dwight evans is in my hall of famer collection

here's the first of a couple new additions to my hall of famer collection that have occurred this year. this one is for dwight evans, the red sox outfielder who made reggie smith disposable, i suppose.

here's the card i picked up to represent evans in the collection:

that's a 2003 topps team topps legends autograph card. one reason i chose this card out of the (relatively few) certified autos that evan has is because the photo background is similar to that of his 1978 topps card. some time ago, i wrote about how that structure in the background confused me as a young collector, and i am thankful for brian letting me know that the structure was the florida citrus showcase dome.

here's the back:

aside from a career capping season in baltimore, evans spent the entirety of his career with the red sox. he became the club's regular right fielder as a 21-year old in 1973, with reggie smith moving to center and then being traded to the cardinals after the season.

overall, evans hit .272 with 385 home runs, 1,384 rbi, and 2,446 hits. he easily passes my hof sniff test of being on base more than 3,000 times thanks to his .370 career obp. as the card back says, he was a fantastic fielder and won eight gold gloves. he also won a couple of silver sluggers and received upper ballot mvp votes in multiple years.

i only saw him play in person once. it was in 1989 when the red sox were playing the angels in anaheim. roger clemens was on the mound, but the angels tagged him for five runs in the first inning. jim abbott struck evans out in the top of the second, and then dewey was replaced in the game by randy kutcher. abbott went on to record his first career shutout that evening. i did see him at fenway during my most recent visit, but there was no celebration for him - just a video tribute and then he waved to the crowd. perhaps someday his number 24 will be added to the right field facade at fenway with the other red sox retired numbers.

as for the national baseball hall of fame, evans never came close to being elected by the writers. he maxed out at 10.4% in his second and penultimate appearance on the ballot. he has since appeared on one committe ballot, but failed to get the required support. hopefully the next time his era is up for consideration, he will be chosen. 

as a reminder, you can see evans and the others enshrined in my hall of famer collection here.