100 Greatest Red Sox >> #51 Johnny Damon

Johnny Damon, CF, #18 (2002-2005)

597 G, 730 H, 461 R, 56 HR, 299 RBI, 98 SB, .295 Avg, .362 OBP, .441 SLG

At 9:11 PM on the evening of October 20, 2004, the centerfielder for the Boston Red Sox hit what many have called the biggest home run in Boston Red Sox history. It was a first-pitch swing against New York Yankees pitcher Javier Vazquez, and he hit it into the short-porch seats in rightfield, just a couple of rows deep. It was a grand slam that gave the Red Sox a 6-0, second inning lead in Game 7 of the American League Series, in a game the Sox would go on to win, 10-3, and complete the single greatest comeback in the 101-year history of baseball's postseason.

That one swing made Johnny Damon a legend in the annals of the long, storied history of the Boston Red Sox.

Johnny David Damon was born on November 5, 1973 to a white father and a Thai mother on an Army base in Fort Riley, Kansas. His parents met while his father wasa Staff Sergeant in the US Army. Johnny spent most of his early life as an Army brat travelling with his family to several Army bases before the family finally settled in the Orlando, Florida area. In his early life, Johnny suffered from a stuttering problem, which made his a rather quiet kid.

But he excelled in sports, and at Dr. Phillips High School in 1992 he was rated the top schoolboy prospect in the country by Baseball America, was named to USA Today's High School All-America team, and was the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year. He was the 35th overall pick in the 1992 MLB draft, and turned down a baseball scholarship to the University of Florida to sign with the Kansas City Royals.

Damon was the Royals' Minor League Player of the Year in 1994, and the Texas League MVP in 1995, and was brought up to Kansas City in August 1995. He became a regular in the Royals outfield in 1996, hitting a solid .271 and stealing 25 bases in 145 games.

Damon would soon gain a reputation as one of the fastest outfielders in the game, as he was in the Top 3 in AL in triples three straight seasons from 1997-99. His power numbers steadily increased, as he hit 18 homers in 1998. He stole at least 25 bases in three of his first four full seasons.

But Johnny Damon would have his breakout season in 2000, batting .327 with 16 HRs, 88 RBI, and 214 hits. He would lead the AL with 46 stolen bases, and runs, scoring 136.

The Kansas City Royals had a superstar player in the making, but being a small-market club, simply couldn't pay Damon enough to keep him. He was a free agent after the 2001 season, so in early January 2001, he was traded to Oakland Athletics in a three-team deal that also involved the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Damon's first year in Oakland got off to a rough start, and he struggled a good part of the season. But by August, he finally got hot and managed to salvage what was mostly a lost season for him, hitting .256 with 27 stolen bases and 108 runs.

But the A's had a wonderful season, winning the AL Wild Card with 102 wins. They faced the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series, and it would Damon's first taste of the postseason. He would have a fine series, hitting .409, scoring three runs and stealing two bases. But the A's lost a 2-0 series lead, as the Yankees won two games in Oakland and then wrapped up Game 5 back in New York to advance to the ALCS.

The A's would elect not to pursue Damon as a free agent, as GM Billy Beane would rather let the more expensive players walk and rebuild the farm system with draft picks than increase payroll. So Damon walked away, and on December 21, 2001, Damon signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. This would turn out to be the final move by then-GM Dan Duquette, as he was fired in early 2002, as the Red Sox had been sold that winter to John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino.

It would also prove to be one of Duquette's best moves, as well.

Damon would take over centerfield at Fenway Park and make a big splash right away. He was picked for the AL All-Star team for the first time. He hit 14 HRs, 63 RBI and a .286 batting average. He played a tremendous centerfield, and gave the Red Sox an excellent leadoff hitter and stolen base threat, as he swiped 31 bases.

Damon would put up similar numbers for the Red Sox in 2003, but he would be at the top of one of the most dynamic lineups in baseball history. The Sox faded in June of 2002, finishing second and out of the postseason. But in 2003, they got hot in August and would go on to win the Wild Card in late September.

The Red Sox opponents in the first round would be Damon's former club, the Oakland A's. The Sox fell behind 2-0, losing the first two in Oakland. They returned to Boston and won Game 3 on a Trot Nixon 11th inning homer, and Game 4 on a clutch David Ortiz double in the eighth inning (it also included Damon's first career postseason home run).

Game 5 would be back in Oakland, and it would be a life-changing game for Johnny Damon.

The Red Sox scored four runs in the sixth on two homers by Jason Varitek and Manny Ramirez to take a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Jermaine Dye of the A's hit a pop up to short center. Damon and Damian Jackson, who had just gone in to 2nd base as a defensive replacement for Todd Walker, both attempted to catch it, but they wound up colliding in a horrendous scene that left Damon unconscious for a short time. He was taken off the field by ambulance, but gave the crowd a thumbs-up before he left. The Red Sox would go on to win, 4-3, to advance to the ALCS and a showdown with the hated New York Yankees.

Damon would be forced to miss the first two games in New York. He wanted to play but Red Sox doctors kept him on the sidelines. He would return for Game 3, but he clearly wasn't the same player before the collision. in the final five games, he would go 4-for-20 with just one RBI. The Red Sox would of course, just miss going to the World Series, but once the Sox season was over, Damon would return home to Florida and do something that would alter his career forever.

He let his hair grow, and he stopped shaving.

Damon showed up at spring training in Ft. Myers in February 2004 with a beard and hair down to his shoulders. It was the talk of training camp and around baseball. More than one sportwriter made the analogy that he looked like Jesus Christ. "How can we lose now that we have Our Lord and Savior playing center field?" T-shirts popped up with Damon's new look, and one catchphrase said, "What Would Johnny Damon Do?" Damon would later explain that the migrane headaches he suffered over the winter made him tired to the point where he didn't shave for some time, so he kept the beard when he came to camp.

2004 would be Damon's best season to date. He would hit 20 HRs, a career-high at the time, drive in an amazing 94 runs for a leadoff hitter, and hit .306. The Red Sox struggled through a good part of 2004, playing .500 ball for a good three months, before finally getting hot in mid-August and wrapping up a Wild Card berth in late September. Damon would have a terrific ALDS against Anaheim, going 7-for-15 with 4 runs scored in a three-game sweep.

The next ALCS would be a rematch with the Yankees. It would be the worst of times, and then the best of times for Johnny Damon.

The first three games of the 2004 ALCS were a total disaster for the Red Sox. They lost all three, and Game 3 was the worst of all, losing 19-8 before the Fenway Faithful. They were now in a 3-0 hole, and no team in history had ever come back to win after being down so far. And Johnny Damon was having an absolutely terrible series, going 0-for-8 with 5 strikeouts in the first two games. But like that person Damon was once compared to, the Sox rose up, and made it a series again. They won Games 4 and 5 both in extra innings and in dramatic style to get the series back to New York. Curt Schilling pitched and won one of the most heroic games in postseason history to even the series and force a winner-take-all Game 7. But through those three wins, Johnny Damon still wasn't hitting. He was 3-for-29 in the first six games.

All of that was forgotten the next night.

Damon led off with a single to open Game 7, stole second, but was thrown out at home on a Manny Ramirez single. David Ortiz would homer on the next pitch to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Damon's second at-bat would be in the next inning, with one out and the bases loaded. Javier Vazquez came in to relieve starter Kevin Brown. Damon later said he knew Vazquez would try to get ahead with a fastball, so he looked for it on the first pitch and drove it over the rightfield wall near the pole to give the Sox a commanding lead of 6-0.

But Damon's heroics weren't through. In the fourth with another man on, he drilled another first-pitch from Vazquez into the upper deck to give the Sox an enormous 8-1 lead. Two pitches, two homers and six RBI. The previous six days were a long and distant memory for Damon as the Red Sox went on to win, 10-3 and advance to the World Series for the first time since 1986. They had pulled off the greatest comeback ever in baseball history, and they did it to their longtime rivals in their own backyard. It was a gift to every Red Sox fan, and Johnny Damon became an instant legend in Boston sports history.

The NL champion St. Louis Cardinals were simply no match for the Red Sox, who were now Destiny's Darlings. Damon opened the World Series with a double, and scored on David Ortiz' three-run shot. The Sox took the first three, and Johnny Damon would personally make sure it would be a four-game sweep. (Damon would also hit .286 for the Series.)

He hit the fourth pitch of the night off Jason Marquis for a long homer to right to open the game and get the Sox on their way. The Cardinals were kept off the board all night, and the Sox won, 3-0 for their first World Series championship since 1918. It set off wild celebrations all over New England and Red Sox Nation.

And it made a national celebrity out of Johnny Damon.

He turned up on "The Late Show With David Letterman," "Live With Regis and Kelly," "Saturday Night Live" and "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy," among other TV shows. He also collaborated with Peter Gollenbock on a biography about his life. (It's a shabbily written book though.) He also appeared in the film, "Fever Pitch," which centered on one Red Sox fan's obsession with the team. He had become the face of the club, and you couldn't go anywhere without seeing him that winter.

He had another good season in 2005, but he began to show signs that he was peaking as a player. His arm, never strong to begin with, seemed to be getting even weaker, and his defense wasn't as good as past years. His home run numbers dropped by half, down to 10, in 2005. He battled injuries, but Damon kept on playing through them. He was in the batting race for most of the year, and finished fourth at .316.

Damon was a free agent after 2005, and most fans thought he would be back. But in mid-December, the baseball world was stunned when Damon, the face of the Red Sox and the man who termed the 2004 club, "The Idiots," signed a four-year, $52 million deal with the rival Yankees. The Yankees desperately needed a centerfielder and made Damon an offer he couldn't walk away from and the Red Sox wouldn't match. It was all the more stunning after Damon made the following statement about the Yankees in May 2005:

"There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they're going to come after me hard. It's definitely not the most important thing to go out there for the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It's not what I need."

Damon was vilified as a traitor and a turncoat for going to New York. Red Sox fans who once compared him to Jesus were now calling him "Judas." Fans burned Damon jerseys and other Johnny paraphernalia. Damon made his return to Fenway with the Yankees on May 1, 2006, to a crowd that booed far more than they cheered. Damon took the hostile reception in stride. He also had one of his best years in 2006, hitting 24 home runs, 80 RBI and a .285 batting average.

Johnny Damon became a father for the third time this past January, as his second wife Michelle had their first child together, a girl named Devon Rose.

He will always be part of one of the most beloved Red Sox teams in franchise, "The Idiots" who won the first title in team history since 1918, and one that did it in a way that will be remembered forever in baseball history. But as a businessman, he made a decision to continue his career in New York, rather than stay in Boston for less money. His legacy was at Fenway, but there most fans just look upon him with vile, because of the team he signed on with. If he'd gone anywhere else, it wouldn't be like this. His decision to leave would probably be more respected.

I can't help but think one day after his career is long over, Johnny Damon will give an inevitable interview about his baseball life. And in it, no matter what he's accomplished from 2006 on, he will say, "I made a mistake leaving Boston. Not signing with New York, but leaving Boston."

We can only hope so.

John Quinn is a writer who lives in New York City and runs the web site, "The Mighty Quinn Media Machine," and writes for the Red Sox fan site, Bornintoit.com, as "Brooklyn Sox Fan."

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #61 Ellis Burks

Ellis Burks, CF, #12, 25 (1987-1992, 2004)

733 G, 2827 AB, 791 H, 94 HR, 388 RBI, 95 SB, .280 AVG, .339 OBP, .455 SLG

I saw Ellis Burks’s last at-bat on September 23, 2004: a pinch-hit appearance at the bottom of the ninth inning of a losing effort against the Baltimore Orioles on a rain-sodden night at Fenway Park. He singled up the middle. And as a pinch runner jogged out to take his place at first, the few fans who remained in the wet seats cheered long and loud as Ellis Burks tipped his cap.

The Red Sox would go on to make some epochal history in that 2004 postseason, but Burks was not be on the roster. He understood that. I just like to think he was happy to finish his career in Boston — and to get to ride on a float down Boylston Street barely a month later.

He may have had a career year in home runs (40) with the Colorado Rockies. He may have matched a career best in batting average (.344) hitting behind Barry Bonds on the San Francisco Giants. But I always like to think of Ellis Burks as a Red Sox above all else — and I hope he does too.

Ellis Rena Burks was born on September 11, 1964 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He was an outstanding high school athlete, and was drafted by the Red Sox in the first round of the 1983 amateur draft. He signed with the team that spring.

Burks had quite a reputation as an uber prospect to live up to, and after four seasons in the minors he did just that in his rookie season in 1987. Installed in center field between Jim Rice and Mike Greenwell, he covered a lot of ground and possessed a strong, accurate arm. It was at the plate and on the base paths, however, that he established his bona fides, quickly making a name for himself himself as a supremely athletic combination of speed and power. He became just the third Red Sox ever to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a single season (he stole 27). Baseball Digest and Topps both named him to their “All-Rookie” squads.

In 1988, Burks had another good season (.294/.367/.481, with 18 homers and 92 RBI), but in 1989 his injuries caught up to him, and even though he was hitting well (.303) and stealing bases (21) his season was shortened to just 97 games when he was forced to undergo shoulder surgery. It was far from the last time injuries would throw up major obstacles to his career.

Burks bounced back nicely in 1990, however, playing 152 games, bashing 21 home runs, getting named to the American League All-Star team, and winning both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. He also finished 13th in MVP voting.

1991 saw slight declines in Burks’s numbers across the board, and in 1992 he played in just 66 games. The following year, he signed on for one season with the Chicago White Sox, where he found his stride again. He’d go on to put up great numbers in Colorado (1994-1998), San Francisco (1998-2000), and Cleveland (2001-2003). (1996 was a banner year for Burks, when he led the National League in runs, total bases, and extra base hits, slugging, and finished third in MVP voting.)

In 2004, Burks came full circle. Perhaps sensing what that particular squad was capable of doing, he signed a one-year, $750,000 deal for a final season with the Red Sox. He was almost 40, at that point, and ended up playing in just 11 games as a DH and pinch hitter, with just 33 at-bats. He hit a homer and stole a couple bases for old times sake. But that was pretty much it for Ellis Burks.

He never expected to be batting cleanup in the World Series. He just wanted to have a little fun before hanging up his cleats. And if you had to pick a season to sign on with the Red Sox, you could’ve done a lot worse than 2004.

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

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #64 Jimmy Piersall

Jimmy Piersall, CF, #37 (1950, 1952-1958)

931 G, 919 H, 66 HR, 366 RBI, 502 RS, 58 SB, .273 Avg, .339 OBP, .397 SLG

November 14, 1929 was the date and Waterbury, CT was the place where James Anthony Piersall, a boy who was going to grow up to be a centerfielder in the MLB, was born.

He started out as a high school basketball player at Leavenworth High School. During his time there the team went to the 1947 New England Championship. He landed 29 points in the final game.

He signed a minor league contract with the Sox in 1948 at the age of 18. He would play his first major league games 2 years later in 1950, he only played six games but during that time he was one of the youngest baseball players. He managed to earn the nickname “The Waterbury Wizard”, much to his teammate’s chagrin.

During his first years in MLB his bipolar disorder began to show itself and become prevalent, which is would do a few more times after that. Prior to a May 24th game against the Yankees he got into a brawl with Billy Martin. He also managed to get into a fight with Mickey McDermott, at that time his teammate. After all this odd behavior they sent him down to the Birmingham Barons. Not after he disciplined Vern Stephens’ 4 year old son in the Red Sox clubhouse.

During 3 week time period on the Barons he got kicked out of 4 games. His last one after firing a water gun at home plate to celebrate a teammates homerun and, after being ejected, heckling umpire Neil Strocchia from the grandstand roof. From all of this he received a 3 day suspension and 3 days later checked himself into Westboro State Hospital in Mass. He spent the rest of the baseball season in the hospital. He blamed his condition on his father for pressuring him too much about baseball.

He made his return in 1953 and got voted 9th in MVP voting for that year. The year following that he took Dom DiMaggio’s place in the outfield and stayed in the starting line-up until 1958. During this time, in 1954 and 1956 he got voted into the AL All-Star team. He also managed to clinch a Gold Glove for his outfielding in 1958. In 1956 he managed to pull a league high 40 doubles in 156 games played. He also managed to rake in 93 runs, 87 RBIs, and a .293 batting average.

He got traded to the Cleveland Indians for Vic Wertz and Gary Geiger on December 2, 1958. He, oddly enough, got stuck on the same team as Billy Martin. In 1959 the Indians battled a back and forth battle with the White Sox and in the end only ended up placing 2nd. After coming off this good season, things began to change.

Following up to his being ordered to get a psychiatric check on June 26, he heckled an umpire, threw a ball at the White Sox scoreboard, wore a little league helmet at a Tigers game, and started a few rows with the Yankees. He came back on July 23rd but got his last ejection of the season for causing problems in the outfield while Ted Williams was batting. After a meeting and a few front office changes he finally got back down to earth.

The 1961 season turned into a good one for him, he managed to earn another Gold Glove. He also managed to hold a .322 batting average, placing himself 3rd. Unfortunately, this season was also marred by his antics. He tried to go after Jim Bunning after he hit him with a pitch (more than likely on accident). He also ended up throwing a helmet, altogether costing him $200 in fines. On September 5th of that season he father passed away from a heart attack. 2 days after the funeral for his father he headed out to New York only to heckled, himself, by fans. On Sept. 10, after continued annoyance from fans, he finally punched one and attempted to kick another. After all this he still earned $2500 for good behavior.

On October 5th Piersall was sent to the Washington Senators. He didn’t spend much time there because of playing decline. He was sent to the Mets on May 23, 1963. He got sent back to a reserve role while playing for the Mets. During his Mets career he also hit his 100th homerun, which he celebrated by running around the bases backwards (in order of course).

A month after reaching 100 homeruns he got released by the Mets and then signed by the Los Angeles Angels. He retired an Angel and moved to the Angels front office on May 8th, 1967.

After his career he did a little TV commentating for the White Sox but was fired was criticizing the team just a little too much. He also wrote a book about bipolar disorder and how he handled it, Fear Strikes Out. It was also made into a movie. In the end, Piersall decided not to endorse the movie because it didn’t display the facts right. He also wrote The Truth Hurts which is about the White Sox and his leaving. He now does a radio show in Chicago and got invited to the White House for the honoring of the 2004 Red Sox Championship.

And odd little tidbit I noticed and I’d figure I’d share is that he’s the godfather of former Congressman Mark Foley.


Player biography written by Mander

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #70 Tony Armas

Tony Armas, CF, #20 (1983-1986)

526 G, 510 H, 113 HR, 352 RBI, .252 AVG, .288 OBP, .480 SLG

There were three aspects of his game that really defined Tony Armas. He was often injured, he didn’t like to take a walk, and he could hit the ball real hard. He missed a lot of games due to various injuries and his .287 career OBP makes Billy Beane want to cry, but he topped 20 homers 6 times (3 times with 35 or more) and finished with 251 for his career.

Armas, born in Venezuela in 1953, was a promising young slugger making his way through the Pittsburgh Pirates system before he was involved in a nine player deal that sent him to the Oakland A’s. He began his career with the A’s in ’77, but injuries severely hampered him for 3 years before he really broke out in 1980 with 35 HR and 109 RBI. That year he carried a very weak Oakland offense to a second place finish.

Armas would hit 22 and 28 HR in the following two years with the A’s, but his free swinging ways (his 1980 OBP of .310 was one point shy of his career best of .311) wore out his welcome. Thanks to the emergence of future Hall of Famer, Wade Boggs, the Red Sox had a surplus of third basemen. They were happy to send a young Carney Lansford and two others to Oakland in exchange for the hard hitting Armas and backup catcher, Jeff Newman.

The Boston fans would boo him in ’83, his first season with the club, because of his .218 AVG for the year, but he did hit 36 homers and knock in 107 as Boston’s cleanup hitter. He patrolled centerfield for the Sox and played in between Dwight Evans and Jim Rice making for one of the most powerful outfields in Red Sox history.

1984 was the slugger’s best season when he batted .268 and set career highs in runs (107), home runs (43), and RBI (123). The 84 outfield really was the most powerful in Red Sox history as Rice, Evans, and Armas combined for 103 HR. In comparison, Ramirez, Damon, and Nixon hit 77 in ’03 and Lynn, Rice, and Evans combined for 99 in ’79.

Persistent leg injuries slowed Armas for the rest of his career and his final two years in Boston were a far cry from the slugger the Sox saw in the first two years. In ’85 he played in just 103 games and managed an OBP of just .298. In ’86 he was able to take the field for more games (121), but hit just 11 homers on the year. Despite being completely healthy during the postseason, he received only 1 AB in the ’86 World Series before the Sox let him walk during the offseason.

He hit 113 HR in 2136 plate appearances with Boston which comes out to a HR every 18.8 PA. Out of every player to hit at least 50 HR in a Red Sox uniform, only Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez, Jimmie Foxx, David Ortiz, Jose Canseco, and Dick Stuart homered more often than Armas.

Brian Martin once wrote a blog, but got bored and moved onto other things. He's currently counting down the days until he gets to watch the '07 Red Sox on his brand new plasma tv.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #72 Chick Stahl

Chick Stahl, OF (1901-1906)

Career .305/.369/.416 hitter with 36 HR, 189 SB, 1,546 H, with a fielding percentage of .961 (league .946).

Chick Stahl was a regular outfielder for the Boston Red Sox's first six years in existence after four years playing for the Boston Beaneaters, meaning that he played baseball in Boston for 10 years. Stahl batted and threw left, and stood five feet 10 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds. Stahl was an accomplished outfielder who played on some very good teams:

The 1897 Beaneaters won the NL Pennant with a record of 93-39.
The 1898 Beaneaters won the NL Pennant with a record of 102-47.
The 1899 Beaneaters finished 2nd in the NL with a record of 95-57.
The 1900 Beaneaters finished 4th in the NL with a record of 66-72.
The 1901 Americans finished 2nd in the AL with a record of 79-57.
The 1902 Americans finished 3rd in the AL with a record of 77-60.
The 1903 Americans won the World Series with a record of 91-47.
The 1904 Americans won the AL Pennant with a record of 95-59. (No World Series was played.)
The 1905 Americans finished 4th in the AL with a record of 78-74.
And in his only black mark, the 1906 Americans finished 8th in the AL with a record of 49-105.

As the Red Sox's centerfielder many of the years, he directly contributed to the first World Series of the Red Sox by hitting three triples during the series.

Stahl avoided death the year after he joined the Americans, as an ex-girlfriend attempted to murder Stahl January 26, 1902. Two years later, on September 27, 1904, Chick Stahl avoided the Americans from being the victims of a perfect game by Cleveland's Bob Rhoads, singling in the ninth inning with two out.

His final hurrah as a player came in his final at-bat, when he bashed a two-run home run off New York's Tom Hughes (Hughes had been traded from the Americans to New York for Jesse Tannehill before the 1904 season).

Stahl's best season was probably his rookie year with the Beaneaters, when he hit .354/.406/.499. His two best years with the Americans came in his first two years with them. He hit .303/.377/.439 in 1901 with 105 runs scored. In 1902, he scored 92 runs while hitting .323/.375/.421. He tailed off in 1903, only hitting .274 but rebounded in 1904, hitting .290/.366/.416. Stahl experienced another tail off in 1905, hitting .258, and rebounded yet again in his final season, hitting .286/.346/.366.

A modern day comparison to Stahl, who regularly stole around 20 bases would be Juan Pierre, except he had more power than Pierre and could not run as well.

When close friend and player-manager Jimmy Collins resigned from managing the Red Sox after being their inaugural manager on August 29, 1906 (Collins was technically suspended), Stahl posted a 5-13 record as manager. Stahl entered the following spring slated to be the manager of the recently renamed Boston Red Sox, but committed suicide after confiding to Collins that he could not handle the strain of being a manager, which caused the 1907 team to use four managers (Cy Young, George Huff, Bob Unglaub and Deacon McGuire).

Stahl, widely "considered handsome, charming, with a magnetic personality," was one of many players to commit suicide in the Deadball era (spanning from 1900 to 1920).

Stahl committed suicide by drinking three ounces of carbolic acid while traveling with the team in West Baden Springs, IN. His suicide note read: "Boys, I just couldn't help it. You drove me to it."

Evan Brunell, a diehard Red Sox fan, writes about the Red Sox at Fire Brand of the American League, his analytical and sometimes not so analytical look at the Boston Red Sox. He is joined by Mike Edelman and Zach Hayes, and is also the owner and president of MVN.com.

100 Greatest Red Sox >> #79 Doc Cramer

Doc Cramer, CF, #8 (1936-1940)

722 G, 940 H, 1 HR, 270 RBI, 22 SB, .302 AVG, .342 OBP, .378 SLG

Roger Maxwell “Doc” Cramer (July 22, 1905 – September 9, 1990) was an American center fielder and left-handed batter in who played for four American League teams from 1929 – 1948. A mainstay at the top of his team’s lineup for many years, he led the AL in at bats a record seven times and in singles five times. He batted over .300 several times, primarily with the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, and retired among the league’s career leaders in hits (10th, 2705), games played (10th, 2239) and at bats (5th, 9140). One of the few major leaguers to play regularly in center field at age 40, he also ended his career among the major leagues’ all-time leaders in games in center field (3rd, 2031) and outfield putouts (4th, 5412), and ranked seventh in AL history in total games in the outfield (2142).

Born in Beach Haven, New Jersey, Cramer was an elegant center fielder with a little speed and a powerful arm. He was nicknamed “Flit,” which was the name of a popular insecticide, by sportswriter Jimmy Isaminger for his great ability to judge fly balls; in other words, he was “death to flies.” Indeed, he led AL outfielders in putouts in 1936 and 1938. Cramer gained medical knowledge before playing pro ball by observing a local doctor, and was therefore dubbed “Doc.”

Cramer was a semi-pro pitcher when discovered by Cy Perkins and signed by the Athletics. Sent to Martinsburg of the Blue Ridge League in 1929, he was locked in a close race with Joe Vosmik for the league batting title. On the final day of the season, he pitched against Vosmik’s team and walked his rival four times. Cramer’s .404 won the title.

He began his major league career with the Athletics’ powerful championship teams of 1929–1931, breaking in gradually, though in the postseason he only made two pinch-hitting appearances in the 1931 World Series. After hitting .336 in 92 games in 1932, his place on the team was secure. On June 20, 1932, he tied a major league record by going 6-for-6 in a nine-inning game (and later became the only AL player to do it twice (on July 13, 1935)). He scored 100 runs in a season for the first time in 1933. He also hit for the cycle on June 10, 1934. In 1934, Cramer set a team record among left-handed hitters with 202 hits, and topped it in 1935 with 214 – still the Athletics franchise record for a left-handed batter; he finished eighth in the 1935 MVP voting. But the fortunes of the A’s declined just as Cramer was becoming a solid, everyday player, leading to the star players on the financially struggling team being sent to other teams. Al Simmons and Jimmy Dykes were sold to the Chicago White Sox on the same day in September 1932, and Lefty Grove and Mickey Cochrane were traded away after the 1933 season. Jimmie Foxx was traded to the Red Sox in December 1935, and Cramer joined him a month later.

Cramer was a spray leadoff hitter who mostly slapped singles and sometimes stretched singles into doubles — although he was a non-factor as a base stealer. He batted over .300 every year from 1937 – 1940 with Boston, scoring 100 runs in 1938 and 1939, and tied for the league lead in hits (200) in 1940. He was traded to the Washington Senators on December 12 of that year, and was sent to the Detroit Tigers exactly one year later after hitting .273. He was selected for the All-Star game five times (1935, 1937-40).

Two years after hitting over .300 for the last time with the 1943 Tigers, in 1945 Cramer played 140 games in center field at age 40 (albeit during World War II, when many regular players were in military service), and finally enjoyed significant play in the Fall Classic. In the 1945 World Series he led the team with a .379 batting average, scoring seven runs and batting in four, to help his team to win the Series 4-3 against the Chicago Cubs. He had two runs and an RBI in Game 5, and again in Game 7. Sent up six times for Birdie Tebbetts, Cramer came through four times, and when the Tigers traded Tebbetts to Boston in 1947, Cramer complained, “It’s like tearing up my meal ticket. A game is not official until the announcement goes out ‘Cramer for Tebbetts’.” In his final seasons he was often used as a pinch-hitter — he led the league with nine pinch hits in 1947 before ending his career with four games in 1948.

In his 20-season career, Cramer batted .296 with 2,705 hits, 1,357 runs, 37 home runs, 842 RBI, 396 doubles, 109 triples, 62 stolen bases, and a .340 on base percentage in 2,239 games. By team, he batted .308 for the Athletics, .302 for the Red Sox, .282 for the Tigers, and .273 for the Senators. Cramer rarely struck out, leading the AL four times in at bats-per-strike louts, and finishing in the top four five other seasons. His 2,031 games in center field placed him behind only Tris Speaker (2,690) and Ty Cobb (2,194) in major league history. His 2,705 hits are the most of any player retired before 1975 who has not been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

As a White Sox batting coach from 1951 to 1953, Cramer tutored the young second baseman Nellie Fox; frequently, Fox credited Cramer with making him a major league hitter.

Cramer died in Manahawkin, New Jersey at 85 years of age. There is a street there named in his honor (Doc Cramer Blvd.), as well as a youth baseball tournament, the Doc Cramer Invitational Baseball Tournament, held in Manahawkin every July.

The argument for electing Cramer to the Hall of Fame is debatable. His lifetime batting average of .296 is only a bit better than the .283 overall average of all the players against whom he competed in a high-average era. For example, Cramer’s 1936 season batting average of .292, consisting of 188 hits in 643 at bats, was actually below the overall American League average of .306 for that year. Cramer also did not draw many walks, so his lifetime on base percentage of .340 ends up being lower than the .357 overall percentage in the AL during his career. His lack of walks and his relative weakness on the basepaths (62 stolen bases in his entire career, against 73 times caught stealing) are drawbacks for a batter who hit at the top of the order. Given that Cramer was also not a power hitter (37 home runs, less than two per year), he was probably below average as an offensive force; that is true for almost every one of Cramer’s seasons as well as for his career in aggregate. (It should be noted that Fenway Park and Griffith Stadium, where he played the middle third of his career, were difficult home run parks for any left-handed hitter.) Cramer ranks as slightly better than average for 1932 and 1935 but not any other season; in most of his “peak” seasons, he was at best a dead-on average player offensively.

For these reasons, renowned baseball historian and statistician Bill James has stated that Cramer was easily the least outstanding outfielder in major league history among players who appeared in 2000 or more games (although only approximately 75–80 players who were primarily outfielders were good enough to have such long careers). James ranked Cramer as only the 91st best center fielder of all time.

Cramer’s fielding statistics support the anecdotal evidence and common belief that he was a fine glove man. His lifetime fielding percentage and range factor well exceed league averages for his time.

Player Biography by Karen

Test Post and Posting Thougths

I'll delete this once we get this up and running, but I needed to test out the posts and lay out a few things for post guidelines.

All posts should have a similar look and feel....I'll work on that and post a sample post with a dummy player, etc.

We'll use the labels as follows: Years played for the Red Sox (1901, 1902, 1903, etc) and positions played (please use 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, C, RF, LF, CF, SP, RP, CL (cl is special for those designated as "closer"), Manager, Owner, Front Office, Team.

I'll be responsible for editing the posts for formatting and labels etc after they go live to ensure consistency.

Digital Derek of SawxBlog is working on a header graphic and I'll be playing aroudn with formating.

Thanks,
Tim