Page 42 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 35
Former Red Sox great Ted Williams observed about the Conigliaro/Andrews trades bringing Gri n and Aparicio to Boston that he could not remember a Red Sox team trading for defense at the expense of power. is was indeed innovative for Boston and maybe even risky. Con dence in the plan was suspect.12
At the end of spring training, the Red Sox acquired power-hitting catcher Duane Josephson from the White Sox, with many expressions of enthusiasm from Sox management. Kasko reshu ed the batting order, moving Gri n from the leado spot to eighth in the batting order. Gri n responded with four hits in that spot just before the team’s departure from Florida.13
Gri n had a solid spring, living up to his reputation as a ashy elder. e Red Sox were pleased to nd he wielded a steady bat, too. e Red Sox were high on the rookie from California as the 1971 season opened. Sportswriter Larry Cla in reported in e Sporting News that “Gri n is playing sensationally in the eld, giving the Red Sox exactly what White Sox manager Chuck Tanner predicted for them last winter when he heard of the Gri n trade.”14 Gri n made only one error in his rst 18 games, but it was one that nearly cost the Red Sox the game. On the next play, however, he made a sensational maneuver as the middle man on a double play, eluding a sliding Joe Foy seeking to upend him, then throwing to rst to end the game.“What impresses Red Sox players most about Gri n are his hands,” Cla in wrote. “He never seems to bobble a ball.”15
Gri n was going strong in the spring. He combined brilliant elding with a respectable .261 average through May. ree times he had three-hit games. rough mid-June he made only two elding errors in nearly 200 chances. e Fenway Park crowd took an instant liking to the new kid they called the Dude. Pitcher Sonny Siebert was impressed, noting that Gri n “made a di erence” making more double plays, holding scores down and not giving opponents the extra out.16
Gri n was having such a good rst half in his rst year with the Red Sox that he received a credible
number of votes by the players for their selections to the American League All-Star Team in a poll con- ducted by e Sporting News. He nished fth in the players voting. Interestingly, Gri n received more votes than Sandy Alomar, who’d been the player in Gri n’s way the year before with California. e player poll had no e ect on the o cial selections, as the All-Star voting remained a fan privilege. Rod Carew was the fans’ choice at second base. e player vote was nonetheless a mark of respect by Gri n’s peers.
Continued good fortune was not in the cards for the oft-injured Red Sox second baseman. While he chased a pop y in short right eld on June 28, Gri n’s back went into spasms and he left the game soon after. Gri n had experienced similar trouble with his back in the past but never this seriously. Ironically, this was the same game in which he hit his rst major-league home run. And as was true at the time of most of his subsequent injuries, Gri n was playing very good baseball, both at bat and in the eld. He was on the disabled list for nearly a month, from June 30 to July 27, missing 28 games.
e Red Sox were chasing the Orioles for the lead in 1971 but hitting was not their strong suit and that lack of o ense kept them well behind Baltimore. Carl Yastrzemski was having an o -year and George Scott played hot and cold. Gri n was cited by the Boston brass as one of the few players who was hitting above expectations, this despite missing so many games due to injury.
Feuding among the Red Sox players was a factor in the slow demise of the Red Sox’ chances in 1971. Although it was felt that this was not a principal factor in the team’s collapse, it certainly damaged team sym- metry and harmony. In the meantime, Gri n was hitting well after coming back from injury, though his back continued to bother him and required frequent treatments from trainer Buddy LeRoux.17
e Red Sox nished third in 1971, 18 games behind the AL East division-leading Baltimore Orioles. Gri n nished his season with a .244 batting average. Largely because of his slick elding, Gri n became