
Jansen is 2 saves away from tying Lee Smith for 3rd place all-time in saves,
and 24 saves short of becoming the 3rd member of the 500 save club. He's the
Dodgers (18.7 WAR) all-time saves leader, and had a solid 2 year run with the
Red Sox (2.1 WAR).
9. Enrique Hernandez (16.4 combined WAR)
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2020 Topps #135 Enrique Hernandez |
Hernendez is regularly
kissed by the cardboard gods, having great actions shots for both the Dodgers (11.1 WAR) and Red Sox (5.3
WAR).
10. J.D. Martinez (15.7 combined WAR)
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2021 Topps - 1952 Topps Redux #T52-12 J.D. Martinez |
Martinez was one of the best free agent signings the Red Sox ever made. During
his 5 years there (13.7 WAR), he made every single All-Star team. When he
joined the Dodgers (2.0 WAR) the following season, he made the All-Star team
for them as well.
Other notables: Hanley Ramirez (11.6), Walker Buehler (11.3), David Price
(11.1), Alex Verdugo (11.1), Brad Penny (10.7), Rich Hill (10.1)
Congrats on a great career Clayton Kershaw! You played with some great Red Sox
during your time on the field!
Played with the Great Michigan Man, Rich Hill. Go Blue!
ReplyDeletea couple of those guys also played in ATL, lol.
ReplyDeleteWow. Great bunch of players here. I doubt my beloved A's Top 10 could compete with the next 10 Red Sox on this list.
ReplyDeleteNomar, Manny, wow that goes back quite a ways. Which made me do some real quick research on baseball reference - 6 degrees of separation - Kershaw was a teammate of Greg Maddux who was a teammate of Davey Lopes who was a teammate of Hoyt Wilhelm who was a teammate of Max Lanier who was a teammate of Guy Bush, who made his MLB debut 102 years ago.
ReplyDeleteJust realizing that six degrees of separation would make for an awesome card set. Guess the licensing would be an insurmountable hurdle.
Fun post, thanks for the research!
ReplyDelete