J.D. Drew

Even though he was not the best player on the Sox last year, J.D. Drew is nevertheless an important part of the team’s lineup.  He has his origins back at Florida State where he was an All-American and won several prestigious awards such as the Dick Howser Trophy in 1997, given to the college baseball player of the year, and the Golden Spikes award in the same year, given to the best amateur baseball player.  Both these awards were also won by fellow Red Sox player Jason Varitek when he played for Georgia Tech.  Drew became the first college player ever to have 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a single season.  His college career was outstanding, and it actually outshone his professional one.

            Drew was drafted second overall in 1997 by the Philadelphia Phillies, but he and his agent had agreed not to sign for less than $10 million, a hefty sum for a rookie to demand, even one with such good college stats.  He played baseball in a league outside of the MLB in ’97, and in 1998 he was re-drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals fifth overall.  Because of his conflict in Philly, his first major league appearance there greeted him with waves of boos.  Every year he was in St. Louis from 1998-2003, Drew landed up on the disabled list for one reason or another.  Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa was disappointed in Drew’s lack of commitment, saying that Drew had “settled for 75%” of his talent.  Drew’s stats showed how much he was slacking: he only broke a .300 seasonal batting average once in six years there, and 2001 (his best St. Louis year) wasn’t even that stupendous.  It’s no wonder that he was traded after the ’03 season to the Atlanta Braves.

            In Atlanta, Drew displayed a much better commitment to the game, if only for one season.  His single year with the Braves displayed a stronger, more skilled side of Drew not seen often enough in Philly.  He had a .305 average with 31 home runs and 96 RBIs.  In comparison, the most RBIs he got in one season with the Cardinals was 73, and he never got more than 30 HRs.  After the ’04 season, Drew spent two years with the L.A. Dodgers.  He was injured again halfway through 2005, but in 2006 he was part of something that has been seen only five times in MLB history: back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs.  He was the second homer-er in a lineup of Jeff Kent, Drew, Russell Martin, and Marlon Anderson.  Surprisingly, that’s not the last time we see Drew be a part of four home runs in a row. 

            Drew was signed to the Sox last year for 5 years and $70 million.  He was downright awful for the better part of the season, putting up his least home runs since his rookie year.  However, he did make history by being the only player to be in two back-to-back-to-back-to-back home run sets, this time with Manny, himself, Mike Lowell, and Varitek.  His most clutch moment with the Sox was in the postseason, during Game 6 of the ALCS.  The Sox could have been eliminated in that game by the Cleveland Indians, but for Drew’s grand slam.

            I believe that Drew’s college career made him overconfident, and this made him demand more money than he was worth.  He has made a million bucks a year since his third year in baseball, but his game play has certainly not lived up to his payroll.  I agree with LaRussa in that Drew should have applied himself more over his professional career so far.

This year, Drew is doing much, much better than last.  Already, he only has to hit three more home runs to beat his last-season drought.  He’s hitting .318, the current highest on the team, and he also has the highest on base percentage.  If only he had done as well in seasons past as he is now, he would be worth the $14 million the Sox paid him last season alone.  Fortunately, things are looking up for J.D. Drew.

Importance of Young Players

If you ask someone to name a Red Sox player, chances are you’ll hear “David Ortiz” or “Manny Ramirez”.  You’ll probably hear a “Jason Varitek” from time to time.  But these big sluggers and Sox stars aren’t the only players on the team.  Some of the most important parts of the Sox, or any team, are the young up-and-coming stars of the future.  This is what my blog has been about.

            Take Dustin Pedroia, ‘07’s Rookie of the Year.  He essentially led the Sox through the last game of the ALCS last year, securing the win with a 2-run homer and a bases-clearing double, finishing the game with 5 RBIs.  Then one game later, Game 1 of the World Series, he led off with a home run on the very first pitch, sparking a rally that ended in a 13-1 slaughter of the Rockies.  The youngster is an important on two planes: he is helpful to the Sox in winning games, and he also provides to the fans with acts such as his homer in Game 1, the first home run hit by a rookie on the very first pitch of a World Series opener.  This year, Pedroia’s leading the team in hits with 69.  He also has the only perfect attendance of the Sox, having played all 59 games this season.  However, Dustin is not the only young, dynamic player.

            Jacoby Ellsbury is one of my favorite players on the Sox, and he’s also one of the youngest.  He’s leading the team in runs scored (41) and on-base percentage (.389), but that’s not all.  He is DEMOLISHING his team in stolen bases with 27, that’s right, 27 steals.  The closest number of steals on the Sox is 7 from fellow center fielder Coco Crisp.  As stated in my Jacoby blog entry, the kid stole home from second in only his fourth major league game.  In the playoffs last year, he became only the second player to ever get two doubles in the same inning of a World Series game.  With his speed and his skill, the young Ellsbury is clearly a great asset to the Sox lineup.

            Of course, the stud veteran stars of the teams are usually the ones who rock the most, but even they had to start somewhere.  The year after Big Papi came to Boston, back in ’04, he was one of the most clutch players in the entire MLB, as we all remember.  But this season he is getting older; he suffered through one of his worst slumps of his career to start it off, and just yesterday he left the game with a hurting left wrist.  When players get older, their performance often gets rusty, and Ortiz is a good example of this.  This year is Papi’s 11^th year in baseball, and his worst since coming to Boston.  Clearly, baseball is not an old man’s sport, and the future of the game belongs to the young players of today, like Ellsbury, like Pedroia.  If they could produce just as much as they do now in the future, average teams with young players now could become the best teams of tomorrow.