The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 37: Al Van Camp

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right. 

Van Camp is another obscure Red Sox player from the 1932 season.  He spent some time early on playing for minor league teams around Des Moines, IA and Omaha, NE.  The Omaha team was called the Crickets and included a number of players who played in the Majors, none of whom made much of an impact.  Van Camp made his Major League debut with the Indians in 1928, playing in just five games.  

After a few more years in the minors, he made it back to the Majors with the Red Sox in 1931.  That was the year he spent the most time in the Majors, playing in 101 games and hitting .275/.319/.346 splitting time primarily between first base and left field.  

In 1932, he played in just 34 games, 25 at first base and the rest as a pinch hitter or pinch runner.  He hit .223/.252/.301 with 23 hits, four doubles, two triples and six RBIs.  1932 was his last stint in the Majors.  The next season, he was sent to the Louisville team for Merv Shea who spent some time with the Major League team in 1933.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 36: Bennie Tate

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right. 

Finally, a player who played more than a year or two.  Tate had a ten-year career as a catcher in the Majors, primarily playing for the Washington Senators.  He spent his first seven years in the Capital, generally playing a little less than half the games.  In the 1930 season, he was moved to the White Sox and had a nice season.  

Tate started the 1932 season with the White Sox, but after just four games he was traded to the Red Sox.  Tate was involved in the same deal that brought slugger Smead Jolley along with Johnny Watwood and $7,500.00.  Fellow catcher Charlie Berry and utility man Jack Rothrock went the other way.  

Tate was the primary catcher for the Red Sox the rest of the 1932 season, playing in 81 games with Ed Connolly as the second catcher most of the year.  Tate hit .245/.297/.348 with 12 doubles, five triples, two homers and 26 RBIs.  He drew 20 walks and struck out just six times the entire season, which is crazy.  He was not great at stopping the running game, allowing the most stolen bases in the league in 1932.

1932 was Tate's only season in Boston.  He spent the 1933 season and most of 1934 with the Montreal Royals before making it back to the Majors with the Cubs in 1934 for a handful of games.  He played a few more years in the minors after that, but never appeared in the Majors again.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 35: George Stumpf

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

There are a ton of obscure players from the 1932 Red Sox.  George Stumpf is yet another one of these.  The Lousiana native played parts of four seasons in the Majors, but the only year he appeared in more than 25 games was 1932.  He did have a lengthy minor league career spanning 20 seasons.

Stumpf made his Major League debut in 1931, playing in seven games with a .250/.276/.357.  As mentioned, 1932 was the only season he played a significant chunk of the season.  Stumpf appeared at all three outfield positions and played in 79 games.  He was less than impressive at the plate though as he hit just .201/.278/.254.  He hit his only Major League home run and had 34 hits, 18 runs scored, two doubles, two triples, 18 RBI and a stolen base.  He had a 42 OPS+ and a -1.4 WAR.  That is not a good player.

In 1933, his line was an impressive .341/.400/.415, but that was in 22 games.  He didn't appear in the Majors again until 1936 when he played ten games for the White Sox.  His career Major League line was .235/.302/.296.  Across all levels in his 20-year career, he hit .288 and had 116 home runs.  

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 34: Howie Storie

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Howie Storie is another one of those ultra-obscure players to play for the Red Sox in 1932.  Storie actually played parts of two seasons for the Red Sox, but that was for a total of 12 Major League games.  During that time, he did not make a single error and he caught one of the two attempted base stealers on him.

Storie was just 20 years old when he made his Major League debut with the Red Sox in 1930.  That year, he appeared in six games, accumulating 20 plate appearances.  He had two hits and three walks against two strikeouts and scored two runs.  That gave him a line of .118/.250/.118.  

He spent most of the 1932 season in the minors, appearing in 34 games with a line of .227/.227/.351.  Of his 22 hits, four were doubles and four were triples.  He made it into another six games in the Majors, but had just eight plate appearances, mostly early in the season.  He had three hits and had a line of .375/.375/.375.  

Storie played in 13 games in the minors in 1933 and hit just .167.  He was released at some point in the season, and that was it for his career.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 33: Andy Spognardi

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Andy Spognardi is another of those super obscure players from the 1932 season.  1932 was his only Major League season, but he did get a bit more playing time than guys like Hank Patterson, Johnny Lucas and Regis Leheny.  Spognardi was a Boston native who signed a contract with the team and did not spend a day in the minors before making his Major League debut.  He played 17 games in the Majors in 1932 and that was it for his Major League career.

Spognardi played second, third and shortstop for the Red Sox.  In his 41 plate appearances, he accumulated a surprisingly successful .294/.400/.324 line with nine runs scored, a double, an RBI and six walks.  Despite that, he played just a handful of games in the minors the next two seasons and never made it back to the Majors.

According to his biography on SABR, Spognardi was just using baseball to help pay some of his medical school tuition.  He became a doctor after his playing career was over.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 32: Jack Russell

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Jack Russell actually had a lengthy career.  This is even more surprising when one considers his .376 career winning percentage at a time when winning games was everything.  Russell spent most of his time pitching for terrible teams, which somewhat made up for his abysmal winning percentage.

Russell came up with the Red Sox at the age of 20 in 1926, appearing in 36 games with five starts and 98 innings pitched.  He was 0-5 with a 3.58 ERA (114 ERA+, 3.82 FIP), which was his best mark during his eight seasons in Boston.  He had his best season with the Red Sox in 1928 when he had a record of 11-14 with a 3.84 ERA (105 ERA+, 3.82 FIP) in 201.1 innings pitched.  He struck out 27 while walking 41.  He followed that up with a 6-18, 3.92 ERA season in 1929, then led the league in losses in 1930 when he went 9-20 and this time pitched as poorly as his record with a 5.45 ERA (85 ERA+).  He improved somewhat in 1931.

1932 was Russell's final season with the Red Sox, and he did not make it all the way through the year.  He pitched in just eleven games with the Red Sox before being traded to Cleveland in June for Pete Jablonowski (Appleton).  At the time of the trade he was just 1-7 with a 6.81 ERA.  His numbers improved after the trade.  

After the trade, Russell became a reliever primarily.  He was an All Star for Washington in 1934, a year after he went 12-6 with a 2.69 ERA and a league-leading 13 saves.  He was traded back to Boston in June of 1936 in exchange for Joe Cascarella and went 0-3 with a 5.63 ERA in 23 games, mostly in relief.  He was released after the season.

In eight seasons with the Red Sox, Russell's record was 41-94, but his ERA was 4.58 (94 ERA+, 3.85 FIP).  He threw 1,215 innings with 202 strikeouts and 294 walks.  He was generally a much better pitcher than his record showed and was generally pretty good at avoiding walks and fielding.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 31: Jack Rothrock

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

I feel like I have talked about Rothrock a lot lately, but that doesn't seem true.  I did discuss him briefly when I was covering MVP voting from the 1920's, but that was not really that much.  So, here we are.  

Rothrock was a pretty good player developed by the Red Sox in the mid-1920's.  He was extremely versatile and played every position at least once during his Major League career, though his pitching and catching stints were mercifully short.  He only spent more than 100 games at each of the three outfield positions, but came up as an infielder.  

He had some good seasons in the late 1920's with the Red Sox and received some MVP consideration in 1927 (.259/.302/.360) and 1929 (.300/.361/.408, six home runs, 59 RBIs, 24 stolen bases).  He then had some injury problems in 1930 before rebounding with a .278/.343/.383 line in 1931.  

Rothrock played in just 12 games with the Red Sox in 1932.  He hit .208/.283/.229 with ten hits, three runs, a double, three stolen bases, before being traded to the White Sox.  In late April, the two Sox teams engaged in a five-player deal sending Rothrock and Charlie Berry to Chicago in exchange for Smead Jolley, Bennie Tate and Johnny Watwood.  Rothrock's numbers declined further the rest of the season and he did not play in the Majors again until 1934 when he re-emerged as a member of the Gashouse Gang Cardinals with one of his best seasons.

In his eight seasons in Boston, Rothrock hit .278/.335/.375 with 14 home runs, 172 RBIs and 57 stolen bases.  

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 30: Hal Rhyne

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right. 

Hal Rhyne began his career as a utility infielder for the Pirates in 1926.  He was a decent enough fielder and his bat was not a complete waste, which was sort of surprising for a utility infielder in those days.  Rhyne bounced around a little bit and eventually found himself in Boston in 1929.  

Rhyne became the starting shortstop for the Red Sox for three years starting in 1929.  The first year was very similar to his rookie season with Pittsburgh, though he had a little more doubles power (he never hit a home run with the Red Sox).  He was still difficult to strike out and walked more often than he went down at the plate.  1930 saw his numbers decline significantly and he was in danger of losing his job.  His line slipped to .203/.269/.264, with an OPS+ of 39.  His glove kept him on the field though.

1931 was Rhyne's best season and actually saw him get some minor MVP consideration.  His bat rebounded in a fairly big way and he hit .273/.341/.343 with 75 runs scored, 154 hits, 34 doubles and 51 RBIs.  He also led the league in assists (502) and fielding percentage (.963) while being among the league leaders in several other fielding categories.

Rhyne struggled in 1932 though and eventually lost his job to Rabbit Warstler (who I will get to eventually).  He hit just .227/.310/.333 and played in just 71 games.  After the season, Rhyne was shipped out along with Ed Durham and sent to the other Sox for a package include Bob "Fats" Fothergill, Johnny Hodapp, Greg Mulleavy and Bob Seeds.  That was not a great deal for either team, though Durham and Hodapp each did well for their new teams in the one year they were both there.  Rhyne played in just 39 games with Chicago, and that was it for his Major League career.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 29: Gordon Rhodes

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Naturally, as with almost any player with the surname Rhodes, Gordon's nickname was "Dusty".  Rhodes was a right-handed pitcher from Utah who started his career with the Yankees.  He pitched in New York for the first three seasons of his career and started the 1932 season there, though he never pitched in more than 18 games.  He had his best season in 1931, looking like a potentially good player, and pitching to a 6-3 record with a 3.41 ERA (117 ERA+).  

Rhodes started the 1932 season with the Yankees and was in the midst of a 1-2 season with a 7.88 ERA in ten games (two starts) and 24 innings pitched.  In August he was traded to the Red Sox in a deal for reliever Wilcy Moore.  He finished the 1932 season primarily in Boston's rotation, going 1-8 with a 5.11 ERA (87 ERA+).  He threw 79.1 innings with 22 strikeouts and 31 walks.  His FIP was a much more impressive 4.23, meaning he was somewhat victimized by bad defense, which makes sense as I have been looking into this team.

Rhodes pitched another three seasons with the Red Sox, starting more often than not.  He was actually not too bad in 1933 and 1934, going a combined 24-27 with a 4.29 ERA (106 ERA+) in a high-scoring era and ballpark.  He threw 451 innings, striking out 164 and walking 191.  He was the team's top winner in 1933 (12 wins) and was third in 1934 (again, 12 wins).  He also had two saves in 1934.

1935 was rough for Rhodes and he ended up with a record of 2-10 and a 5.41 ERA (87 ERA+).  In 146.1 innings, he struck out 44 and walked 60.  It was the end of the line for Rhodes in Boston.  After the season, he was packaged in a deal along with a substantial amount of money for future Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx.  It was a hell of a deal for Boston, but did not do much for the A's.  Rhodes pitched one last season, losing a league high 20 games with a 5.74 ERA and was done.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 28: Johnny Reder

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

I had actually heard of Johnny Reder early on, so I was kind of surprised that he had only spent one season in the Majors.  On the backs of 1986 Topps cards, there was often a trivia item for each team.  On the back of the Rey Quinones traded card was the fact that Johnny Reder was the first Red Sox player with a palindrome name.  So, there's that I guess.

Reder was 22 in 1932 and saw his only Major League action.  In 17 games.  He played ten games at third base and one at first.  He hit .135/.256/.162 with five hits, four runs, a double, three RBIs and six walks.  And, that's it.  Reder spent a few years after 1932 bouncing around in the minor league systems of the Red Sox, Athletics and Reds.  

One somewhat notable fact about Reder, more notable than the palindrome name, is that he is one of just six Polish-born players in Major League history.  He is the only one to play with the Red Sox.  There are not a ton of European-born players in Major League history, so that seems at least somewhat meaningful.  Other European-born Red Sox include Otto Deininger (Germany), Patsy Donovan (Ireland), Hobe Ferris (UK), Olaf Henriksen (Denmark), Beany Jacobson (Sweden), Marty Krug (Germany), Ted Lewis (UK), Jack Quinn (Slovakia), Win Remmerswaal (Netherlands), Al Shaw (UK) and Bobby Thomson (UK).  Isaiah Campbell, who was acquired from the Mariners for Luis Urias a few weeks ago will become Boston's first Portuguese-born player once he appears in a game.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 27: Urbane Pickering

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Well, at least Pickering has an interesting name.  Unfortunately, there is not much out there to say about the player.  Pickering spent a long time playing for various minor league teams around the country.  Until the Red Sox came calling in 1931.  By that time, Pickering was already in his early 30's.

Pickering played in 103 games in his first taste of the Major Leagues, primarily at third base, but also appearing at second.  He actually had a decent season, hitting .252/.318/.393 with 13 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 52 RBIs and three stolen bases.  It made for a 91 OPS+, which is not good, but was fourth on the team.  

1932 saw Pickering as the team's primary third-baseman.  He played in 132 games, 126 of them at third and one at catcher shockingly enough.  He had a similar year offensively, hitting .260/.320/.357, but his power was significantly down.  He hit just two home runs, but had 28 doubles and five triples.  He drove in 40.  The problem moving forward was that his defense was not good.  He made 21 errors and had a .941 fielding percentage.  That is not good.

Pickering never played in the Majors after 1932.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 26: Hank Patterson

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Once again, my general malaise with this series is threatening to overcome me.  We again have an ultra-obscure player with very little information.  

Hank Patterson was with the Red Sox (and in the Majors for that matter) for just one game.  He played catcher for two innings, not making any noteworthy plays and making it to the plate just once.  That game was the second game of a double-header against Washington.  Bennie Tate started the game and Patterson came in late.  He did not get a hit in his one at-bat, but I cannot determine what happened in it.  And that's it for Hank Patterson.  I have no information about whether he played in the minors anywhere, but I assume he did.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 24: Marv Olson

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Marv Olson was the primary second-baseman for the Red Sox in 1932.  That says more about the team's lack of options than it does anything about the caliber of player of Marv Olson.  Olson arrived in the Majors in 1931, playing in 15 games with a line of .189/.306/.208.  He had a double, eight runs scored and five runs batted in.  

Olson played in 115 games in 1932, almost exclusively at second base.  His hitting improved a little bit over his 1931 season.  He batted a respectable .248/.347/.313, showing an ability to get on base, but little to no power.  He had 100 hits with 14 doubles and six triples, but no home runs.  He scored 58 runs and drove in 25 and had just one stolen base.  Olson was competent at putting the ball in play and at the plate, he struck out just 25 times, but drew 61 walks.  He was also eighth in the league in sacrifice hits.

Defensively, Olson was not exactly great.  He was third in the league with 28 errors, but fifth in range factor (which obviously did not really exist at the time).  He had a .955 fielding percentage, which is not ideal for a middle infielder.  

1933 was Olson's last year in the Majors.  He played in just three games, all with the Red Sox, before being traded in May to the Yankees for Dusty Cooke, which was a rare deal that worked out much better for the Red Sox than the Yankees.  Olson, nor Johnny Watwood, ever played for the Yankees while Cooke hit .284/.392/.422 over the next four seasons with Boston.  Olson's career line was .241/.342/.300.  

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 23: Tom Oliver

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Tom Oliver had a four-year Major League career and was the primary center fielder for the Red Sox every year, including 1932.  He arrived in the Majors in 1930 at the age of 27 and led the American League in games played (154) and at-bats (646).  He was a decent contact hitter with virtually no power whatsoever.  He did not hit a single home run in his Major League career and had a career slugging percentage of .340.  In 1930, he hit .293/.339/.351 with 189 hits, 86 runs scored, 34 doubles, 46 RBIs and six stolen bases.

Despite the somewhat promising start to his career, Oliver's numbers would decline each year after that.  By the time 1932 came around, he hit just .264/.305/.327 with 120 hits, 23 doubles, 39 runs scored, 32 RBIs and one stolen base.  

Oliver's best tool was his fielding.  He led the league in fielding percentage in both 1930 and 1931 and was regularly in the top ten in most fielding categories.  Unfortunately, his hitting was not enough to keep him in the Majors long-term, especially as it declined.  

Partway through the 1933 season, Oliver's contract was sold to a minor league team and he never made it back to the Majors.  

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 22: Wilcy Moore

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Wilcy Moore did not make it to the Major Leagues until the age of 29, but he did it with the 1927 Yankees, one of the greatest teams of all time.  Moore was used primarily as a relief ace, but he put up some terrific numbers.  In 50 games pitched, he started 12, Moore had a record of 19-7, with a league-leading 2.28 ERA and 13 saves.  He pitched 213 innings.  Moore's numbers declined the next couple of seasons and he found himself back in minor league purgatory for the 1930 season.  

The Red Sox drafted him from the Rule 5 Draft and inserted him into their pitching staff for the 1931 season.  His record of 11-13 was deceiving because he actually had a very good year.  Pitching in a role similar to his time with the '27 Yankees, he pitched in 53 games with 15 starts.  He threw 185.1 innings with a 3.88 ERA and saved eight games to lead the league.  

Moore started the 1932 season with the Red Sox, but had a record of 4-10 with a 5.23 ERA with four saves in 84.1 innings.  The Yankees, needing some bullpen help, acquired him from Boston for Gordon "Dusty" Rhodes.  Moore stepped up and pitched well for the Yankees the rest of the way, of course.  He had an ERA of 2.52 in 25 innings.  He pitched one more year for the Yankees and struggled.  That was it for his Major League career.  

Moore had a 15-23 record with the Red Sox.  He threw 269.2 innings, striking out 65 and walking 97 with an ERA of 4.31 and 12 saves.  He was a relief ace at a time when there were very few, but his inconsistency from year to year and starting his Major League career at almost 30 years of age prevented him from having a lengthy career.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 21: Otis Miller

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Honestly, this series is kind of hard to work up the motivation to keep going.  There are so many players and so few of them played enough to be interesting.  But, I will soldier on because I find the era from 1920 to 1932 to be severely underreported.  If I were a more enterprising baseball researcher, perhaps this would be an era to write a book about.  Unfortunately, I work about 60 hours a week at my own job.  I would not have the time to undertake something like that.  

Anyway, let's talk about Otis Miller.  Miller made his Major League debut with the St. Louis Browns in 1927, playing in 51 games as a 26-year-old rookie.  He re-emerged in Boston three years later and spent two seasons splitting time between third and second base.  He eclipsed 100 games played in each of 1930 and 1931.  In 1930, he had a pretty decent season, hitting .286/.333/.373 with 22 doubles, five triples, 40 RBIs and more walks than strikeouts.  His numbers dipped the next season to .272/.301/.308 with 12 doubles and 43 RBIs.

1932 saw Miller play in just two games, getting two pinch-hitting at-bats that came up empty.  He was released in April and never made it back to the Major Leagues.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 20: John Michaels

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

John Michaels is another obscure member of the 1932 Red Sox team.  1932 was his only season in the Major Leagues, though he did appear in a reasonable number of games during the season.  Michaels was pitching in the minor leagues when he was sent to the Red Sox Major League team in December of 1931.  Michaels spent most of the season in Boston, pitching in 28 games, primarily as a reliever.

The southpaw Michaels made his Major League debut in the fourth game of the season, entering the game in the fourth inning and pitching just one-third of an inning.  He walked a batter and allowed a hit, but got the last out of the inning.  

Michaels threw 80.2 innings and made eight starts during the season.  Michaels finished with a record of 1-6, his only win came in a complete game 6-5 win over the Yankees.  He allowed five runs, four earned, striking out one and walking two.  Michaels notched 16 strikeouts and 27 walks over the season.  

After the 1932 season, Michaels pitched a few years in the Cardinals system, followed by a one-year return to the Red Sox.  He never made it back to the Majors.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 19: Gordon McNaughton

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right. 

Gordon McNaughton does not have any cards.  That is how obscure he is.  But, his life is interesting for one reason, which I will get to.

McNaughton's baseball career was not terribly exciting.  He pitched in just one season in the Major Leagues, of course that being the 1932 season with the Red Sox.  McNaughton was just 21 years old when he made his Major League debut.  His stint consisted of just six games, including two games started and two games finished.  The right-hander pitched 21 innings and had a record of 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA.  He walked 22 batters, while striking out six.  McNaughton pitched a few games in a couple of seasons in the minors with the Red Sox and Tigers organization, but 1932 was his only year in the Majors.

Now, for that interesting tidbit.  Apparently, at the age of 32 in 1942, McNaughton was at a hotel with a woman who was not his girlfriend.  His girlfriend walked in on him and shot him in the chest, killing him.  There is some additional information that the gun used belonged to a policeman who was fired for being neglectful of his weapon and later killed himself.  It's a very odd situation.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 18: Marty McManus

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right. 

I was a little surprised when I looked into Marty McManus's stats.  He was a pretty good player for quite a long time.  I had been aware of him for awhile, since I pulled a card of him out of a Conlon box early on.  McManus spent most of the 1932 season as player/manager for the Red Sox.

McManus came up with the Browns in 1920 and spent the next seven years in St. Louis.  He played primarily second base and became a very good contact hitter.  He batted over .300 three times with the Browns and led the league in doubles in 1925.  After the 1926 season, he was traded to the Tigers and had a few more strong seasons, including leading the league in stolen bases in 1930 while hitting .320 and driving in 89 runs.  

Late in the 1931 season, McManus was traded to the Red Sox for catcher Muddy Ruel.  In 17 games the rest of that season, he hit .290/.371/.403 with four doubles, a home run, nine RBIs and a stolen base.  He split that time between second base and third base.

Which brings us to 1932.  McManus spent time primarily between second and third, with more time at second.  He did play the other infield positions as well.  After the first 55 games in which Boston went 11-44, manager Shano Collins was dismissed and McManus became player/manager.  Under him, the team had a record of 32-67.  He took a bit of a back seat in playing time, but still played in 93 games, hitting .235/.317/.374 with five home runs and 24 RBIs.  

He seemed to figure out how to balance the two roles in 1933.  The team was still not great, but improved.  The Red Sox had a record of 63-86.  His numbers improved as well, as he hit .284/.369/.413 with 30 doubles, three home runs, 36 RBIs and three stolen bases.  It would be McManus's last year with the Red Sox, but not in Boston, though there was a short stint in time that he was in the Dodgers organization.  McManus finished his Major League career with the Braves in 1934.  

For his career, McManus hit .289/.357/.430 with 1,926 hits, 401 doubles, 120 home runs, 992 RBIs and 126 stolen bases.  Much better numbers than I expected.  McManus was near the end of his career when he went to the Red Sox, but he still put up a line of .264/.348/.396 with 53 doubles, nine home runs and 69 RBIs in 216 games over two-plus seasons.

The Worst Red Sox Team of All Time Pt. 17: Jud McLaughlin

Failure is often even more fascinating than success. I am definitely intrigued by the 1932 Boston Red Sox, the worst Red Sox team of all time. The team finished with a record of 43-111, for a winning percentage of .279 and very little went right.

Well after we had a long-time legitimate Major Leaguer in the last post, it is only fair to return to a much more obscure player this time around.  Justin "Jud" McLaughlin's Major League career spanned three seasons, but only 16 games.  All of those games were in relief.  

McLaughlin signed with the Red Sox right out of high school and made his big league debut in 1931 at the age of 19.  He appeared in nine games that season, pitching 12 innings while giving up 16 earned runs.  His ERA was 12.00.  He struck out three and walked eight.  

In 1932, McLaughlin appeared in just one game.  He pitched three innings, giving up five runs and four walks without striking anyone out.  He made his first plate appearance and struck out.  He spent the rest of the season in the minors.

1933 saw him appear in six more games, throwing 8.2 innings.  He had an ERA of 6.23, a marked improvement.  He walked five and struck out one.  He spent most of the season in the minors.  He was in the minors in 1934 as well, but never made another Major League appearance.

McLaughlin spent his career with the Red Sox, but had a record of 0-0 in 16 relief appearances.  In 23.2 innings pitched, he had an ERA of 10.27.  He struck out just four batters while walking 17.