After the first half of the season last year, J.D. Drew was commonly known by Boston Red Sox fans as “Nancy Drew.” He earned the nickname once Boston fans witnessed for themselves what the Cardinals, Braves, and Dodgers fans already knew — Drew is fragile.
Before the Break, Drew had already missed games due to injuries and had a total of just six home runs while batting a low .258. During his 11 year career, Drew has been in and out of the D.L. with mainly wrist, knee, and hamstring injuries. When New York fans heard the Red Sox had signed Drew, they were so happy they started a pool in which participants could choose “When J.D. Drew will go down?” or “How long will J.D. Drew will be out?” The Red Sox took the initiative and added extra padding on the right field wall in front of the bullpen, mainly for his safety.
Drew was joining the team after signing a $70 million, five-year contract in the offseason and was taking over the spot in right for fan favorite Trot Nixon. Sox fans who were used to seeing Nixon run into the right field wall now saw J.D. Drew trying to avoid it. It also didn’t help that Drew started the season off slowly with his slump only worsening as the year went on. Drew pretty much would either ground out or pop-out, resulting in Boston fans booing him and chanting “NANCY DREW” as a jeer.
Fast-forward to the end of this year’s All-Star break and you’ll see that Drew has already surpassed his home run total from last year and is only 9 RBI shy of his ’07 mark. This year Drew has only sat out a few games due to mild injuries while maintaining his regular program of rest. He was named to his first All-Star Game and even nabbed the Game’s MVP honors following a 2-for-4 performance including a 2-run home run to help the American League win it’s 11th game in a row (not including the tie in 2002) against the National League. Drew lived up to the All-Star potential many knew he had — signs of which he showed during the playoffs last year.
With the roll he’s been on this season, I’m guessing the chants coming from the Boston fans are now “DREWWW.”
