Former Red Sox Player Dave McCarty Dead at 54

However, as a member of the team, McCarty did earn a championship ring. In an interview released last November, he looked back at his experience with the Red Sox fondly.

“I loved the energy in Boston,” McCarty told BallNine, “and going on to win the World Series in 2004 made the whole journeyman experience worth it for me.”

He continued, “When the Red Sox designated me for assignment, they had a deal in place to trade me to another team, but that was the first year when I went to spring training where my kid said, ‘Dad, we don’t want you to go.’ We had just won the World Series in 2004 and I said to myself, ‘You know, I’d just rather go out on top as a member of the Red Sox.’ So that’s what I did.”

Following his death, several of his past teammates paid tribute to him on social media. “Crushed to hear of the passing of Dave,” fellow 2004 World Series champion Johnny Damon wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the two. “RIP.”