Bobby Doerr: 1937-1944, 1946-1951
The only Baseball Hall of Fame member on the list, Doerr spent the entirety of his major league career with the Boston Red Sox. His commitment to the team was only rivalled by his patriotism as he sacrificed the entirety 1945 season to serve in the military.
One of baseball’s all-time greats at the position, Doerr was a nine-time all-star in the American League . Arguably the best defensive second baseman of his era, turned more double plays (1, 507) and had more putouts (4,928) and assists (5,710) than anyone else at the keystone position during his career.
A legend at the plate as well, Doerr’s 223 career home runs, 1,247 RBI and 1,094 runs scored are tops all-time among Red Sox second baseman. He began a string of 12 consecutive seasons with 10+ home runs and at least 73 RBI in 1939. A season later, Doerr along with Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, and Joe Cronin each drove in more than 105 runs – making the Red Sox the 12th team in MLB history to have four players with greater than 100 RBI in a season.
His number 1 was retired by the Red Sox alongside teammates’ Williams (#9) and Cronin (#4) in 1988.