Category: Brian Daubach

4/2: We can’t go 0-162, can we?

Boston Red Sox (0-1) @ Texas Rangers (1-0) John Lackey (0-0, -.–) @ Colby Lewis (0-0, -.–) 8:05 PM EDT…

The Replacements

Boston Red Sox Daniel Nava (R) is congratulated by teammates Jason Varitek, Adrian Beltre (29) and Darnell McDonald (54) in front of Philadelphia Phillies catcher Brian Schneider after hitting a grand slam during the second inning of their Interleague MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts June 12, 2010.  REUTERS/Adam Hunger (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)
In honor of the recent spate of injury-related call-ups, I wanted to take a look at some of the most surprising and productive replacement players the Sox have had over the years. This is obviously weighted pretty heavily toward the years I've been an active fan -- essentially 1987-present.

These selections are completely arbitrary; my definition of 'replacement' is essentially 'players who were not supposed to play a major role on the team, but did'. If you think I forgot someone (which I almost certainly did), mention them in the comments. Hopefully one of the current Sox replacements will be up here on this list a few years from now -- the team certainly needs someone to step up given the current injury bug.

All-Aughts Team of the Decade 1B: Kevin Youkilis

Red Sox-Phillies
A pudgy 25-year old named Kevin Youkilis made his major league debut in 2004, having made waves a year earlier for being the posterchild for Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. In his first game on May 15 in Toronto, Youkilis cranked a home run for his first major league hit off Pat Hentgen. As he came to the bench after the home run, the Sox ignored him as if nothing had happened. Catching on to the hazing ritual, Youkilis grinned and high-fived the air, pretending people were there for him. It's one of the feel-good stories of the season the Sox would eventually break their curse in. Due to injury, Youkilis amassed 208 at-bats that season, hitting for a .780 OPS which remains a career low. The following year, he spent much of the year in Triple-A although he did see 79 at-bats in the bigs. 2006 is when Youkilis stepped in as a starter, moving over from his natural position of third base to first.

My favorite Red Sox players

Pedro - drgandy
On Friday, the Boston Globe ran down the worst breakups in Red Sox history going around the diamond by position. It's a nice (and sobering) read.

It made me ask myself "who would be on my personal 'favorite Red Sox' team?" My list is here and includes famous names such as Pedro Martinez and obscure names such as Jeff Frye