Boston Red Sox: 50 greatest players of all-time
By Phil Watson
The Red Sox signed big right-hander Tex Hughson from the University of (where else?) Texas in June 1937 and he made his big-league debut in April 1941.
He bounced back and forth that season between the Red Sox and their top farm club in Louisville, but earned a rotation spot in 1942 with dominant results.
Hughson led the American League with 22 wins, 22 complete games, 113 strikeouts and 281 innings pitched in 1942 earning the first of his three All-Star nods.
He followed that up by leading the league with 20 complete games in 1943 and in 1944 led the AL with a .783 winning percentage and a 1.048 WHIP.
Hughson missed the 1945 season after being inducted into the Army the previous August, but returned in 1946 to win 20 games and help Boston to its first American League pennant in 28 years.
Arm trouble shortened his career considerably and he was out of baseball at the end of the 1949 season.
In eight seasons with the Red Sox, Hughson was 96-54 with a 2.94 ERA and 1.194 WHIP, an ERA+ of 125, and fanned 693 hitters in 1,375.2 innings.
He made two starts and a relief appearance in the 1946 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals and was 0-1 with a 3.14 ERA and 1.186 WHIP in 14.1 innings, striking out eight.
Sold to the New York Giants before the 1950 season, Hughson refused to report and retired.
He became a successful real estate developer in Texas, according to the Society for American Baseball Research, and died Aug. 6, 1993 at the age of 77.