Beloved Former Red Sox Outfielder Called 'One-Year-Wonder'

Boston has had plenty of great players over the years
April 13, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; A general view of empty seats on opening day at Fenway Park prior to a game between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
April 13, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; A general view of empty seats on opening day at Fenway Park prior to a game between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images / Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
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The Boston Red Sox have had a roller coaster of a few years, but overall have been fantastic since breaking the Curse of the Bambino.

Boston has won four World Series titles since completing the greatest comeback in baseball history against the New York Yankees in 2004 and following it up with a World Series win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Overall, Boston won titles in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 in recent memory.

With four World Series titles under their belt in the last 20 years, unsurprisingly, there have been plenty of great players to come through Boston. There even have been some players who became fan-favorites even without All-Star performance.

Bleacher Report's Zachary Rymer put together a list of each team's biggest "one-year-wonder" in recent memory and mentioned outfielder Daniel Nava in 2013.

"2013 Stats: 134 G, 536 PA, 12 HR, 0 SB, .303 AVG, .385 OBP, .445 SLG," Rymer said. "Career Stats: 589 G, 1,977 PA, 29 HR, 10 SB, .266 AVG, .357 OBP, .380 SLG. Daniel Nava was a former undrafted free agent who had even been cut by an independent team when he signed with the Red Sox in 2008. And when he did, the price was for $1.

"As such, it was kind of a big deal when he hit a grand slam in his first major league at-bat in June 2010. Yet it looked for a while like that would be the pinnacle of his major league career, as he didn't see any time with Boston in 2011 and hardly any in 2012. But then everything changed in 2013. Nava was with the Red Sox for basically the whole season and ended up finishing second on the team to only David Ortiz in batting average. Among his 139 hits were some big ones, including his legendary post-Boston Marathon bombing home run."

Nava was a fan-favorite for Boston and was an important piece for the 2013 World Series-winning club.

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Patrick McAvoy

PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu