DICK RADATZ

Some guys are born to start. Dick Radatz was born to put out fires, and when he walked in from the Boston bullpen, the fire usually left town. They called him The Monster, and at 6-foot-6, with a fastball that came out of the sky and a slider that bit like a Fenway mosquito, he did not require a nickname to make the point.

From 1962 to 1964, Radatz was the most terrifying relief pitcher in the American League. He worked 381 games over his career, finished 297 of them, and saved 122—numbers that meant something different in an era when a man pitched two or three innings to get the last nine outs. His 745 strikeouts in 693⅔ innings say it plainly: hitters did not enjoy their at-bats. They swung late, they swung early, and they walked back to the dugout shaking their heads.

The Monster did not nibble. He threw strikes and dared you to catch up. For three summers in Boston, he was the bullpen equivalent of a green monster himself—towering, unforgiving, and always looming. When the Red Sox led after seven, the game was effectively over; Radatz just hadn't arrived yet.

The later years went elsewhere, as they do. But for a brief, blazing stretch, no one threw a baseball harder or meant more to his club's late innings. They make heritage cards you play, and when you deal a Radatz, you understand: some legends don't need a cape. They just need a mound.