Catcher
The first batting champion for the Red Sox was a beast since that was the aptly applied nickname to right-hand slugger Jimmie Foxx. Foxx was essentially purchased from the cash strapped A’s and was recognized along with Hank Greenberg as the premier right-hand sluggers of the AL.
Foxx bagged his title in 1938 with a .349 average that also had a league-best 175 RBI and 50 home runs. Greenberg’s 58 home runs kept Foxx from the Triple Crown, but not his third MVP Award. In 1939, Foxx made up for the home run title by leading the AL with 35. For Foxx’s seven Boston seasons the batting average was .320 with 222 home runs and 788 RBI, but what about the catching?
Foxx started out as a catcher with the A’s before being shifted to the outfield and finally first base, but he never completely was absent from behind the plate. In 1940, Foxx caught 42 games for the Red Sox among his 108 career games behind the plate.
By the early 1940s, Foxx’s skills were rapidly eroding with the help of too much booze as a catalyst, but Double X stayed on through the player shortage of World War II.