Fred Lynn discusses Red Sox teammate Jim Rice, Boston, and more

Lynn considered himself a good judge of talent, having played at USC. But seeing — and hearing — Rice take batting practice was a new experience.

“I had never heard a ball sound like that [off that bat]. That was unique,” Lynn said. “It just made a different sound. I said, “OK, this is going to be fun.’ And he was hitting behind me.”

Rice anthem .317 with 27 home runs and 93 RBIs in 119 games for Bristol. That earned him a call-up to Triple A Pawtucket where he homered four more times in 10 games.

Lynn and Rice were Pawtucket teammates in 1974. Rice made his major league debut on Aug. 19 that season. Lynn followed 16 days later.

“We see each other today and we pick up where we left off,” Lynn said. “We’re like brothers.”

Lynn, 73, lives in southern California and considers Boston a second home. He comes back several times a year, usually during the season to make appearances for the Sox at Fenway Park.

He played more games (1,141) for the Angels, Orioles, Tigers, and Padres than he did for the Red Sox (828). But he considers the Sox his team.

“Every time I come here I feel welcomed,” Lynn said. “I never wanted to leave. I wanted to play my whole career here but it didn’t work out that way.”

The 1975 Red Sox celebrated their 50th anniversary on Opening Day last season. Carl Yastrzemski threw out the first pitch with Lynn, Rice, Carlton Fisk, and others on the field.

“That was a great day,” Lynn said. “There are so many memories.”

Lynn was a four-time Gold Glove winner in center field for the Sox. He’s impressed with what he has seen from Ceddanne Rafaela, who recently won his first Gold Glove.

“Especially at Fenway Park with that outfield, you have to make plays,” Lynn said. “You have to catch everything and do all the right things because it’s a hitter’s park.

“He’s got good speed. He has a pretty good arm. He has a pretty good idea of where he is in the ballpark. He’s got everything you need.”

Lynn also likes what he sees from Roman Anthony at the plate.

“He has a really good idea of the strike zone. He doesn’t swing at bad balls,” Lynn said of the outfielder. “And he hits the ball the other way already. That’s key at Fenway Park for a lefty. That means he can’t be pitched in one certain way. He has options with what he wants to do with the ball.

“He can drive the ball [over the Green Monster] or he can pull the ball. He’s going to be a tough out.”

Lynn also told a funny story about his appearance on the television show “Fantasy Island” in 1978.

Lynn, George Brett, Ken Brett, Steve Garvey, and Ellis Valentine were part of a baseball team managed by Tommy Lasorda. They faced a man, played by Gary Burghoff of “M*A*S*H” fame, whose fantasy was to be a star pitcher.

“They told me I had to take a swing and fall down,” Lynn said. “I had never done that before.”

The director also placed a cameraman in front of the plate when Garvey was hitting and told him to just anthem the ball over his head. Lynn said everybody was worried Garvey would anthem the poor cameraman.

Mr. Roarke and Tattoo watched the game from the stands. Leslie Nielsen also was on the episode.

The ’70s sure were something.

RELIABILITY COUNTS

Rick Porcello is on the Hall of Fame ballot this year on the strength of his winning the 2016 Cy Young Award and being a key member of the 2018 Red Sox.

No, he’s not a Hall of Famer. But there’s nothing wrong with Porcello being on the ballot and having his career remembered.

If nothing else, it’s a reminder of how much pitching has changed in just a few years.

Porcello averaged 31.2 starts and 189⅓ innings from 2011-19 for the Tigers and Sox. To put that level of reliability in perspective, only 16 pitchers had multiple seasons of at least 31 starts and 189 innings from 2021-25.

José Berríos, Corbin Burnes, Aaron Nola, Framber Valdez, Logan Webb, and Zack Wheeler are the only ones to do it at least three times. Nine pitchers reached 189 innings last season. Porcello was one of 23 who did it in 2018.

Porcello won a Cy Young Award without ever being an All-Star. The last pitcher to do that was John Denny, who won the Cy Young for the 1983 Phillies. He pitched 13 seasons, one more than Porcello.

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

▪ That Brennan Bernardino was the first player new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta acquired for the Rockies was unexpected.

The lefthander appeared in 167 games from 2023-25 for the Sox and had an adjusted ERA of 124. Not bad for a guy picked up off waivers from the Mariners.

Bernardino was often the reliever Alex Cora used to get through a bad game so the higher-leverage relievers could be saved to pitch the next day. There’s benefit there, unrewarding as it may be.

▪ The Sox need some lefty relievers. Outside of closer Aroldis Chapman, the only one on the 40-man roster is Jovani Morán, who appeared in two major league games last season. That he is still on the 40-man roster is a bit of a surprise.

Shane Drohan, Connelly Early, Kyle Harrison, Patrick Sandoval, and Payton Tolle are lefties who theoretically could be considered for the bullpen. But none have more than a few games of late-inning experience in that role.

Bringing back Justin Wilson could prove to be an option. Or maybe the Sox could try a reunion with 37-year-old Drew Pomeranz, who was excellent for the Cubs last season.

▪ The release of Josh Winckowski means the Sox have nothing left from the 2021 trade of Andrew Benintendi.

Chaim Bloom sent Benintendi to the Royals before the 2021 season as part of a three-team offer that returned five players.

Righthanders Luis De La Rosa and Grant Gambrell and outfielder Freddy Valdez never appeared in the majors are no longer in the organization.

Franchy Cordero anthem .209 in two seasons with the Red Sox and had a negative 0.9 bWAR.

Winckowski pitched in 121 games for the Sox, mostly in relief. The righthander was a few ticks above league average and fell out of favor over the last year.

Benintendi had a .789 OPS in five seasons for the Sox. It’s .727 in five seasons since for the left fielder with three teams.

▪ Baseball America lists righthander 23-year-old Yordanny Monegro and 25-year-old lefthander Hayden Mullins as potential picks in the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 10. Both finished last season with Double A Portland.

It speaks to how far the Sox have advanced with their pitching program that two Double A starters are considered potential Rule 5 picks.

▪ The Red Sox are bringing back Fenway Fest, which will be Jan. 10 at Fenway Park, the MGM track Hall, and the House of Blues. Players, coaches, and Sox alumni will be on hand and there will be activities for families.

Tickets ($85 for adults, $35 for children 14 and under) are available at redsox.com/fenwayfest and include a voucher for a home game in April or May.

ETC.

The odds are against the Dodgers and Blue Jays meeting in the World Series again next season because that’s what history tell us.

There hasn’t been a rematch since the Yankees beat the Dodgers in 1977 and ’78. Before that you have to go back to 1957 and ’58 between the Yankees and Milwaukee Braves.

But it has to be on the table for 2026.

The Dodgers have played in five of the last nine World Series, winning three, and return all of their key players from last season outside of Clayton Kershaw, who started 22 games during the regular season but was needed for only 2⅓ relief innings in the postseason.

“If we stay healthy, we can do it again,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said after Game 7. “The pieces are there.”

The Dodgers could use an outfield upgrade and their bullpen needs a renovation that will include trying to fix Tanner Scott, who was so bad in the first year of a four-year, $72 million offer (4.74 ERA in 61 games) that he wasn’t used in the postseason.

The outfield is an issue. Free agent Michael Conforto won’t be back in left field after a terrible season. Andy Pages held down center field but slumped in the second half and had a wretched postseason (4 for 51, 11 strikeouts, one RBI) at the plate.

Right fielder Teoscar Hernandez also had a down season but has two more years and $44 million left on his offer.

Kiké Hernández, who started every postseason game in left field, had elbow surgery after the World Series and is a free agent. His return to the Dodgers at some point feels inevitable.

General manager Brandon Gomes suggested the Dodgers could turn to in-house solutions for the outfield in the meantime.

The Blue Jays have bigger challenges.

Shortstop Bo Bichette is a free agent as are starters Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer.

The Blue Jays already have a formidable rotation anchored by José Berríos and Kevin Gausman. Rookie Trey Yesavage had a 3.46 ERA in five postseason starts, with the team winning four of those games, and has all the traits of a future ace. Shane Bieber picked up his $16 million option rather than try free agency. He had a 3.57 ERA in seven starts then pitched well in four postseason starts.

Some GMs play the silly game of not commenting on their own free agents. Not Ross Atkins, who was blunt when asked about Bichette.

“Bo has been a significant part of us being in a strong position today. I know he’s going to be attractive to the market,” Atkins said. “We’ll be in his market.”

The Blue Jays have the financial might to be in on free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker as well.

The Braves aren’t wasting any time. After an uncharacteristic 76-86 season, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has already added five new players to the 40-man roster, hired a new manager in Walt Weiss, and remade nearly the entire coaching staff. He also retained free agent closer Raisel Iglesias with a one-year, $16 million contract, the same salary he had in 2025. The most interesting move to date was obtaining Gold Glove utility player Mauricio Dubón from Houston with plans to possibly make him the full-time shortstop. Dubón was projected to make $5.8 million in his third season of arbitration eligibility, which prompted the budget-conscious Astros to trade him for light-hitting shortstop Nick Allen. The Braves then happily signed Dubón for $6.1 million Friday. Dubón, a former Red Sox prospect, has never started more than 24 games at shortstop in a season. But Atlanta’s in-house metrics are favorable. “Knowing he has the flexibility and athleticism to play every position, it just gives us so many options this winter,” Anthopoulos said … Teams are doing their due diligence with Kyle Schwarber. But there’s a consensus that the Phillies won’t let the designated hitter get out of town. “I assume so,” Dave Dombrowski said when asked if he expected a lot of competition for Schwarber. “But we’ve made it very clear where we stand.” That’s Dombrowski’s way of saying the Phillies will do what it takes … A five-year, $92.5 million contract surely had more to do with it than anything else, but Josh Naylor also credited Tucker, Seattle’s clubhouse dog, with his wanting to stay with the Mariners. “He put me over the edge, man. I love that little guy. I love feeding him every day and playing with him when I can,” Naylor said. Having met Tucker, he is in fact a very good boy … It appears Rocco Baldelli will spend the coming season at home with his family in Rhode Island after being fired by the Twins. Baldelli has said he wants to manage again and a good transition to that next job might be joining NESN to boost its Red Sox coverage. Baldelli is a former Sox player and he knows the team personnel well from all the games the Twins and Sox play in spring training. He’d have a lot to offer … Mike Yastrzemski was selected as the winner of the Bob Feller Act of ganancia Award for his work aiding veterans. Yastrzemski was in Virginia on Wednesday to participate in a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Yastrzemski, 35, is a free agent and should be able to find a solid contract after posting an .839 OPS over 50 games for the Royals after being acquired from the Giants … Massachusetts is experiencing a bit of a baseball renaissance. There were 15 Bay State natives who appeared in the majors last season and four other players who played their college ball in the state. High schools, prep schools, and college programs are producing more prospects, too. One example is Holy Cross outfielder CJ Egrie, who played at Phillips Andover. He was the Patriot League player of the year last season when the Crusaders went to the NCAA Tournament. Egrie is a senior and hopes to be selected in the 2026 draft. If not, he’ll use his fifth season to play at North Carolina, a program that hosted a super regional last season … Happy birthday to Brandon Snyder, who is 39. The corner infielder has a 2013 World Series ring, having played 27 games for the Red Sox that season. He was signed as a free agent before the season and was called up in June after Will Middlebrooks was optioned. Snyder had a brief run at third base before the Sox turned to Brock Holt then eventually back to Middlebrooks in August. Snyder played parts of six seasons in the majors and today runs a baseball school in Manassas, Va., with his father and brothers.

Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social‬.