In 1984, Roger Clemens burst onto the Red Sox roster as a 22 year old stud. Clemens became an immediate ace and big fan favorite. 1986 was arguably his best season, going 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA and 238 strikeouts. He also won his first of three Cy Youngs in a Sox uniform and the 1986 AL MVP. On April 29, 1986 Clemens struck out 20 batters against the Seattle Mariners. He was the first pitcher in MLB history to do so, since then only Randy Johnson and Kerry Wood have matched the 20. He is also the only pitcher to ever throw a second game of 20 strikeouts. Clemens finished his Red Sox career in 1996 with a 192-111 record, 2.94 era, 2,590 k's, 100 complete games, 38 shutouts, 5 all-star games, and 3 Cy Young awards. He is tied with Cy Young for the most wins in Red Sox history and since he left for the Toronto Blue Jays nobody on the Sox has worn number 21.
Phil Esposito was easily the best scorer of his time, setting records people thought would never be broken. Espo was the first NHL player to score 100 points when he scored 126 in 1969. He won the Hart Trophy in the 69 season. He would hit the century mark six times in his career. He played for the Bruins from 1967-1975, after a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. In 1970, Espo scored a mind boggling 76 goals in that season alone. With the help of Bobby Orr, Espo and the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 1970 for the first time in 28 years. Espo lead them to another championship two years later. He finished his 9 year Bruin career with 1,590 regular season points, 137 points in 130 playoff games, 5 Art Ross trophies, 2 Hart trophies, and 2 Lester B. Pearson awards. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1984 and had his number 7 retired by the Bruins, in a very emotional scene, in 1987.
In 1962 John Havlicek was drafted by both the Boston Celtics and the NFL's Cleveland Browns and, thank god, he decided to go play some basketball. "Hondo" played his entire 17 year career with the Celtics playing mostly as a "sixth man." Despite playing as the sixth man, Havlicek is the Celtics all-time leader in points and games played. He scored 26,395 points in 1,270 games, averaging 20.8 points per game. He also averaged 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists. He is most well known for his famous steal against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals that stopped the 76ers from even getting a chance to win the game. Havlicek won 8 championships, he was the Finals MVP in 1974, he played in 13 all-star games, and was on the all-NBA first team four times. He was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1984.
His number 17 was retired by the C's in 1978.
Cam Neely joined the Bruins in 1986 after a trade with the Vancouver Canucks and their awful jerseys. Neely played for the Bruins for 10 years before injuries caught up to him and he could not play any longer. Once he stepped on the ice for the B's he was a fan favorite. He scored about 70 points per year and averaged 124 penalty minutes per year. He was a scorer and a fighter, a perfect mix of two completely different styles of the game. He is also the last Bruin to score 50 points in 50 games, in 1993 and it was actually in 44 games. He finished his career with the B's with 694 points 1,241 penalty minutes, and 89 points in 93 playoff games. He was such a fan favorite, he appeared in the movie "Dumb and Dumber" as a tough guy named Seabass. His number 8 was retired by the Bruins in 2004
John Hannah was dubbed the "Best Offensive Lineman of all Time" by Sports Illustrated in 1981. Hannah played for the New England Patriots for 13 years from 1973-1985. Sadly, he was probably the team's lone star while the Pats struggled in Foxboro. Hannah missed only 5 of a possible 191 games due to injury, although he did hold out for 3 games in 1977. Hannah went to nine Pro Bowls, had ten all pro selections, was the NFLPA Offensive Lineman of the year 3 times, and was on the 1970s and 1980s all decade-team. He had his number 73 retired although other players have used it since he retired. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1991.
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