Chad Finn listed his favorite Sox players by position since he became a fan on his excellent Touching All The Bases blog on Boston.com. You can read his picks at the link. Here are mine, although as it turns out there's a fair amount of overlap.

C - Jason Varitek: Tough call between 'Tek and Carlton Fisk, but 'Tek's participation on the two championship teams puts him over the top.

1B - Carl Yastrzemski: As my all-time favorite Red Sox, Yaz had to be on the list somewhere. From 1974, the year I really started to follow baseball, until his retirement Yaz played more games (497) at first than in left or DH, so he gets the spot. Mo Vaughn and George Scott would be in a fight for this spot if Yaz weren't here.

2B - Jerry Remy: Before the NESN gig and the commercials and the Web site, Jerry Remy was a darn good baseball player. All the Remy stuff over the past three decades goes into this pick. Dustin Pedroia would be a close #2, and maybe moves up in a few years.

3B - Mike Lowell: Tough pick here. If I was picking best third baseman, it would be Wade Boggs hands down, but he was such a weird dude with the chicken, Margo, willing himself invisible and stuff, I couldn't pick him as my favorite. Lowell is just the consumate professional, plays hard, plays hurt, great clubhouse influence. What's not to like?

SS - Nomar Garciaparra: Remember how great he was before the Sports Illustrated cover and the injuries and the surliness took over? That's the Nomar I like to remember.

LF - Jim Rice: Jim Ed was the Sox best player of my high school and college years and I always loved watching him hit. Manny Ramirez is probably my toughest exclusion on this list, in spite of the way things ended last season.

CF - Johnny Damon: Johnny was the complete package: the beard, the Jesus haircut and he was a very good player for the 2004 World Series Champions. The Idiots wouldn't have been the same without him.

RF - Dwight Evans: How many outfielders in the last 50 years have had a better arm than Dwight Evans? I have this image in my head of him throwing a one-hop strike to nail a runner at third base; that's always the first thing I think of with Dewey.

DH - David Ortiz: There really isn't anyone else to pick, is there? If you don't love Big Papi, you're probably a Yankees fan.

RHP - Pedro Martinez: Pedro was the greatest Red Sox pitcher I have ever seen, maybe the greatest Red Sox pitcher ever. Fenway Park was electric the nights he pitched; there hasn't been anything like it before or since.

LHP - Bill Lee: The Spaceman is one of the great characters in Red Sox history. One of my favorite Lee quotes: after hearing that Sparky Anderson said before game 7 of the 1975 World Series that "Win or lose, my starting pitcher is going to the Hall of Fame." (Don Gullett? Sorry, no.) Lee's response: "Win or lose, I'm going to the Eliot Lounge."

Closer - Jonathan Papelbon: Just based on his dancing ablity, if nothing else.

Backup outfielder - Dave Roberts: The Steal wins his spot.

Utility infielder - Lou Merloni: I went through a few choices here (Steve Lyons, Alex Cora, Pokey Reese), but it finally came down to Framingham Lou. I always liked the way he played the game and he's a local guy.

Prospect who never quite made it - Sam Bowen: Bowen was a power hitting outfielder who spent most of six seasons in Pawtucket, but never got more than a cup of coffee in the majors (16 total games played). He was a heck of a hitter and fun to watch, but had some obstacles named Rice, Lynn and Evans in his way at the Major League level.

Manager - Joe Morgan: Morgan Magic really was magical. The firing of John McNamara and his replacement by Tollway Joe woke up the team and drove them to the 1988 division title. Morgan was also the Pawsox manager for most of my childhood. The Sox fired him in favor of Butch Hobson, which may have been one of the worst decisions in team history.