Sports Watch

By Bill Kwon

Tuesday, July 13, 1999

Red Sox dream team
hard to beat

WITH attention centered on Boston's Fenway Park and its "Green Monster" for today's major league all-star game, I thought this would be an appropriate moment to come up with my all-time Red Sox team.

So, pouring over the Boston Red Sox all-time roster - from A (Don Aase) to Z (Al "Zeke" Zarilla - I came up with a 25-man roster. Mind you, at last count, 1,343 players took part in at least one game for the Red Sox, so it took some doing.

At first, I just wanted to select a dream Red Sox team strictly by position.

You start with Ted Williams - Boston's and baseball's greatest hitter - in left field and fill in the rest of the the lineup card.

However, it wasn't as easy as all that. That meant finding a place elsewhere for Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice, who also played left field for the Red Sox.

It's interesting that they are 1-2-3 in Red Sox history in home runs, RBIs and hits. Must be something to do with having to play in front of the "Green Monster." Just play the singles off the wall and concentrate on hitting, I guess.

So the Dream Team 25 it is.

But first, a few forgettables and unmentionables who have played, or tried to play, for the Red Sox.

CAN we trade Bill Buckner for any good-fielding first baseman to be named later?

There were 14 Smiths, even one John, but the only one who counted was Reggie. And two Ripleys, believe it or not.

And then, there's Pumpsie Green, Boston's first black player, 12 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Wouldn't you know it, though. The Red Sox did have a Jack Robinson, but one of a different color in 1949.

Not surprisingly, considering Boston's tradition, it was difficult coming up with 10 pitchers. So I'm going with a nine-man staff.

Boston's Divine Nine are Cy Young, Smokey Joe Wood, Babe Ruth, Lefty Grove, Roger Clemens, Mel Parnell, Luis Tiant, Tex Hughson and Jim Lonborg. Just make sure not to start Lonborg when Bob Gibson's pitching, that's all.

And if Pedro Martinez keeps it up, he'll get promoted real quick. In fact, he's on 24-hour recall.

Catching is another spot where the Red Sox have always been thin. But nobody was better than Carlton Fisk, who hit Boston's most memorable home run before changing the color of his Sox. As backup, there was no one more dependable behind the plate over the years than Sammy White, who retired to Kauai.

JIMMIE Foxx was Boston's best ever at first base, Bobby Doerr at second, Wade Boggs at third and Joe Cronin would be my starting shortstop and interim manager until Nomar Garciaparra takes over. Then Cronin would be become the dream team's manager and general manager. Maybe he could even be league president one day.

The infield backups are Johnny Pesky, Rico Petrocelli and Billy Goodman, maybe the most versatile player in Red Sox history.

Williams starts in left, Tris Speaker in center and I'd move Yastrzemski to right field with Dwight Evans, who won eight Gold Gloves, coming in for defensive purposes.

Designated hitters? None, when Babe Ruth is pitching. But Rice and the Babe when he's not pitching.

Rounding out the outfield are Tony Conigliaro, the local boy from Swampscott, Mass., and Dom DiMaggio.

OK, so I'm dreaming. But what are Dream Teams for? And, I'd bet, this team would win a World Series for the Boston faithful. Even if it went to a seventh game.