Boston Red Sox: Best pitchers who could hit in franchise history
An All-Star team of Red Sox pitchers who could hit.
A pitcher attempting to hit is often on a scale from laughable to surprising depending upon the outcome. Since the implementation of the Designated Hitter in 1973, the American League (AL) and the rest of professional baseball excluding the National League (NL) have avoided this exercise in offensive futility except in certain circumstances. In another age it was different.
Prior to the emergence of the “Modern Era” considered from 1901 onward, a pitcher was expected to hit and would often play the field on days when mound duty was not needed. They could in some instances be exceptional at both – pitching and hitting. Guy Hecker won 26 games in 1886 and also a batting title hitting .341. What happened?
In that bygone age, baseball rosters were small and players had to be flexible. A rotation could be a two-man affair and the use of a pinch-hitter only came about with a rule change. As schedules expanded so did rosters and further specialization. As the years pushed forward so did the ineptness of pitchers with a bat in their hands but exceptions did exist.
This will be an attempt – an admittedly brutal one – of constructing an All-Star team of Red Sox hurlers who could mash or at least not embarrass themselves. Finding a position on the diamond for each is one of mostly guesswork and a pitcher would usually be confined to where the less defensive damage could be done – the outfield.
Red Sox – First Base
When one thinks of a pitcher who could hit it is invariably reversed to a hitter who could pitch when Babe Ruth is mentioned. Defensively, as Ruth’s swatting abilities became recognized, the Bambino was tossed into picket duty or first base. Reports are Ruth may not have been a finished product at either position but more than competent.
The culmination of the dual role reached a crescendo in 1918 when the Red Sox bagged another World Series title. Ruth led the AL in home runs with 11 – accomplished in just 95 games – and also posted a 13-7 mark as a moundsman. The previous two seasons, Ruth had posted 20+ wins, but in that WS in 1918 Ruth took the hill for two wins.
In 1919, Ruth’s pitching was further minimized going 9-5 but leading the AL in home runs with 29. After that, Ruth was sold to the Yankees and his mound career was essentially over. Separating Ruth’s statistics as a hitter and a hitting pitcher has been done and some items of note surface and point of reference post-1900.
Ruth four times led or tied AL pitchers for the “home run title” from 1915-1918. In 1915 and 1917, Ruth topped all pitchers in batting average. In 1919, Ruth became the first Red Sox pitcher to hit a grand slam. In 1918, Ruth went 5-for-5 with three doubles and a triple but no RBI. For a point of reference, Lou Gehrig never had a five-hit game.
Red Sox – Second Base
I actually discover a Red Sox pitcher who saw duty at second base, only not with the Red Sox, and that is 34 game-winner Smoky Joe Wood. As mentioned, those 34 kills (wins) was the deciding factor in another Red Sox World Series championship. The WS became the frosting on the cake with a 3-1 record and from there it was downhill for the right-handed Wood.
Hitting .290 for the Red Sox in 1912 certainly was impressive as was Wood’s .244 career average with Boston that also included five home runs and 50 RBI, but that ability to hit became a career saver for Wood.
In 1913, Wood suffered a thumb injury that would plague him for the next three seasons although in 1915, Wood went 15-5 and led the AL with a 1.49 ERA and recovery time between starts and pain index forced Wood into early retirement – maybe. Wood resurfaced briefly with the Indians as a position player in 1917 and a full-time outfielder in 1918.
Wood played six seasons for the Trible hitting .297 before finally bringing down the curtain and going on to Yale University as a baseball coach. Wood’s record as a pitcher was exceptional with a 117-57 record and minuscule 2.03 ERA. One of the best ever who today would have been quickly repaired and returned to the mound.
Red Sox – Third Base
When Wes Ferrell was a hitting wonder in the 1930s he had competition and that is another Red Sox player who saved from pitching purgatory by being traded to the Yankees. Right-hander Red Ruffing had a 39-96 tab as a pitcher for a series of dismal Red Sox teams before being rescued and going 231-124 with the Yankees.
Ruffing is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and in all probability would have been a 300 game-winner but volunteered for service during World War II costing the hard hitter two seasons. Returning to the hill in 1945 the now 40-year-old won 15 games for New York and Cleveland over the next three seasons, but then there was Ruffing’s bat.
Ruffing was a career .269 hitter and hit the same .269 in seven Boston seasons with five home runs and 50 RBI. For his career Ruffing had 36 home runs and managed a .264 average as a pinch-hitter. In 1930 Ruffing had the third all-time highest slugging percentage for a pitcher in a single season at .582. Ruffing also sits with Wood at hitting the most doubles in a season by a pitcher with 13 in 1928.
When Ruffing retired he continued to be active in baseball as a coach at all levels including pitching coach for the dreadful 1962 expansion Mets. Ruffing also was a player-personnel director for the Indians for ten years before returning to coaching.
Red Sox – Shortstop
The shortstop is certainly questionable but the way Wes Ferrell could hit would make little difference as what was lost on defense would come back on offense. Ferrell was one the best hitting pitchers -maybe the best – of all-time. A right-handed hitter with notable power and often sent in to pinch-hit in his career that spanned 15 seasons and a 193-128 career record from the mound.
Ferrell pitched four seasons with Boston and led the AL with 25 wins in 1935 and three times in complete games. With the bat, Ferrell hit .308 with 17 home runs in those four seasons. For his career, Ferrell slammed 38 home runs and that tops all pitchers. Four times with the Red Sox Ferrell hit two home runs in a game. Ferrell once had a four-hit and six RBI game for the Red Sox and also hit a grand slam the same season.
Ferrell four times led all pitchers in home runs for a season including a record nine for a pitcher in 1931 while Ferrell tossed for the Indians. He also holds with George Uhle the record of most hits in a season by a pitcher with 52. And RBI? The most in a season by a pitcher is 32 RBI and Mr. Ferrell is the owner of that record in 1935 and that broke the previous record Ferrell had established at 30 in 1931. Ferrell also has the second-highest one season slugging percentage at .621 only topped by Don Newcombe’s .632.
When Ferrell’s MLB days were finished he returned to the minors to continue his dual role and in 1948 at 40-years-old hit .425 with 24 home runs for Marion in the Western Carolina League. As a side note, he formed a brother tandem with catcher Rick Ferrell who played 19 seasons and managed to outhit Wes .281 to .280, but not out homer him. However, Rick is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and Wes is not.
Red Sox – Catcher
No pitcher hit home runs at a greater rate than Earl Wilson, a converted catcher who eventually had a 20-win season with the Tigers. The right-handed Wilson had the physical appearance of a linebacker and would simply murder the ball. I actually attended a game in which Wilson tossed a no-hitter and slammed a home run. And the home run was Wilson’s calling card leading all pitchers in that category four times in his 11-year career.
Wilson for his career hit 35 home runs as a pitcher and did it in just 740 at-bats – best ratio. A case could be made for Jack Harshman who hit 19 in 384 at-bats but to put it in perspective it took career leader Ferrell (38) 1128 at-bats and Ruth 490 at-bats to bag 15 home runs. Wilson would put on quite a show in batting practice, but there is a downside. Wilson hit just .195 for his career.
As a pitcher, Wilson had a losing record with the Red Sox (56-58) but that comes with the caveat that the Red Sox teams Wilson was stuck with did little. After the Red Sox finished ninth in 1966 they traded Wilson to the Tigers where he tied Jim Lonborg for the league lead in wins with 22 in 1967. The trade may have been spurred on by a racial incident that happened in spring training of 1966 in which Wilson was told by management to ignore.
In 1968, the hard-throwing Wilson slipped to 13-12 and lost his only start in the World Series. After two more seasons, Wilson retired and with it a legacy of being remembered for both his pitching and hitting.
Red Sox – Outfielders
Left-hander Ken Brett came to the Red Sox at the end of the 1967 season as a just turned 19-year-old and did appear in the World Series. Brett played for 14 seasons and with ten teams compiling a rather mediocre 83-85 record but was generally considered the best hitting pitcher of his era. You may recognize the name since his younger brother George Brett could hit a wee bit.
In four seasons with Boston, Brett hit .295 and hit three home runs and just six RBI in 61 at-bats. For his career, Brett hit .262 but his numbers were hampered by the DH rule and Brett sat while a DH took his slot. Where Brett failed was hitting just .148 as a pinch-hitter and an even lower .063 against his former team the Red Sox.
Left-hander Gary Peters could hit the long ball with 19 career home runs and four in his brief three years with the Red Sox. In those three seasons, Peters also won 33 games but as a member of the White Sox Peters was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1963 with a 19-8 record. The following season Peters led the AL in wins with 20 and twice topped the AL in ERA.
As a hitter, Peters finished with a .222 batting average and 102 RBI to go with his 19 home runs. Peters hit .235 as a pinch-hitter in 66 career at-bats but holds the record for most pinch-hit home runs by a pitcher with four. Two of those four came while a member of the Red Sox.
A pitcher who was rough on the edges and a noted head hunter was right-hander Carl Mays who had a career .268 average. In five seasons with Boston Mays hit .243 and had a 72-51 pitching record. Mays did not have a significant (5) home run total for his career but could bang out triples with 21 for his career and that is tied for third place on the all-time list. Walter Johnson leads with 41 three baggers.
Red Sox – Designated Hitter
Winning just one major league game on the mound is not much of a qualification for anything unless a .349 career average is attached to it. Lefty O’Doul didn’t accomplish much on the hill in the majors but did go 25-9 for San Francisco in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) in 1924, O’Doul went through a conversion process to become a power-hitting outfielder in the PCL and in 1928 hit .319 when he returned to MLB with the Giants. That was just the beginning.
Traded to Philly, O’Doul took full advantage of a friendly ballpark and hit a league-best .398 with 32 home runs and 122 RBI. That marked the beginning of four consecutive seasons of 30+ home runs of which two were with Brooklyn. With Brooklyn, O’Doul won another batting title in 1932 with a .368 average. The following season O’Dould slumped to .284 and in a few seasons was gone from MLB, but not the professional ranks.
O’Doul returned to the PCL and the San Fransisco Seals as a manager where he stayed until 1951 occasional taking a turn on the mound or swinging a bat. With the Seals, O’dould helped develop a promising player – Joe DiMaggio – who went on to have a rather well-noted career.
Why is O’Doul missing from the HOF? This is the age factor as O’Doul’s first full season didn’t happen until he was 31-years-old. O’Doul held the single-season hit record of 254 until Ichiro Suzuki broke it with 262 in 2004. But O’Doul did have that one MLB win with the Red Sox.
Red Sox – Honorable Mention
When you think of Cy Young you think award and 511 career wins, but Young could hit. Young won 36 games in 1892 and then they moved the mound back to its current distance and Young won 33. With the Red Sox, Young hit .219 in eight seasons and had six home runs and 81 RBI. Young also hit 15 triples and had 35 for his career to go with 18 home runs and a .210 average. That is part of the story as longevity pays and Young leads all pitchers with at-bats (2947), hits (618), runs (322), and unofficially RBI (289).
Tom Hughes played only two seasons in Boston but hit .301 and was part of the 1903 championship team. Hughes – a righty – went 20-7 in 1903 and 132-174 for his career. Hughes finished just .198 for his career, but those two Boston years were by far his best.
Lefty Mickey McDermott played six seasons for the Red Sox (1948-1953) and hit .281 with three home runs and 44 RBI. McDermott won 48 games for the Red Sox and lost 34 and finished with a career .252 average for 12 seasons. McDermott also received two intentional bases of balls one season. A first for any hurler.
Bullet Joe Bush pitched four seasons for the Red Sox before being shipped (no surprise) to the Yankees where he won 26 games in 1922. Bush could swing the club hitting .286 for the Red Sox and .252 for his career. In 17 seasons the righty hit seven home runs and had 140 RBI.
Right-hander Willard Nixon spent his entire nine-year career with the Red Sox winning 69 games and losing 72. Nixon was a bit more successful hitting .242 over that span with a pair of home runs and 41 RBI.
Next. Red Sox first-round draft pick disasters. dark
Pedro Martinez is in the HOF but his .099 average didn’t get him there. Luis Tiant is better at .164 with five home runs. Curt Schilling hit .151 for his career with no home runs but did get a stolen base. Jon Lester did not warm up to the NL style hitting just .107 for his career.