This Date In Red Sox History: November 1 - Harry Frazee, Derek Lowe, Coco Crisp

Events of Note: In 1909, on November 1, Patsy Donovan becomes the manager of the Boston Red Sox. The former Washington Senators skipper doesn't get much done in his two seasons as the manager of the Red Sox, and is replaced in 1911 by Jake Stahl, but he does scout Babe Ruth in 1914 and tells Boston to sign him up. He became a minor-league manager the next year, and stuck in that role through 1928.

Donovan was born in Ireland, and set the record for games played and at-bats by an Irish-born player. While there are not a ton of Irish-born players in history, Donovan played for 17 years, amassing 1,824 games and 8,172 plate appearances. This is a legit record that still stands.

In 1916, Harry Frazee bought the Boston Red Sox along with Hugh Ward. Want some context for how baseball has changed from a financial standpoint in the last 100 years? Frazee and Ward bought the club for $675,000. If the Red Sox were sold today, they would likely net around one billion dollars, given the history, market, and all of the stuff that makes owning a baseball team appealing. Before you interject about inflation, that $675,000 would only be worth roughly $14 million in today's dollars. That's still a huge, huge gap in terms of a team's worth back in 1916 versus today. That being said, Frazee inherited a ton of debt in the transaction, debt that would eventually become the focal point of his ownership.

Frazee owned the team until 1923. During his ownership, the Red Sox sold off just about everything of worth to the New York Yankees, and entered into the darkest period in the franchise's history. Debt's a killer, as Frazee could tell you.

Transactions: Many of The 25 were granted their free agency on this date in 2004, as well as plenty of other members of the 2004 Sox. Starting pitcher Derek Lowe, shortstop Orlando Cabrera, reliever Curt Leskanic, catcher Doug Mirabelli, reliever Mike Myers, backstop Jason Varitek, infielder Pokey Reese, reliever Scott Williamson, all-around whatever was needed Dave McCarty, and reliever Ramiro Mendoza all were set free.

Birthdays: Former Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp turns 33 years old today. Crisp, along with Josh Bard and David Riske, was acquired in 2006 in exchange for Andy Marte, Guillermo Mota, and Kelly Shoppach. He was part of the 2007, World Series-winning Boston squad, and while his offense wasn't great during his first two years in town, he did play a great defensive center field that helped the Red Sox out. Remember, Manny Ramirez was in left: having a ranging center fielder was a significant area of need.