Guest Article - "The Boomer"

I started watching the Red Sox in 1961 with my grandfather. By the time 1967 came around I was a die hard. I always liked the Boomer as he played 1st base which was the position I played. He was a great fielder. Like him, I could pick it pretty good. His glove was the "Black Beauty" and mine was an early 70's Wilson's 1st baseman's mitt. It was at this point that the similarities stopped. The Boomer was a prolific hitter with over 270 home runs. I could not hit a beach ball!! I met George after his retirement at an autograph signing in Portsmouth, NH. I tried to get a conversation going with him, but I did not understand anything he was saying. His Mississippi drawl was too much for me to overcome. However, I did get an autographed picture of him. Recently, I read an article that compared the Boomer's defense at 1st base (8 gold gloves) to Ozzie Smith at shortstop (13 gold gloves) and the defense of the human vacuum at 3rd base Brooks Robinson (16 gold gloves). I would not argue with this. The man could flat out play 1st base defense and he could also hit a few "taters." In case you are wondering the players with the most gold gloves at 1st base are Keith Hernandez with 11 and Don Mattingly with 9. So I say goodbye to the Boomer, one of my all time favorite players. He could pick it! (Author Gaff)