Page 147 - 1975 BoSox

140 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL
e 1975 Red Sox out eld was a logjam from the start. To incumbents Beniquez, Miller, Dwight Evans, and Bernie Carbo were added rookies Fred Lynn and Jim Rice. Despite this, Beniquez won a job in the spring, starting the rst four games of the season (two in left eld, two in center eld) as the team’s leado hitter. With the emergence of Rice and Lynn early in the season, Juan soon found himself in a reserve role. Manager Darrell Johnson used his entire roster, so Beniquez played in 78 games, mostly in the out eld (44 games), but he also lled in at third base (14 games) and as designated hitter (20 games). He stole seven bases and was caught stealing 10 times on a team that did not run a lot. Beniquez had a solid .291 batting average, but a mediocre .760 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging average), re ecting his meager two home runs for the year.
With Rice hurt and inactive, Beniquez batted leado in all three games of the Red Sox’ ALCS sweep against the Oakland Athletics, as the DH. He went 2-for-4, scoring one run and driving in another in Game One. He singled in Rick Burleson in the seventh, then proceeded to steal second, then third; he scored after Billy North mu ed Denny Doyle’s sacri ce y. He ended up hitting .250 for the series.
In the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, without the designated hitter in e ect, Beniquez played in just three games. He was a surprise starter in Game Four, leading o and playing left eld, as Carl Yastrzemski moved to rst and Cecil Cooper was benched. Beniquez managed one single in that game, but was held hitless in three at-bats in Game Five. His nal appearance was as a pinch-hitter for Rick Miller, leading o the bottom of the ninth in Game Seven, where he ied out to right eld as the Sox lost to the Reds in a classic World Series.
After the 1975 season it was clear that Beniquez would not have a big role in the future of the team. Right or wrong, he had also acquired the tag of having an “attitude problem.” In November he was dealt, along with pitcher Steve Barr and a player to be named (who proved to be pitcher Craig Skok), for future Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins. For Texas, Beniquez was
the biggest part of the deal, and he became the regular center elder in 1976. As a Ranger, he led the American League in putouts (410) and assists for an out elder (17) in 1976. In 1977 he was rewarded with the Gold Glove for his center- eld play and he hit .269 with 10 home runs and 26 stolen bases while being caught stealing 18 times.
After three years starting with Texas, in the winter of 1978 Beniquez was part of a 10-player deal, in which Texas sent him, Mike Gri n, Paul Mirabella, Greg Jemison, and hot minor-league left-hander Dave Righetti to the New York Yankees in exchange for Domingo Ramos, Mike Heath, Sparky Lyle, Larry McCall, Dave Rajsich, and cash. Beniquez played in only 62 games for the Yankees, mostly in the out eld, hitting four home runs and driving in 17 runs while hitting .254. He was dealt the following winter to the Seattle Mariners. After one season in which he hit only .228 in 70 games, he was granted free agency and signed with the California Angels.
After a couple of tough years in California (including hitting a mere .181 in 1981), Beniquez nally found the hitting stroke he had shown as a minor leaguer, hitting over .300 every year between 1983 and 1986, the last of which was for the Orioles. In 1984 for the Angels, he hit eight home runs and batted .336 playing out eld. He received two votes in the MVP balloting that year. During his one year in Baltimore, he had one of the more unlikely three-home run games, as he hit fully half of his six home runs on June 12, in a losing cause against the Yankees.
Dealt to Kansas City in October in October 1986, and then to Toronto in July 1987, Beniquez hit just .251 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs combined for the season.
In January 1988 Beniquez (and six other players) were granted free agency by a judge who ruled that the owners had conspired to hold down players’ salaries after the 1985 season. He elected to remain with the Blue Jays, but played in just 27 games in 1988 before being released. His career over, he held the record for having played for eight American League teams.