Lynn, Tamburro enter Hall after superb careers
PAWTUCKET — Besides earning the distinction as the two newest members of the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame, Fred Lynn and Mike Tamburro are also bound by a common thread.
Both are 66 years old. Don’t view this as ageism. That’s not the intention here, as there is a point to highlighting the number of years that Lynn and Tamburro have spent on this planet.
Lynn, who turned 66 last month, retired from Major League Baseball in
1990 following a 17-year career that was certainly special but could have been Cooperstown worthy had the outfielder’s prime not been derailed by injuries.
Do you know where Tamburro was Thursday when the 2018 PawSox HOF Class was officially unveiled? Another Triple-A season is fast approaching, so of course Tamburro was at McCoy Stadium – striving to make sure that when the time comes to raise the curtain for the opener on Friday, April 6, there are no errors, no glitches.
Tamburro got his start with the PawSox as an intern in 1974. That same season, Lynn played in Pawtucket and put up numbers that helped place him on Boston’s radar – a .282 batting average with 21 home runs and 68 RBI in 124 games. Tamburro returned to Pawtucket in 1977 when the late Ben Mondor began the process of rescuing the team from the abyss. He’s been a McCoy fixture ever since.
“I love being involved in this business,” said Tamburro when reached the same day it was made public that he along with Lynn would be joining those already in the PawSox Hall of Fame – Mondor, Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Joe Morgan, Carlton Fisk and Mo Vaughn.
“I’m lucky to get out of bed and get active and get involved every single day, but I share this award with PawSox staff members, both past and present. It’s their hard work that allows me to get the recognition I’ve gotten all these years,” Tamburro delved further. “We’ll see how long we’ll continue to do it, but I take it one day at a time.”
Even if Tamburro wasn’t a central figure in the dayto-day feverish activity inside McCoy this time of year, he would still be a shoo-in candidate to bask in the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony that awaits him and Lynn prior to Pawtucket’s home game on Saturday, May 26.
The fact he’s still on the active front-office flow chart is a testament to his desire to see the legacy that he along with Mondor and Lou Schwechheimer established in transforming the PawSox into a Rhode Island treasure continues for the next wave of fans – preferably in Pawtucket, naturally.
“I want to see PawSox baseball continue for many more generations after I’m gone,” said Tamburro, who these days holds the title of vice chairman and co-owner after serving as the team’s president for three decades. “I care about the franchise and the community.”
As a proud member of the PawSox Hall of Fame committee, it made little sense to wait for Tamburro to call it a career before giving him his HOF due. If the committee’s yearly goal is to pair players with at least one non-uniformed person, and Mondor and Morgan are already in, Tamburro needed to join the Hall ASAP – as in this year.
When the ballots were distributed last month, it included the idea that doubled as a personal campaign. At my suggestion, Tamburro should join this year’s top vote getter. Everyone was in agreement, though Tamburro still felt it would be appropriate to wait until his name no longer appeared on the PawSox masthead.
Thanks to a Major League Baseball rule regarding the Hall of Fame, Tamburro finally warmed up to the idea that his time was going to be now rather than a few years down the line.
“(MLB) has a rule that says once you’re past 65, you’re fair game,” said Tamburro as he unleashed a hearty chuckle. “If it’s good enough for the Hall of Fame, it’s certainly good enough for the PawSox Hall of Fame.”
Sharing the stage with Lynn is quite an honor, says Tamburro.
“A great guy and a greater player. He’s one of the PawSox all-time greats,” he said. “I just wish Fred would have been able to play his entire career with the Red Sox.”
Thankfully, PawSox fans don’t have to play the hypothetical “what if?” game with Tamburro. He’s still a PawSox fixture at a time when the PawSox Hall of Fame doors are set to swing open and welcome him.