Boston Red Sox

Date of birth: February 3, 1952 Chicago, IL

High School:  El Monte HS (El Monte, CA)

College: USC

First Impression; This is Fred Lynn, an amazing hitter with a wonderful swing and they have him bunting. I will say that the technique appears very good. Another reason you would think they would have not used this photo is that it is so dark. The All-Star banner makes all the flaws disappear.

Career stats: So this guy was Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. He should have retired then. But while he could never surpass that individual season again in his career he got some more hardware. He was a 9 time All-Star, 4 time gold glove winner, he won the batting title, ALCS MVP and my favorite the All-Star game MVP.

In his 17-year career, Lynn batted .283 with 1,111 RBIs, 1,960 hits, 1,063 runs, 306 home runs, 388 doubles, 43 triples, and 72 stolen bases in 1969 games. From 1982 to 1988, he had seven consecutive seasons of hitting more than twenty home runs (his totals were 21-22-23-23-23-23-25).* His 306 career home runs place him 15th all time, he was passed 10 times since his retirement, so he was probably 6th when he retired, just behind Joe DiMaggio. He was most recently passed by Andrew McCutchen, still active in 2026.

All time stat: By 1983 you could have injected me with liquid baseball and I would still have wanted more. The All-Star game was in town. This was a big deal because it was the 50th anniversary of the first All-Star game, also at Comiskey Park. Since the Sox were the home team essentially, I rooted for the American League that year, and oh what a year to do so.

I was so excited because Ron Kittle was going to be playing for the AL and Lee Smith and Leon Durham were going to be playing for the NL team. The Giants’ Atlee Hammaker came in to pitch for the NL in the bottom of the third and promptly had one of the worst innings by a pitcher in All-Star Game history. Jim Rice led off with a homer, followed by a Brett triple. Dave Winfield singled home Brett. Manny Trillo singled, and Carew drove home Winfield with a two-out single. Hammaker then intentionally walked right-handed hitter Yount to face Fred Lynn, a left-handed hitter. Lynn made the NL pay for the move with the first-ever grand slam in All-Star game history. When the dust cleared, the AL had a 9-1 lead and Hammaker had given up six hits and seven runs in an inning, both All-Star game records that still stand.*

Fun fact: He hit 300 homers in the AL and 6 in the NL.

Ever a Future Star?  He was a “Rookie Outfielder” in 1975 with Tom Poquette and Terry Whitfield.

Rookie or final card? No

Hall of Fame? Number retired? Lynn was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame in 1994,^[25] and was selected by fans to the Red Sox’ All-Fenway Team in 2012

Links to stories including Fred Lynn.

*per wikipedia