The Rise....and Fall of Keith Charles Foulke

Recently Keith Foulke signed a deal with the Cleveland Indians. Unfortunately, I was the only one within Red Sox Nation to see him go. In my humble opinion, Keith Foulke was one of the most important players and personalities on the team and without him we would have seen a different team win the 2004 Series. For those who don't know about Keith Foulke he signed a deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2004 season after spending time with the Athletics. He had faced the Athletics in the divisional series and struggled due to back issues but the Red Sox viewed him as one of the top closers in the league nonetheless. They signed him to a 4 year deal although it could have been voided after the third year had certain circumstances arrived. Foulke flat out dominated in 2004 and was a force in the playoffs and led the Red Sox to the title. The honeymoon shortlty ended after a troubling 2005. Knee problems dropped his velocity and he was ineffective. The media and public started to get on him and were angered by his personality which they thought was rude. After blowing a 3 run lead to the Indians in July, Foulke was asked about his string of poor performances. He responded "It does not matter to me what Johnny from Burger King thinks..."He had associated Red Sox Nation with a bunch of middle aged low intelligent food service workers. Later that week it was discovered that he needed surgery on both knees and his season was basically over. He went off away from the team and got away from all the heat he had took. There was optimism for 2006 but that was quickly erased when on the second game of the season, the first opportunity for a save, number 29 did not enter the game. Instead number 58, Jonathon Papelbon slammed the door and became the closer, not necessarily a bad thing. Foulke became almost a forgotten man and due to injuries did not contribute much in his last season with the team. After the offseason began he quickly left to Cleveland where he took much less money than had he kept to his deal with the Sox. Keith Foulke was one of my favorite players ever to wear a Red Sox uniform. His personality and opinions were always enjoyable and he was absolutely lights out in 2004. Maybe he will resurface with the Indians and relive his glory days. If not, I'm sure gonna miss number 29.