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Greenwell’s rarest
of rare home runs

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"<strongMike Greenwell ended an 86 year drought—not for a World Championship, but for one of the rarest of rare feats: an inside-the-park grand slam home run against the New York Yankees.

24 years ago on a sunny September 1, 1990, Greenwell did something at Fenway Park that hadn’t been done in 29 years. Facing the Yankees that Saturday afternoon the Red Sox outfielder went 4-for-5 including a memorable inside-the-park grand slam home run off New York reliever Greg Cadaret. It was the first such Red Sox home run since Gary Geiger‘s on August 8, 1961.

Two-time All-Star Mike Greenwell played 12 seasons with the Red Sox from 1985-96, retiring with a 303/.368/.463 slash line. In an outstanding 1988 All-Star and Gold Glove season he went .325/.416/.531, the 2nd-best on-base percentage, 3rd-best batting average, and 5th-best slugging percentage in the American League. He achieved single-season career bests that year for home runs (22) and RBI (119). His WAR was 7.5, 5th-best in the AL. Greenwell was runner-up that year for AL MVP, losing out to Jose Canseco.

Greenwell joins a small group of Red Sox

But in that September 1, 1990 game “The Gator” distinguished himself in a way few others have. That it came against the Yankees made it especially sweet. The 2nd time, in fact, the Red Sox had managed the rarest of home runs vs their dreaded rivals, but the first time in 86 years. The Red Sox would win that game 15-1 boosted by two home runs for Ellis Burks and another by Tom Brunansky.

Greenwell joined a small group of Red Sox with inside-the-park grand slams at home. The others are:

  • Gary Geiger vs the Twins (August 8, 1961)
  • Don Lenhardt vs the Philadelphia Athetics (April 19, 1952, Game 1)
  • Hobe Ferris vs the White Sox (June 5,1903)
  • Jimmy Collins vs the Cardinals (July 25, 1902)

In club history four other Red Sox batters have had inside-the-park grand slams on the road, including two by Duffy Lewis: October 3, 1912 vs the Philadelphia Athletics and May 13, 1911 vs the Tigers. The others are:


Championship failures

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While we may not have reasonably expected back-to-back World Series championships, I think few fans would have anticipated a 47-53 record (.470) after 100 games for the defending champs.

That got me thinking about how clubs have done the season after winning the World Series.

Since 2000, only one club, the 2013 Giants, has posted a worse record than the Red Sox over their first 100 games following a World Series win. San Francisco went 46-54 (.460). Like the 2014 Red Sox, the 2007 Cardinals also were 47-53 (.470) following their Series win in 2006. All other clubs have posted better marks. In fact, since 2000, 11 of 14 clubs have posted .500 records or better in the 100 games of the next season.

Here’s the full data set sorted by winning percentage.

2014-07-25_10-49-07

For the Red Sox, this year’s .470 win percentage represents the club’s 2nd-worse mark through 100 games following a World Series win, just barely better than the 46-53 (.465) record of the 1919 club. The 1917 club put up the best mark, going 59-38 (.608) in a season that included 3 ties over the first 100 games.

2014-07-25_10-49-53


The Yankee Killers

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As we head into the weekend series with the Yankees, let’s have a look at some of the Red Sox best performers vs their dreaded rivals. First stop, slash lines. The most popular hitting statistics: batting average (AVG), on-base percentage (OBP) and slugging (SLG).

Top Red Sox Slash Lines vs Yankees (since 1914, minimum 25 games)

PlayerYearsAVGOBPSLG
Earl Johnson1940-50.414 .433.414
Dick Stuart1963-64.385.425.630
Dale Alexander 1932-33.365.413.469
Wally Schang 1918-20.355.477.496
Jody Reed1987-92.350.438.468
Manny Ramirez2001-08.346.436.656
Ted Williams 1939-60.345.495.608
Bill Wambsganss1924-25.345.401.459
Roy Johnson 1932-35.338.442.516
Babe Ruth1914-19.337.438.663

Among active Red Sox, David Ortiz is tops vs New York having gone 214-for-673 (.318) with 39 home runs and 110 walks entering this weekend’s series. [Read more…]


Done with losing

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A 4-game home and away sweep against a good Braves team and the Nation’s relief is almost palpable. No longer preoccupied with the prospect of going 20-142, it’s now time to consider how historic the 10-game losing streak really was.

Setting aside for a moment how great the 2013 team performed, with their much-discussed ability to never drop more than 3 in-a-row, the just concluded 10-game losing streak was the longest for the club in nearly 20 years when they lost 11 straight from June 8–19, 1994.

But as defending World Series Champions the lackluster performance of the team so far has been all the more tough to watch. The Sox came one loss from tying an ignominious record: the most losses in a row by a defending champ (11). It’s happened three times in MLB history: first by the Royals in 1986 and then next by the Marlins, who managed it TWICE in the 1998 season.

In perspective

Since 2000 this was the 4th time Boston has lost more than 6 games straight:

  • In the forgettable 2012 season they lost 7-in-a-row August 28–September 3 followed by…
  • An 8-game stretch from September 25, 2012 through the end of the season.
  • The Red Sox lost 9-in-a-row September 25–October 3, 2001

The 10-game Red Sox losing streak from May 15–25 this year is the 5th-longest in franchise history since 1914. The longest was a stretch from August 20–September 7, 1926, an agonizing 17 games.

As bad as that is, a 17-game losing streak is only the 6th longest in MLB history since 1914. The longest ever in that time was 23 games by the Phillies starting July 29, 1961. The Philadelphia Athletics also claim the National League’s 2nd longest losing streak, 20 games in 1916 and 1943 (as did the 1969 Montreal Astros).

The longest in the American League was a 21 game stretch by the Orioles that began April 4, 1988.


Slamming out a win

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Who knew the first two games vs the vaunted Oakland Athletics would have the Red Sox looking so good?

Solid performances on Friday and Saturday were highlighted with grand slams by Dustin Pedroia on Friday and Jonny Gomes on Saturday.

Pedroia’s milestone

The slam on Friday was especially gratifying. It marked the 100th career home run for Pedroia as well as his 500th, 501st, 502nd, and 503rd career RBI. The 100+ home runs and 500+ RBIs puts him in elite company with only 26 other Red Sox players ever to cross both milestones in their careers in Boston.

And it came at a great time. Though he had been 22-for-79 (.278) with one grand slam in his career with the bases loaded, Pedroia was 0-for-2 this season in those situations and hadn’t had any home runs yet, his last having come September 17, 2013 vs the Orioles.

Pedroia became the 3rd player in club history to reach his 100th career HR with a grand slam. The others were Mo Vaughn on August 3, 1995 and David Ortiz on May 28, 2004.

The slam came on an 0-2 count, making it the first such grand slam in all of baseball this season on such a count. In 2013 there were only two 0-2 grand slams: one by the Tigers Andy Dirks and the other by Will Middlebrooks. Before Middlebrooks, you have to go all the way back to April 10, 1998 for an 0-2 grand slam by a Red Sox player. That one was by Mo Vaughn.

And finally, there’s this: By getting to career home run No. 100, Pedroia joins Carl Yastrzemski as the only players in Red Sox history with 100+ home runs and 100+ stolen bases. Yaz had 452 home runs and 168 stolen bases. Pedroia stands at 100 home runs and 121 steals. [Read more…]