Boston Sports Then and Now

Dwight "Dewey" Evans

We honor Dwight Evans as the Boston Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Month. With the opening of the baseball season around the corner, the choice of “Dewey” Evans is fitting. He was a player who gave his all, all the time to the Boston Red Sox where he played from 1972 to 1990. He is one of the best players not in the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

Dwight Michael Evans made an immediate impact in his professional baseball career by winning the International League’s MVP in 1972. With AAA Louisville, Evans had 17 hrs, 95 RBI and hit .300.

Dewey was called up to the tail end of the ’72 season. On September 16^th, he pinch ran and was 0-1 at the plate. He played 18 games and decent numbers during his call up. In 57 plate appearances, Evans had 1 hr, 6 RBI and batted .263.

Dwight Evans called right field in Fenway Park his home. He was a defensive standout and offensively could hold his own.

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We honor Mike Eruzione as the Boston Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Month.   This February will mark the 30^th anniversary of the “Miracle On Ice” when the US hockey team stunned the powerful Soviets and went on to capture the gold.  Eruzione was team captain of that squad and scored “the goal heard around the world.”

Like US Olympic teammate, Jim Craig, Eruzione was also a Massachusetts native and played collegiate hockey at Boston University. Eruzione grew up in Winthrop, MA where he was captain of his high school hockey team. After graduation in 1972, he attended Berwick Academy for one year to polish his hockey skills before attending Boston University. Read the rest of this entry →

Jim Craig

We honor Jim Craig as the Boston Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Month, the backstop of the 1980 Gold Medal winning US Olympic Hockey team. This upcoming February will mark the 30^th anniversary of the “Miracle On Ice” when the US hockey team stunned the powerful Soviets and went on to capture the gold.

Massachusetts native, Jim Craig was an integral part of the impossible dream and Olympic victory in Lake Placid, New York. Craig played collegiate hockey at Boston University where he was an All-American goalie. In two seasons at BU, Craig posted a 29-4-2 record with a 3.65 GAA. He also helped the Terriers capture a NCAA championship in 1978.

After college, Jim Craig chose the US Olympic team over the NHL’s Atlanta Flames. His sick mother wanted him to play for his country and he kept that promise to her. Unfortunately, she succumbed to her illness and never got to see Jim play for the United States. Craig was playing with a heavy heart.

Craig’s play in the Winter games in Lake Placid was nothing short of phenomenal. He backstopped the overachieving US squad to a 6-0-1 record with a microscopic 2.14 GAA.

His defining moment was against the Soviet Union in the Olympic semi-finals. The Soviets embarrassed the US team a few weeks earlier, 10-3 in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden. The U.S.S.R had the best ice hockey team on the planet.

But not on this night.

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Raymond Bourque

We honor Raymond Bourque as the Boston Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Month, one the best defensemen in Boston Bruins and NHL History.

Following in the skates of Bruins legend Bobby Orr, Raymond Jean Bourque was a stellar blue liner with offensive instincts. He was the face of the Boston Bruins for 21 seasons before being traded to Colorado where he became a Stanley Cup champion. However, all Bruins fans knew from his rookie year in 1979 that he had the heart of a champion.

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Bob Cousy

In recognition of the start of the NBA season, we honor as the Boston Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Week the first in a long line of superstars to play for the Boston Celtics.

Before there was Bill Russell and Larry Bird, the Boston Celtics were powered by a 6-foot-1 inch guard from Holy Cross. Bob Cousy was the on-the-court leader for the Celtics in the era during which they emerged as a basketball power.

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Rico Petrocelli

With the baseball playoffs gearing up, we honor as our Boston Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week a former Red Sox player who was on both the 1967 and 1975 World Series teams.

In 13 seasons with the Red Sox, Rico Petrocelli provided Boston with solid defense as well as regular offensive pop.

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