Boston Red Sox Player Records Not Likely to Ever Be Duplicated
When you have one of the most storied franchises in Major League Baseball history, you're bound to have special players.
With special players, come special accomplishments.
In the slides that follow, you'll see my top 10 individual player performances for the record books unlikely to ever be broken.
Take a look...
No. 10 Tony Conigliaro, Youngest Player to Reach 100 HR
1 of 10Tony Conigliaro was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1962 at the age of 17.
He is probably most remembered for the beaning he took off his left cheek bone by Jack Hamilton on August 18th 1967.
In 1965 his second season with the Red Sox Conigliaro became the youngest home run champion in American League history.
In 1967 at age 22 he reached the 100 HR mark. He is said to be the youngest player in Major League Baseball to ever achieve this.
No. 9 Dwight Evans, First Pitch Home Run on Opening Day
2 of 10Dwight Evans was a fixture in right field at Fenway Park for 19 years. He's considered by some to be the greatest right fielder of his era and was selected by Major League Baseball as having one of the nine greatest arms in the history of baseball.
From 1980-1989 Evans led the American League in home runs with 256, so it's no surprise that Evans on four occasions hit a home run on Opening Day.
On April 7, 1986 he set a major league record by hitting the first pitch of the season for a home run off of Jack Morris of the Detroit Tigers.
No. 8 Johnny Damon, Three Hits in One Inning
3 of 10Johnny Damon will long be remembered as one of the "Idiots" from the 2004 Red Sox World Series team.
On June 27, 2003 Johnny Damon had three hits in one inning tying a major league record.
Damon is the only player to have all three hits come in the first inning and the only player to record a triple, double and single—a major league record.
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No. 7 Nomar Garciaparra, Three Home Runs in Two Consecutive Innings
4 of 10Nomar Garciaparra was a first round pick of the Boston Red Sox in 1994. He went on to appear in six All-Star games and won two consecutive batting titles in 1999 and 2000.
He is the first right-handed hitter to win consecutive batting titles since Joe DiMaggio.
On July 23rd (his birthday) Nomar hit three consecutive home runs between the third and fourth innings a major league record. Nomar stands alone in this accomplishment.
No. 6 Bill Mueller's Two Grand Slams in One Game from Both Sides of the Plate
5 of 10In January 2003 Bill Mueller signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent. He went on to be the 2003 American League batting champion with a .326 batting average.
He will probably be most remembered for his crucial RBI single in game four of the ALCS against the New York Yankees scoring Dave Roberts from second base off of Mariano Rivera to tie the game.
On July 29, 2003 against the Texas Rangers, Mueller became the only player in major league history to hit two grand slams in a single game from opposite sides of the plate in two consecutive at-bats.
No. 5 Roger Clemens, Two-Time 20 Strikeout Games
6 of 10Roger Clemens is one of the greatest pitchers in Red Sox history no matter how you slice it. He won three Cy Young Awards and one MVP with the Red Sox.
There are three pitchers with 20 strikeout games to their credit including Clemens, however, he is the only pitcher in baseball history to accomplish this twice.
Once on April 29, 1986 against the Seattle Mariners and once on September 18, 1996 against the Detroit Tigers.
(As a side note: there is one 21 strikeout game pitched by Tom Cheney but this was done in 16 innings.)
No. 4 Ted Williams, Most Runs Batted in by a Rookie
7 of 10Ted Williams sometimes called the greatest pure hitter of all time.
A 17-time All-Star, two-time MVP and two-time Triple Crown award winner (only one of two players in baseball history to win the triple crown twice). Williams was also the last player to bat over .400.
Williams had 145 RBI in 1939, his rookie season, a major league record and a full 15 RBI ahead of the next player.
No. 3 Pedro Martinez, Most Seasons Leading Major Leagues in ERA
8 of 10Pedro Martinez was acquired by the Red Sox from Montreal in November of 1997 for Carl Pavano and a player to be named later.
Martinez may have put together the greatest stretch of pitching seasons (seven) in baseball. Some would even say in 2000 Martinez may have had the greatest single season by any pitcher in Major League Baseball history.
Martinez led all of Major League Baseball in ERA for five seasons (1997, 1999-2000 and 2002-2003), a major league record.
No. 2 Carl Yastrzemski, First American League Player to Reach 3000 Hits, 400 HR
9 of 10Yaz was the last player to win the Triple Crown award 44 years ago back in 1967. He was inducted into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
What a lot of people don't know is that Yaz was the first American League player to reach 3000 hits and 400 HR.
Also, as a side note worth mentioning, in 1968 Yaz won his third batting title, with a .301 mark. This was the Year of the Pitcher, and Yaz was the ONLY batter in the league to crack .300, a full 10 points ahead of the second-best Danny Cater. Only four batters hit .285 or above.
No. 1 Fred Lynn, 1975 Rookie of the Year and MVP Award Winner
10 of 10Fred Lynn played for the Boston Red Sox from 1974 to 1980. His spectacular catches and play in center field caught the attention of the nation in 1975.
Fred Lynn was the first player in Major League Baseball history to ever win Rookie of the Year, MVP and Gold Glove in the same respective year.
A feat since duplicated only once by Ichiro Suzuki in 2001.
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