Category: Rick Burleson

Simply The Best?

Xander Bogaerts and the greatest rookie seasons in Red Sox history.

Rick Burleson interviewed by Angels blog

Angels blog "Three Days Of Cryin'" interviewed Rick Burleson yesterday, the former Red Sox and Angels infielder. "Rooster" had some great stuff:

After becoming a Boston icon of sorts, you're traded to the Angels before the 1981 season.  The trade wasn't popular in Boston.  How did you feel, at the time, about being traded?

I was being traded home.  The stadium was twenty minutes from my house so Anaheim was really the only place I would want to go if I was traded.  I wanted to stay in Boston for my whole career but I understood that they wanted to trade me before I was eligible for free agency.  They did the same thing with Fred Lynn.  They wanted to make sure they got something for us.  I was traded along with Butch Hobson for Carney Lansford, Rick Miller, and Mark Clear.  At least they got something for me.

Look at Fisk.  They tendered his contract too late, he never even saw it.  They ended up getting no compensation for Fisk.  He just left.  A modern GM might be hung if he allowed that to happen.