If you were a conscious Red Sox fan in 2006, then you remember what unfolded when backup catcher Doug Mirabelli was traded back to Boston from the San Diego Padres. But you probably haven’t heard the story from everyone who was involved.
The Hardball Times’ Tim Healey published an oral history of the trade Friday ahead of its 10-year anniversary, which comes on Sunday. In it, Mirabelli, knuckleball pitcher and Mirabelli’s batterymate Tim Wakefield, then-Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, then-Padres general manager Kevin Towers, catcher Josh Bard (who the Padres received with pitcher Cla Meredith in the trade) and many more tell the story from their point of view.
It’s all in there: the private jet flight, the police escort to Fenway Park — there’s even a statement from the Massachusetts State Police — and the game delays to make sure Mirabelli could start. But one of the best parts of the story involves former Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett.
“I was going to call the players involved,” Espstein said. “I went into my phone, J-o-s-h. J-o-s-h B. I was going to call Josh Bard and tell him he was traded — which is never a fun call to make.
“So I called him, I clearly woke Josh up. I said, ‘Hey man, it’s Theo. This is a tough call to make, but we made a trade and I have to let you know that you’re in it.’ And he goes, ‘Really?!’ I said, ‘Yeah, we felt like we needed to get somebody in here who has experience catching Wakefield.’ He goes, ‘Theo, Theo, Theo. This is Josh Beckett. You sure you traded me?’ I called the wrong Josh B. in my phone.”
And there’s plenty more where that came from. Healey’s oral history is a must-read for Red Sox fans, and you can check it out in the link below.
Click to read the oral history of the Doug Mirabelli trade>>
Thumbnail photo via Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports Images
