Play It Again, Boston: Just Another Rerun?

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[i:1698ed4649]by Moss Klein
photo: Rich Pilling
originally printed: The Sporting News, March 17, 1986[/i:1698ed4649]

<img src="http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/images/baseball/stratomatic/1986/story_photos/wade_boggs_1_150x210.jpg" align="left" style="margin-right: 10px;" /> FORT LAUDERDALE. Fla — For the last 10 years, the Boston Red Sox have experienced a unique frustration. They've often been very good and they've never been really bad, but they've never been good enough. And the same old story is shaping up this season.

Boston's last championship year was 1975, when the Red Sox reached the World Series. From 1976 through '85, a total of 19 teams won division championships. The seven non-winners were the Indians, Rangers, Manners, Twins, Giants, Mets - and the Red Sox.

Over these 10 years, Boston had the sixth best record in the majors, a .542 percentage that trailed the Yankees, Orioles, Dodgers, Royals and Phillies. Of the 13 learns with records of .500 or better in the 1976-85 period, all except Boston won at least one division title. Seven teams with 10-year losing records managed at least one division title.

But the Red Sox, despite averaging nearly 88 victories a year (excluding the strike-shortened 1981 season), had nothing to show for it. The five teams ahead of them accounted for 23 of the 40 division titles.

In this year's rerun of Play It Again, Boston, the Red Sox probably will finish with a winning record (last year's 81-81 mark was only the second time in the last 19 years they weren't over .500), but they don't figure to be serious contenders for the American League East title.

General Manager Lou Gorman, known for his optimism, views the Red Sox prospects realistically. "I guess you could call us a dark horse," Gorman said. "The Tigers are tough, Toronto is the defending champ, the Yankees have improved. We're the dark horse, along with Baltimore."

The Red Sox have the same old problems: questionable starting pitching, lack of speed, shaky defense. The offense is always there, generation after generation.

Gorman is hoping that the kids picked up from the Mets - starter Calvin Schiraldi and reliever Wes Gardner - will improve the pitching. Schiraldi is trying to join a Boston rotation of Roger Clemens, Bruce Hurst, Al Nipper and Oil Can Boyd, if Oil Can overcomes his physical problems.

Gorman views the return of center fielder Tony Armas as a key to Boston's season. "Losing him for such a long stretch last year really hurt us," said Gorman. "If he's sound, the offense and defense are greatly improved." Despite missing 59 games last year, Armas hit 23 homers. He's the A.L. homer leader of the 1980s, with 187, followed by Eddie Murray (169), Reggie Jackson (161) and Jim Rice (159).

Making a prediction about the Red Sox is easy: a comfortable 86-76 record, a lot of runs, too many battered pitchers, few stolen bases (Boston led the league in on-base percentage last year but was last in steals). It'll be one more year in which the Red Sox simply aren't good enough.

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The Brewers are blessed with impressive young arms in Tim Leary, Juan Nieves and Bill Wegman, and they couldn't have a finer teacher than George Bamberger, the former Orioles pitching coach who is in his second term as Milwaukee's manager. The Brewers won't be contenders this year, but they can be troublesome if Bambi finds some offense.

Wouldn't it be nice if the endless reports of drug problems were replaced this year by successful comeback stories involving the never-say-die group of Dennis Leonard, Rick Burleson, John Montefusco, John Stearns, Milt Wilcox and Buck Martinez? . . . Gary Lavelle's recurring elbow problems could hurt Toronto. The Blue Jays need a lefty reliever, especially when they visit the Yankees and Tigers. At this point, they're counting on Stan Clarke, who became a starter for Syracuse (International) last year.

Baltimore's Mike Boddicker, who faded rapidly last year after a 6-1 start, finishing with a 12-17 record and 4.07 ERA, thinks parts of his problem might have been that he was tipping his change-up. Boddicker got wind of the problem when a Baltimore official overheard conversation in the Milwaukee locker room. Boddicker studied films, noticed the telltale move and has corrected it. But Yankees coach Joe Altobelli, who managed the Orioles for two-plus seasons, doesn't think tipping pitches was Boddicker's problem. "When he's in his groove, with his location and changes of speed, it wouldn't matter very much if hitters knew what was coming," Altobelli said. "He just needs to get his rhythm back."

A noticeable figure at the Yankees' camp is Hank Steinbrenner, George's 28-year-old son. He's apparently being groomed for a prominent role with the club and has impressed observers with his sharp, low-key observations. He didn't learn that from papa . . . Dave Collins, playing for his fifth team in six seasons, could be in the perfect spot in Detroit. Sparky Anderson plans to use him as the leadoff hitter, with Lou Whitaker dropping to second. Scouts contend that Collins is primarily a turf-hitter but the Tigers, who play on grass, still are counting heavily on his speed. . . Catfish Hunter, serving his annual tour as a Yankees instructor, offered some wisdom about former Oakland and Yankee teammate Reggie Jackson. "Reggie wasn't a bad guy, definitely a great player," Hunter told the New York Post's Bob Klapisch. "But I usually walked away from him after his second sentence. That's how we got along. I always knew what he was going to say, anyway. When he first came to the Yankees (in 1977), I told the guys, 'If you don't listen to him too much, you'll be all right.' A year later, the guys were telling me, 'You were right.'"