I'm going to give away my age here, but way back when, there was really only one way to keep up with the minor leagues, and that was a subscription to the Sporting News, which I had. In 1973, the Sox dropped off a bit from their near miss the season before. But I happened to notice down on the farm, there was a young kid, knocking the cover off the ball. His stats were unbelievable. He was at AA that season. In 1974 he moved up to AAA Pawtucket and was now on everyone's radar. He was so dominant that year. I could not wait for him to get the call to Fenway. He finally did in August of that year. Despite missing the last 3 weeks of the AAA season, he still won the IL triple crown and was the Sporting News' Minor League Player of the Year.

Unfortunately, he could not help that 1974 club as they faded down the stretch despite the help of another rookie (Fred Lynn) that had somehow slipped beneath my radar. Of course, I'm referring to Jim Ed Rice, HOF. Guess he turned out okay.

Sam Horn on the other hand..........