"Lugo on List of Cursed Boston Shortstops" blares the headline on this story in the Worcester Telegram. Amazingly, the writer traces the history at the position for Boston, but forgets some of the more obscure (and unlucky) shortstops in the Sox' past. Three tales after the jump.
- Charlie "Green Line" O'Neill - a rangy gloveman in the 30s, O'Neill fell asleep on the Riverside Line after a game on his way to a flophouse in Newton and was never heard from again. Served as inspiration for the song "Charlie on the MTA".
- Francisco "Scuba" Noriega - Prodigy from Santo Domingo signed by the Sox at the age of nine, Noriega had his left arm eaten off by a Moray Eel during a diving misadventure at the age of sixteen. He was finished playing organized baseball by his 18th birthday.
- Harvey "Shades" Hamilton - Sox took $15,000 flier on Hamilton in the '40s (a lot of money at the time) at behest of local SoCal scout who failed to realize that Hamilton's nickname was derived from eyewear used to diguise an acute case of blindness. Hamilton played four games in Bakersfield, went 0-13 with two walks and a .000 fielding percentage, and was summarily cut. Never played again.
Bottom line? It could be worse than Lugo.
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Finally someone explains Charlie on the MTA!
Posted by: YF | Sunday, August 05, 2007 at 09:40 AM
How many years after the eel attack did Noriega continue to play before hanging up the spikes?
Posted by: Tyrel SF | Sunday, August 05, 2007 at 01:05 PM
There'll never be another SS like "Rooster."
Posted by: Hudson | Sunday, August 05, 2007 at 04:56 PM
P.S. No Sox game thread today! Hey!
Posted by: Hudson | Sunday, August 05, 2007 at 04:57 PM