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The Red Sox announced their Hall of Fame class for 2014 on Wednesday, and it is a loaded group. Former Red Sox greats Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, and Nomar Garciaparra make up the player contingent, while broadcaster Joe Castiglione was selected for his three decades of work in the Red Sox radio booth.
Clemens is maybe the most intriguing induction of the four, for one reason: the Red Sox automatically induct any player who is also in Cooperstown into their own Hall of Fame, but Clemens has failed to gain induction during his two years on the ballot thanks to the BBWAA unable to, as a whole, put aside the steroid era. (Oddly enough, Clemens is the only pitcher who gets slammed for steroid usage, as every other finger is pointed at a hitter.) The Sox didn't wait for Clemens to get his Cooperstown plaque, instead putting him in with the rest of Boston's greats alongside former rivals Pedro and Nomar.
In Clemens' 13 years with the Red Sox, he put together a Hall of Fame career -- he honestly could have stopped right then and had a worthy candidacy. He threw almost 2,800 innings with a 144 ERA+, three times as many strikeouts as walks, MVP honors, and three Cy Young awards. He led the American League in ERA four times and in ERA+ on five occasions while on the Red Sox, and struck out 20 batters in a game on two separate occasions. He was a legend long before then-GM Dan Duquette and Clemens disagreed about how much the Rocket had left in the tank.
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Pedro took over as the club's ace a year after Clemens' departure, and while he threw less than half of the innings Clemens did while on the Sox, he accomplished even more. Pedro posted a 190 ERA+ during his seven years and 1,300-plus frames with the Sox, capturing a pair of Cy Young awards, finishing second for them twice, and nearly winning an MVP award in 1999 as well if not for the vote of a certain current BBWAA president who didn't believe in pitchers winning MVP honors. He also led the AL in ERA four times during his Sox career, struck out 100 more batters than he had innings pitched in 1999, and was an integral part of the first World Series-winning Red Sox team in 86 years back in 2004. Pedro now works as a special assistant to general manager Ben Cherington, too, so he's even come home to the organization where he belongs.
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Nomar Garciaparra was traded in 2004 in order to bring Orlando Cabrera and improved defense to shortstop, but he received a championship ring just the same, and came back to the Red Sox in order to retire after the 2009 season. In his nine years with the Sox, Nomar batted .323/.370/.553, absurd numbers even for the time in which he played, leading the league in batting average at .357 and then .372 in 1998 and 1999, respectively. If not for a wrist injury that slowed his bat ever-so-slightly and hindered his aggressive approach, Nomar might very well have put up even more mind-blowing seasons. Injuries all over his body helped keep that from happening as well, of course, but the fact Nomar will at least be enshrined alongside the greats in one of the game's oldest organizations is a victory nonetheless.
As for Castiglione, he joined Ken Coleman in the booth all the way back in 1983. He's long been an integral part of the Red Sox experience, as his voice is well-known for his work covering the key Red Sox games -- of which there are many in the last decade, especially. While he isn't the primary play-by-play announcer, Castiglione does take over those duties for a few innings each game. In order for a non-player to be inducted, the 15-person selection committee must unanimously vote them in.