Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Favorite Sox By Uniform Number, Part 1: 1-20
Have I done this already? If so, oh well.
1: Bernie Carbo. Even though I was only three when he went to a different team.
2: Jerry Remy. As a kid, having a player who was a "little guy," batted lefty like you, and had the same name (kind of) as you makes him your favorite. The announcing days have only made him more of a favorite. Honorable mention: I loved Carl Everett when we got him and stuck by him through all the craziness. (But if it's true he doesn't like gay people or whatever, well, I can't say I like him anymore.)
3: Pokey Reese. Come on. Honorable mention: Rick Miller was another guy I liked as a kid based on his cool name, his number, and, I don't know, something about the way he looked on his baseball card.
4: Carney Lansford. Another cool name/cool look to me as a kid type. It was a shame when he got traded--it seemed in '82 like he'd be a Red Socker for years.
5: Nomar! I still wear his player tee. Honorable mention: Spike Owen. We had a cat named Spike when Owen came over in that key mid-1986 deal with the Mariners.
6: Johnny Pesky. Hon. men.: Tony Pena. Loved him at the time, what with that "one leg out" style.
7: Trot Nixon. HM: Easler and Esasky. And Phil Plantier. The Hit Man, Vertigo, and the "No Maas" Croucher.
8: Yaz, no other options there.
9: No offense to Smead Jolley, I'm goin' with The Kid.
10: In a move more obvious than going with Yaz and Ted, it's Rich Gedman.
11: Gonna go out on a limb here and say Tim Naehring. The "problem" with these lists is that it's hard to go against guys that helped us finally win the World Series. So you have to limit your '04 guys to the ones you truly loved regardless of that whole deal. So a guy like Bill Mueller, while I totally loved him, kind of gets the shaft here.
12: Ellis Burks. I was sure he'd be an MVP for us. At least he finally got his ring, much later.
13: John Valentin. Kim would kill me if I didn't go with him. Here's an interesting stat: Only ten men have worn 13 for the Red Sox in my lifetime. And only 10 have worn it in my parents' lifetimes. (And only 11 in history.)
14: Hall of Famer Jim Rice.
15: Bad number until recently. I'll take Millar over Pedroia in a squeaker.
16: Kevin Romine. I didn't love him, but I liked him. More than the other 16s anyway. I guess. (Not more than Rick Miller, but I only knew him as 3, and I want to have a different guy for each number.)
17: Marty Barrett. I also liked "Sabes" a lot when he was here.
18: Glen Hoffman. I used to want to be like him, shortstop-wise.
19: Fred Lynn, who I called Fred Lynnstone at age three. Hon. men.: Gabe! and Brian Rose, who Kim makes fun of me for having liked.
20: Youk. Hon. men.: Tony Armas, who we got for #4. And whose nickname, "Toe Knee Arm Ass," I wasn't aware of at the time--I think you had to live in the Boston area to learn it.
For the Red Sox all-time uniform number list, click here.
1: Bernie Carbo. Even though I was only three when he went to a different team.
2: Jerry Remy. As a kid, having a player who was a "little guy," batted lefty like you, and had the same name (kind of) as you makes him your favorite. The announcing days have only made him more of a favorite. Honorable mention: I loved Carl Everett when we got him and stuck by him through all the craziness. (But if it's true he doesn't like gay people or whatever, well, I can't say I like him anymore.)
3: Pokey Reese. Come on. Honorable mention: Rick Miller was another guy I liked as a kid based on his cool name, his number, and, I don't know, something about the way he looked on his baseball card.
4: Carney Lansford. Another cool name/cool look to me as a kid type. It was a shame when he got traded--it seemed in '82 like he'd be a Red Socker for years.
5: Nomar! I still wear his player tee. Honorable mention: Spike Owen. We had a cat named Spike when Owen came over in that key mid-1986 deal with the Mariners.
6: Johnny Pesky. Hon. men.: Tony Pena. Loved him at the time, what with that "one leg out" style.
7: Trot Nixon. HM: Easler and Esasky. And Phil Plantier. The Hit Man, Vertigo, and the "No Maas" Croucher.
8: Yaz, no other options there.
9: No offense to Smead Jolley, I'm goin' with The Kid.
10: In a move more obvious than going with Yaz and Ted, it's Rich Gedman.
11: Gonna go out on a limb here and say Tim Naehring. The "problem" with these lists is that it's hard to go against guys that helped us finally win the World Series. So you have to limit your '04 guys to the ones you truly loved regardless of that whole deal. So a guy like Bill Mueller, while I totally loved him, kind of gets the shaft here.
12: Ellis Burks. I was sure he'd be an MVP for us. At least he finally got his ring, much later.
13: John Valentin. Kim would kill me if I didn't go with him. Here's an interesting stat: Only ten men have worn 13 for the Red Sox in my lifetime. And only 10 have worn it in my parents' lifetimes. (And only 11 in history.)
14: Hall of Famer Jim Rice.
15: Bad number until recently. I'll take Millar over Pedroia in a squeaker.
16: Kevin Romine. I didn't love him, but I liked him. More than the other 16s anyway. I guess. (Not more than Rick Miller, but I only knew him as 3, and I want to have a different guy for each number.)
17: Marty Barrett. I also liked "Sabes" a lot when he was here.
18: Glen Hoffman. I used to want to be like him, shortstop-wise.
19: Fred Lynn, who I called Fred Lynnstone at age three. Hon. men.: Gabe! and Brian Rose, who Kim makes fun of me for having liked.
20: Youk. Hon. men.: Tony Armas, who we got for #4. And whose nickname, "Toe Knee Arm Ass," I wasn't aware of at the time--I think you had to live in the Boston area to learn it.
For the Red Sox all-time uniform number list, click here.
Labels: favorite sox by uniform number
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I love Trotter as much as the next guy but Rick Burleson will always be #7 to me....the Rooster lives!
This is a favorite list as opposed to a best list, so mainly it's gonna be guys I can actually remember playing, which is where a guy like Dom gets the shaft. But there are gonna cases where I have no guy I liked specifically, so I have to go back in time and choose a guy. Or cases like Pesky, where even people of my generation have experienced him a lot, so we can call him a "fave."
Or cases where one guy wore a number and it was before I was born so he wins by default.
Burleson--had I been born a few years earlier I may have gone with him. I started following the team in '79 at age 3 (I have an audio tape of me saying the roster and pointing out to my dad that he skipped over Jim Wright!), but I only knew the names and faces then. So any real memories of guys start a little after that.
And for things like Clemens/Damon: obviously they won't get any "love" on this list, not even in an "I loved them at the time" way.
Or cases where one guy wore a number and it was before I was born so he wins by default.
Burleson--had I been born a few years earlier I may have gone with him. I started following the team in '79 at age 3 (I have an audio tape of me saying the roster and pointing out to my dad that he skipped over Jim Wright!), but I only knew the names and faces then. So any real memories of guys start a little after that.
And for things like Clemens/Damon: obviously they won't get any "love" on this list, not even in an "I loved them at the time" way.
Some love for Millar! Unlike Manny, who the media turned against while real fans continued to support him, I could never really tell whether people continue to like him, or if they were getting annoyed. He has always gotten a friendly greeting at the Fens, post-sock career -- I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. His only personality defect seemed to be being TOO enthusiastic, mostly about the Red Sox, even after he left! Hard to dislike. Hopefully he'll be on NESN in a year or two.
Hey, I had a cat named Spike in the late 80's too! Big ol' Maine coon who liked to stretch out on our laps - sometimes across more than one person at a time - as we watched games. Not actually named after Owen, but he was one of my favorite players for having the same name as our cat.
I'd have gone with Quintana at #18. Gotta love the Q!
I'd have gone with Quintana at #18. Gotta love the Q!
Haha, awesome. Our Spike did his best to imitate a Maine coon, as he was huge with a big lion mane. And yes, ours was the same deal, we got him in '84 and Owen came around in '86. But we did have a stuffed animal cat we named after Gary Allenson.
And I assure you, when I went to the list for 18, I had Quintana in my head as the probable winner--until I was reminded that Hoffman wore 18, and I had a more specific love for him so.... and now I see I didn't put an honorable mention for 18--I'd say I meant to put Carlos there but forgot.
And Ryan, it's funny: I was just looking at a post I did in mid-'04 defending Millar against the people that were anti-him at the time. Yeah I see no reason not to love the guy.
And I assure you, when I went to the list for 18, I had Quintana in my head as the probable winner--until I was reminded that Hoffman wore 18, and I had a more specific love for him so.... and now I see I didn't put an honorable mention for 18--I'd say I meant to put Carlos there but forgot.
And Ryan, it's funny: I was just looking at a post I did in mid-'04 defending Millar against the people that were anti-him at the time. Yeah I see no reason not to love the guy.
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