Raymond Leonard Culp turns 72 today. For those of us old enough to remember the fallow years between the 1967 and 1975 championship seasons, Ray Culp was one of the most accomplished starting pitchers of that Red Sox era. Ray never was able to taste the champagne, but he gave us all he had in his six seasons in Boston—mostly with what was then called a "palm ball". "Culpy" went 71-58 with a 3.50 ERA over that span, completing fully
one-third of his starts (51). He delivered
two 17-win seasons (1969 & 1970) and struck out almost 800 batters as a member of the Carmine Hose. Thanks for it all, Ray and have a great birthday!
