Hurricane Earl is wreaking havoc all the way up the East Coast and it's already taken a victim in the Red Sox-White Sox game Friday night. (I hate it when Mother Nature prevents Manny reunions in Boston.)
In honor of the big storm, here are the greatest (ahem, all) of the "Earls" in Boston Red Sox history, presented in no particular order.
Earl Caldwell (RHP)
1948 -- 1-1, 9.0 IP, 13.00 ERA, 11 BB, 5 SO, 11 SO
As you can see, Earl Caldwell was the Tim Wakefield of his generation. At the tender age of 43, Caldwell was selected off waivers on July 26 from the White Sox. His brief Red Sox career was nothing spectacular, but would probably be an upgraded for the current Red Sox staff today. His 13.00 ERA is bad, sure, but 11 walks in nine innings versus five strikeouts? Sounds like a yesteryear John Lackey.
Arnold Earley (LHP)
1960-'65 -- 10-19, 362.1 IP, 4.45 ERA, 174 BB, 297 SO
Arnold Earley spent six years of his eight-year career with the Red Sox after being signed by the team as a free agent in '52. (He debuted at age 27.) The 6'1" wiry lefty (he tipped the scale at 195. Think a left-handed version of Clay Buchholz) worked primarily as a reliever, with his biggest workload coming in '63 when he logged 115 innings out of the 'pen. He made just four starts that year. The lefty's best season was '64 though, when he amassed a 2.68 ERA in 50 innings of work. He struck out 45 and walked 18. In December of '65, the Sox traded Earley to the Atlanta Braves. It was a sad day for Earls everywhere.
Earl Johnson (LHP)
1940-'41, '46-'50 -- 40-32, 540.2 IP, 4.28 ERA, 270 BB, 248 SO
Earl Johnson was another great, young, promising pitcher (maybe not) who lost many years to serving time in the war. Earl Johnson left as a 22-year-old and came back at age 27 and actually pitched better than before. In his two seasons back he went 17-15 with a 3.24 ERA. He was lighting the world on fire. Earl Johnson wound up being released by the Sox, but he can put this feather in his hate: in his 540 career innings with the Red Sox, he gave up just 24 home runs. Obviously there were no Adrian Beltres back then to smack knee-on-the-ground home runs.
Earl Moseley (RHP)
1913 -- 8-5, 120.2 IP, 3.13 ERA, 49 BB, 62 SO
Earl Moseley -- also known as "Vic," or "Tiny," as I just nicknamed him because he stood 5'9", 168 -- was a solid starter and reliever for Boston back in 1913 at the age of 25. All in all, it was an above-average season as he kept his WHIP down in the 1.27 range. Some great numbers for sure, but not enough to keep him in Boston as, according to Baseball Reference, he "jumped" to the Indianapolis Hoosiers the next season. Fun fact: as a Hoosier in 1914, he allowed a league-high 122 runs -- but still managed to have a 3.47 ERA.
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So, after all, there weren't many "great" Red Sox named Earl. But there were at least a handful. The irony about all of this? Bucky Dent was born named "Russell EARL O'Dey."
I smell conspiracy.