Every year on the first day of September, Major League Baseball rosters expand to 40, giving prospects a chance to make a name for themselves with the big club. Over the last 25 years, the Red Sox have had countless youngsters join the team and create either an opening chapter for a lasting legacy or just a brief glimpse into the type of player they might have been.

While this year’s candidates have yet to make an impact, here are 10 of the most memorable late-season Red Sox call-ups over the last 25 years, listed in chronological order.

Jody Reed

Jody Reed, 1987

Long before there was Dustin Pedroia, there was Reed, another 5-foot-9, scrappy second baseman. Reed made his debut with the Red Sox in September 1987 and went 3-for-6 with two RBIs in his first start. His hot bat extended throughout his late-season stint, when he hit .300 with eight RBIs in nine games. Reed’s time as a call-up foreshadowed what would be a successful rookie campaign in 1988, when Reed hit .293 and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting while also helping the team to a division title. Reed, lost to the Rockies in the 1992 expansion draft (and then immediately traded to the Dodgers), lasted 11 seasons in the majors and now serves as the manager of the Dodgers’ rookie league team in Arizona.

Dwayne Hosey, 1995

In September of 1995, the Red Sox were looking to supplement the struggling outfield bats of Lee Tinsley and Willie McGee when they promoted Hosey to the big club. The switch-hitter lit it up at the plate, hitting .338 that September with three home runs and a 1.026 OPS. Hosey’s hot September helped him earn a spot on the team’s postseason roster, but the center fielder failed to perform on the bigger stage. He did not have a hit in 12 plate appearances against the Indians in the ALDS, and the Red Sox were swept out of the playoffs. Hosey’s career with the Sox was short-lived — he was traded to Texas in 1996 and released by the Rangers without ever having played a game for them. Hosey now is the batting coach for the Brewers’ Single-A team in Brevard County, Fla., and it looks like he could give dance lessons as well.

Nomar Garciaparra, 1996

Nomar made his Red Sox debut on Aug. 31, 1996, in the seventh inning of a game against the Athletics as a defensive replacement. The next day, Nomar hit a home run for his first major league hit and proceeded to go 3-for-5, scoring two runs and knocking in two. Nomar had multi-hit games in seven of his 22 starts and played so well in the field that he displaced the shortstop at the time, John Valentin, who moved over to third base. Nomar continued on to become a fan favorite in Boston and won the Rookie of the Year award in 1997. After 14 seasons in the majors and a career .313 batting average, he retired after the 2009 season.

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According to an ESPN “Outside the Lines” investigation, the Blue Jays appear to be stealing signs of opponents during home games at Rogers Centre. Four players confirmed to ESPN that they witnessed Blue Jay hitters being relayed signs from a man seated in center field.

The report states: As soon as each pitch was thrown, those watching the man would call out what they thought he was signaling, and those focused on the radar gun would confirm his signal. Sure enough, the man in white was raising his arms above his head before every off-speed pitch and doing nothing when the pitch being called was a fastball.

Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista was called out by a player in the visitor’s bullpen.

“It’s not too [expletive] easy to hit home runs when you don’t know what’s coming,” the player yelled to Bautista after the alleged sign-stealing was halted and the slugger struck out.

Bautista denied that the Blue Jays have anything to do with stealing signs.

“First of all, I don’t even know how you can do that,” Bautista said. “And second of all, it’s obviously something that’s not legal in the game. We do not cheat.”

The report noted that visiting teams have started using multiple signals even when there are no runners on base and referenced a June game in which Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia started mixing up signs to pitcher Clay Buchholz.

Rookie Daniel Nava's grand slam vs. the Phillies was one of the highlights of the first half of the Red Sox' season. (AP)

Though the Red Sox are 88 games into the season with another 74 to go, the All-Star break generally is regarded as the midway point of the season. As such, it’s time to reflect on what’s been largely considered an up-and-down season for the Sox. With a large number of injuries handcuffing the team from the beginning of 2010, the fact that the Red Sox have largely remained in contention is nothing short of amazing. In honor of that, we’ve come up with a list of the best single-game performances from the first half of the season, divided by pitching and offensive performances.

Looking back on Boston’s 51 wins, there have been players that have stepped up and filled holes, especially from the rookie replacements. The interesting thing to note is that between the six All-Stars on the team (Dustin Pedroia, Víctor Martínez, Adrián Beltré, David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester), only four of them account for the 10 performances on our list.

Let’s kick off the list with a few honorable mentions, starting off with Opening Night:

John Lackey, April 7 vs. Yankees: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 K, 2 BB

On Opening Night, John Lackey showed why he was one of the big-name acquisitions during the offseason. Unfortunately for everyone involved, this first game would be Lackey’s best outing of the year.

Jon Lester, May 25 vs. Rays: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 9 K, 5 BB

Lester has had an amazing year so far. So much so, that he’s motivated his bullpen to continue his work. April 25 was the perfect example, as Lester only allowed a single to Willy Aybar in the fourth and that was it. Lester pitched six innings, then handed it to the ‘pen. The relievers didn’t allow another hit for the rest of the game.

Clay Buchholz, May 29 vs. Royals: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 K, 4 BB

If Lester’s been amazing this year, Buchholz has been Cy Young-like this year. Just four days after Lester’s game, Buchholz took the mound and handled the Royals with ease. He allowed some sporadic hits over seven before delicately handing the 1-0 lead to the dynamic duo of Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon, who successfully got the hold and the save, respectively. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s now been three weeks since Evan Grant, a beat writer covering the Texas Rangers, made his fateful decision to leave Dustin Pedroia off the American League MVP Ballot. But he’s not done talking about it…or, more accurately, he’s not done being asked about it–among several other topics on which he offers some fine insights, particularly into the potential for a trade of a Rangers catcher for Sox pitching. (For both of you who have yet to hear Grant’s interview with the Big Show on the day of the MVP voting results, go ahead and take a listen: knowledge is power.)

Grant, who once again expresses regret for his mistake when filling out the ballot, suggests that he’s never experienced anything like the response to what has been treated in various quarters as a felonious error.

I’ve long known about the passion of Red Sox fans, but feel I’ve got a much clearer understanding at this point. Not saying that’s good or bad. But I do have a better understanding and appreciation of it.

Best part: Wondering how Dustin Pedroia might have responded to Grant’s email apology.

So long as we’re on the topic of bloggers meet writers, Fire Brand of the American League had this interesting exchange with Peter Gammons. The Hall of Fame writer suggested the Rangers would want either Clay Buchholz or Justin Masterson and Michael Bowden in a trade for Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Perhaps the Rangers were trying to find an equitable means of balancing the two teams’ Scrabble scores.

Also worth noting for the Red Sox’ catching situation: Gammons guesses that Jason Varitek will accept the Red Sox offer of salary arbitration. He’s not alone in that opinion.

And now, for a brief pause from questions about the 2009 Red Sox to note that the Celtics have reeled off nine straight wins, and at 16-2, have emerged once again as the class of the Eastern Conference. Doc Rivers is being declared a genius, the team is (literally, it would seem) mauling opponents like the Magic, and on the future front, J.R. Giddens is assembling some pretty impressive stat lines for the Utah Flash in the NBA Development League. (Anyone who had “Bakersfield Jam” as the answer to the “Where’s Mateen Cleaves” betting pool–take a bow.)

A Celtics report card would be kind of boring these days, a monotonous string of A’s likely to inspire the ire of any alienated bullies who have been struggling with their studies of late. That being the case, members of the Green Machine may need to be on the lookout for any Patriots who might feel compelled to stop by T.D. Banknorth and beat up their local sporting brethren.

Wondering who will have home-field advantage when the Patriots and Buccaneers play in London next year? Preliminary indications are that Tampa Bay has a pronounced advantage, with a rabid U.K. fan base that appears to run at least 20 strong. Patriots fans who are interested in scouting the situation would do well to attend the Bucpower UK Christmas Dinner, where attending fans have an opportunity to win an autographed photo of Doug Williams. That seems far superior to the opportunity afforded to Patriots fans in Jolly Old… Let’s just say that the passion on UKPatriots.com seems, at first glance, like little match for Bucpower. Perhaps that is why Mike Vrabel informed the world that he doesn’t “give a (expletive) about going to London.”

While the Patriots do not have any apparent fan base in England, however, they might benefit from the general hatred of Buccaneers (and Manchester United) owner Malcolm Glazer in the U.K. How many NFL owners can say that they inspire derisive songs outside of the U.S.?