The Yankees signed Tim Redding today and are bringing him back for his second go round with the club.
This picture is from his first stint with the Yankees in 2005. In fact I can't believe I could find it on the internet...
It's from the only game he ever pitched in a Yankees uniform.
The first time around he was gone before he could even be fitted for pinstipes. The Yankees pitching staff in 2005 was a mess and only their bats and Mariano Rivera's dominance kept them in contention.
So on July 15th, the Yankees brought in Tim Redding from San Diego to start a game in Fenway Park.
It didn't go well. Both Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek hit RBI doubles in the first to make it 3-0. In the second he walked Mark Bellhorn and Johnny Damon and allowed a single to Edgar Renteria. (Man, what a time capsule that game was... Idiots like Millar, Mueller, Manny and Mirabelli all played in that game. As did the late Geremi Gonzalez.)
Torre lifted him and all of the runners would come around to score. The Red Sox won 17-1 that day. Redding's line was 1 inning pitched, 4 hits, 6 runs (all earned) 4 walks, 2 strikeouts.
The other pitchers Darrell May, Jason Anderson and Buddy Groom fared poorly as well... and like Redding were all long gone by the time the playoffs got started.
The Yankees wound up winning the east thanks to unlikely contributions from Shawn Chacon, Chein Ming Wang and Aaron Small... all of whom made up for the failures of Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown, Sean Henn and of course Tim Reding.
With 2004 flop Vazquez coming back and yesterday not withstanding being a disaster it seems like they are trying to have a reunion of those mid 2000s pitching flops.
Of course Vazquez and Redding weren't teammates in 2005... you had to be quick to have called him a teammate that year. You only had 24 hours.
Wakefield threw 7 innings of 1 hit ball yesterday... that's what aces do. This is after he nearly threw a no hitter and pitched a rain shortened complete game.
His awesome win in Oakland jump started this winning streak.
He has 2 wins (which is 2 wins more than anyone thought he'd have.)
Is it time to declare Tim Wakefield (who is third behind Roger Clemens and Cy Young for Red Sox wins) an all time Awesome Red Sox?
I'm not talking "Hall of Famer" or "Superstar" but like a Johnny Pesky. Maybe he's someone so identified with the team that maybe #49 gets retired some day.
This is his 15th season with the Sox. Along the way he has had ups and downs... but it goes a long way to show you how respected he is in Boston that he never wore the goat horns for a second after letting up Aaron Boone's homer.
It shows you the respect that he has in baseball that Joe Torre mentioned him during his post game interview for the 2004 ALCS and implied that while he was crushed, he was happy for Wakefield.
He has given the Red Sox 17 win seasons AND 15 save seasons.
He came up big for the 1995 Division Champs and the 2005 Wild Card team.
And amazingly he has pitched in 17 seasons and has never pitched in an All Star Game. Maybe if he keeps it up this year, he can add that to his resume.
But the most incredible part of his career for me is how he is the link to so many different names, faces and eras of Red Sox baseball.
He was teammates with Mike Greenwell and Roger Clemens... two guys who played for the 1986 AL Champs.
And now he has outlasted most of the members of the 2004 World Champs.
He actually was teammates with Dennis Eckersley, who returned to the Red Sox in 1998. So technically has was teammates with players from 1978, 1986, 2004 and 2007.
The Yawkey family trust was still in control of the team and Dan Duquette was calling the shots when he arrived. Theo Epstein was still in Yale.
Dustin Pedroia was 12.
When he arrived Mo Vaughn and John Valentin were the big bats in the lineup.
Now he has David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis and Mike Lowell behind him.
Just to give you an idea of how long reaching the Wakefield era has been, here is a partial list of players who arrived in Boston after Wakefield and left before him.
RICK AGUILERA
BRONSON ARROYO
MARK BELLHORN
JOHN BURKETT
ORLANDO CABRERA
MATT CLEMENT
ALEX CORA
COCO CRISP
JOHNNY DAMON
BRIAN DAUBACH
ALAN EMBREE
CARL EVERETT
KEITH FOULKE
RICH "EL GUAPO" GARCES
NOMAR GARCIAPARRA
TOM GORDON
SHEA HILLENBRAND
GABE KAPLER
MARK LORETTA
DEREK LOWE
PEDRO MARTINEZ
RAMON MARTINEZ
LOU MERLONI
DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ
KEVIN MILLAR
DOUG MIRABELLI
BILL MUELLER
MIKE MYERS
TROT NIXON
HIDEO NOMO
JOSE OFFERMAN
TROY O'LEARY
MANNY RAMIREZ
EDGAR RENTERIA
DAVE ROBERTS
BRET SABERHAGEN
CURT SCHILLING
MIKE TIMLIN
UGETH URBINA
TODD WALKER
DAVID WELLS
SCOTT WILLIAMSON
That's a lot of Red Sox coming and going... and yet the knuckler goes on!
Last year I made it clear that the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry is just better than the other baseball rivalries and everyone else just has to deal with it.
I stand by that.
And tomorrow the Yankees go to Fenway to play the Red Sox. I'm sorry, let me correct myself... Tomorrow the Yankees go to Fenway to play the Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox. That's better.
And yeah, neither team is off to a blazing start at 5-5... but please. If the Orioles win the Division I will buy you a house.
And by "you" I mean anyone currently reading this blog.
When the rivalry reached its breaking point between 2003-2005.
With the rivalry already rich in history, tradition and venom, think about the chapters added just 5 years ago that are already legendary:
- Pedro throwing Zimmer to the ground - Grady leaving Pedro in too long - Aaron Boone extending the curse another year - The race to get A-Rod - Jeter flying into the stands in that wonderful extra inning game - The Varitek/A-Rod brawl game ending with Bill Meuller's walk off against Mariano - Pedro declaring the Yankees to be his daddy - The Yankees winning 19-8 in Fenway to take a 3-0 lead - 3 outs from a sweep, Roberts steals and scores on Meuller's hit... Papi's walk off in extras - 6 outs from elimination, Sox rally back and Papi wins it again in 14 - Schilling's bloody sock - A-Rod slaps the ball from Arroyo's glove - Johnny Damon's grand slam blows open the clinching game in the Bronx - The Red Sox get their rings in front of the visiting Yankees - Yankees and Red Sox finish 2005 tied... but the Yankees are the Division Champs because of the 10-9 head to head record - Johnny Damon defects to the Yankees in the off season.
Hey Cubs and Cardinals fans... list that many memorable moments of your rivalry!
For us, that's only going back to the start of the Iraq war.
Now I know the rest of baseball hates us (yes Red Sox fans... people hate us now) because our teams tend to gobble up all the big players.
They have a point and I have another list.
Here are players added to the Yankees starting in 2003: Hideki Matsui Alex Rodriguez Gary Sheffield Tom Gordon Kevin Brown Javier Vasquez Randy Johnson Carl Pavano Jaret Wright Johnny Damon Bobby Abreu
And that's not including Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite, who left and came back for big bucks.
But Red Sox fans shouldn't get smug about the Yankees free spending.
The faces added to the Sox starting in 2003: David Ortiz Kevin Millar Bill Meuller Curt Schilling Keith Foulke Edgar Renteria Matt Clement David Wells Josh Beckett Mike Lowell Daisuke Matsusaka Hideki Okajima J. D. Drew Julio Lugo
And of course this doesn't include big buck free agents Manny Ramirez (signed before 2001) and Johnny Damon (signed before 2002)
So yeah, both teams are guilty as charged of stockpiling other people's stars. Granted not all of the moves worked, but they have enough dough to absorb the Kevin Browns and Matt Clements of the world.
I have no sympathy for Red Sox fans who whine about the Yankee spending. We're an Evil Empire too. It's what we wanted... revel in it!
Well guess what? Just when you thought the rivalry couldn't get better/more annoying... behold the new direction of the Yankees and the Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox:
We're growing our own stars now! No more mercenaries! I loved the 2004 team more than any baseball team in my life... but let's face it, they were mercenaries.
Now a home grown Red Sox team is slowly rising led by Kevin Youkilis, a product of the farm system, and the Captain Jason Varitek, who was drafted by Seattle but has spent his entire big league career in Boston.
And the Yankees have their stable veterans, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.
And those veterans are looking over a batch of young talent that should bring about debates for the next generation.
Who is better? Dustin Pedroia or Robinson Cano? Jacoby Ellsbury or Melky Cabrera? Jonathan Papelbon or Joba Chamberlain? Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester or Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy?
Shortstop Jed Lowrie is on the World Champion Boston Red Sox roster going into this weekend and Yankee outfielder Austin Jackson won't be far behind.
The debates can even seep into players from the Orient... Which ace is better? Daisuke Matsusaka or Ching Mein Wang? And who will win when Francona brings in Hideki Okajima to face Hideki Matsui.
Sure both teams will still have their imported stars. Hell, both teams MVP candidates (David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez) were swiped from other teams.
But the prospect of both teams building the next great rivalry teams from the ground up and using their dough to keep them together is so great that I don't care if it pisses the rest of baseball off.
One big difference from the rivalry now and the teams of the past: No matter how great the Red Sox players were, Yankee fans always had the simple retort of "No Ring."
Williams vs DiMaggio and Mantle? Williams was good... no ring. Rice, Yaz, Lynn and Evans vs. Reggie, Piniella, Rivers and Chambliss? Sox were more talented... no rings. Fisk vs. Munson? Munson career was cut short and he still had the rings! Clemens and Boggs? They needed to go to the Yankees to get their rings.
Cue the 1918 chant.
Now? Well Papelbon, Lester, Buccholz, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Matsusaka and Okajima all got theirs. Youkilis and Varitek got their second rings.
And the Yankees haven't won a playoff series since Dave Roberts stole second.
The Rivalry has a new dynamic in the 21st century (with the Red Sox leading 2-1 in titles).
It's going to be good. Deal with it, rest of baseball.
Yeah I know it is early April, but each win against contending teams you get now is one you won't need later.
Last year the Red Sox and Indians finished tied, but the Red Sox got the home field advantage in the ALCS because they won the season series. Would the Sox have come back from 3-1 if games 6 and 7 were in Cleveland? We'll never find out.
In 2005, the Red Sox and Yankees finished tied... but the Yankees won the season series 10-9 and were crowned Division Champ. One more win and the Red Sox would have opened the post season at home versus the Angels, a team they pulverize. Instead they started on the road against the eventual World Champion White Sox. Would they have advanced to the ALCS? Again, we'll never find out.
I for one don't think the Tigers are a 1-7 team. So the more games won against contenders the better.
Oh yeah, winning going into the Yankee series can't hurt either.
So yeah, it's only April 10... but WHAT A BIG WIN FOR MY BOYS
I will see the Red Sox get World Series rings and raise a World Championship banner.
I remember in 2005 (while my kids were barely a month old) that it was the last piece of the magical 2004 season and now it was back to work.
I remember also thinking "I may never see this again." They brought back so many former Red Sox back then (as well as Celtics and Pats and Bruins) and the roar for Dave Roberts and Johnny Pesky was deafening.
They were playing the Yankees, which gave us petty Red Sox fans some added venom. Of course I had to see it taped! YES network decided not to air the ring ceremony. I believe they showed the Yankeeography for Ken Phelps.
Give out the rings again... and let's do it again next year
Do us all a favor... and put this kid Buchholz on the post season roster.
I don't want to hear "We've got to respect the veterans" and "it's too early to throw him into the fire."
He's a stud. He's the real deal. The team needed a pick-me-up after the sweep in the Bronx and the failed come back last night and this hayseed may have given the team the spark they desperately need.
Think of a post season match up with a team that has never faced him... Think of the rush of sending him up to the mound rather than Julian Tavarez.
Remember 2005? Foulke was hurt, you tried Schilling as closer and down the stretch you used Timlin... who blew some key saves. Little did you know that that rookie sitting in the pen that you didn't use in save situations would turn out to be Jonathan Papelbon, already one of the best closers in Sox history.
The Yankees tied the Sox and took the division by the season series tie breaker. The Red Sox get killed by the White Sox in the first round.
You didn't know then about Papelbon... but you know now about Buchholz! Buchholz is pitching every 5 days. If that means sending Lester or Schilling to the pen and Tavarez to the glue factory, so be it.
Put him in the rotation RIGHT NOW and come playoff time give him a start.
The Yankees signed Tim Redding today and are bringing him back for his second go round with the club.
