I take my cap off to one of Boston’s all-time greats.
The Boston Red Sox have had great players. Babe Ruth is one. Ruth started as a pitcher with the Sox before going to the Yankees and becoming an all-time great slugger. Another great player is Dwight Evans, AKA Dewey.
Topps card photographed by Kadin McElwain
Evans was born in Santa Monica, California on November 3rd, 1951. He played Little League Ball there with Doug DeCinces, another player who’d go on to the Majors. After graduating in 1969, Evans was drafted by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 1969 MLB Draft, the 107th pick overall.
Evans made his MLB debut on September 16th, 1972, against the Cleveland Indians. It was nowhere but up from there. He finished his career hitting 385 home runs and getting 2,446 hits overall. His career batting average of .272 came along with being named to three MLB All-Star games, winning eight Golden Gloves, and nabbing two Silver Sluggers titles. And Evans played in the second-most number of games as a Red Sox player, right after legendary Carl Yastrzemski.
Evans is also noted for another record. He shares the title for hitting the earliest home run of a baseball season. His share of the record came by hitting a homer on the first pitch of the first game of the 1986 MLB season.
After retiring in 1991, Evans became a coach, actor, and philanthropist for Neurofibromatosis Northeast. Evans lost two sons to the disease.
Evans was a terrific ballplayer, and he continues to contribute as a philanthropist. Way to go, Dewey!
