Loyalty and Longevity Pt. 1: Bobby Doerr

In this series, I look at players who played their entire Major League career with the Red Sox, as long as said Major League career lasted at least ten years.

It has not been too long since I covered Bobby Doerr in a post, though that one was focused on his Hall of Fame career.  Here, I am more concerned with the fact that he had a reasonably long career spent entirely in Boston.  Doerr was purchased from the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League in 1935 and made it to Boston during 1937.  He became the starting second baseman the next season and spent every season there until the end of the 1951 season.  He served in World War II in 1945 and did miss that season.

Doerr was somewhat rare for a second-baseman, able to hit for power and high batting averages.  He also drove in a lot of runs, breaking the century mark six times in his career.  Doerr played in the 1946 World Series and was the only Red Sox hitter to have a successful Series.  He hit .409 with a home run, double, and nine RBIs in the seven-game Series.  Back problems in 1951 ended his career prematurely.  His power numbers had been gradually increasing over the previous seasons until his injury and he was just 33 years old when he retired.

For his career, Doerr hit .288/.362/.461 with 223 home runs and 1,247 RBIs.  He was an outstanding second-baseman who was named to nine All Star games and twice finished in the Top 10 for the AL MVP voting.  Doerr was named to the Hall of Fame in 1986 and had his number 1 retired by the Red Sox.

Red Sox in Cooperstown Pt. 16: Bobby Doerr

BOBBY DOERR
Years with Boston: 1937-1951 (.288/.362/.461, 223 home runs, 1,247 RBIs)
Best Year in Boston: 1944 (.325/.399/.528, 15 home runs, 81 RBIs)

Bobby Doerr was the first young player acquired by owner Tom Yawkey to become a star.  After a few years of acquiring veteran stars, he changed tactics somewhat and began going after young players to build around.  Doerr and Ted Williams were signed on the same West Coast trip.

Doerr was the second-baseman for the Red Sox over the course of his entire career.  He came up briefly in 1937 then became a regular in 1938.  Doerr started to become a star in 1939 hitting .318/.365/.448 with 12 home runs and 73 RBIs.  These were strong numbers for a second-baseman.  The next season, Doerr hit more than 20 home runs and drove in more than 100 runs for the first time in his career while hitting .291.

Doerr was a nine-time All Star, beginning in 1941 and was part of the core of the Red Sox team that was being assembled in the early 1940's.  Doerr had his best season of his career in 1944, one of the years baseball was decimated by World War II.  He lead the league in slugging percentage and had the highest batting average of his career while being named to the All Star team and finishing in the Top 10 for the AL MVP.

The next season, Doerr served in WWII and did not play at all in the Majors.  He came back the following season along with other stars such as Williams, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky and Boston rolled to the World Series.  Doerr was a big part of the team's success, though his batting average dipped, as he drove in a then-career high 116 and finished third in the AL MVP race.  Boston unfortunately did not hit well as a team in the World Series as they fell to the Cardinals in seven games, but Doerr was a bright spot as he topped the team with a .409/.458/.591 line with a home run and three RBIs.

The next few seasons saw Doerr continue to hit well.  His power actually increased over the next few years as he hit 27 home runs twice and drove in well over 100 runs three times.  He lead the league in triples with 11 in 1950.  Doerr was still a productive hitter in 1951, his final season, at the age of 33.  He hit just under .300 with 13 home runs, however, chronic back problems forced him to retire.

Doerr could have been a Hall of Fame inductee much sooner than he was had he had a few more good seasons.  Unfortunately, with his early retirement due to injuries, Doerr was not elected until the Veterans' Committee inducted him in 1986, one of the better selections by the oft-maligned committee.  Doerr's uniform number 1 was retired by the Red Sox that same season.  Doerr is one of four Hall of Famers to spend his entire playing career with the Red Sox.  He is also currently the oldest living Hall of Famer.

Happy Birthday Bobby Doerr

Hall of Fame Red Sox second baseman Bobby Doerr was born on this date 95 years ago.  He is the oldest living player.  Doerr had a great career but he is considered a somewhat borderline Hall of Famer.  Had he not served in World War II and then had his career ended early due to injury, he probably would have been held in higher regard.

10-10-10-10 Seasons in Red Sox History

I was curious about some of the big power/speed seasons in Red Sox history, I will have a post about 20/20 seasons soon (Boston has not had a 30/30 season), so I did some more research. Today however, I was more interested in how many players have had a season in which they had ten or more doubles, triples, home runs, and stolen bases. The triples part is the hard part. You have to have decent power to drive the ball and speed in order to move all the way to third base. So, I formulated a hypothesis as to which players I would see and then did the research.

First Trivia: There are two players that had two such seasons. Who are they?

My hypothesis: I expected to see Nomar Garciaparra, Jackie Jensen, one of the three of Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, or Johnny Pesky, Tris Speaker, and at least one other Dead Ball Era player.

The Results:
Nomar Garciaparra (2003): 37 doubles, 13 triples, 28 home runs, 19 stolen bases.
Johnny Damon (2002): 34 doubles, 11 triples, 14 home runs, 31 stolen bases.
Nomar Garciaparra (1997): 44 doubles, 11 triples, 30 home runs, 22 stolen bases. And it was his rookie year.
Jackie Jensen (1956): 23 doubles, 11 triples, 20 home runs, 11 stolen bases.
Bobby Doerr (1940): 37 doubles, 10 triples, 22 home runs, 10 stolen bases.
Billy Werber (1934): 41 doubles, 10 triples, 11 home runs, 40 stolen bases. Largely forgotten great player in the 1930's.
Tris Speaker (1912): 53 doubles, 12 triples, 10 home runs, 52 stolen bases.
Jake Stahl (1910): 19 doubles, 16 triples, 10 home runs, 22 stolen bases. Ah, the Dead Ball Era.
Buck Freeman (1902): 38 doubles, 19 triples, 11 home runs, 17 stolen bases.
Buck Freeman (1901): 23 doubles, 15 triples, 12 home runs, 17 stolen bases.

Trivia Answer: As you can see both Nomar Garciaparra and Buck Freeman did it twice.

Results: It's pretty rare to see these seasons. Most players do not hit a lot of triples. It's weird that there were four seasons in the first twenty years of the franchise's existence, then after 1956, there was not another one for over forty years. Garciaparra was an incredible player in his rookie season. My hypothesis was correct, although I did not guess that it would be 1956 that Jensen did it. Also, I was surprised that Doerr was the only player who did it. Pesky did not have much power, but I thought he may have hit ten home runs. I am very surprised that DiMaggio did not do it. Four Dead Ball Era players is surprising.