On this day in 2003, the Red Sox acquired Bronson Arroyo off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Though his stint in Pittsburgh was pretty mediocre, Boston knew there was much more in the tank for the Floridian. When Arroyo was waived after the 2003 season, Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein made one of the best decisions in the leadup to the 2004 World Series title by acquiring the righty. Soon after his acquisition, it became clear that the move had paid off.
There’s probably no better way for a pitcher to help prove himself to a new ballclub than to throw a no hitter -- only 314 have been thrown in MLB history! But that’s exactly what Bronson Arroyo did; he pitched the second no-hitter in Pawtucket Red Sox history, and was rewarded with being named the International League Pitcher of the Year. At this point, his call to the Majors was practically waiting at the door for him and his imminent promotion came in August of 2003 as a long reliever. His 2.08 earned run average in 6 appearances didn’t disappoint, and in all but one of his appearances Arroyo threw for at least three innings and showed a lot of promise with his consistent strikeout to walk ratio (3.50) and 2.28 fielding independent pitching. He further impressed in the 2003 ALCS, and his acquisition was starting to look like a major success.
With the retirement of John Burkett following the 2003 season, the Red Sox knew one thing was for certain, they desperately needed starting pitching to be a World Series contender and they had a great option in Arroyo. Byung-Hyum Kim and Bronson Arroyo competed for the fifth spot throughout spring training, but after Kim got injured it was clear who had won the job.
With a rotation featuring the one-two punch of Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez, the back end of the 2004 staff can sometimes get overlooked. But every member of the 2004 club had an impact on the 2004 season and the end result, a World Championship. Arroyo had one of the biggest impacts, making 29 starts while pitching a very solid 4.03 ERA. He provided a ton of innings for Boston and finished his season with a 120 ERA+. His regular season efforts helped the Red Sox clinch their second postseason appearance in a row, and by now it was clear that the sneaky pickup by General Manager Theo Epstein had paid off.
Fast forward Postseason 2004. It’s a critical game three of the American League Championship series, with the Sox down two games to none already. The last thing that Boston wanted was to lose an important playoff match in front of their home crowd, and fall back three games to zero, a deficit so large it’s nearly impossible to come back from. Nearly. Arroyo is on the mound, and is set to make his second start of the postseason after a nice outing against Tampa in the Divisional Series. Maybe it’s because of the game getting delayed an extra day, but for whatever reason Arroyo absolutely dropped a bomb. After throwing sixty pitches and only two innings along with six earned runs he was pulled out of the ballgame, embarrassing himself against his home crowd. The disaster jokingly known as the “Boston Massacre” caused the Red Sox to relegate Arroyo to a bullpen role, where things didn’t get any better.
So, he wasn’t the greatest Postseason pitcher in the World, far from it really. But the performance of Arroyo in the Regular season was one of the reasons the Red Sox even got there. Without him, who knows when the Red Sox would’ve finally won a championship?
The 2005 season wasn’t as pretty for Arroyo, but that’s not to say it was particularly bad either. Though he gave up a 4.51 Earned Run Average, his 32 starts pitching just above average ball (101 ERA+) provided a ton of innings for Boston. Throughout his entire career, Arroyo has been just that: an innings eater. His Red Sox run came to an end just before opening day of 2006 when he was shipped off to the Reds for Wily Mo Pena, but his legacy with Cincinnati was even better than in Boston.
He won his only championship with the Sox, but some of his feats with the Reds were simply incredible. He was in his thirties for pretty much the entirety of his nine year tenure with “Cincy”, but he managed to start at least 30 games every year with the club (not including his farewell tour in 2017)! Arroyo was the definition of durable in Cincinnati, and was a quality starter too, pitching a 4.05 ERA from 2006 to 2013. The connection between Arroyo and the Reds was special; he returned to start 14 games for them in 2017, after two years without pitching in the major leagues.
Red Sox fans will often remember Bronson Arroyo for his contributions in 04’, but he was more than that. He made his only All-Star appearance in 2006 as a member of the Reds, and won a gold glove with them in 2010. His retirement in 2017 ended the career of one of the most durable pitchers of the 2000’s, and he is set to be on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2023. While the chances of Arroyo even surviving the first ballot are slim, he’ll still be remembered for his contributions to the game. Arroyo was never the best pitcher in the majors, he was never the second best, and he was never even in the top ten, but in the hearts of Red Sox and Reds fans alike, he was special. Even though both fanbases may not agree with each other on much, the impact that Bronson Arroyo had on his respective teams is something that Red Sox Nation and Red’s Nation can really appreciate.
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