It’s coincidental that I would mention final outs because the man chosen to take over at short in 2005 was Édgar Rentería, who has the distinct honor of grounding into the final out of the 2004 World Series. Unfortunately, Cabrera didn’t return for the title defense in 2005 and neither did Pokey Reese, who appeared in 71 games at short in 2004 and assisted on the final out of game seven of the ALCS. Plus, he will be enshrined in the hearts of Red Sox fans forever as a member of that 2004 title-winning team. 294/.320/.465 and accumulate 1.8 bWAR across 248 plate appearances. The former shortstop for the Montreal Expos came to Boston as part of the Garciaparra trade and homered in his first at-bat with the team and off of Johan Santana no less. Fortunately for the Red Sox, Orlando Cabrera was not tough to watch. No matter how it was characterized then or now, Garciaparra was an important member of the Red Sox and letting him go was tough to watch. When Garciaparra was sent to the Chicago Cubs in 2004, it was a sad day. We’ll be looking at the primary options and not just guys who played a smattering of games at short. What we’re here to do today is look back at that nearly 10-year run when the Red Sox were searching for their next great shortstop. However, during that time, Boston was a revolving door at shortstop. There were plenty of other great shortstops in baseball between when Garciaparra left the team before the 2004 trade deadline and when Bogaerts made his MLB debut with the Red Sox in 2013. He’s really turned it on of late, including his masterful 2019 campaign when he made his second All-Star game, won a silver slugger and finished fifth in AL MVP voting. The 27-year-old shortstop is right in the middle of his prime and is a member of the most recent fraternity of do-it-all superstars at the position. That would be Xander Bogaerts, of course. The only unfortunate aspect of Garciaparra’s career with the Red Sox is that it ended just before the magical 2004 World Series run.Ĭoincidentally, the Red Sox’s next great shortstop won a World Series in his first season in Boston. While he was in Boston, Garciaparra racked up two batting titles, five All-Star appearances and plenty of MVP votes, even if he never actually captured the trophy. Famous for his aggressive approach, he hit for astronomical batting averages and combined that with power and speed. The 1997 Rookie of the Year was an otherworldly batter. The Red Sox had one of the best of the best in Garciaparra. and Ernie Banks, there seemed to be a greater concentration of shortstops who could flat out mash at that point in history. Although there were plenty of similar shortstops before, like Cal Ripken Jr. The rise of stars like Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada changed what we expected from the position. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was a renaissance of sorts at shortstop around baseball.
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