In this edition of Top That! we take a look a look at players who started their pro careers elsewhere and then finished them with in Boston as a member of the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots or Red Sox. There is an impressive list of 36 Hall of Fame players who fit into this category, but who among these imports is the greatest? Is it a Bruin such as Johnny Bucyk, Paul Coffey, Jacques Plante, Brian Leetch or our beloved Cam Neely? Could it be a Celtic from a group that includes Dave Bing, Pete Maravich, Bill Sharman and Bill Walton? How about Red Sox hurlers Lefty Grove and Tom Seaver? Perhaps a Patriots like....well the Pats actually aren't represented on this list yet, but they could be before long if Randy Moss finishes his career in Foxboro. But who among these all-time greats is the all-time greatest? If Shaquille O'Neal finishes his career in Boston he is my pick to be top dog on the list of incredible imports to wrap up their careers in Beantown, edging out Grove, Coffey, Sharman and all the rest...including Moss and new teammate Kevin Garnett if they end up qualifying too. So I'm going with Shaq here, can you top that?
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If I had included the Boston Braves then Cy Young would have also qualified here, and likely would have won.
The list of 36 Hall of Fame players who began their careers elsewhere and ended them with 1 of our 4 major pro teams.....
Bruins (19)
Johnny Bucyk
Gerry Cheevers
Sprague Cleghorn
Paul Coffey
Bun Cook
Bill Cowley
Cy Denneny
Busher Jackson
Tom Johnson
Guy Lapointe
Brian Leetch
Harry Lumley
Mickey MacKay
Sylvio Mantha
Cam Neely
Jacques Plante
Babe Pratt
Bill Quackenbush
Jean Ratelle
Celtics (8)
Dave Bing
Dennis Johnson
Clyde Lovellette
Pete Maravich
Andy Phillip
Arnie Risen
Bill Sharman
Bill Walton
Red Sox (9)
Luis Aparicio
Lou Boudreau
Jesse Burkett
Jack Chesbro
Joe Cronin
Dennis Eckersley
Lefty Grove
Herb Pennock
Tom Seaver
Didn't Babe Ruth finish his career as player/manager of the Boston Braves?
Another aspect of this is what were the circumstances when an player elected to finish out his career in Boston. Was it someone who had a chance be part of a championship run (like Tom Seaver or Bill Walton) or was the player brought in as a name to lend credability to a struggling franchise and collect a salary for another year or so (Paul Coffee or Brian Leech).
I don't know who the best was, but Bill Walton was definitely my favorite.
Tiaina Baul Seau Jr finished his career with the Patriots.
7 times All-Pro
12 Pro Bowls
1990's All Decade Team
Over 1,800 total tackles, 56.5 sacks,18 int.
We don't need to wait to see about Randy Moss we already had Junior Seau.
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