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The Greatest Red Sox Legends by Uniform Number: 1-5

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One of my projects for the MLB offseason this year will be a series of articles covering the greatest Red Sox to wear each uniform number. My plan is to cover five uniform numbers at a time starting here with one through five. Right off the bat, we dig into a couple retired numbers. Before I begin, I would like to mention that Brandon Phillips became the first player in franchise history to wear the number zero this September. He didn’t play much, but he did pimp out this game-winning home run against the Braves.

Number 1 – Bobby Doerr

The greatest second baseman in franchise history, Bobby Doerr made the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 and has his number one retired by the Red Sox. Doerr played on some great teams in the forties with pals Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky and Dom DiMaggio. He had a smooth glove at second base and was one of the finest offensive players at the keystone position the game had seen.

Doerr batted .318 in 1939, his third season in the big leagues. By the next season, he had surpassed 20 home runs and 100 runs batted in for the first time. He would make four straight All-Star Games from 1941-44 before joining the fight overseas in World War II and missing the 1945 season. After returning, Doerr made three straight All-Star Games and five times in six seasons to close out his career. He drove in more than 100 runs in four of the five seasons following World War II, finishing with 95 the season he fell short.

Unfortunately, Doerr was forced into early retirement due to a bad back. He had actually become more consistent at the plate later in his career, posting an OPS between .886 and .891 each year between 1948 and 1950. He still finished with a very solid .826 OPS in his final season. From his first full season in 1938 through his last in 1951, Bobby Doerr averaged a season of .289 with 17 home runs and 95 RBI.

Honorable Mentions: George Kell, Bernie Carbo, Billy Conigliaro, Joe Foy

BOBBY DOERR from the Boston Red Sox. (Photo by Sporting News via Getty Images)

Number 2 – Jacoby Ellsbury

Ellsbury’s career has spiraled, but that’s a good thing since he’s eating up the Yankees payroll to do nothing. With the Red Sox, he was a good player when healthy and helped the Red Sox win two World Series. Ellsbury came up that year and was so successful down the stretch that he was put on the postseason roster. He then batted .438 in the World Series. Ellsbury was solid again in the 2013 postseason, winning a second World Series with the Red Sox.

Ellsbury spent parts of seven seasons with the Red Sox, but only had four relatively full seasons. He led the league in stolen bases in three of his four healthy seasons. He batted .300 twice and stole 50 bases three times. In 2011, Ellsbury had a career season, finishing second in the MVP vote, winning a Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger. While the rest of the team collapsed down the stretch, Ellsbury was white hot and would have won the MVP if the team hadn’t fallen apart and missed the playoffs.

Honorable Mentions: Rick Ferrell, Xander Bogaerts, Jerry Remy, Mike Andrews

Number 3 – Jimmie Foxx

Foxx is one of the most powerful right-handed bats of all-time. The greatest first baseman in Red Sox history, Foxx won one of his three MVP Awards with the Red Sox and finished second in another season. He homered 35 or more times in each of his first five seasons with the team, averaging 40 home runs and 134 runs batted in per season. There is a reason Foxx was referred to as “The Beast.”

In 1938, his third season in Boston, Foxx won the MVP Award. That season he hit 50 home runs and drove in a league high 175 runs. His slash line that season was .349/.462/.704/1.166, leading the league in each category. The next season he batted .360 and led the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and home runs. Cumulatively, Foxx batted .320 with the Red Sox and is second in franchise history in on-base percentage and slugging percentage behind only Ted Williams.

Honorable Mentions: Pete Runnels, Jody Reed, Jeff Frye, Walt Dropo

Number 4 – Joe Cronin

Another retired number, as the Sox retired the number four in honor of Cronin. Cronin spent seven seasons as a full-time player before he started focusing more on managing the club and being limited to mostly pinch-hitting. Despite this role, Cronin batted over .300 with an OPS over .900 each of his first two seasons doing so.

Cronin made five all-star teams with the Red Sox and had two top ten MVP finishes. From 1937-41 he batted over .300 four times, posting a .307/.404/.504/.909 line during that time period. He averaged 19 home runs and 103 runs batted in during that time. He was the Red Sox manager from 1935-47. After, Cronin went on to become general manager, president and treasurer of the team before moving on to the role of American League president.

As a close second, Jackie Jensen deserves a few words. Jensen hit 20+ home runs in each of his first six seasons with the Red Sox, averaging a season of .285 with 26 home runs and 111 RBI. He was the 1958 MVP and won a Gold Glove the following season.

Honorable Mentions: Jackie Jensen, Butch Hobson, Tommy Harper, Carney Lansford

Number 5 – Nomar Garciaparra

During his time in Boston, Nomar was one of the most popular players the franchise had ever seen. Around Fenway Park, around the city, you could hear people yell “Nomaaahhh!” Arguably the greatest shortstop in franchise history, the uniform number five is synonymous with Nomar for an entire generation of fans.

Nomar came up with much fanfare and won the Rookie of the Year in 1997. He hit 30 home runs and led the league in hits that season. In year two, Nomar finished runner-up for the MVP Award. The following two seasons he was batting champion, hitting .357 and .372. Nomar was getting better and better, before an Al Reyes pitch hit him on the wrist, requiring surgery the following season. Nomar was still an excellent player when he came back, but wasn’t quite the same. His averages fell to .310 and .301 his next two full seasons. However, he did hit 52 home runs and drove in 225 runs over those two seasons. He also led the league with an astounding 56 doubles in 2002.

Things didn’t end on the best terms in Boston for Nomar, but he should be remembered for what he did with the team and for how much the fans loved him. He batted .323 with a .923 OPS during his time in Boston. Nomar hit 50 doubles twice and eclipsed 40 two other seasons. In his six full seasons with the Sox, Nomar hit over 20 home runs in all six. He is truly a Red Sox legend.

Honorable Mentions: George Scott, Vern Stephens, Jim Tabor

 

Featured picture from NBC News

 

Red Sox Greatest Third Basemen of All-Time

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Making the way around the infield, my next installment in the series comes at the hot corner. Making the top five there will be a couple mainstays, a couple players from a century ago, and one I think you all will remember watching play. There were a couple options for the last spot, guys who weren’t with the team a real long time but made a big impact. But that’s what the honorable mention section is for at the end.

Wade Boggs

Wade Boggs is by far the greatest third baseman in franchise history. He leads the team at the position in almost every offensive category. Wade burst onto the scene in 1982 by batting .349. Over the next six seasons he only batted below .357 once, leading the league in hitting five times. Over his first seven seasons Boggs batted .356 while averaging 220 hits and 103 walks per 162 games played. He was the best hitter in baseball during the 80’s, seemingly able to foul off pitch after pitch until he got the one he wanted.

Boggs set a Major League record while with the Red Sox by collecting 200 hits in seven consecutive seasons. Not only that, they were the first seven full seasons of his career. Even with all the base hits, Boggs managed to walk over 100 times each season from 1986-89. Over the course of his Red Sox career, Boggs walked 1004 times, more than twice as often as he struck out. They just don’t make them like they used to.

Year Tm AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
1982 BOS 338 51 118 14 1 5 44 35 21 .349 .406 .441 .847
1983 BOS 582 100 210 44 7 5 74 92 36 .361 .444 .486 .931
1984 BOS 625 109 203 31 4 6 55 89 44 .325 .407 .416 .823
1985 BOS 653 107 240 42 3 8 78 96 61 .368 .450 .478 .928
1986 BOS 580 107 207 47 2 8 71 105 44 .357 .453 .486 .939
1987 BOS 551 108 200 40 6 24 89 105 48 .363 .461 .588 1.049
1988 BOS 584 128 214 45 6 5 58 125 34 .366 .476 .490 .965
1989 BOS 621 113 205 51 7 3 54 107 51 .330 .430 .449 .879
1990 BOS 619 89 187 44 5 6 63 87 68 .302 .386 .418 .804
1991 BOS 546 93 181 42 2 8 51 89 32 .332 .421 .460 .881
1992 BOS 514 62 133 22 4 7 50 74 31 .259 .353 .358 .711
BOS BOS 6213 1067 2098 422 47 85 687 1004 470 .338 .428 .462 .890

Frank Malzone

Malzone spent almost his whole career with the Red Sox, going to California for his final season in 1966. He batted .276 while picking up 1454 base hits. His 131 home runs and 716 runs batted in are tops at the position for the Red Sox. His heyday lasted eight seasons, from 1957-64. During those years he batted .281 with an average of 16 home runs and 84 RBI. He made eight all-star teams during those seasons, thanks to two All-Star Games in 1959 and 1960.

Malzone was also an excellent fielder, winning the first three Gold Gloves ever awarded to third basemen. In 1957, he led the league in errors made, but also in putouts, assists and double plays turned. He would lead the league in double plays for five consecutive seasons.

After his playing days were over Malzone came back to the organization. He would spend over three decades as a Red Sox scout. After scouting for years he would serve as a player development consultant for the team. Frank Malzone meant a lot to the Boston Red Sox organization.

Frank Malzone shown at batting practice before game with Cleveland at Fenway Park in Boston, July 28, 1957. (AP Photo/Frank C. Curtin)

Jimmy Collins

Collins was already well regarded before joining the Boston Americans in 1901. The franchise was known as the Americans during his entire stint with the team, not becoming named the Red Sox until 1908. Collins’ play remained well above average after switching leagues and he was often regarded as the best third baseman in baseball. On top of that, Collins was also the manager until part way through 1906. He led the team to the first ever World Series Championship in 1903. The following season he led them to a second consecutive pennant, but the Giants refused to play the World Series.

Collins batted .296 while picking up 881 base hits during his time with the organization. He was also a great defender, redefining the position. Before Collins, shortstops were the ones to field bunts. Collins became known for his ability to field bunts and the job eventually shifted to the third baseman. He is still second all-time at the position for putouts recorded. Collins was part of the seventh Hall of Fame class ever with his induction in 1945.

Larry Gardner

Gardner is the other one on the list who played a century ago. He first appeared with the team in 1908 and was the main third baseman from 1910-1917. During that time he collected 1106 base hits while batting .282. His 30.5 WAR is second only to Wade Boggs at the position.

During his stay in Boston, Gardner won three World Series championships. Despite only hitting 16 home runs over eight seasons, Gardner hit three home runs in 18 World Series games with the Red Sox. Despite a low batting average in series play, he made his presence felt.

William Larry Gardner of the Boston Red Sox swinging a bat in 1916. (Photo by Sporting News and Rogers Photo Archive)

Mike Lowell

Mike Lowell was acquired from the Marlins in a deal where Josh Beckett was the headliner. Lowell made his impact in Boston though, putting up fine offensive numbers, playing a rock solid third base and winning the 2007 World Series. That 2007 season was possibly the best of Lowell’s career, batting a career high .324 with 21 home runs and 120 runs batted in. Then in the postseason he batted .353 and drove in 15 runners. His .400 batting average in the World Series helped to net him the MVP Award for the series.

Before a hip problem slowed him in 2010, Lowell averaged a season of .295 19 87 over his first four seasons with the team. He made the All-Star Game in 2007 and finished fifth in the MVP vote. His .814 OPS with the team is 2nd among the guys included in the top five. In the field, Lowell only made six errors during his first season with the team. He is 2nd all-time at the position in career fielding percentage. A well liked player, it will be nice to have him back in the organization for this coming season.

Honorable Mentions:

Bill Mueller, Jim Tabor, Tim Naehring, John Valentin, Johnny Pesky, Rico Petrocelli, Butch Hobson

 

Greatest Starting Right Handed Pitchers

Greatest Starting Left Handed Pitchers

Greatest Relief Pitchers

Greatest Catchers

Greatest First Basemen

Greatest Second Basemen