Fred Lynn

I see that Fred Lynn will be signing autographs at the All-Star Game. When I was a lad, just starting out in Little League, Lynn was starting his career with the Red Sox. I don't know why, but he was my favorite player at that time. I remember trying to run like him, and carrying my glove a certain way -- the way Lynn did, tucked against his chest -- as I ran to the dugout from the outfield.

Lynn played with reckless abandon, slamming into walls and breaking up double plays, which pretty much ruined his career. Injuries hampered his production by the 1980s. In fact, after leading the AL in batting in 1979, Lynn got more than 475 at-bats in a season just once during his remaining 11 years (and he topped 400 at-bats only five times during that span).

In 1979, Lynn had a monster year, batting .333 with 39 homers and 122 RBI. During his first five seasons, from his Rookie of the Year and MVP winning campaign in 1975 through 1979, Lynn hit .308 and averaged 25 HR, 104 RBI and 104 R over 162 games. The rest of his career, he batted .267 and averaged 84 RBI.

From 1975-79, Lynn ranked 11th in the entire majors in batting average, 12th in runs, 14th in RBI, 21st in HR and 10th in on-base average.

I'll also always remember him for the great catch he made leaping halfway over a fence to take away a homer. This clip ended "This Week in Baseball" for years.