A big, scary, hard-throwing sumbitch who was one of the models for the modern closer.

Very effective in save situations for a Sox team that didn't give him many.

For most of the 60's, the Red Sox were, if not a truly dreadful team, a bad one. It was probably the second worst era for the team after the awful era of the 20's and early 30's. Radatz was one of the team's few real attractions, a huge guy, a fireballing reliever who was the best in the A.L. for a few years in the early to mid 60's. Radatz didn't have a long career, after leaving Boston in '66 he put up mediocre to bad numbers with some other teams and his career ended in '69... but was very effective at his peak and the best closer the team ever had, sadly, he died about a year ago. "The Monster" also served as an occasionally amusing, and insightful, (though sometimes a bit sanctimonious/ old crusty) television analyst, the 'back in my day we didn't have..' sort.