Article: John Valentin, The Unheralded Star Of 1990s Red Sox Teams

[Jared Mulholland]

The 1990s Sox had several thumpers but many fans have forgotten just how great John Valentin was in the mid-90s.

The 1995 American League MVP race was one of the closest in baseball history. As a high school-age Red Sox fan at the time, I followed the debate between Mo Vaughn and Albert Belle intently and with obvious bias. Belle was a known jerk and probable cheater, while Vaughn, a great guy and great teammate, had been leading the Red Sox to their first division title since 1990. However, based purely on stats, Albert Belle was clearly the better player. In 1995, Belle became the first player to hit 50 home runs and 50 doubles in the same season. His domination at the plate is illustrated by the fact that his league-leading slugging percentage of .690 was .062 points higher than the second-place player, Edgar Martinez (the player .062 points below Edgar was the 13th-best player in slugging, teammate Jay Buhner). Mo Vaughn finished with an slug of .575, good for just 12th in the majors.

A 2020 MLB.com article revisited and revoted the 1995 AL MVP race. Unsurprisingly, Albert Belle was given the top spot, with Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, Tim Salmon, and Frank Thomas rounding out the top five. However, the MLB.com article somehow left out the true MVP of the 1995 season: John Valentin. This is not a hot take; this is not clickbait. John Valentin was statistically the best position player in baseball in 1995 (notice I said 'position' player. Randy Johnson was the best player in 1995 - his season was nuts).

Valentin finished the strike-shortened season with a WAR of 8.3. To get an idea of how historically good this number is, I adjusted his WAR for a 162-game season and compared it to every 2B and SS season since 1980. Here are the players that had a better-adjusted WAR than Valentin in ‘95:

Each of the seasons above Valentin's 1995 finished in the top three in MVP voting. Also, notice that his adjusted WAR is higher than any season by the likes of Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, Craig Biggio, Ryne Sandberg, Barry Larkin, and Roberto Alomar Jr (all Hall of Famers except for Nomar).

And while WAR's use can be somewhat debatable, Valentin's traditional stats are equally impressive. Valentin finished the season with 27 home runs and 37 doubles. It's not ridiculous to assume that if the 1995 season had not been shortened due to the strike, he would've reached 30 home runs and 40 doubles. The list of middle infielders who have reached that milestone is pretty short: Cal Ripken Jr (1991), Alex Rodriguez (1996), Jeff Kent (2000, 2002), Alfonso Soriano (2002, 2005, 2006, 2007), Chase Utley (2008) and Robinson Cano (2012). When you combine the power he displayed with his discipline at the plate and his speed (he walked more times than he struck out and stole 20 bases), he ends up in some pretty prestigious and rare company (all position players).

All of these tremendous stats come despite an incident in which Valentin was hit in the head on June 4 by a Tim Belcher fastball when he was in the middle of an extended hot streak (just two nights before the beaning, he had hit three home runs in a game against the Seattle Mariners). He struggled for the next month and a half before putting it back together to finish the MVP-worthy season.

Although Valentin never had a season as dominant as his 1995 season, his five-year peak from 1994-1998 was one of the best in baseball during that time: he was top ten in the American League in WAR over that span (second in MLB behind Larkin at shortstop), and he led Red Sox position players in WAR for the decade of the 90s (alright....a quick look at the Red Sox leaders in WAR in the 90s is a reminder why it was such a tough decade for Sox fans). And yet, unjustly, John Valentin never made an All-Star team (Scott Cooper did, though....two times!).

Ironically, John Valentin's versatility probably contributed to his leaving Boston. Having played shortstop for his entire career, he was forced to move to third in 1997 to make room for Nomar. Understandably, Valentin wanted to remain at the position he had played his whole career (he was arguably a better fielder than Nomar, anyway). Realistically, it was impossible to keep Nomar out of the lineup in 1997, so Sox manager Jimy Williams asked Valentin to move to second. In response, Valentin asked to be traded. Even with the disagreement between Valentin and management, he would stay in Boston until the end of the 2001 season, when he signed with the Mets and played for just one more season. Despite injuries to his shoulder and ankle, John managed to have a few more memorable moments for the Red Sox, slashing .347/.407/.639 in the 1998-1999 season, including a game four in the 1999 ALDS when he hit two home runs and drove in seven runs and then hit a two-run shot off Clemens in the first inning of game three of the ‘99 ALCS to begin the route in the Sox’s only win in that series. And famously, Valentin became the only player to ever hit for a cycle, hit three home runs, and record an unassisted triple play in the same game.

Heading into the 1996 season, the great Bob Ryan wrote a piece about John Valentin. He finished with the thought: “[Valentin] is 29, and the next few years should be his most productive. He knows the league, the pitchers, the life, and himself. He could very well be an MVP waiting to happen. Indeed, many last year thought he should have been a more seriously taken candidate, given his offensive might and the importance of his defensive position.”

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[moonslav59]

I remember him, fondly. He was one of the most underappreciated stars on those teams in the 90's.

[mvp 78]

Overlooked because the franchise was lost in the wilderness from 91-97. Good player with one great season. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Overlooked because the franchise was lost in the wilderness from 91-97. Good player with one great season. 

He did have a .905 OPS in 1994, although for just 301 PAs.

He led the league in 2Bs in '97, while hitting .871.

He hit .811 in 1996, .793 in '93 and .781 in '98.

From '93 to '98: .845 (21 HRs and 70 xbhs per 162 games)

In that 5 year stretch, he was 11th in fWAR at 29.1.

He hit .879 from '94-'97 (45th in MLB) and had a 19.4 fWAR .

It wasn't a real long stretch of being real good, but I think it was more than just that one great season.