Page 48 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 41
Dave Kingman, a 6-foot-6 pitcher at the time. Kingman, the hardest thrower he had ever faced, walked him on four pitches. After the game, Dedeaux told Lynn, “I liked the way you hung in there.”2 Dedeaux called all his players “Tiger.” He gave players con dence and was a good role model since Lynn was a shy youngster.
Lynn played for the USC varsity as a freshman, sopho- more, and junior and the team enjoyed three years of amazing success, going 54-13 in 1971, 50-13 in 1972, and 51-11 in 1973, winning the NCAA Baseball Championship each season. Lynn was an All-American in 1972. He was named MVP for the US All-Stars during a series in Japan. In college he was a teammate of future major leaguers Steve Busby, Steve Kemp, and Roy Smalley, Jr. and also was a member of the 1971 Pan Am Team.
At rst, Lynn majored in business administration, but he became bogged down as a junior and switched into physical education. If he couldn’t be a baseball player, he wanted to teach. He also enjoyed history.
Lynn thought the Los Angeles Dodgers would take him with their rst pick in the 1973 amateur draft, but instead they drafted Ted Farr, a catcher out of Spokane, Washington. ey were hoping Lynn would still be available when it came time for their next selection. e Red Sox picked one slot ahead of the Dodgers and drafted Lynn in the second round. ( e Red Sox took Ted Cox with their rst pick.) Lynn signed with the Red Sox on July 9, 1973, for $40,000; Joe Stephenson is the scout credited with his signing.
Lynn was assigned to the Red Sox’ Double-A a liate in Bristol, Connecticut, where he played under manager Rac Slider. It was the rst time he had played on the East Coast. He started o strong, but tired as the summer wore on and ending up hitting .259 in 53 games as the team nished third in the Eastern League’s American Division with a 62-77 record. It was at Bristol that he became a teammate and friend of Jim Rice. Lynn and Rice remained teammates with the Red Sox organization through 1980.
ey were both promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket for the International League playo s and helped the Pawtucket Red Sox win the Governors Cup, as they defeated Tidewater three games to two and then Charleston three games to two, for the championship. In 1974 Lynn started with Pawtucket and made the league All-Star team, hitting .282 with 21 home runs and 19 doubles in 124 games. Despite having Lynn and Triple Crown winner Jim Rice, the PawSox n- ished last, going 57-87, under future Red Sox skipper Joe Morgan.
Meanwhile in Boston, the Red Sox hired Darrell Johnson as manager and held rst place for 101 days. In September and October, though, they struggled to a 12-19 record, while the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees passed them in the standings, going 25-6 and 20-11, respectively. What really killed the Red Sox that season was a stretch beginning on August 24, when they lost to the Athletics and proceeded to go just 8-20 through September 22. e Red Sox ended up winning 84 games, in third place in the American League East. Rice was recalled in late August, and Lynn was called up after the Triple-A season was over.
Although the season ended up in disappointment, the future seemed bright with a core of talented young players like Lynn, Rice, Carlton Fisk, Rick Burleson, Cecil Cooper, Dwight Evans, Juan Beniquez, and Rick Miller. e pain of the collapse of the 1974 team was erased by the joy of 1975, with the team being led by rookies Lynn and Rice, who were known as the GoldDustTwins.Ricehada nerookieseason,hitting .309 with 22 home runs and 102 RBIs, but Lynn was even better, hitting .331 with 47 doubles, 21 home runs, 103 runs, and 105 RBIs. He earned honors as American League MVP and Rookie of the Year and won a Gold Glove for elding excellence. He led the league in runs, doubles, slugging average, OPS (on-base average plus slugging average), and runs created per 27 outs. He nished second in runs created and in batting average and fth in on-base average.
It was not only Lynn’s batting feats that drew attention, but also his wonderful elding. He was terri c diving forward, snaring line drives, and jumping to reach