Red Sox Legend Fred Lynn Appreciative Of Fan Support Over The Years As He And Mike Tamburro Are Celebrated For Their PawSox Hall of Fame Induction

Pawtucket, R.I.- The Pawtucket Red Sox inducted two new members into their teams Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon.

Both of the new members are familiar to many Red Sox fans with one being long-time player Fred Lynn and the other being PawSox Vice President Mike Tamburro.

Both have certainly left their marks not only in Pawtucket but with baseball fans across New England. The ceremony at McCoy was certainly a heartfelt one with the organization showing their love to long-time executive Tamburro and a fan favorite in Lynn.

Fred Lynn’s Statistics As A Red Sox Speak For Themselves

Back in 1974 at the age of 22, Fred Lynn played 122 games in Pawtucket batting .282 in 478 plate appearances. Lynn had made his PawSox debut just a year prior with a debut in September having been part of the 1973 team that won the Governor’s Cup Championship.

The Chicago Illinois native was a member of the Red Sox organization for 7 seasons and during that time he was a Rookie of the Year, League MVP, 4-time gold glove winner in the outfield, and a 6-time all-star.

Stats Speak For Themseleves

Prior to Lynn’s induction ceremony PawSox Manager Kevin Boles admitted he doesn’t really know Lynn that well, but had a story of when he met Lynn with Portland. A moment he still remembers to this day.

“I got to meet him (Fred Lynn) in Portland when I was the manager there. Got to spend some time with him and he spent the workout with us. And I don’t even know if he would remember that. But I sure do. He was just great, got to hang around the cage and just a wonderful guy. He was great. Obviously, the career is what it is, he had a terrific career. Special player. But that day in Portland— I still have the pictures I saved them, I still have them on phone. He was just about as nicest as can be. That’s my memory of Fred Lynn.

Lynn’s fellow inductee, Mike Tamburro, said that he talked to Joe Morgan on Saturday morning and Morgan said Lynn “was the perfect player, and I think that speaks volumes” Tamburro said.

2018 Red Sox Are “Pretty Darn Good” This Season

Lynn was very appreciative of his PawSox hall of fame induction and remembered how difficult it used to be for him to see the ball in the McCoy batters box due to the sun amidst laughs.

The Red Sox legend was gracious during his media availability while he expressed confidence in the 2018 Boston Red Sox and how baseball is a whole different game than when he played.

One area that Lynn always cared about and focused on was his defense, something he honed in on when giving an assessment of the 2018 Boston Red Sox.

But to give you an assessment, of what the team is right now, it is pretty darn good. I like the way they play defense, I mean they have some areas- Devers at third is just learning. So he’s kind of trail by fire. But most of the guys can play defense pretty well, and I love defense. If they get some production from the bottom third of their lineup, they are going to be really tough.

Lynn Was Once “Floored” When Fans Named Thier Children After Him

One thing that has touched Lynn in retirement is hearing the impact the 1975 season had on fans and how some named their kids after him.

A thing that he was “floored” by early on.

I didn’t know I was having an affect on peoples lives. It wasn’t till many years after my career was over and I started doing some stuff with the Sox and I was talking to people like you guys, And they would say, “well I named my kids after you”. Woah, you know what I’m saying? Woah, because I had one of those today. And I was floored when it first happened, when someone said that to me. I had a couple that came up to me and the boy was “Fred” and the girl was “Lynn”. If I had known that when I was 22-years-old, that I was having that kind of affect on people, I don’t know if I would have been able to play.

The game has certainly hanged since Lynn played the field, but his work ethic and willingness to put his body on the line for the sake of his team is currently on display in players like Dustin Pedroia.

Lynn and his time with the Boston Red Sox impacted the lives of everyday fans helping them take their minds off of real life and watch a player who would go all out and run into walls at full speed with no regard for his own life.

While the game has changed, the story of Fred Lynn will last forever.

Mike Tamburro Continues To Leave His Mark In Pawtucket

The other inductee, Mike Tamburro, has been the centerpiece of the Pawtucket Red Sox for decades.

First, he started off as the General Manager from 1977-1984 and then was the President of the Pawtucket Red Sox from 1985 to 2015. Tamburro paired with PawSox owner Ben Mondor in 1977 to bring a bankrupt organization back to life.  The five-time International League Executive of the year currently serves as the team’s Vice Chairman and co-owner of the ball club.

Tamburro has been with the club for 42 years and has certainly left a positive mark throughout the organization.

Kevin Boles has certainly been touched by Tamburro with Boles showing great admiration for Tamburro prior to his induction ceremony.

“I love him; he is a great man. I love him, since the first day I gotten here. Being able to win a championship with him and Lou Schwechheimer together in my first year here. Mike is one of the greatest people I have ever met. Even out of baseball, I love the man. Couldn’t be prouder for him, nobody deserves it more.” Said Kevin Boles prior to the induction ceremony.

Tamburro Recalls How McCoy And The PawSox Have Changed Over The Years

Tamburro spoke with the media after his induction and said he recalls when Lynn played for the PawSox back when he was just an intern. He spoke at lengths about how the ballpark and team has changed over the years and how he is proud that it is in a better state now than when he started.

Tamburro and Lynn both impacted the PawSox and their community. Lynn was a player that people named their kids after while Tamburro ensured that the community had an affordable outlet to go and watch a game of baseball.

Pawtucket Red Sox Pitcher William Cuevas Used His Change-up As A Weapon In Paw Sox Win On Sunday Afternoon

The Pawtucket Red Sox played the fourth game of their five game series with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on a chilly McCoy Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the game time temperature being 32 degrees colder then it was for Saturday’s doubleheader, hitting was hard to come by as the Paw Sox .

But Paw Sox starting pitcher William Cuevas was the one who got the best of the hitters in this game today as he pitched his best outing of the season. In 7 scoreless innings for Cuevas, he only gave up two base hits, while walking two batters and striking out six batters on 102 pitches (62 strikes).

What made Cuevas more dominate today was the his change-up. Paw Sox manager Kevin Boles spoke very highly of the pitch from Cuevas after the game.

William Cuevas Was “Great” Sunday Afternoon

William Cuevas was making his eight start of the season for the Paw Sox on Sunday afternoon. He has struggled in his last three starts for the Paw Sox. In those three games, he has pitched 14 innings, giving up 14 runs (13 earned), on 19 base hits. Before these last three starts where Cuevas has struggled, he was very good in his previous three outings. Those three outings from April 22nd until May 4th, Cuevas posted a 2.08 ERA in 17 1/3 innings pitched.

On Sunday afternoon, Cuevas pitched by far, his best game of the 2018 campaign to this point. In 7 innings on the afternoon, Cuevas gave up only two base hits. Both were on infield singles. The first hit was an infield single by Danny Ortiz in the first inning. The second hit was by Alexi Amarista to lead off the third inning. He was quickly erased as Dean Anna hit a liner back to Cuevas who then threw it over to first base for the double play.

“Cuevas was great. I thought that he had an above average change-up today” said Paw Sox manager Kevin Boles after today’s game. “I thought his mix was good. He was able to get guys swinging early, get them in play, but he was also able to finish in kill counts. I thought he did a real nice job. Very efficient”.

This was a nice improvement for William Cuevas over his last few games. In his last start on Tuesday night, Cuevas struggled in four innings of work while he gave up 5 runs to the Scranton Railriders.

“I just think it was an overall better execution (today)” said Paw Sox manager Kevin Boles. “He looked the same as he has as far as his delivery and everything else. Everything synced up pretty good. I loved his stretched times. He was 1.2 to the plate consistently. I thought he did a great job with Danny Butler (Paw Sox catcher Dan Butler). They exploited swings and got the hitters off balance.”

“The change-up was his weapon today though. Obviously it predicates off the fastball command. But that change-up. It had real good sell and finish to it. It had some dive to it. It almost looked like a split at time” said Paw Sox manager Kevin Boles

The first inning was the only inning where Cuevas allowed multiple base runners, which was an infield single to Danny Ortiz and a walk to Joey Meneses. But he was able to get out of any danger by using that change-up as he struck out two Lehigh Valley batters with it in the inning.

This is a good sign for Cuevas who has struggled of late. If he is able to keep that change-up like it was today in his probable next start next Friday in Durham, it will be a huge boost for the Paw Sox whose offense has sputtered of late.

PawSox Lose Both Ends Of Doubleheader With Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs With Jalen Beeks And Poyner Struggling

The Pawtucket Red Sox lost both ends of their doubleheader on Saturday with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs with the PawSox falling 6-2 in game 2.

Jalen Beeks was the starter for Pawtucket providing the team length, but got hit for a three-run 2nd inning. Beeks went 6 innings giving up 4 earned runs on 4 base hits including 4 walks and 8 strikeouts on 98 pitches, 60 for strikes. The long-ball bite Beeks twice against the first place IronPigs. In the second inning with Nick Rickles hitting a three-run shot and then in the 3rd Major Leaguer Colin Cowgill hit a solo home run to right field to give Lehigh Valley a 4-0 advantage at the time.

To finish out the game Bobby Poyner came into the game as the only PawSox reliever used in game 2 of the double-header. This was Poyner’s first outing since being optioned back to Triple-A Pawtucket after his most recent Major League stint with Boston opting to activate Hector Velazquez off the DL.

3 pitches into his outing Poyner called Kevin Boles and the team’s trainer to the mound and they quickly checked him out with Poyner staying in the game.

Poyner had a rather rough re-entry to Triple-A Pawtucket with 1 inning of work allowing 2 earned runs on 2 base hits and a walk with 2 strikeouts on 26 pitches, 17 for strikes.

Ivan De Jesus Jr. hit his first home run of the year with a two-run line-drive homer to left field with Jordan Betts on the bases. The home run came off of starting pitcher Brandon Leibrandt who hadn’t allowed a run in the first 30 innings he had pitched in the 2018 season with 10 appearances prior to the one against Pawtucket.

As a team Pawtucket’s offense mustered 2 runs on 7 base hits with a walk. Not what the PawSox were looking for having now dropped the opening three games of their 5 game set with the IronPigs.

Pawtucket will have to bounce back quick though with a 1:35 pm game on Sunday with Enyel De Los Santos taking on William Cuevas.