Colin E. Woodward's Official Site

A Red Sox Memoir

I’ve written about Dwight Evans before, and recently, I finished his autobiography, Dewey: Behind the Gold Glove. It’s a quick read and a book that all Red Sox fans should enjoy.

Here are some takeaways:

Dewey is a sweet, sweet man, who never seemed to have a bad word to say about anyone. And when he was critical of someone, they deserved it.

I didn’t know he had a small role in a movie. But Dewey being Dewey, he refused to use any swear words.

Dewey’s two sons both suffered from the same form of rare cancer and ended up dying from it. His daughter, however, was spared.

Dewey suffered vertigo for several years after getting hit in the head during an at bat in the late 70s.

He was red hot when the strike stopped the season for six weeks in 1981. Had Dewey played a full season, he might have won MVP and might have had enough homeruns to get him to 400 for his career later.

Yaz was cool but quiet.

Sparky Anderson said one of Dewey’s catches was the best he had ever seen.

Jim Rice missed the entire postseason in 1975 because of an injury. The loss of his bat might have cost the Sox the World Series.

Ted Williams was a total dick. Dewey met Williams once when Evans was a young player not yet in the big leagues. Williams was an abusive asshole for no reason. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes. I don’t agree with that, but in this case, it proved true for Dewey.

Evans had more extra base hits than ANYONE in the major leagues in the 1980s.

He had more homeruns than ANYONE in the American League in the 1980s.

He should be in the Hall of Fame.

Dewey’s coverage of the major playoff games of his career is great. He reminds that in the famous game 6 of the 1975 World Series, Bernie Carbo hit an important three-run homer early in the game. That gave the Red Sox the ability to come back and win it on Carlton Fisk’s far more famous homerun.

Dave Parker vs. Dwight Evans

Now, let’s get to Dave Parker.

I was sad to hear about Parker’s passing earlier this year, only a few weeks before the Hall of Fame was going to induct him as part of the 2025 class.

His induction just shows how much Dewey deserves to be in the Hall.

A comparison:

WAR: Parker (40.1), Evans (67.2)

AB: Parker (9358), Evans (8996)

Hits: Parker (2712), Evans (2446)

BA: Parker (.290), Evans (.272)

Runs: Parker (1272), Evans (1470)

HR: Parker (339), Evans (385)

RBI: Parker (1493), Evans (1384)

SB: Parker (154), Evans (78)

OBP: Parker (.339), Evans (.370)

SLG: Parker (.471), Evans (.470)

OPS: Parker (.810), Evans (.840)

OPS+: Parker (121), Evans (127)

BB: Parker (683), Evans (1391)

As you can see, these players’ stats are pretty comparable. Evans, though, was better than Parker in these major categories, winning in 7 to Parker’s 6.

At bats aren’t that important, though, as Evans would have had more at bats than Parker had he not walked so much.

Perhaps the biggest difference is WAR and OPS. Dewey has a much higher WAR. And his OPS is 30 points higher. Not only could Dewey hit for power, but HE GOT ON BASE. He walked and scored a lot more runs than Parker because of that.

I know comparisons can be unfair. And I am not throwing shade at Dave Parker. He was a great ballplayer. But these guys played in the same era. Parker did win the MVP once. Dewey never did. But were we using present-day metrics, Dewey might have won the MVP award in 1981 and 1984. He also won eight Gold Gloves, five more than Parker did.

Dewey is aware of his Hall of Fame worthiness. If there’s room for Dave Parker in the Hall, there’s room for Dewey, too.

Let’s make it happen, Veterans Committee.