Red Sox Prospects: Finding Room for Remy and Stapleton

This is the second in a series of articles about the 1981 Boston Red Sox.

The first thing to remember about the Red Sox' youth versus experience contest at second base is that the veteran is barely a year older than the kid. The second thing to remember is that, more than likely, neither will be traded, neither will play second base full time, and both will go north with the Red Sox at least mildly unhappy.

Jerry Remy's position is clear. "They're either going to play me," the 28-year-old veteran of six years in the majors says, "or they'll trade me." A .271 lifetime hitter, Remy was swinging the bat at a .313 clip when a knee injury felled him last July. A left-handed hitter with absolutely no power, Remy is the only real base-stealing threat in the Boston arsenal. For a team theoretically sporting a multi-dimensional attack, speed would seem to be vital.

The Cohasset native also has excellent range in the field. He concedes that he has a weakness batting against certain left-handers ("I would understand it if [new Sox manager Ralph Houk] sat me down against tough lefties," he said recently), but his solid six years batting against all comers show he is a major league hitter--plus. For Remy the answer is obvious. If he were Ralph Houk, he says. "I'd play me every day."

Dave Stapleton is a late-blooming, 27-year-old infielder whose .460 batting average last spring was not good enough to earn him a spot with the squad. A fast start with Boston's AAA affiliate in Pawtucket showed the organization the error of its ways, however, and he was called up in late May.

With Remy slowed by injuries, Stapleton stepped in at second and saw duty at first base, third base, designated hitter and left field as well. When Remy was lost for the season, second base became his trailer camp for the summer.

Had the pride of Loxley, Alabama, not hit .321 and led the club in hitting with runners in scoring position, there would no problem. Had he not batted over .300 away from Fenway Park--a feat Red Sox batters rarely accomplish--and played a steady second base (only 12 errors in 106 games), all the talk in camp would be about how much better Remy's knee looks. Had he not slammed 33 doubles and knocked in 45 runs, rapping out 144 hits in his first 449 at bats in the major leagues. Dave Stapleton would be fighting it out with Chico Walker for the right to carry Remy's golf clubs.

But Stapleton did all of those things, almost winning the Rookie of the Year award (which went to Cleveland's Super Joe Charboneau and his media machine) in the process, and a spot will have to made for him somewhere in the lineup. With the traffic jam of erstwhile designated hitters and ex-Angels at first base, the keystone sack is the obvious choice.

"I'm trying to make the starting nine this year," Stapleton said, comparing it to last spring's fight to make the ball club. "Training camp is a little easier for me because I'm pretty much assured a spot on the squad, but I'm working just as hard, And," he adds, "I want to show the new manager what I can do."

What Stapleton can do is hit with the authority of any second baseman in the league. He can hit in the clutch, and he can hit with power (seven home runs). But he is simply not as good a second baseman as Remy.

"What you have here," Remy says, "are two people who deserve to play every day. I'd play me at second all the time, and I'd play him every day somewhere else. Hell, he hit .321 his rookie year--he deserves a spot."

But where? And the problem with platooning (playing the left-handed hitting Remy against right-handed pitchers and the right-handed Stapleton against south-paws), besides the fact that both--especially Remy--will not like it, is that Stapleton hit better (.330) against righties than he did against lefties.

So, there will be experiments. In yesterday's 8-3 loss to Kansas City which opened the exhibition season. Remy started and Stapleton came on in the fourth inning. Sometimes Stapleton will play second, sometimes he will be the designated hitter, sometimes he will do neither.

Not to Worry

"It's not my job to worry about that," he said from the Sox's spring base in Winter Haven Saturday night. "I'm just going to try to do my best, and they'll put me somewhere."

But the less versatile Remy, who plays second base or nowhere, hums a different tune. "I'm not going to accept the situation that happened last year, when I played two games in 12 days. If that's how they're going to use me. I'd be more valuable to the club as trade bail. I can play second base somewhere."