Page 52 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 45
On August 31, 1988, the Orioles traded Lynn to the Detroit Tigers for minor-league prospects Chris Hoiles, Cesar Mejia, and Robinson Garces. e Tigers were involved in a ferocious battle for the American League East crown, along with the Red Sox, Brewers, Blue Jays, and Yankees. Lynn contributed seven home runs in 90 at-bats in 27 games for the Tigers, who ended up in second place, one game behind the Red Sox.
In 1989 the bottom fell out for the Tigers as they dropped to last place in the American League East, winning 59 games and losing 103. Lynn’s batting average fell to .241 with 11 home runs in 353 at-bats. e end of his ne career was drawing near.
Lynn was granted free agency on November 13, 1989, and he signed with the San Diego Padres. He would be returning to Southern California, this time playing for the rst time in the National League. e 38-year- old Lynn got into 90 games for the Padres in 1990, making him a three-decade player. He batted .240 and hit six homers for the Padres and played his nal major-league game on October 3.
How good was Fred Lynn? At his best, he was a good as anyone, but injuries slowed his career down. ere are seven skills in baseball: controlling the strike zone, hitting for power, hitting for average, o ensive speed, elding range, elding reliability, and throwing ability. When healthy and at his best, Lynn did all these things well.
Lynn rated Fenway Park as his favorite baseball park to play in. Frank Tanana (before he hurt his arm) was the toughest pitcher for him to hit against, while he claimed his favorite pitchers to hit against were Bert Blyleven and Lerrin LaGrow.8
Lynn worked as a baseball analyst for ESPN from 1991 to 1998, for CBS-TV in 1997-98, and for Fox TV in 1998, his last year in broadcasting. He was a con- sultant for Trinity Products’ MLB Product Line in 2002-2004. He also made appearances at autograph shows. Lynn became involved with Child Haven, a charity for disadvantaged children and donated memo- rabilia to help raise funds for the organization. In 1994
Lynn was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame. On November 14, 2002, he was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame. He was elected to the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 and was elected to the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame in 2011.
Lynn enjoys shing, golf and tennis. As of 2014 he and his wife, Natalie, resided in Carlsbad, California.
In summing up his career, Lynn told authors Harvey and Frederic J. Frommer in Growing Up Baseball, “I wouldn’t trade the time that I played for all the dollars you could make now. e country was just coming out of the Sixties. Everybody was having a pretty good time. ere was not the media as we know it now. And a guy like me who was pretty introverted could just hide, play baseball, [and] play with reckless abandon.”9
Note
A version of this biography was originally published in ‘75: e Red Sox Team at Saved Baseball, edited by Bill Nowlin and Cecilia Tan, and published by Rounder Books in 2005.
Sources
Allen, Maury, Baseball’s 100 (New York: Galahad Books, 1981). Ballew, Bill, e Pastime in the Seventies ( Je erson, North Carolina:
McFarland Publishing, 2002).
Dolan, Edward F. Jr., and Richard B. Lyttle, Fred Lynn: e Hero
From Boston (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1978). Frommer, Harvey, and Frederic J. Frommer, Growing Up Baseball
(Dallas: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2001).
Gammons, Peter, Beyond the Sixth Game (Lexington, Massachusetts: e Stephen Greene Press, 1986).
Hollander, Zander, e Complete Handbook of Baseball 1976 (New York: Signet, 1976).
James, Bill, e New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (New York: Free Press, 2001).
James, Bill, John Dewan, Neil Munro, and Don Zminda, eds., STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (Chicago: Stats, Inc., 1998).
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft, eds., e Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball 2004, 24th Edition (New York: St. Martin’s Gri n, 2004).