Boston Red Sox: Best pitchers who could hit in franchise history
By Rick McNair
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.