Today in Red Sox History: February 15

Another quiet day in Red Sox history, though we have some parallels between now and three decades ago, as well as the unofficial reunion with a polarizing player here on OTM.

Today in OTM History

2019: WEEI announces plan to rotate a number of announcers for the 2019 season; I had totally forgotten about this, but I am again left wondering how this ever got approved.

2018: Eduardo Núñez and the Red Sox are in agreement for a new one-year deal; It wouldn’t become official for another few days, and it didn’t work out in the end, but I still miss Nunie.

2017: Red Sox were betting co-favorites for the World Series; They were a year too early with this.

2014: Pitchers and catchers start reporting to spring training; This time of a year is a real bummer for this, with this kind of post pretty much every day.

2012: Roy Oswalt’s strange free agency; It’s interesting how much has changed in 10 years, as players waiting this long to sign now isn’t that newsworthy.

Today in Red Sox History

1990: This isn’t really a Red Sox-specific one, but on this day in 1990 the owners announced they would not open spring training camps without a new Basic Agreement with the players. Sounds a little familiar.

2003: Red Sox on this day in 2003 purchased the contract of Kevin Millar. Cowboy Up!

Today in Red Sox Birthdays

Happy 45th birthday to Álex González, who had two separate stints with the Red Sox in 2006 and 2009, and who was one of two Alex Gonzalezes to be playing in the 2000s.

Happy 63rd birthday to Joe Hesketh, who was a solid swingman for Boston to end his career in the early 90s.

Happy 28th birthday to Tzu-Wei Lin, who never quite developed into a consistent major-league player with the Red Sox and after spending last season with the Twins organization is a free agent.

It feels inappropriate to wish a happy birthday to someone whose career was cut short after being accused of, and eventually convicted for, attempted murder. That said, today is Ugueth Urbina’s 48th birthday.

Many thanks to Baseball-Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History for assistance here. Also thanks again to Talking Chop for the inspiration for these posts.