When you think of baseball, even if you’re not the world’s biggest baseball fan, it’s likely that the Red Sox will spring to mind. With a history spanning over 100 years it’s likely that you, your parents and your parents’ parents all have favorites from over the years.

For this article, we sought the help of Jake Bennet; lifelong MLB fan and spokesperson for THEGOODESTATE. So, in no particular order, after lots of heated discussions and comparisons between the pair of us, here are our top 8 Red Sox players of all time.

Ted Williams: 1939 to 1942 and 1946-1960

A crazy hitter with a career OPS of 1.116. Even in his later years, his OBP was off the charts standing at .526 at age 39! Ted Williams was an icon of his time and a credit to the Red Sox. A 19 times All-Star and had his number retired in 1984 following his Hall of Fame entry back in 1966.

David Ortiz: 2003 to Present

David Ortiz has become the most decorated Red-Sox player this century with his highpoint being towards the beginning of his career; from ’03 to ’07 he was consistently in the top 5 for the AL MVP. A consistent slugger with an OPS score of .962.

Carl Yastrzemski: 1961 to 1983

With a top of the league OBP for 5 of his seasons and OPS for 4 of them, no list like this is complete without mentioning the legend that is Carl Yastrzemski. With almost 3,500 hits during his career and 452 Home Runs, this multiple Gold Gloves winner was quite the successor to legend Ted Williams, he will always be our number 8.

Pedro Martinez: 1998 to 2004

One of the Red Sox’s finest pitchers, Pedro Martinez held an impressive BAA of .206 and during the ’99 and ’00 seasons the Sox probably saw some of the best pitchings ever across full seasons. The receiver of two Cy Young awards and an awesome strikeout to walk ratio, Martinez had to feature in our top 8 players of all time.

Jimmie Fox: 1936 to 1942

Quite the power hitter and former Philadelphia A’s star, Jimmie Foxx hit an astonishing 50 Home Runs back in the 1938 season, a record that was held for almost 70 years until David Ortiz beat it in 2006. During his last two seasons he was the captain of the Red Sox and got into the Hall of Fame in 1951.

Dom DiMaggio: 1940 to 1942 and 1946 to 1953

An incredible fielder and 7-time All-Star, though he may sometimes be considered not quite as good as his bro, who played for the Yankees, “The Little Professor” was a loyal Red Sox player and played during an era of some of the greatest players of all time, his time in the war meant that he missed playing during what would be considered his prime, nevertheless, he was still an impressive addition to the team at the time.

Babe Ruth:

Though he only had 5 years with the Red Sox before joining the NY Yankees, Babe is still up there with some of the all-time pitchers the team had before he transitioned into a stellar batter during the last 2 years of his career with them where he achieved an incredible OPS of .981! Source: Factinate

Wade Boggs: 1982 to 1992

Another Hall of Famer and a league leader in terms of OBP six times, Wade Boggs was a great fielder and talented batter – achieving 5 batting titles. This 8-time All-Star made over 200 hits every single season during ‘83 to ’89 which made him the record holder for over two decades.