The Adley Rutschman trade is reminiscent of the ‘Impossible Dream’ Red Sox. Can history repeat itself? – The Boston Globe
It’s not a perfect comparison. Rutschman is 28, and Howard was 38 and only a season away from retiring.
But the challenge of incorporating a new catcher into the lineup so late in the season is the same 59 years later.
“For me it was easy having Ellie as my catcher,” said Jim Lonborg, the ace of the ’67 Sox. “I only had a couple of years of experience at the time, and that season was a whole new phenomenon for us. Ellie made my job so much easier because of his experience. I literally never had to question anything. He put down the sign, and I threw the pitch.
“It changed my whole mentality as a pitcher and my conviction. There was no indecision about what I should throw. The emotional side of my commitment to throwing a particular pitch wasn’t there because I trusted him.”
Lonborg, who is 84, joked that Howard’s mitt seemed bigger than any he had ever seen.
“For whatever reason, it just seemed like he put up a great target,” Lonborg said. “Nothing against our other catchers, but Ellie made it a lot easier.”
Patrick Sandoval echoed those thoughts Tuesday night after Rutschman caught him for six innings.
“He’s a big-time catcher, a big-time player. We’re lucky to have him,” Sandoval said.
That Howard would ever come to the Red Sox seemed impossible. He joined the Yankees in 1955 and became the regular catcher in ’61 when Yogi Berra moved to the outfield. From 1961-64, Howard caught every inning of 22 World Series games.
Howard, who was only 51 when he passed away in 1980, caught Whitey Ford, Don Larsen, Ralph Terry, and other notable pitchers. He also was an accomplished hitter, posting a .784 OPS from 1958-66.
“He had our respect,” Lonborg said. “What a gentleman he was, too, the nicest ballplayer I had met since Earl Wilson in ’65.”
The ’67 Yankees finished ninth in the 10-team American League. They traded Howard to the Sox for righthander Pete Magrini and a player to be named later. The Sox had been using Mike Ryan, Russ Gibson, and Bob Tillman as their catchers. Ryan was from Haverhill and Gibson from Fall River.
“Everybody was excited,” Lonborg said. “Nothing against our other catchers, but having Ellie was big for us.”
Rutschman started watching video of the Red Sox pitchers the day after he was traded, and worked with members of the coaching staff to prepare for the first game with his new team.
There was little video to watch in 1967 outside of snippets of Super 8 film, and manager Dick Williams had only four coaches.
“Back in those days we didn’t sit down and have long meetings,” Lonborg said. “We had a meeting before a series and talked about their hitters. That was about it.
“The starter was expected to go deep in the game. You didn’t have pitchers coming out of the bullpen like they have now with that kind of stuff.”
Sox hurlers had a 3.06 ERA pitching to Howard, who appeared at catcher in 41 regular-season games in all.
Lonborg follows the Sox closely from his home in Scituate. He readily admits he gave up on their chances in June and has been thrilled with the team’s resurgence.
“Watching this magic occur has been amazing,” he said. “And the fan base has all of a sudden embraced the team again.”
Lonborg and his wife, Rosemary, spend a lot of time with their 14 grandchildren and are regular visitors to Fenway Park. Thirty-one members of their family got together for a game earlier this season.
Now he’s hoping for a postseason run and rooting for interim manager Chad Tracy.
“He seems to be really well-spoken and sincere in wanting to help the team and share his knowledge,” Lonborg said. “He got this opportunity, and it’s exciting to see what happened.”
LONG-DISTANCE MENTOR
Needed sounding board for Arias
Red Sox shortstop Andruw Monasterio didn’t know the team’s top prospect, 20-year-old shortstop Franklin Arias, until they met in spring training this year. But he knew plenty about him.
As a Little League player in Venezuela, Monasterio played on a state All-Star team with Arias’s brother, who’s also named Franklin. So after he was traded to the Red Sox on Feb. 9, he made it a point to seek him out at Fenway South.
“He’s a good guy, and we started talking in Florida,” Monasterio said. “Sometimes it’s about baseball, but usually we talk about other things.”
Their relationship continued via text messages and phone calls once the season started. Arias said Monasterio’s best advice was to never take a game for granted.
“Always be ready,” he said via a translator. “Every time I go out there and step on the field, I have to be ready for everything that’s going on in the game.”
Arias had a .932 OPS over 16 games after his promotion to Triple-A Worcester and drove in 17 runs. Could he be the 2026 version of Xander Bogaerts and join the team down the stretch?
His talent is hard to ignore. But Monasterio is hitting .333 with a .946 OPS since July 1 and plays passable defense. The Sox also hope to have Trevor Story back on the roster before the season ends.
Rosters expand from 26 to 28 on Sept. 1, and one addition must be a pitcher.
A few other observations on the Sox:
▪ They may be getting a little too attached to sacrifice bunts.
Willson Contreras bunted on his own at Toronto on Thursday with Wilyer Abreu on first and Ceddanne Rafaela on second with no outs and the Sox leading, 1-0.
It worked out when the Blue Jays intentionally walked Masataka Yoshida and Caleb Durbin hit a grand slam. But that doesn’t mean it was the right move.
Contreras has a 1.036 OPS with runners in scoring position, by far the best on the team and one of the highest marks in the game. In late-and-close situations, he has an .839 OPS. He also leads the team in RBIs.
Contreras spoke after the game about the satisfaction he felt being selfless. That’s great, but you’re not making $18 million a year to give yourself up. Next time, swing the bat.
Tracy likes to bunt, and it has generally worked out well over the course of the season. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right move for every hitter.
▪ The Sox have an AL-best four players with at least 15 home runs and 60 RBI: Contreras, Abreu, Rafaela, and Jarren Duran.
That is tied with the Braves, Cubs, and Nationals for the most in the majors. And Durbin is three HRs away from joining that club.
▪ At 44 days, the Sox were the fastest team in MLB history to go from 14 games under .500 to 13 games over. According to Elias Sports Bureau, that bettered the mark of 59 days by the 1914 Miracle Braves.
The Braves, led by Johnny Evers (of Tinker-to Evers-to-Chance fame) and Rabbit Maranville, were in last place on July 4, but went 68-19 the rest of the way to finish 94-59, win the pennant, and then swept the 99-win Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series. Bill James and Dick Rudolph each tossed a pair of complete-game victories. Games 3 and 4 were played at Fenway Park.
▪ Matt Barnes officially retired from baseball last week. The 36-year-old righthander appeared in 429 games for the Sox from 2014-23 before one-year stints with the Marlins and Nationals.
Barnes had an enviable career. He was the 19th pick of the 2011 draft, helped the Sox win the 2018 World Series, was an All-Star in 2021, and had an 0.79 ERA in 12 career postseason games.
“Baseball gave me more than I could have imagined,” Barnes wrote on Instagram.
Blue Jays outfielder George Springer first played with Barnes when they were 9 years old in Connecticut. They then played together at UConn and against each other in the majors.
“He thought he was a better hitter when he was young,” Springer said. “But what a great career he had as a pitcher.”
ETC.
Heavenly season for the White Sox
The White Sox lead the AL Central after finishing in last place and 28 games out in 2025. Maybe it’s divine intervention.
Pope Leo XIV is a Dolton, Ill., native and White Sox fan since his youth. The team has leaned into that, setting up a mural at Rate Field to commemorate where he sat for Game 1 of the 2005 World Series.
The White Sox gave away 40,000 Pope hats on Tuesday. The first pitch was thrown out by Sister Mary Jo Sobieck of the Dominican Sisters in nearby Springfield. Former White Sox pitcher Donn “The Pope” Pall gave the “Play Ball” announcement.
The promotion drew a sellout crowd of 38,311. Father Tom Hurley offered a blessing after the fifth inning, and fans shook hands, offering a sign of peace as is done before communion in a Catholic Mass.
The White Sox also made a donation to the Midwest Augustinian Province, the Catholic order to which the Pope belonged while he was a priest in Chicago.
With all due respect to His Holiness, righthander Sean Burke of Sutton and St. John’s (Shrewsbury) has had more to do with the team’s resurgence. He has a 2.99 ERA, and just 1.60 in his last 10 starts.
Alas, the Reds won the game, 5-4, in 10 innings.
Alex Cora didn’t sit around moping after he was fired. He took the opportunity to travel to Italy and Switzerland with his family, and returned to Boston to attend three World Cup games in Foxborough. He also has kept in touch with people around the game. His plan is to manage again. “I think at one point I’m going to get back,” Cora told the “Dirt from the Dugout” podcast hosted by Karl Ravech. “When, we don’t know. We don’t know.” Cora said the time away from the game with his fiancée, Angelica, and twin sons was rejuvenating. “I needed my family,” he said. “For as much as I love the game, it’s three different feelings: happy for my family, upset that they didn’t let me finish the job and, honestly, relieved that I don’t have to go through scouting reports, and the metrics, and talk to the media twice a day and live in the bubble.” Whether it’s the Mets, Phillies, or other teams, Cora will be in demand. He is training to run the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 12 and said he would run Boston if he’s not managing … The Guardians went into the weekend with five pitchers — Tanner Bibee, Joe Cantillo, Slade Cecconi, Parker Messick, and Gavin Williams — having made 119 of their 122 starts. That’s incredible in this era … Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has walked two or more times 14 times this season. He did that twice over 293 games from 2023-25 … The Blue Jays had an .810 OPS with runners in scoring position last season. It’s .702 this season, with many of the same players and the same hitting coaches. “That’s been the tough part for us,” associate manager DeMarlo Hale said. “We get the runners on base, but we don’t get them in. Hopefully we get hot the next few weeks.” … The Dodgers have a closer problem. Edwin Díaz blew three saves and allowed eight earned runs over 5⅔ innings in seven appearances after a three-month stay on the injured list. Said manager Dave Roberts: “To be quite honest, none of [the other relievers] really have thrown the baseball great. That’s just kind of the way it is.” Come the postseason, the Dodgers can work their depth starters into the bullpen. For now, they have only the third-best record in the National League … That MLB awarded the 2028 All-Star Game to the Giants was no surprise. The league wanted a location close to Los Angeles to accommodate the players who will be in the Olympics. Maybe the Red Sox will make sense for 2029 to mark the 30th anniversary of the famed 1999 Midsummer Classic … As the Rays run away with the American League, Chandler Simpson has batted third, fifth, or sixth 59 times and doesn’t have a home run. Liam Hicks, who was acquired from the Marlins on Aug. 3, was 8 for 26 with five extra-base hits and nine RBIs in his first eight games. He had a grand slam in his team debut on Aug. 5 against the Athletics in Sacramento. The Rays were 9-0 on a road trip to Colorado, Seattle, and Sacramento, and scored 65 runs. The Red Sox also had a 9-0 road trip this season (against the Angels, White Sox, and Mets). The Sox and Rays were the first team to do that since the 2021 Braves … Wednesday was the 42nd anniversary of Luis Aparicio being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and Cooperstown took the occasion to celebrate the great shortstop. The Hall hosted three members of Aparicio’s family to discuss his career. Fellow Venezuelan star Johan Santana also was on hand to give his thoughts. At 92, Aparicio is one of the oldest living Hall of Famers and was unable to make the trip. Abreu, the Red Sox right fielder, is a great admirer of Aparicio, as they’re both from Maracaibo. He said one of his father’s friends made the journey to Cooperstown for the event … The 32nd annual Old-Time Baseball Game will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday at St. Peter’s Field in Cambridge. Rich Hill, Lou Merloni, and Jake Peavy are scheduled to play. The game, organized by long-time Boston sports columnist Steve Buckley, benefits The Boston Home, a non-profit residence for adults with neurological disorders, primarily multiple sclerosis. Red Sox vice president of scouting, development, and integration Gus Quattlebaum, who was diagnosed with primary progressive MS in 2021, will serve as an honorary coach. The game includes college and high school players from greater Boston. Admission is free … Happy birthday to Jin Ho Cho, who is 51. The righthander appeared in 13 games for the Red Sox from 1998-99, going 2-6 with a 6.52 ERA. Cho was signed late in spring training in 1998. The 22-year-old was described as a “big strong kid” by general manager Dan Duquette. At 6 feet, 3 inches and 210 pounds, he certainly was that. But Cho ultimately pitched more games in the minors through 2002 before returning to Korea. He spent time in prison in 2004 after being found guilty of trying to avoid mandatory military service, then pitched two seasons in Korea from 2008-09.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social.