Boston Red Sox Active Roster ending the 2007 ALCS  
Monday, October 22nd, 2007

You know what I dislike about MLB?  It doesn't seem to be so much anymore about the city.  People don't realize it, they cheer on, chant the name of their city and their team with pride.

But it's not like you can say, "that Boston sure breeds good ball players," or "Cleveland really knows how to make 'em."  It's not as often, anymore, that the players on your city's team are even from your city.

Training can account for a part of success, sure, but natural talent stands for more of why each player is on that diamond.  Yet money, contracts, trading, corporate hoo-hah as I like to call it - that is landing them there more than that any real sense of loyalty to where one came from.

What is the purpose?  Ratings?  So that everyone in the nation will want to tune in when the Boston Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies face off in the World Series?

Check out the Boston Red Sox Active Roster at the end of the 2007 American League Championship Series:

Player Name	Position	Home City	Home State	Home Country	Played Longest for	Started with
Josh Beckett	Pitcher	Spring	Massachusetts	USA	Florida Marlins	Florida Marlins
Alex Cora	Infielder	Caguas	Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	Los Angeles Dodgers	Los Angeles Dodgers
Coco Crisp	Outfielder	Los Angeles	California	USA	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland Indians
Manny Delcarmen	Pitcher	Boston	Massachusetts	USA	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox
J.D. Drew	Outfielder	Valdosta	Georgia	USA	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis Cardinals
Jacoby Ellsbury	Outfielder	Madras	Oregon	USA	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox
Eric Gagne	Pitcher	Montreal	Quebec	Canada	Los Angeles Dodgers	Los Angeles Dodgers
Eric Hinske	Infielder	Menasha	Wisconsin	USA	Toronto Blue Jays	Toronto Blue Jays
Bobby Kielty	Outfielder	Fontana	California	USA	Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics	Minnesota Twins
Jon Lester	Pitcher	Tacoma	Washington	USA	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox
Javier Lopez	Pitcher	San Juan	Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	Colorado Rockies	Colorado Rockies
Mike Lowell	Infielder	San Juan	Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	Florida Marlins	New York Yankees
Julio Lugo	Infielder	Barahona	Barahona	Dominican Republic	Houston Astros	Houston Astros
Daisuke Matsuzaka	Pitcher	Tokyo	Japan	Japan	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox
Doug Mirabelli	Catcher	Kingman	Arizona	USA	Boston Red Sox	San Francisco Giants
Hideki Okajima	Pitcher	Kyoto	Japan	Japan	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox
David Ortiz	Outfielder	Santo Domingo	Distrito Nacional	Dominican Republic	Minnesota Twins	Minnesota Twins
Jonathan Papelbon	Pitcher	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	USA	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox
Dustin Pedroia	Infielder	Woodland	California	USA	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox
Manny Ramirez	Outfielder	Santo Domingo	Distrito Nacional	Dominican Republic	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland Indians
Curt Schilling	Pitcher	Anchorage	Alaska	USA	Philadelphia Phillies	Baltimore Orioles
Mike Timlin	Pitcher	Midland	Texas	USA	Toronto Blue Jays	Toronto Blue Jays
Jason Varitek	Catcher	Rochester	Michigan	USA	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox
Tim Wakefield	Pitcher	Melbourne	Florida	USA	Boston Red Sox	Pittsburgh Pirates
Kevin Youkilis	Infielder	Cincinnati	Ohio	USA	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox

One of them were born in Cleveland, Ohio.  One:  pitcher Manny Delcarmen.  What does that tell us?  Does that mean that there is not one person that was born and raised in the entire city of Boston that is good enough to play Major League Baseball?

No, there may well be Bostoners on other teams in the MLB.  But why other teams, then?

Only two of the players are even from the state of Massachusetts:  also pitcher Josh Becket, from Spring, MA.

64% of the players are from the USA (16/25).  44% of them have played for the Red Sox longer than any other team, and 36% of them started their careers with the Red Sox.

 

Back to Home >>