Red Sox: All-Star team of managers who also played for the franchise

The Boston Red Sox have had some remarkable and not so remarkable players serve as manager and played for the team. Here are the All-Stars.

I have managed the Boston Red Sox. You have managed the Red Sox. We usually do it from our perch in front of the TV or in the stands. We know more than the manager and certainly would have brought in the right pitcher and not the wrong pitcher. Unlike the field boss sitting in the dugout, we have the advantage of hindsight.

The Red Sox have had 47 managers in their 120 seasons with Ron Roenicke being victim number 48 if a season starts. Some were around just for one game such as Rudy York in 1959.  The interim manager or just filling the role until a new hire has an extensive list such as Del Baker in 1960 and the previously mentioned York. A few may just surface on this list.

You could serve both Boston and the dreaded New York Yankees such as Ed Barrow or Ralph Houk. And of course, Joe McCarthy who made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager.

In this exercise of baseball history, a number were player-managers since that was quite common. But times change and Pete Rose was the last to fill a dual role.

This will be that group that played for the Boston Red Sox and managed for the Boston Red Sox.

First Base

Pete Runnels could be at second base, but he belongs at first base where he did the most damage – mostly with his bat, but some with his glove. Runnels won two batting titles while with the Red Sox – one as a second baseman and one as a first baseman. In five seasons the compact lefty-hitting Runnels hit .320 for Boston. From my own observations, defensively Runnels covered as much ground as a postage stamp but he could hit.

Runnels was traded to Houston after winning a batting title but returning to his native Texas was no career builder and in two seasons Runnels was gone from MLB, but not from baseball. Runnels – a favorite of Tom Yawkey – returned as a coach for the Red Sox in 1965 and that is where history takes over. Late in the 1966 season, the Red Sox fired manager Billy Herman.

With Herman gone the Red Sox needed an interim manager and that was Runnels. Runnels filled in and was 8-8 and encouraged to apply for the position for 1967.  Runnels had a history of ulcers and probably figured the best way to aggravate the condition was being a manager. He declined and the Red Sox hired Dick Williams.

Shortstop

The winningest manager in Red Sox history (1071-916) and the longest-tenured (13 seasons) Joe Cronin came to Boston as so many others did – via owner Tom Yawkey’s checkbook. Cronin was the 26-year-old player-manager of the Washington Senators owned by cash strapped Clark Griffith when in 1934, Yawkey gave Griffith $250,000 to sell his son-in-law, Cronin, to the Red Sox.

Cronin signed a five-year deal and began an 11-year playing career with the Red Sox. Cronin’s numbers in Boston were remarkable with a .300 average and 119 home runs. He also won another 165 games as manager of the Senators including the 1933 American League pennant.

In 1947, Cronin moved into the General manager position for the Red Sox and attempted to build another pennant winner for Yawkey, but failed despite the money and some rather successful trades. In 1959, Cronin became president of the AL and eventually into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Second Base

Replacing Cronin at shortstop was a left-hand hitter who became a legend for the Red Sox – Johnny Pesky.  Pesky did play 137 games at second so he moves to second base. As a manager, Pesky (147-179) was not a success. As a player, Pesky hit .313 in his eight Boston seasons and completed his MLB career with a .307 average.  Then it was on to the next baseball life.

Pesky headed to the minors and the coaching and manager ranks with the Yankees and later the Tigers organizations. Boston brought Pesky back into the organization in 1960 to manage their Triple-A Seattle teams and that opened into the job with the big club in 1963.

Pesky lasted two seasons with the Red Sox before GM Pinky Higgins – no fan of Pesky – sent Pesky packing and that meant back to the coaching box with the Pirates who were his next employer. Pesky went back to the bench as manager of the Pirates Triple-A club before returning to Boston and the broadcast booth. The rest is history and legend.

Third Base

In 1901, the American League was open for business and the new team in Boston needed to be stocked. A few blocks away from the Huntington Avenue Grounds was arguably the best third baseman in baseball – Jimmy Collins. Collins could hit as he did for the 1900 Braves with a .302 average, but his glove was exceptional. Collins was quick, had a strong-arm, and was a defensive innovator.

Collins became player-manager for six seasons (455-376) and the manager of the 1903 World Series championship team. He followed that up with another pennant in 1904 and the refusal of Giants manager John McGraw to meet in another postseason series.

Collins then started the road to his exit and like far too many managers it became a trial by fire with the owner.  In the owner of this instance, John Taylor won – all owners do. Taylor even suspended Collins twice and ended the ongoing dramatics by trading Collins to the A’s.

Collins soon was done at the MLB level but continued paling and managing in the minors for a few seasons before retiring from the game as a lifetime .294 hitter. Collins is immortalized by Dropkick Murphys’ song Jimmy Collins’ Wake.

Catcher

Being a catcher creates a pathway to a manager position and the Red Sox are no exception. I would love to see a reluctant Jason Varitek throw his cap and face mask into the ring for the Red Sox position.

The Red Sox had the Varitek of their past with hard-nosed (nickname was “Rough”) Bill Carrigan who served four seasons as player-manager (1913-16) winning two World Series titles. Carrigan played his entire ten-year career with Boston, hitting .257 with only six home runs, but he was a well-noted handler of pitchers and that the Red Sox had.

Carrigan took over the team in 1913 after internal struggles – mostly around religion – had created a clubhouse fracture. That was only exasperated by a series of injuries to key players and a reluctant Carrigan took over a veteran team. End results were the only back-to-back World Series championships in team history (1915-16).

After the 1916 championship, Carrigan packed it in and left, but the reasoning was solid. He was as sharp in the business world as he was on the bench and behind the plate. Baseball had a long season and Carrigan had businesses that needed attention, but then came the return.

In the 1920s, the Red Sox were beyond awful and quite possibly the worst franchise in all of baseball. The only consistency was losing and having no one show up at fire-ravaged Fenway Park.  The call went out to Carrigan who accepted the challenge and returned for three seasons (1927-29). Big mistake and Carrigan resigned despite the pleadings of ownership finishing off his manages career at 489-500.

Outfielders

The Red Sox know tragedy such as Harry Agganis, Tony Conigliaro, and Chick Stahl. Stahl was another grabbed from the Braves when the Red Sox started operations in 1901. Considered one of the best in baseball, Stahl took over the reins as manager in 1906 – another player-manager, but he had demons.

Stahl became manager late in 1906 when his friend Collins was suspended over an ongoing disagreement with team owner Taylor. In spring training for the 1907 season, Stahl committed suicide by drinking acid. A mystery that remains to this day. Stahl finished his MLB career with a .305 average and as manager 14-26.

A second Stahl was Jake Stahl who was no relation to Chick.  Jake was the player-manager on the great 1912 Red Sox team. That 1912 season, Stahl hit .301 for his only plus .300 average in his nine-year career. He was no novice to being a manager as he had served in the same capacity with the Washington Senators for two seasons.

Stahl was gone midway through the following season over internal strife that had decimated the Red Sox clubhouse. The schism was based on religion with Catholic versus non-Catholic. Stahl resigned with a 144-88 record as manager – a .621 winning percentage that is the highest among all Red Sox managers.

Jake – a right-hand hitter – led the AL in home runs in 1910 and held the record for most whiffs in a season (126) that stood for almost 30 years. A strange line for his career was 221 walks and 652 strikeouts.  Unusual BB/K for the Dead Ball Era.

Right-hand hitting Shano Collins was an average player hitting an unremarkable .264 in 16 seasons. Collins came to the Red Sox in 1921 from the White Sox and played five seasons before retiring as a player. Collins was also on the infamous Black Sox team of 1919 and never implicated in the fix.

Collins started out his managerial career in the minors in 1930 and in 1931 was hired by the Red Sox when McCarthy could not be pried away from the Yankees. In Shano’s two Boston seasons his record was just 73-134. Collins resigned midway through the 1932 season.