![]() ![]() Bogaerts and Betts are understanding that. “Coming to the major leagues is hard,” said Evans, now a Red Sox player-development consultant who works with minor-leaguers during spring training. Swihart likewise has shown promise but remains a work in progress. Even in the span of a month, Betts and Bogaerts both have shown potential for greatness and stark reminders of their youth. “In an era when young guys rarely were a part of teams - they certainly didn’t start very often - we had young guys everywhere.”įour decades later, the Red Sox have stumbled early with a roster that features 22-year-olds at shortstop and center field in Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts as well as a 23-year-old call-up in Blake Swihart, tasked with full-time catching duties since the injury to Ryan Hanigan. “Not much was expected of us,” Lynn said. Lynn, Rice and Burleson all received American League MVP votes. All played enormously important roles in that season - with Burleson and Lynn playing the key positions of shortstop and center field, respectively. Forty years have passed, and many of the team’s most memorable contributors still haven’t turned 65 - a reflection of just how young they were during that magical season. What was striking about the group was just how young it still is. I stayed level by just being tenacious and playing hard all the time.”īurleson was one of more than two dozen members of Boston’s 1975 World Series team who gathered for a reunion at Fenway Park on Tuesday. Those failings helped me because I could stay on a level keel. I had some doubts about whether or not I was going to be as good as I wanted to be. ![]() I had some of those in the minor leagues. “It’s so easy to get down on yourself and not be able to bring yourself out of hard times in this game. “The game is about how you deal with failing,” he said. It was learning to struggle in the minors that allowed him to succeed in the majors. ![]() "The Rooster" gives credit for his ability to handle the game's highest level with the 500-plus games he’d played and the 2,000-plus plate appearances he’d accumulated in the minor leagues. Looking back on it, Rick Burleson knows what prepared him for the ups and downs of the major leagues. He endured the ups and downs with being a young player in the major leagues, particularly at the plate. He didn’t always encounter smooth sailing. BOSTON - Just like the center fielder behind him, the shortstop was remarkably young when he broke into the major leagues with the Red Sox, particularly for a position of such vital importance. ![]()
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