All Red Sox team 1965-2016 position players

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In putting together this team, it was quickly obvious that the Red Sox have had more than their share of great ball players. I've listened to Hawk Harrelson rave about Carl Yastrzemski for years. Hawk makes Yaz sound like an almost mythical character. Well, he wasn't mythical but he was truly great. He'd be the captain for this team.

Catcher: Carlton Fisk Catcher is one of a number of positions where the Red Sox had more than one viable candidate. Jason Veritek played 15 seasons for the Sox and provided great leadership in addition to his playing skills. He gets an honorable mention. Carlton Fisk is the catcher on two teams, the White Sox and Red Sox. Carlton played 13 years for the White Sox where he was excellent. He played 11 seasons with the Red Sox where he was even better. The quickest way I can sum up Fisk's value to the Red Sox is say in his 11 seasons with the Red Sox, he had a WAR of 39.3. He also gets bonus points for best body english on his home run that won game 6 of the 1975 World series.

First base: Mo Vaughn Before Big Papi there was Mo Vaughn. Mo was like Big Papi Lite, who played first base, though not a good first base. From 1993-98 Mo hit between 29-44 homers. In 1995 Mo led the league in RBIs with 126 and followed that up with 143 the next year. If you wanted a glove guy, George “Great” Scott would have been your man. For me, Mo's bat wins out.

Second base: Dustin Pedoria Here you have a guy that gives you great defense, good on base percentage and surprising power. He's easily the winner at this position. When you put his offense and defense together, you get a WAR of 52.5, counting a 1.5 for this season. Not bad for the equivalent of 11 seasons. Since coming up in 2006, Dustin has had a WAR of over 5 in five of those seasons. After battling injuries for the last few years, Dustin recently announced his retirement.

Shortstop: Nomar Garciaparra Like shortstops who can rake? Garrciaparra is your man. Like shortstops who are steady in the field? Hey, Garciaparra could rake! Actually, Nomar's defensive metrics were okay early in his career, they deteriorated in large measure after he left Boston. During his years with the Red Sox, Nomar hit .323 with excellent power and was a proven run producer. Nomar hit over 20 home runs four times, and over 30 home runs twice. While Nomar gets the decision, special mention goes out to Red Sox standout and Hawk Harrelson hero, Rico Petrocelli. Rico hit 40 in 1969 at time when that was unheard of for a shortstop. Rico had a WAR of 10 that season. On some teams Rico would have been the representative at short. Currently, Sox shortstop, Xander Bogaerts, is carving out an excellent current. He could eventually pass Nomar.

Third base: Wade Boggs The Sox have had some really good third baseman play for them in the last 50 years, and one truly great one, Wade Boggs. Boggs OBP was a wicked good .428 during his 11 years with the Sox. He led the league in that category 6 times. You get the idea. Boggs didn't hit for power, but that's like saying Kim Kardashian can't cook. He played pretty good defense too. In addition to Boggs, I'll give a quick shout out to a couple of other pretty good Red Sox third basemen, Keivin Youkilis and Bill “My name is Miller” Muellar.  Rafael Devers has put up great production during his time with the Sox but I don't see him passing up Boggs on this list.

Left field: Carl Yastrzemski How good was Yaz? Jim Rice was a great left fielder for the Sox and this isn't even a tough call. In the context of a pennant race, Yastrzemski's 1967 season may be the greatest season I've ever seen. Yaz won the triple crown, played great defense, had a wonderful world series and was at his best in big situations. His WAR for that years was 12.4 Next year he slowed down. His WAR was only 10.5. No wonder Hawk raves about him to this day.

Center field: Fred Lynn Fred had three nice seasons for the Sox and two outstanding ones. Fred was a stylish player who, in a good year, would be good for 20 home runs, have an OBP of .380-.400 with 30+ doubles. Lynn gets the slot over Jacoby Ellsbury who flamed out after moving ion to the Yankees.  It's easy to forget that Elsbury led the AL in stolen bases three times while with the Red Sox.

Right field: Dwight Evans Right field was another position where the Sox have had some good players play the position, but one guys stands out at this position. Over 20 years with the Sox, Dewey had an OPS of .840 to go with gold glove caliber defense and a legendary arm.. Sox fans were fortunate to get to watch Yaz play left and Dewey play right for as many years as they did. Mookie Betts was an obvious contender for this position but I gave the nod to Dewey based on longevity and the fact I'm an old guy.  At his best, Betts put up better numbers than Dewey. His WAR for six seasons in Boston was 41.8.  Evans, in addition to his glove, twice led the AL in OPS.  I gave the nod to Evans but a good argument can be made for Betts.

DH: David Ortiz Was their any doubt? In the last 4 years of David's career, his home run totals were 30-35-37-38. Four times in his career his OPS was over 1.000. Big Papi also had a flair for the dramatic. David Ortiz, the Red Sox DH.

There's my all Red Sox team. You may or may not agree with the picks, but it's a great team.  What are your picks?