Ohtani’s historic night may sound familiar to these former Red Sox. It originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
If you want to call Shohei Ohtani’s inauguration of the 50-50 club with three home runs, ten RBIs and two steals the greatest night in baseball history, who am I to argue with you?
What Ohtani did in Miami was the crowning achievement of another MVP season. The powerful superstar already made his $700 million contract look like a bargain. If only the Red Sox had players like him.
In fact, there are five players with Red Sox ties who have an inkling of how Ohtani felt on Thursday, and I’d argue that one of them can still claim the best game of all time. Let’s go through them all.
5. Norm Zauchin: May 27, 1955
The three-home-run, ten-RBI club has only ten members, and Zauchin was the third to join its ranks as a rookie nearly 70 years ago.
He had exactly one home run to his name when the Red Sox hosted the Washington Senators on a Friday night. It was an eventful time in Boston. Ted Williams had just returned from military service in Korea and was sitting on the bench. Local hero Harry Agganis had just left the team due to illness and died unexpectedly a month later.
Zauchin hit home runs against three different pitchers and added a two-run double in the 16-0 victory. He might have hit a fourth home run, but he ignored Williams’ recommendation to put the first pitcher on the fastball in his final at-bat.
“I had to draw my own conclusions instead of listening to the master,” he said, according to SABR BioProject, and was unsuccessful.
4. Mark Whiten: September 7, 1993
The Cardinals hitter with the awesome nickname “Hard-Hittin'” made history in the second game of a doubleheader in Cincinnati in front of about two dozen fans, with father-son duo Jack and Joe Buck on the phone.
Whiten, who played briefly for the Red Sox in 1995, even surpassed Ohtani in some ways, hitting four home runs and driving in 12 home runs on his night. As a reward for Whiten’s performance, the Reds fans in attendance called for a final round of applause.
And as for me personally, this is literally the last major event, sporting or otherwise, that I learned about in the next day’s paper. (It was featured in a little box on the front page of the Boston Globe’s sports section.) The Internet was still in its infancy, and news would never wait until morning again.
3. Nomar Garciaparra: May 10, 1999
It’s hard to believe that this happened 25 years ago. The night Garciaparra overwhelmed the Mariners with three home runs and 10 RBIs, we had no idea that he was already approaching the peak of his career.
By that point, he had won Rookie of the Year in 1996, finished second for MVP in 1997, and was on his way to winning his first consecutive batting title in 1999. Injuries ended his career in 2001, knocking him out of the running for the most talented shortstop of the era alongside Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, but in 1999 Garciaparra could still claim to be the best of them all.
As a dead-pull hitter, he hit two home runs to right field, including a two-run shot around Pesky’s Pole. He finished the game in style by smashing his second grand slam of the night into the left field net. This was in the days before Monster Seats and capped off an unforgettable evening.
2. Fred Lynn: June 18, 1975
The most legendary performance in one of the most legendary rookie seasons in Red Sox history came in Detroit, where Lynn put on a show that cemented his status as the favorite for Rookie of the Year and gave the first glimpse that he could play a role in the MVP race, which he ultimately won.
Lynn’s three home runs and 10 RBIs included a triple off the top of the left outfield fence that missed his fourth home run by a few inches. Otherwise, Lynn’s bombs in majestic old Tiger Stadium were unequivocal – two into the upper deck of the right outfield and one off the facade above.
1. Rick Wise: June 23, 1971
The bespectacled Wise spent four years in Boston, winning a career-high 19 games as part of the 1975 American League pennant-winning team. But his most memorable game – and for my money still the greatest single night of all time – came four years earlier when he was a member of the Phillies.
Wise was on his way to his first All-Star game when he faced the Reds in Cincinnati, throwing just one no-hitter and providing virtually all of the offense with two home runs in a 4-0 victory.
He also had to sweat hard because he had to take Pete Rose out of the game for the last out, and the all-time leader hit a line drive to third base to end the game.
Of course, it is Ohtani who can achieve this performance on the mound and at the plate and should be back as a pitcher next year. Let’s see if he can write this piece of history too.
