Boston Red Sox: Carlton Fisk Says Boston Needs a Healthy Second Half to Compete

The Boston Red Sox sit in a tie for fourth place in the AL East at the unofficial midway point of the season with many of their troubles have been through the result of injuries.

It’s been easy to realize that Boston’s usual starters have rarely been playing. Just this past weekend, Boston played three Triple-A All-Stars as a part of a doubleheader against the rival New York Yankees. Over the course of the first 86 games, Boston has had several players wearing jerseys with numbers much higher than 50.

Not only do you and I notice these “no-namers” in Boston’s lineup, but Hall of Fame catcher Carlton “Pudge” Fisk does as well.

On July 5, Chase rewarded its Marriott Rewards Premier card members with the opportunity to meet, take pictures with and get autographs from Fisk. Those invited to the event also received a tour of Fenway Park, a chance to take some swings in the batting cages and to ask the Hall of Famer a few questions about his career.

Representing Bleacher Report, I took the time to ask Pudge a couple of questions about this year’s Red Sox squad.

Boston didn’t get off on the right foot this season, losing 10 of their first 14 games, and although the team has played better recently, they are still far away from the first-placed Yankees. Fisk, however, is no stranger to poor starts.

“My favorite season as a part of the Chicago White Sox came in 1983 when we were even worse than this year’s [Boston] team,” said Fisk.

Wait, his favorite season was one where the team was terrible? Let me explain.

The 1983 White Sox were only over .500 at one point through their first 66 games of the season. At the All-Star break, Chicago was just three games over .500 and sat 3.5 games behind in the division. On July 18, Chicago took its first division lead of the season and never looked back. They would finish the year 99-63 and a miraculous 20 games ahead in the division.

The White Sox had incredible contributions from several position players including Fisk, Ron Kittle, Harold Baines and Greg Luzinski—who each hit at least 20 home runs—as well as pitchers LaMarr Hoyt and Richard Dotson, who won 24 and 22 games respectively.

Chicago would eventually fall to the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS, but the ride to the playoffs still ranks as one of Fisk’s favorites.

Looking ahead 19 years to today, the Red Sox sit in a similar spot as those 1983 White Sox.

The key for Boston’s resurgence will have to be their health. “If they can’t get healthy, they can’t compete,” said Fisk. “[Carl] Crawford has to get things right if he’s going to be able to play this season and help this team out.”

The aforementioned Crawford has yet to play this season after undergoing offseason elbow surgery. He’s been rehabbing with Boston’s minor league affiliates for the last couple of weeks but has suffered a few setbacks and may need additional surgery after saying he still feels pain in his elbow, according to ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes.

Crawford’s outfield counterpart Jacoby Ellsbury has also missed the majority of the season with a separated shoulder. With two of Boston’s most talented players on the disabled list, they’ve used a total of 12 different outfielders over the course of the season, excluding Ellsbury but including first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

Other notable players to catch the injury bug this season include Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Clay Buccholz, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka—not to mention Andrew Bailey and John Lackey who haven’t pitched at all this year.

Many managers tend to find a lineup that works and they run with it. Boston manager Bobby Valentine’s most common lineup this year has only been used six times.

Not to discredit the job that several replacement players have done this year, but Boston is really missing some of their injured stars.

The starting rotation has really taken a hit and Bobby Valentine has been forced to use Franklin Morales—a reliever—as a starter. Daniel Bard’s transition to a starting pitcher was horrendous, several starters have been inconsistent and the Red Sox have struggled to find five pitchers to start on a regular basis.

Fisk said his favorite pitcher to catch was former Boston starter Luis Tiant. “If I had one game to catch, I’d choose to catch Luis Tiant,” Fisk said. “He didn’t even take himself seriously. He once gave up a home run to Reggie Jackson and was screaming for the ball to go foul.”

It seems as if Boston could use a pitcher like Tiant. He did win 122 games in the Red Sox's uniform and 229 for his career, for what it’s worth.

No matter who’s playing for the Red Sox, they need to stay healthy. Boston cannot afford another player to get injured this season and desperately need their currently injured players to heal as quickly as possible.

The most important part of the second half of the season will be to stay healthy. Ask Carlton Fisk, he’ll tell you the same thing.