All-Fenway Team

The all-time All- Fenway Park Red Sox team was announced this week.  It favors players in living memory of baby boomers or younger unless an earlier player was so ridiculously overqualified that we have to take the time to educate the younger generation about them, because they simply cannot be left off.  Jimmy Foxx.  Lefty Grove.  Smokey Joe Wood. Dom Dimaggio.  And of course, Ted Williams.

I get that.  I even agree with it, because otherwise you start to get arguments for people who had two good seasons and were just sort of useful for a few others.  I might think Mel Parnell should be on there, but even I don't want to get into discussing Pete Runnels, Ellis Kinder, Walt Dropo.  Nobody cares.

Plus, I loved Reggie Smith and Trot Nixon, so it's great to see them remembered.  I don't know if Nixon, especially, really was the 2nd best RF in Fenway history, but I'm not minded to quibble.  You can make an argument for it.

I have only one problem with this.  Tris Speaker.  Yes, he only had four years at Fenway and most of his stats were amassed for Cleveland.  But those four years included the inaugural year of the ballpark, which should count for something, and those four years were quite something.