On Jan. 23, 1981, Boston traded Fred Lynn to the California Angels.
During his seven-year Red Sox career, Lynn batted .308 with 124 home runs, 521 RBIs and a .383 on-base percentage. He won four Gold Gloves in center fielder for the Red Sox. He was a career .347 hitter at Fenway Park with a .420 on-base percentage.
Some believe Lynn would have gone on to become a Hall of Famer if he had remained with the Red Sox for his entire career. He instead was traded along with Steve Renko to the California Angels for Jim Dorsey, Joe Rudi and Frank Tanana.
Lynn batted for a .271 average in four years for California, a .265 average in four years for Baltimore, a .237 average in two years for Detroit and a .240 average in one season with the San Diego Padres.
“I kept telling the (Red Sox) organization I did not want to be traded,” Lynn told The Boston Globe in 2004. “They thought I was going to play out my option and be a free agent. I said that’s not what I want to do – I want to stay here. Why would I want to leave a park where I hit .350. It just doesn’t make any sense.
“The problem was that’s what they thought. Once it got into ownership’s mind, no matter what I said it wasn’t going to work out. They thought they would get something for me so they made the trade. I’m a pretty loyal guy and when I signed with the Sox I said well that’s the team I am going to be with and did not think about going anywhere else. I certainly have a soft spot in my heart for the Red Sox organization because let’s face it, they were the ones who brought me to the big leagues.”
