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Boston Red Sox Memories: My all decade 1950’s Red Sox team

By Rick McNair

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 26: A general view of the Fenway Park faced after the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays was postponed due to rain at Fenway Park on April 26, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 26: A general view of the Fenway Park faced after the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays was postponed due to rain at Fenway Park on April 26, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /
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General view of Boston’s Fenway Park, home of the American League baseball team the Boston Red Sox shows the fans packed in the bleachers in the outfield by the Gruen clock, 1960s. Beyond the stadium walls we can see the John Hancock Building at right. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
General view of Boston’s Fenway Park, home of the American League baseball team the Boston Red Sox shows the fans packed in the bleachers in the outfield by the Gruen clock, 1960s. Beyond the stadium walls we can see the John Hancock Building at right. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) /

Second Base

One of the better trades in Boston history brought left-handed-hitting Pete Runnels to Boston.  Runnels played both first and second bases winning a batting title in 1960 (.320) and another one in 1962 (.326). Runnels made two All-Star teams in the decade and hit .320 in his five Boston seasons before being traded elsewhere.

Runnels would never be confused with any great glovemen of his or any other era but would make the routine plays. In his last two Boston years, Runnels was shifted primarily to first base as Boston brought in rookie Chuck Shilling in 1961.

Runnels briefly managed the Red Sox (1966) and is an inductee to the Red Sox Hall of Fame (2004). An excellent hitter who found a hitters paradise in Fenway Park hitting a career .332 at the Fens. Runnels’s plate control is clear with a career that saw more walks (844) than strikeouts (627). A very smooth swing to all fields.

Honorable Mention: Before there was Brock Holt the Red Sox had Billy Goodman who has to be somewhere on the infield. Goodman finished with a .300 career batting average and a batting title in 1950 (.354).

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