Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia vs Bobby Doerr for best second baseman in franchise history
Debating between Dustin Pedroia and Bobby Doerr to determine which second baseman was the best in Boston Red Sox franchise history.
The Boston Red Sox have had a wealth of talent at virtually every position throughout their storied history. Second base has historically been a thin spot for the franchise and when debating which player was the best to field the position, there are two clear-cut options.
MLB.com recently revealed their list of the top second baseman for each team. It was a tough call for the Red Sox, with Dustin Pedroia narrowly edging out Bobby Doerr.
The key fact that supported their argument is that Pedroia is the only player to win an MVP Award, Rookie of the Year Award, World Series title and Gold Glove Award within his first two MLB seasons. An impressive achievement, but two great years don’t make a career.
The article points out how evenly matched the two second basemen are by citing that Baseball-Reference values Pedroia at 51.6 WAR for his career compared to 51.1 for Doerr.
Pedroia’s career isn’t technically over yet but he’s a long shot to take the field again as he continues to battle through a knee injury that has almost entirely wiped out his last two seasons. If he ever makes it back, it’s hard to imagine the 36-year old being an above replacement level player at this stage of his career and he might even lose value to close the gap in WAR.
FanGraphs also disagrees on their value, crediting Doerr with 53.3 WAR compared to 46.6 WAR for Pedroia. No other Red Sox second baseman has reached 20.0 career fWAR so these two are clearly in a class of their own.
So, which second baseman deserves the honor of being the best in franchise history? Let’s break it down.
Offense
Pedroia’s offensive production takes a slight hit from his limited time over the last two years when he clearly wasn’t healthy. For the sake of argument, we’ll evaluate Pedroia’s numbers from 2006-2017 while ignoring the injury-plagued version we’ve briefly seen since.
Here’s the career numbers for both players.
Pedroia: .300/.366/.441/.807, 140 HR, 724 RBI, 9.7 K%, 9.2 BB%, 114 OPS+
Doerr: .288/.362/.461/.823, 223 HR, 1247 RBI, 7.6 K%, 10.1 BB%, 115 OPS+
Both players reached base at nearly an identical clip but Doerr had an advantage in the power department. He’s the Red Sox all-time leader among second baseman in home runs and RBI while ranking second in slugging percentage and ISO (.173).
Each has played 14 MLB seasons but Pedroia falls well short in most counting stats since he’s only played nine games over the last two years so we’re only counting his first dozen seasons. Even if he had stayed healthy, Pedroia wasn’t going to come close to Doerr’s home run or RBI production.
They are fairly evenly matched in terms of getting on base and OPS+ but Doerr’s power advantage and a slight edge in strikeout and walk rates makes him the better hitter.
Defense
It’s more difficult to compare defensive performance between two players from vastly different eras but it’s fair to say both were elite in the field. We know Pedroia is a great defensive player because his mantle is decorated with four Gold Glove awards, an honor that didn’t exist when Doerr played.
Many of the modern statistics we use to evaluate defense today weren’t available in Doerr’s day either. Pedroia fares well in Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and other advanced fielding metrics but we can’t track those measurements for Doerr.
We have to rely on simpler methods to evaluate players from the first half of the 20th century. Doerr is the franchise leader among second baseman in putouts, assists and double plays turned. His .980 career fielding percentage was well above average for the era he played in.
Pedroia can’t match the counting stats but he owns a superior .991 fielding percentage. The league average has significantly risen over the decades though. The league average at the position during Pedroia’s career is .984 compared to .971 during the period Doerr played in. Pedroia has the higher percentage but Doerr is further above the league average for his era.
Our minds are fresh with memories of Pedroia’s wizardry with the glove but most of us aren’t old enough to have seen Doerr field the position. Those who did see him play speak glowingly of his ability.
“I never saw him misplay a ball, and he had the best backhand of any second baseman I ever saw,” said Red Sox teammate Johnny Pesky, per the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
We’ll give the edge to Pedroia based on the data we can analyze but Doerr was clearly very good with the glove.
Awards
Pedroia has made four All-Star appearances and won four Gold Gloves. He has a Silver Slugger, Rookie of the Year and MVP trophy on his resume.
Some of those awards didn’t exist when Doerr played but he was a nine-time All-Star who almost certainly would have made it double-digits if he didn’t miss a year of his prime due to military service in 1945.
Doerr never won an MVP but it’s hard to hold that against him. In those days, voters often favored players from teams that won the pennant. The top team in each league went straight to the World Series so Doerr only made the postseason once in his career. He also played most of his career alongside Ted Williams, who was robbed of a few MVP awards due to this favoritism toward team success.
Since winning his MVP in his sophomore campaign of 2008, Pedroia has only appeared on the AL ballot twice and hasn’t finished higher than seventh. Doerr never finished higher than third in his career but he was on the ballot for eight consecutive seasons.
Leadership
Pedroia established himself as a fan-favorite with this dirt dog mentality. The under-sized underdog kept grinding through early career struggles to break out as a star. He has as much heart and determination as any Red Sox player of this generation.
A strong work ethic has made Pedroia a great leader by example but when it comes to being a leader in the clubhouse, his abilities have come into question. The role was essentially forced on him in the wake of David Ortiz‘ retirement and Pedroia struggled to adjust to the responsibility during his one healthy season since then.
Deflecting blame during a bean-ball war with the Baltimore Orioles and egging on David Price’s embarrassing rant against Dennis Eckersley are examples that come to mind where Pedroia’s leadership have been questioned.
He has mostly stayed away from the team while recovering from multiple knee surgeries over the last two seasons, leaving the Red Sox to seek other leaders.
Ted Williams called Doerr the “silent captain” of the team. He played the game hard and had a great reputation as a player who helped build positive clubhouse chemistry.
Pedroia has been a capable leader in his own way but the advantage here clearly goes to Doerr.
Conclusion
This debate is as tight as any position in franchise history. It’s uncanny how similar they are at the plate and in the field, making any minor advantage one of them has in a particular area essentially a wash.
If we were picking the best individual season by a Red Sox second baseman then Pedroia is the clear winner. The 7.9 fWAR he produced in 2011 is the best single-season mark in franchise history at the position and his 6.4 fWAR from his MVP season in 2008 is next on the list.
The rest of the top 10 seasons for a Red Sox second baseman is mostly made up of Doerr, who topped out with a 6.0 fWAR season in 1942. For what it’s worth, Baseball-Reference values Doerr’s 6.3 WAR in 1944 as his best, although they are even higher on Pedroia’s best seasons.
Pedroia is the more decorated player with the higher peak but Doerr was more consistently productive over a longer period. Doerr already has a well-earned spot in the Hall of Fame while the injuries that have derailed the end of Pedroia’s career might keep him out of Cooperstown.
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If you needed one Red Sox player to fill the position with their best season then it’s Pedroia, but as far as overall career, give me Doerr as the best second baseman in franchise history.