100 Greatest Red Sox >> #37 Dutch Leonard

Dutch Leonard, SP, #N/A (1913-1918)

W-L 90-64, 211 G, 162 GS, 96 CG, 25 SHO, 2.13 ERA

Hubert Benjamin "Dutch" Leonard was born on 16 April 1893 in Birmingham, Ohio. He pitched for two seasons in college and one in the minors before getting his shot in the Majors. His BR Bullpen profile mentions a trial in 1911 with the Philadelphia A's. Legal troubles? Did they mean tryout? Research-backed answers get a cookie. He would break into the bigs with the Red Sox as a 20 year old in 1913.

What do we need to know about Dutch Leonard? Leonard was a part of three teams that would go on to WS titles in his career with the Red Sox. The only downside was having to play second fiddle to Babe Ruth for most of that time. He was an excellent pitcher in his own right, averaging over 16 wins a season over his 5 1/2 years with the Sox. Dutch was also a spitballer, and one of the pitchers allowed to continue throwing the pitch after it was banned in 1920.

Dutch's first season, 1913, was successful and unsuccessful. His ERA+ was a solid 122, with a WHIP of 1.307. However, he won only 14 and lost 17, being a good example of why wins and losses aren't a great way to judge a pitcher. The 1913 team finished fourth in the American League. He was on the verge of one of the greatest seasons ever by a starter.

As sophomore slumps go, Dutch didn't have one. He set the modern-day record for ERA at 0.96 with a staggering ERA+ of 279 over 224 2/3 IP. He would go as high as 16th in the MVP voting at the end of the season winning 19 games and helping the Sox move from 4th to 2nd place that season. One would hope, with the years to come, that even Leonard wouldn't see the 0.96 ERA as his crowning achievement.

1915 was an exciting season for the Sox. The first full season for Babe Ruth ushered in a WS title. The Sox would finish the season with 101 wins. Leonard had a good season, but after his phenomenal 1914, one might think it was a let down. Hopefully the WS trophy reduced some of the sting.

The next season was more of the same. Leonard won 18 in support of staff ace Ruth, and the Sox would win another title. Dutch did throw a no-hitter this season, against the St. Louis Browns, on 30 August. It's important to note that Dutch tossed a complete game win in both Series in which he appeared. While Leonard would be a part of the 1918 squad, he would never pitch another World Series game in his career.

Dutch reached a career high in complete games in 1917, finishing 26 of those contests he started. How weak are today's pitchers compared to that era? Dutch would finish only fifth in the league in that category. The Sox would finish nine games behind the White Sox that season, probably due to the departure of Tris Speaker. The Sox as a team held an ERA of 2.20, so it would seem hard to blame anyone but the offense.

1918 was Leonard's last season with the Sox, and he would only pitch half the season, missing time due to service in WWI and some time spend building ships. He would find time to pitch his second and last no-hitter, against the Detroit Tigers on 3 June. He would move on to the those Tigers in 1919, finishing his ML career in the Motor City. However, as with almost all human beings, his life was not without some significant controversy.

First of all, Dutch had a bit of a history with Tigers' superstar and all-around nice guy Ty Cobb. I'm going to let Ty Cobb dot org handle this one:

In 1914, Red Sox pitcher Dutch Leonard hit Cobb in the ribs with a fastball. In the next at bat, Cobb bunted the ball down the right side line. First baseman Clyde Engle covered the play, turning to toss the ball to Leonard just as Cobb spiked him.

Basically, the two had a pleasant history before Leonard arrived to play for Cobb's Tigers. He would never enjoy the same success he had with the Sox, but he was able to arrange some game-fixing while he was there. The story goes like this: Dutch was involved in game-fixing with Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker while he was a Tiger. Ex-Sox pitcher Smokey Joe Wood would also be implicated. Leonard would mostly hurt himself with this, until he produced documentation in 1926 that the incident did, in fact, occur. Speaker and Cobb would be released by their teams after the season. Leonard had already finished pitching the season before. It's important to note that the players did not throw the game for bettors. Quite simply, the Tigers could move into third-place for extra money.

Leonard would not return to baseball. He would become an accomplished wine-maker and a successful golfer. He died at the age of 60 because of complications due to stroke.

Allen once ate a live snake, spine and all. Just kidding. Snakes don't have spines. Find out more at Over The Monster.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #53 Duffy Lewis

Duffy Lewis, LF (1910-1917)

1184 G, 1248 H, 500R, 27 HR, 629 RBI, 102 SB, .289 Avg, .335 OBP, .395 SLG

Duffy Lewis' biography will be posted once it has been completed.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #62 Larry Gardner

William Lawrence "Larry" Gardner, 3B (1908-1917)

1123 G, 1106 H, 496 R, 87 3B, 16 HR, 481 RBI, .282 Avg, .347 OBP, .377 SLG

William Lawrence Gardner (Larry Gardner) was born May 13, 1886 in Enosburg Falls, Vermont. Larry attended the University of Vermont and indeed became the first player from that school to make it all the way to the American League. What better way for a New England native than to make your break in baseball with the Boston Red Sox. Larry made his Major League debut on June 25th, 1908. Interestingly, the great 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson made his debut the same year.

Larry was a third baseman for the Sox from 1908 to 1917. In his time in Boston in particular he was known for being a clutch hitter who rose to the occasion in big games. He finished his career with three World Series wins in all, two of those with the Red Sox.

Gardner's key career moment probably came in the famous tenth inning of the final game of 1912 World Series. Although it was two big errors that the Red Sox two extra outs to work with, it was Gardner who drove in Steve Yerkes with the winning run of the entire series.

He also played with both the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians (1919-1924). Larry would excel late in his career with the Indians, winning a World Series (his third) with them in 1920 and then going on to hit a career high .319 in 1921.

Larry played his final game in the majors on September 6, 1924. In his 17-season career, Larry Gardner posted a .289 batting average with 27 home runs and 929 RBI in 1922 games. It should be noted Larry played in the infamous 'dead ball' period, where the ball was literally much heavier and harder than it is now. His numbers were excellent for the time. After retiring from the league he returned to the University of Vermont as a baseball coach and athletic director.

Larry passed away March 11, 1976 in St.George, Vermont at the grand old age of 90. Larry Gardner was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000. I say life was pretty good to you if you got to play for the Boston Red Sox, lived to the age of ninety and were born and buried in the same state.

This Top 100 Red Sox of all time profile was written by Cormac Eklof @ ''I didn't know there was baseball in Ireland?!''

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #66 Carl Mays

Carl Mays, SP (1915-1919)

72 Wins, 51 Losses, 112 GS, 2.21 ERA, 399 K, 290 BB

Carl Mays has two unfortunate blots on his legacy. 1) It was he, on August 16, 1920, who threw the pitch that fatally struck Cleveland’s Ray Chapman in the head — to this day the major leagues’ only fatality. 2) He played for the New York Yankees.

But we won’t hold either of those against him. Because for the three full seasons Mays pitched for the Olde Towne Team before being traded to the Bronx in 1919, he was a scintillating pitcher: dominant, fierce, and absolutely fearless. (He was every bit as good, if not better, than another hurler traded to the Bronx, named George Herman Ruth.)

Born November 12, 1891 in Liberty, Kentucky, Mays was a lethal submariner who was also, shall we say, very “resourceful” on the mound. He made great use of the spitball, which was legal in the first few years of his career — and was, in fact, until Chapman’s death led to it being outlawed. (Even though, as Bill James argued in his Historical Baseball Abstract, the pitch Mays threw was “probably not a spitball.”)

No question, Mays — who notched a 2.60 ERA, going 6-5 with 7 saves in 38 games as a starter and reliever his first (1915) season — had a reputation. He threw hard, and he was not at all afraid to compose a little chin music. “If you got to knock somebody down to win a ball game, do it,” he said. “It’s your bread and butter.”

In 1916, his first full season with the Sox, he hit nine batters. The next two seasons, he hit 14 (leading the American League) and 18 respecitvely. But it was the other numbers that told the full story: 18-13, 2.39 in 1916; 22-9, 1.74 in 1917; 21-13, 2.21 in 1917. He wasn’t a big strikeout guy (114 was his career best in 1918), but his knew how to win games: primarily by scaring the living daylights out of batters with that screaming underhand pitch.

“Carl Mays wasn’t very popular, but when nobody else could win, he could,” said left fielder Duffy Lewis. “Whatever criticism you may make about Mays,” said Sox shortstop Everett Scott, “he has more guts than any pitcher I ever saw.”

In three full and two partial seasons with the Red Sox, Mays won three World Series with the team: 1915, 1916, and 1918 — in the last of which he went 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA. It was also in 1918 that he lead the league in complete games (30) and shutouts (8).

But the good times couldn’t last. Despite enjoying his best season with the Yankees in 1921, leading the AL in wins (27), innings pitched (336.2), games pitched (49), and winning percentage (.750), he was accused later that season of throwing the Bombers’ World Series against the Giants. The charges were never proven, but two years after the Black Sox scandal in Chicago, the mere insinuation was enough to permanently marr his legacy.

It was that, and, of course, the sad Chapman incident for which Mays would be remembered most — far more, alas, than for his greatest achievements on the mound. If it weren’t for these smudges on his record, he might have made it to Cooperstown. Instead, he retired at 37 and lived out the rest of his life quietly, dying in El Cajon, California, at age 79, in 1971.

Biography written by Mike Millard of the Phoenix's SoxBlog.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #68 Rube Foster

Rube Foster, SP, (1913-1917)

58-33, 138 G, 103 GS, 60 CG, 2.36 ERA

George “Rube” Foster was born on Thursday, January 5, 1888, in Lehigh, Oklahoma. Foster was 25 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 10, 1913, with the Boston Red Sox. He was a right-handed pitcher with the Red Sox from 1913 to 1917 and won two World Series championships with the team in 1915 and again in 1916.

Foster acted as a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher for the Red Sox during the 19 games he pitched during the season. He posted a 3-3 record with a 3.16 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 68.3 innings pitched.

Foster’s sophomore season in the big leagues was one of his best, in which he pitched in 32 games, while starting 27 of them. After Boston teammate Smoky Joe Wood taught him how to throw a fastball, the 5’7" Foster went 14-8 (1.65) in 1914. On May 26, 1914, Rube Foster’s string of 42 consecutive scoreless innings was stopped by Cleveland in the 5th inning. The Naps prevailed to win, 3–2.

He finished second in the American League with an impressive 1.70 ERA. Foster was only behind his fellow Red Sox team mate, Dutch Leonard, who posted a 0.96 ERA, which is now considered the modern day, all-time single-season record. Team mates Leonard, Foster, and Ernie Shore had three of the top four ERAs, the other belonging to Walter Johnson.

In 1915, Foster posted a 19-8 record, and an another impressive 2.11 ERA. Foster most effectively showed his importance to the team in the 1915 World Series where he picked up 2 complete game wins and only gave up 4 earned runs and struck out 13 batters in 18.0 innings. With the bat, Foster went 4-for-8, with a double and an RBI.

The 1915 World Series was of the most tightly contested World Series and was a week long pitching clinic, starting with the legendary Pete Alexander, who outdueled the Sox’ Ernie Shore, 3-1, in the opener by holding Boston to eight harmless singles. Rube Foster was the story in the series equalizer, firing a three-hitter and driving in the deciding run in the 2-1 victory with an RBI single in the top of the ninth. Back in Boston, Dutch Leonard spun another three-hit gem, against Alexander no less, in a bookend 2-1 win, and the next day the Sox made it three straight wins by an identical score. Game 5 in Philadelphia would qualify as a slugfest. Staked to a 4-2 lead, Eppa Rixey served up a two-run shot to the Sox’ Duffy Lewis in the eighth, and Harry Hooper struck for a solo blast in the ninth. After his rough start, Foster settled down to skunk the Phillies over the final five innings, cementing Boston’s third Series title.

Foster had another good campaign in 1916 acting as a starting pitcher and relief pitcher. He went 14-7 in the season, and posted a decent 3.06 ERA. In the 1916 World Series, Foster came in relief in Game 3, and pitched three scoreless innings. The Red Sox ended up winning the series 4 games to 1, and became the first back-to-back winners of the World Series since the Philadelphia Athletics had done it 5 years earlier.

Foster went back to a mainly starting role in 1917, posting an 8-7 record with a 2.53 ERA. Before the start of the 1918 season, Foster was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Dave Shean. Rube Foster refused to report to his new team so the Red Sox sent cash to the Cincinnati Reds to complete the trade.

Rube Foster’s baseball career ended. He finished his major league career with 58-33 career pitching record, a 2.36 earned run average and 294 strikeouts in 842.3 innings pitched.

Player Biography by Karen

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #75 Ernie Shore

Ernie Shore, SP, (1914-1918)

58 wins, 33 losses, 125 G, 103 GS, 51 CG, 839 IP, 2.12 ERA, 1.12 WHIP

Perhaps no pitcher was more tied to the early story of Babe Ruth than Ernest Grady Shore. The two were traded together, were ace starters for the World Champion Red Sox together. And without Ruth’s outrageous temper, Ernie Shore would not have carved out a slice of fame as the answer to a trivia question:

Who is the only pitcher to throw a perfect game – in relief?

Shore was born March 24, 1891 in East Bend, N.C. He came to baseball through the New York Giants organization. Starting early in his apparent affinity for bizarre pitching performances, Shore gave up 10 runs (three earned) in his major league debut – a ninth-inning relief appearance for the Giants in June 1912 – yet was credited with the save. The game still holds the NL record for most runs scored in the ninth by two teams (17).

From the Giants, he moved to the Baltimore Orioles, where he was a teammate of George Herman Ruth. The pair were sold – arguably one of the best transactions in the history of the franchise – to the Red Sox in the summer of 1914 for $25,000. A week later, July 14, Shore made his American League debut and fared much better, pitching a two-hitter and beating the Indians, 2-1.

Despite starting the season late, Shore undoubtedly would have been a Rookie of the Year candidate, had the award existed in 1914, going10-5 with a 2.00 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. It was merely a warm-up, however, for his 1915 campaign.

Shore went 19-8 in his first full season, posting a sterling 1.64 ERA, good for third in the league, and a 170 ERA+. He stamped an exclamation point on the pennant-winning season by hurling a 12-inning, 1-0 shutout against Detroit in September. With five 15-game winners, the 1915 Red Sox were a dominant pitching club, even for the dead-ball era. They won 101 games and faced Philadelphia in the World Series, where Shore made up for a Game 1 loss by winning a 2-1 squeaker in Game 4. The Red Sox won in five games.

Shore returned to earth a bit in 1916, his ERA jumping a run to just better than league average. He still managed to win 16 games. Again, the Sox went to the World Series – this time against the Brooklyn Robins. Shore cruised through the Robin lineup in Game 1 before running into trouble in the ninth, needing Carl Mays to close the game out. In the clinching Game 5, however, he was masterful, hurling a complete game three-hitter, giving up a lone unearned run to give the Sox their fourth World Series win in 14 years and second in a row.

Although he only managed 13 wins in 1917, Shore threw his second-best season, lowering his WHIP to 1.13, his ERA to 2.22 and finishing third in shutouts, with seven. Despite his two World Series rings and his three consecutive seasons as one of the AL’s best starters, Ernie Shore would forever be known for what happened June 23, 1917, when he wasn’t even scheduled to pitch.

Old teammate Ruth was on the mound for the Red Sox, and Ruth promptly walked the Senators’ leadoff hitter, Ray Morgan. Unhappy with the calls, Ruth complained to home plate umpire Brick Owens, who ejected him. Enraged, Ruth slugged Owens before being taken from the field. Shore was called from the bullpen. With the catcher also ejected during the row, Morgan decided to attempt a steal off the new battery, to no avail. With the baserunner retired, Shore went to work, not allowing a single man to reach as the Red Sox won, 4-0. For 74 years, the feat stood as a perfect game – after all, Shore was on the mound for all 27 outs of a nine-inning game. But a 1991 rules committee refined the qualifications for no-hitters and perfect games and downgraded Shore’s performance to a shared no-hitter with Ruth.

Although winning two rings with the Sox, Shore missed a third in 1918 when he fought in World War I. Upon his return, Harry Frazee was breaking up one of 20th century baseball’s first dynasties, and Shore was among the casualties – shipped with Dutch Leonard and Duffy Lewis for four no-names and $15,000. The Boston Post summed up the trade this way: “It will take a lot to convince Boston fans that they got the best of this one.”

Despite being just 27 when he began pitching for the Yankees in 1919, Shore never pitched well again. He started just 13 games that season and posted a 4.17 ERA, nearly a full run above the league average. He appeared in just 13 games in 1920 – when he was once again a teammate of Ruth’s. It would be his last season. At age 30, Ernie Shore was out of baseball.

What caused Shore’s difficulty? The Sporting News, quoted in Jim Reisler’s Launching the Legend, intimated he was having trouble regaining his control upon returning from the war. If he was unable to control his pitches, Shore at least helped to maintain control of the volatile Ruth, who in 1920 was nearly knifed by a heckler after Ruth charged him in the stands. According to Reisler, Shore stood between the men and cooled the situation down.

With baseball behind him, Shore returned to North Carolina, where he became Forsyth County sheriff. He later led the push to build a minor-league ballpark in Winstom-Salem. The Winston-Salem Warthogs, a Class high-A White Sox affiliate, now play at Ernie Shore Field – and have done so for 51 years.

Shore died Sept. 24, 1980, at age 89, in Winston-Salem. At the time of his death, he still received credit for pitching a perfect game in 1917 – a distinction he kept for 11 more years.

Paul is a comoderator for Yanksfan vs. Soxfan, a blog dedicated to all things Sox-, Yanks- and rivalry-related.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #87 Ray Collins

Ray Collins, SP, (1909-1915)

199 G, 90 CG, 1336 IP, 84-62, 2.51 ERA

Ray Collins, a native New Englander who was born in Vermont, pitched his entire seven year career in Boston. In his five years as a regular member of the Sox rotation the lefty posted a better than league average ERA and won at least 11 games. In 1910 he was just 13-11, but had a 1.62 ERA in 244.2 IP. His best two years in the win column came in ’13 and ’14 when he combined to win 39 games and tossed 519 innings. His biggest asset was his outstanding control. He allowed just 1.81 BB/9 innings over 1336 IP for his career. Out of all the pitchers who threw at least 450 IP as a member of the Red Sox only Cy Young, Curt Schilling, and Jesse Tannehill were able to better that mark.

Hall of Famer Ty Cobb was quoted on several occasions as saying that Collins was one of, if not the, toughest pitcher he ever faced. He apparently was able to handle all the Tigers pretty well. On September 22nd, 1914 he pitched an entire double header against the Tigers, going the distance in both games, beating them 5-0 and 5-3.

In 1915 the Red Sox, who would go on to win the World Series, had the best crop of young pitchers in baseball. Rube Foster, Ernie Shore, Babe Ruth, Dutch Leonard, Joe Wood, and Carl Mays (all of whom will be appearing later on this list) were so good that the 28 year old Ray Collins, coming off a 20 win season, was relegated to the bullpen. Collins never made an appearance in any of the 5 World Series games in 1915, but it was his second time being on a Boston team that won the Championship. He had a 1.88 ERA in 14.3 IP in the 1912 World Series win over the New York Giants.

Collins struggled in 1915 while coming out of the bullpen and took the failure so hard that he retired after the season stating that he was “discouraged by his failure to show old-time form.” Arm troubles may have also contributed to the early demise of his promising career.

Collins threw 90 shutouts for Boston, 12th most in team history and his 19 shutouts were good enough for 7th best. His 2.51 ERA ranks 6th all-time for the team, 1 point ahead of Pedro Martinez, although Collins was pitching in a different ERA. League average ERA during the years that he was pitching was 2.90, but still Collins finished his career with a very respectable ERA+ of 115.

After retirement he returned home to Vermont to work on his family’s farm and coach his former school’s baseball team at the University of Vermont. He died at the age of 82 in 1970 while still living in his home state.

Brian Martin used to write at Friendly Fenway, but he's a lazy bastard and let the site die.