Today in Red Sox History: May 17

Today in OTM History

2020: What if the Red Sox traded for Roy Halladay in 2009?; The Red Sox had a nice 2010s with a pair of championships, but something tells me this would have made the early portion of that decade even better.

2019: The plate discipline is improving; The current-day Red Sox could use this same change of approach.

2018: Hanley Ramirez is starting to scuffle; He would not make it through this season on the roster.

Today in Red Sox History

1971: This is a fun day for Red Sox history, with the team signing Luis Tiant. He had been cut by both the Twins and Braves earlier in the season, but he of course latched on with the Red Sox and ultimately became one of their best pitchers in a generation.

Today in Red Sox Birthdays

Happy 44th birthday to Carlos Peña, whose best years were spent with the Rays, including three straight 30-homer campaigns, but prior to that had a brief stay with the Red Sox. He’s also a local product, having played his high school ball at Haverhill High, from which yours truly also happened to have graduated.

Many thanks to Baseball-Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History for assistance here, and thanks to Battery Power for the inspiration for these posts.