Top 10 Red Sox players enshrined in Baseball Hall of Fame
Ranking the 10 greatest players depicted as members of the Boston Red Sox on their plaque enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
There have been many great players throughout the storied history of the Boston Red Sox yet only the cream of the crop find their way to Cooperstown. The Class of 2019 will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend, allowing us the opportunity to reflect on those former Red Sox players who have already been enshrined.
Dozens of players in the Hall of Fame have ties to the Red Sox yet many of them spent limited time in Boston and the franchise isn’t depicted on their plaque.
Babe Ruth is one of the best baseball players in history. He was an excellent pitcher for the Red Sox early in his career but the Bambino is known mostly for his bat and went into the Hall of Fame as a New York Yankee.
Tris Speaker, Cy Young, and Dennis Eckersley are other examples of players who made a significant impact with this franchise yet don the cap of another team on their Hall of Fame plaque.
Then there are guys like Rickey Henderson, John Smoltz and Tom Seaver who made brief appearances with the Red Sox near the end of their careers. Sure, they have ties to Boston – barely.
For the purposes of this rankings list, let’s keep the focus on those who depict the Red Sox as their team on their Hall of Fame plaque. Some players list more than one team but the Red Sox should be one of them to qualify for this list.
Joe Cronin
Year Inducted: 1956
Joe Cronin was coming off consecutive All-Star appearances when he joined the Red Sox in 1935. He finished the final 11 seasons of his career in Boston, earning four more All-Star nods along the way.
The shortstop hit .300/.394/.484 during his tenure in Boston and was a .301 hitter for his career.
He wasn’t much of a home run hitter, topping out at 24 as a single-season high and finishing his career with 170. That doesn’t mean Cronin didn’t have pop in his bat though. He led the league with 18 triples in 1932 and twice led in doubles, including once with the Red Sox when he hit a career-high 51 doubles in 1938.
Cronin produced a .403 wOBA during his time with the Red Sox, which ranks seventh in franchise history among players with 300+ games played with the club.
FanGraphs has Cronin listed only 21st among Red Sox position players with 30.1 fWAR, although that’s because he spent only half his career here. He racked up 66.6 fWAR in his career.
Cronin served as a player-manager, a role he held in his last two seasons with the Washington Senators and retained when he came to Boston. He played in only three games during his final season as a player in 1945 but remained the Red Sox manager until 1947 when he was promoted to General Manager, a position he filled until 1959.
The Red Sox went 1071-916 in the 13 seasons that Cronin served as the manager and they won one AL pennant.
Bobby Doerr
Year Inducted: 1986 (Veterans Committee)
Bobby Doerr spent his entire 14-year career with the Red Sox, missing one season in 1945 due to military service.
Doerr debuted as a 19-year old kid in 1937 and made his first of nine All-Star appearances four years later. He hit .288/.362/.461 for his career.
His best statistical season was in 1944, the year before he took time off to serve in the military. Doerr hit .325, led the league with a .528 slugging percentage and finished seventh in MVP voting.
His production dropped off a bit after missing a year but that was the case for most players who went off to fight in the war. Despite a bit of regression from his career year, Doerr finished third in the MVP race.
Doerr’s only trip to the postseason was a successful one despite the Red Sox falling short in six games to the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit .406 with a home run in three RBI in that World Series.
A late-career power surge saw Doerr hit a career-high 27 home runs in 1948. He matched that total two years later while also leading the league with 11 triples.
Spinal issues derailed the end of his career and forced Doerr to retire at the age of 33.
Doerr ranks sixth among position players in franchise history with 53.3 fWAR.
The Red Sox retired Doerr’s No. 1 at Fenway where it’s displayed on the right-field facade.
Lefty Grove
Year Inducted: 1947
As you might have guessed from the name, Lefty Grove was a left-handed pitcher and arguably the greatest southpaw this franchise has ever seen.
He made his debut in 1925 with the Philadelphia Athletics where he spent the first nine years of his career. The A’s are listed as the primary club on his plaque but he still credits the Red Sox where he spent the final eight years of his career.
Grove was a six-time All-Star who won nine ERA titles, four of which were with Boston. He owned a 3.06 ERA for his career and a 3.34 ERA with the Red Sox, which ranks 11th among starting pitchers with 1000+ career innings with the franchise.
The 300 game-winner won 105 games with the Red Sox, 10th most in franchise history. Grove won 20+ games eight times in his career, leading the league in that category on four occasions, including a staggering 31 wins in 1931 when he captured the MVP award with Philadelphia.
That was obviously a different era. Grove routinely made 30+ starts in every season during his prime and often worked in relief between starts. He appeared in a whopping 50 games in 1930, tossing a career-high 291 innings. When it was his turn in the rotation, Grove liked to finish what he started. He led the league in complete games and shutouts three times.
Grove also picked up 54 career saves back in the days before the closer role existed.
Pitchers these days would never be allowed to handle the type of workload Grove did yet his arm somehow held up for 17 seasons when he retired at the age of 41.
Carlton Fisk
Year Inducted: 2000
Carlton Fisk stormed onto the scene in his first full season in the big leagues in 1972, capturing the Rookie of the Year Award, a Gold Glove, his first of 11 All-Star appearances and finishing fourth for AL MVP.
Fisk spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Red Sox, establishing himself as the best offensive catcher in franchise history. He hit .284/.356/.481 with 162 home runs in 1078 games with the Red Sox.
The most memorable moment of Fisks’ career was his walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. The lasting impression of that game was Fisk trying to wave the ball fair as it hooked toward the foul pole in left field.
Fisk went on to play 13 more seasons with the Chicago White Sox to cap a lengthy career that extraordinarily lasted until he was 45 years old. He made four All-Star appearances in Chicago and won three Silver Sluggers.
For his career, Fisk hit 376 home runs, third-most in MLB history by a catcher. His 68.3 fWAR ranks fourth all-time at his position and he’s sixth with 1330 career RBI.
While he spent the majority of his time wearing different color Sox, most of his prime years came with the Red Sox. The organization clearly agreed when they retired his No. 27 at Fenway Park.
Jim Rice
Year Inducted: 2009
A phenomenal rookie season by Jim Rice in which he finished as the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year and third in the MVP race was overshadowed by his teammate, Fred Lynn, who captured both awards. That takes nothing away from Rice, who started his career strong and finished stronger than the star teammate he shared an outfield with.
Rice hit .298 with a .854 OPS and 382 home runs over a 16-year career spent entirely with the Red Sox.
The eight-time All-Star had his best season in 1978 when he won the MVP. Rice hit .315 that season while leading the league with 213 hits, 15 triples, 46 home runs, 139 RBI, .600 SLG, and a .970 OPS.
Rice led the league in home runs three times during his career and twice in slugging and RBI.
While his limited time in the postseason didn’t produce the same type of staggering numbers, Rice did crank a pair of home runs in the 1986 ALCS to help the Red Sox advance in a seven-game series over the California Angels. He went on to hit .333 in the World Series, which Boston lost to the New York Mets.
Rice is fourth in franchise history with 2089 games played and seventh among position players with 50.8 fWAR.
The Red Sox retired Rice’s No. 14 at Fenway Park in 2009 following his Hall of Fame induction.
Jimmie Foxx
Year Inducted: 1951
He had a few All-Star appearances and two MVP awards with the Philadelphia A’s under his belt before he came to Boston but Jimmie Foxx continued to put up Hall of Fame-worthy numbers during his seven seasons with the Red Sox.
The Beast was sold to the Red Sox for $150,000 in 1936 when the A’s were struggling to pay their players in the wake of the Great Depression. Philly’s financial peril proved to be Boston’s gain.
Foxx hit .320/.429/.605 in seven seasons with the Red Sox. He ranks 19th on the all-time home run list with 534. He’s also ninth in MLB history with 1922 RBI and the 788 he tallied with the Red Sox ranks eighth in franchise history.
Foxx ranks third in Red Sox history with a .460 wOBA, fourth with a 15.9 BB%, sixth with 151 wRC+, and ninth with 222 home runs.
In 1938 with the Red Sox, Foxx earned his third MVP award. He won the batting title with a .349 average while leading the league with a .462 OBP, .704 SLG, 1.166 OPS, and 175 RBI. That massive RBI total still stands as a single-season franchise record. The 50 home runs Foxx blasted that season held the franchise record until David Ortiz broke it with 54 homers in 2006.
As one of the most feared sluggers of the first half of the 20th century, Foxx retired with several records that have since been broken. He trailed only Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list when his career ended in 1945 and he had the most career home runs of any right-handed hitter at the time. His 12 consecutive seasons with 30+ homers was an MLB record until 2004 when it was broken by Barry Bonds. Foxx is also one of nine players with three MVP awards on their resume, which is topped only by Bonds (seven).
Wade Boggs
Year Inducted: 2005
When it came to the art of getting on base, nobody did it better than Wade Boggs in his day. Boggs won five batting titles during his 11 seasons in Boston and led the league in OBP six times.
It’s not that he couldn’t hit for power, as he displayed by hitting 24 home runs in 1987. Boggs simply preferred efficiency over swinging for the fences. He also showed plenty of pop with eight seasons of 40+ doubles, including twice when he led the league in that category.
Boggs ranks second in franchise history with a .338 batting average, third with a .428 OBP, and tied for 10th with a 13.7 BB%.
Boggs tallied 200+ hits in seven consecutive seasons, which was an American League record until it was broken by Ichiro Suzuki in 2008.
Red Sox fans soured on Boggs when he left in free agency to join the rival Yankees. He was coming off the worst season of his career when his average slumped to .259 at the age of 34. He certainly wasn’t washed up though, as that proved to be a mere blip in his career. Boggs bounced back with four consecutive All-Star seasons with the Yankees with his batting average cracking the .300 mark in each of them.
Most fans who felt betrayed by his defection to the Bronx eventually got over it. The Red Sox organization certainly did, inducting him into their franchise Hall of Fame and retiring his No. 26.
Carl Yastrzemski
Year Inducted: 1989
Nobody has played more games in a Red Sox uniform than Carl Yastrzemski’s 3308. He played an astounding 23 seasons, all of which were in Boston.
Yastrzemski hit .285/.379/.462 with 452 home runs and 1844 RBI. He’s the Red Sox all-time leader in hits, singles, and doubles. He ranks second in walks and third in home runs. His 94.8 fWAR ranks second among position players in franchise history.
The 18-time All-Star won three batting titles and led the league in OPS four times. He was also an excellent defensive outfielder, collecting seven Gold Glove awards playing in front of Fenway’s Green Monster out in left field.
The pinnacle of his career was when he earned MVP honors in 1967. Yaz led the league with a .326 batting average, 44 home runs, and 121 RBI. It would be 45 years before another American League hitter captured the Triple Crown.
That ’67 season was the “Impossible Dream” team when the Red Sox clinched the AL pennant in their last game. Yaz hit .400 with three home runs in the World Series but his team ultimately came up short to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
Yastrzemski made another World Series appearance in 1975 with the Red Sox again losing in seven games, this time to the Cincinnati Reds. Yaz did his part to get his team within a game of championship glory and always thrived under the bright lights of the playoffs. Overall, Yaz hit .369/.447/.600 in 17 career postseason games.
No. 8 was retired by the Red Sox at Fenway Park in honor of Yaz.
Pedro Martinez
Year Inducted: 2015
There hasn’t been a more exciting Red Sox pitcher in my lifetime than Pedro Martinez. Every time he took the mound it created an electric atmosphere and became an event that captured the attention of the entire city.
The Red Sox swindled the faltering Montreal Expos in a deal to acquire Martinez after the right-hander had captured the NL Cy Young in 1997.
Martinez spent seven seasons in Boston, going 117-37 with a 2.52 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 10.9 K/9.
Pedro won consecutive Cy Young awards with the Red Sox in arguably the two most dominant pitching performances of the modern era. In 1999, Martinez captured the pitching Triple Crown by leading the league with 23 wins, a 2.07 ERA, and 313 strikeouts. The staggering strikeout total remains a franchise record.
The following season, Martinez went 18-6 with a 1.74 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and 284 strikeouts. His strikeout rate was down a bit from his previous excellence but he countered that by walking fewer batters. His 8.88 K/BB ration in 2000 led the majors and remains a franchise record by a qualified starting pitcher.
Martinez made eight All-Star appearances, including four during his tenure in Boston, but his ’99 All-Star Game performance was one of the most memorable in the history of the Midsummer Classic. Pedro faced the minimum six batters in his two innings of work as the AL starter, striking out five of them, to earn MVP honors.
Pedro’s last season in Boston was in 2004. His 16-9 record, 3.90 ERA, and 9.4 K/9 weren’t quite up to his usual standards yet he still finished fourth in Cy Young voting. More importantly, Martinez was the leader of a starting rotation that reversed an 86-year old curse by winning the World Series.
Martinez led the league in ERA five times and strikeouts three times. He earned three Cy Young awards and finished in the top-four on four other occasions. Pedro’s 51.9 fWAR with the Red Sox ranks third among pitchers in franchise history and his 10.94 K/9 trails only Chris Sale among pitchers with 5+ starts in a Red Sox uniform.
Pedro’s No. 45 was retired at Fenway Park in 2015 after his Hall of Fame induction.
Ted Williams
Year Inducted: 1966
Ted Williams is the greatest hitter in franchise history and arguably the greatest MLB has ever seen.
The Splendid Splinter is MLB’s all-time leader with a .482 OBP and 20.6 BB%. His .634 SLG, .493 wOBA, and 188 wRC+ trail only Babe Ruth in major league history. He’s also seventh with a .344 career batting average and 20th on the all-time home runs list with 521.
Williams won six batting titles, including one in 1941 when he hit .406, making him the last qualified major league hitter to hit .400+ in a season.
The 19-time All-Star would have piled up even more career accomplishments if not for a three-year absence due to military service. Williams won the Triple Crown by hitting .356 with 36 home runs and 137 RBI in 1942, his final season before he went off to join the war. He didn’t miss a beat after three years away, capturing the AL MVP award in his first year back.
Williams secured the second Triple Crown of his career the following season in 1947 yet didn’t win the MVP. Twice he was a Triple Crown winner who finished as the runner-up in the MVP race.
He won his second MVP award in 1949 and finished top-five on the ballot on seven other occasions yet it feels like he should have taken home the hardware more often. The MVP is voted on by sports writers and Williams always had a prickly relationship with the media. He wasn’t as beloved as some of the Yankees greats who played on more successful ball clubs and that cost Williams more often than it should have in the eyes of voters.
In 1946, Williams blasted a 502-foot home run to right field that still stands as the furthest ball ever hit at Fenway. One red seat in right field sits in a sea of green to highlight the spot where the record-setting home run landed.
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Teddy Ballgame is the Red Sox’ all-time leader with 130.4 fWAR and he’s seventh in MLB history. His No. 9 is retired at Fenway.