Boston Red Sox: 10 greatest hitters in franchise history
Ranking the all-time greatest Boston Red Sox hitters
Many of the greatest hitters in baseball history have worn the iconic Boston Red Sox uniform for at least a portion of their career. Fans have been fortunate to witness powerful lineups led by the game’s brightest stars throughout the storied history of the franchise. With so many legendary figures to choose from, narrowing the list down to ten was no easy task.
First we must establish our criteria for what makes a great hitter. Some produce lofty batting averages but pack very little punch. Others are massive power threats who strike out at an alarming rate to sink their averages. The best hitters find a balance to get on base at a high rate while driving in runs.
Longevity matters. Some of the best offensive performances in franchise history belong to hitters who didn’t have long careers or made Boston a short pitstop along the way. They aren’t making my list unless they played at least a handful of seasons and approached 800 games with the Red Sox.
Babe Ruth is one of the greatest hitters in MLB history but he was primarily a pitcher during his Red Sox career. He appeared in fewer than 400 games as a hitter and his bat wasn’t fully unleashed until after he was sold to the Yankees.
Some fans will have different criteria for what they consider a great hitter. This is a subjective ranking of who I consider to be the best hitters in Red Sox history.
Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts
Mookie Betts barely meets the criteria with only five full seasons with the Red Sox and just under 800 games but he was such a spectacular player to watch that I couldn’t leave him off my list.
Betts had a breakout season in 2016 when he hit .318/.363/.534 with 31 home runs. He was primarily a leadoff hitter but spent nearly one-third of his time in the middle of the lineup that season, allowing him to drive in a career-high 113 RBI. Betts earned his first All-Star appearance and Silver Slugger while finishing as the runner-up for the AL MVP.
During the historic 2018 season when the Red Sox set a franchise record for wins on their way to a World Series title, Betts led the way with his best year. He won a batting title by hitting .346 while leading the league with a .640 SLG and 129 runs scored. Betts also set career-highs with 32 home runs and a 1.078 OPS to capture the MVP award. His 10.4 WAR that year ranks as the seventh-best season by a position player in franchise history, per FanGraphs.
He’s never been a prolific power hitter but he’s elite for the role that he filled at the top of the Red Sox batting order. His .302 average and 110 home runs as a leadoff hitter are the best in franchise history among those with 200+ plate appearances in that role.
Betts is also an elite base runner, topping 20 stolen bases four times. He’s one of only two players in Red Sox history with a 30+ home run/30+ stolen base season.
The controversial trade that shipped Betts to Los Angeles might haunt us forever and undoubtedly prevents him from climbing higher in these rankings. He had a chance to be one of the best all-around players in Red Sox history if he spent most of his career here. Even with a relatively short tenure in Boston, Betts still makes my list.
Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra
Nomar Garciaparra is notably the only shortstop on this list. While historically it had been a light-hitting position that emphasized defense, Garciaparra was at the forefront of a shortstop revolution. Forming a “holy trinity” alongside Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, Nomar was part of a new wave that proved shortstops could produce big offensive numbers that were rarely seen from that position.
Garciaparra was the Rookie of the Year in 1997 when he hit .306 with an .875 OPS, 30 home runs, 98 RBI and 22 steals. He led the league with a career-high 209 hits and 11 triples. He was already among the best hitters in the league as a rookie, making the All-Star team, earning a Silver Slugger and finishing eighth on the MVP ballot.
The following season, Garciaparra hit .323 while setting career-highs with 35 home runs and 122 RBI to finish second in the MVP race.
Nomar won consecutive batting titles, hitting .357 in 1999 and .372 the following year. It’s been eighty years since a qualified major league player has hit at least .400 in a season. During that 2000 season, Red Sox fans believed that if anyone was going to do it again, it would be Nomar.
Only six qualified hitters have produced a higher batting average than Garciaparra’s .372 in a season since Ted Williams topped .400 in 1941. One of those hitters was Teddy Ballgame himself in 1958. Tony Gwynn came the closest by hitting .394 but played in only 110 games during the strike-shortened 1994 season. All six are in the Hall of Fame.
Nomar won’t get into Cooperstown but at his peak, he was in that elite class.
Red Sox outfielder Tris Speaker
Tris Speaker‘s production at the plate is harder to quantify in comparison to modern hitters due to the dead-ball era that he played in. Baseball was a different game in the early 1900s, one that relied heavily on speed and strategy over power. Speaker was undoubtedly one of the greatest hitters of that generation.
During his nine seasons in Boston, Speaker only tallied 39 home runs, fewer than many hitters on this list have produced in a single season. The low total is a product of the era he played in. Speaker led the league with 10 home runs in 1912 when he captured the AL MVP award.
He wasn’t bashing many homers but Speaker was an extra-base hitting machine. He led the league in doubles twice and routinely cracked double-digits in triples, including a career-high 22. Speaker had a .500 slugging percentage for his career, topping that figure four times with the Red Sox, which was no easy task without the benefit of high home run totals.
Speaker was an excellent base runner, stealing 25+ bases in seven consecutive seasons with the Red Sox. Many of his base hits quickly turned into extra bases with a steal.
What stands out most about Speaker is his batting averages. He hit well over .300 in every full season he spent in Boston. His .337 average with the Red Sox ranks third in franchise history.
High batting averages were common in those days when hitters weren’t swinging for the fences and rarely struck out. Speaker’s 3.2 K% is the best in franchise history among hitters with 800+ games played. Pitchers weren’t striking out a batter per inning in those days though.
Speaker never won a batting title in Boston despite hitting over .320 in six consecutive seasons with a high of .383. He did lead the league in hits once. Speaker finally led the league in batting average in his first season after leaving Boston and remained an elite hitter for over a decade in Cleveland.
Red Sox outfielder Jim Rice
Jim Rice spent his entire 16-year Hall of Fame career with the Red Sox, earning eight All-Star appearances and a pair of Silver Sluggers.
Rice broke out with a stellar rookie season, hitting .309 with 22 home runs and 102 RBI to finish as the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year and third on the MVP ballot. He was overshadowed by teammate Fred Lynn, who captured both awards in that 1975 season, but Rice would go on to have the more dominant career at the plate.
Rice’s career .298 batting average falls outside of the top-30 in franchise history but he was among the league’s best hitters at his peak, topping .300 seven times.
His 382 home runs are fourth-most in franchise history. Rice led the league in homers three times, including a career-high 46 during his MVP campaign in 1978. He also led the league with 213 hits, 15 triples, a .600 SLG and .970 OPS that season.
Jim Ed led the league in slugging twice and he’s one of only nine hitters with 3500+ career plate appearances with the Red Sox to produce a .500+ SLG.
Rice began to decline rapidly in his mid-30s but still had at least a decade of his prime where he was an elite player who won an MVP and finished top-five on the ballot six times.
Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs
Wade Boggs was a different type of hitter than most of the stars in his day. While many hitters were aiming to knock the ball out of the park, Boggs’ only concern was with getting on base. His goal for every plate appearance was to avoid an out and he did so as well as anyone.
Boggs won five batting titles during his 11 seasons in Boston and led the league in on-base percentage six times. He’s second in franchise history with a .338 average and third with a .428 OBP.
He rarely cracked double-digits in home runs but just to prove he was capable, Boggs smacked a career-high 24 homers in 1987. The power surge didn’t come at the expense of getting on base since he still won a batting title while also leading the league with a .461 OBP and 1.049 OPS.
While homers weren’t a big part of his game, Boggs racked up doubles at an elite rate. He hit 40+ doubles in seven consecutive seasons, leading the league twice, including in 1989 when he tallied a career-high 51 doubles.
Boggs made eight consecutive All-Star appearances and won six Silver Sluggers during his time in Boston. The lack of power prevents him from cracking the top-five on this list but in terms of pure hitting with a swing designed to find base hits, Boggs was one of the best to ever do it.
Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez
The Red Sox made a splash when they signed Manny Ramirez to a $160 million deal, the largest contract the franchise had ever given to a free-agent at the time and making him only the second player in MLB history to earn $20+ million per year. It was an expensive gamble to take on the mercurial superstar but one that certainly paid off.
Ramirez was an All-Star in all eight seasons that he spent in Boston. He earned six consecutive Silver Slugger awards with the Red Sox and earned MVP votes in each of those seasons, finishing as high as third on the ballot.
Manny won a batting title during his second season in Boston when he hit .349 while also leading the league with a .450 OBP, a category he led the league in three times.
Ramirez is sixth in franchise history in home runs, blasting 274 of his 555 career home runs as a member of the Red Sox. His career total is higher than anyone who ever played for the Red Sox (aside from Ruth, who was primarily a pitcher in Boston) and those ahead of him on the franchise leaderboard spent significantly more time in Boston.
He’s third in franchise history with a .588 SLG. His .411 OBP is fifth among Red Sox hitters with 1500+ plate appearances.
Ramirez is MLB’s all-time postseason home run leader with 29. He smashed 11 of those in playoff games for the Red Sox, including one in the 2004 World Series when he was named MVP.
Manny being Manny was the reason he was beloved in Boston as well as a source of frustration. His erratic behavior aside, Ramirez was one of the best right-handed hitters we’ve ever seen.
Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz
It’s a tough call between Manny and David Ortiz, who anchored the Red Sox lineup together for over half a decade. Ramirez has a comfortable advantage in the slash line categories but Ortiz has the longevity with 14 seasons in Boston to pile up more counting stats. Along with his clutch playoff performances and the significant impact he had as an icon in this city, Big Papi gets the edge.
The Red Sox scooped Ortiz off the scrap heap when he was discarded by the Minnesota Twins and he immediately turned his career around. Ortiz had a breakout year in 2003 when he hit 31 homers and drove in 101 RBI.
Ortiz would go on to make 10 All-Star appearances and earn seven Silver Sluggers while establishing himself as the greatest designated hitter in MLB history.
His 483 home runs in a Red Sox uniform are the second-most in franchise history. He set the single-season franchise record with 54 home runs in 2006. Ortiz also led the league in RBI that year for the second consecutive season.
He wasn’t often a batting title contender but Ortiz hit a solid .290 during his tenure with the Red Sox and hit at least .300 in seven of his 14 seasons in Boston. His .570 SLG is fourth in franchise history.
Bias against the DH prevented Ortiz from capturing an MVP award but he finished as the runner-up in 2005 and was top-five on the ballot in five consecutive seasons.
Ortiz was a key member of three World Series championship teams in Boston. He shined brightest on the playoff stage, swatting 17 career postseason home runs. His resume is decorated with some of the most memorable postseason performances in franchise history, from game-winning grand slams to clutch walk-off hits.
Age and injuries eventually got the better of him but Ortiz managed to grind through one more sensational season at the age of 40. He hit .315 with 38 home runs while leading the league with 48 doubles, 127 RBI, a .620 SLG and 1.021 OPS during his farewell tour in 2016.
Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx was already an established superstar when he joined the Red Sox, earning a pair of MVP awards and a Triple Crown with the Philadelphia A’s, but he had plenty left in the tank when he arrived in Boston in 1936.
The Red Sox capitalized on A’s owner Connie Mack’s financial woes stemming from the Great Depression and bought Foxx’s contract for $150,000. If the A’s were still in Philadelphia, their fans would be haunted by losing Foxx in much the same way that Red Sox fans will never forgive selling Ruth to the Yankees.
The Beast hit .320/.429/.605 during his seven seasons in Boston. He’s tied for 10th in franchise history in batting average while ranking second in OBP and SLG.
Before Ortiz broke the single-season franchise home run record in 2006, Foxx held the honor for nearly seven decades. Foxx hit 50 home runs in 1938 while driving in 175 RBI, which remains the franchise single-season record. He won the MVP that year and nearly had another Triple Crown, only to fall short to Detroit’s Hank Greenberg in the home run category.
Foxx was an All-Star in each of his first six seasons in Boston. His health deteriorated in 1942 and his production fell off a cliff. The Red Sox dealt him to the Chicago Cubs and his career was never the same again.
Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Yastrzemski spent his entire 23-year career with the Red Sox. His uncanny longevity places him near the top of many categories in franchise history but also works against him in some regards.
Yastrzemski is the franchise’s all-time leader with 3308 games played and 13991 plate appearances. Leading those categories by a significant margin allowed him to pile up plenty of counting stats, which is why he also leads Red Sox hitters with 1816 runs scored and 1844 RBI. His 452 home runs are third-most in franchise history.
Playing until his age 43 season had negative consequences on other statistics though. His .285 career average is solid but unspectacular. However, that average is dragged down by some mediocre seasons when he was hanging on late in his career. During his peak, Yaz was an excellent hitter who won three batting titles.
We should also note the era that he played in. The first eight seasons of his career came prior to when MLB lowered the mound and shrank the strike zone in 1969 in an effort to increase offense. This action was in response to the “Year of the Pitcher” when 22 pitchers posted a sub-2.00 ERA and Bob Gibson had a historic MVP season on the mound. In a year dominated by pitching, Yaz still led the league with a .301 average and .922 OPS.
The best season of his career was in 1967 when Yastrzemski hit .326 with 44 home runs and 121 RBI to capture the Triple Crown and MVP award. His 11.1 fWAR is the best single-season performance by any Red Sox hitter who isn’t named Ted Williams. Yaz fueled the Red Sox in that “Impossible Dream” season that ended with a trip to the World Series and breathed life back into baseball in Boston.
Yaz responded to MLB lowering the mound with consecutive 40-homer seasons. By that point, he was already in his 30s and never reached 30 home runs in a season again.
Even as his power faded, Yaz continued to provide a steady presence in the Red Sox lineup for another decade until he wrapped up his remarkable career.
Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams
Ted Williams once claimed that his goal was to have people say, “There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.” You can certainly make a strong case that he’s worthy of being called the greatest in MLB history.
Williams is Boston’s all-time leader with a .344 batting average, winning six batting titles in his 19-year career spent entirely with the Red Sox. His .482 career OBP and 20.5 BB% are the best in MLB history. He trails only Ruth with a career .634 SLG.
The Splendid Splinter has the most home runs in Red Sox history with 521. While a few others on this list had more career homers, none of them hit more in a Red Sox uniform.
Williams is the last major league player to hit at least .400 in a season, hitting .406 in 1941. The following year he captured his first Triple Crown. He finished as the runner-up for the MVP in both seasons. It’s unfathomable that Williams didn’t take home the hardware with his prolific production but he fell short to players from the pennant-winning Yankees. Williams was robbed of several MVP awards in his career due to playing in an era that didn’t have today’s playoff structure, which led to favoritism for players on teams that reached the World Series.
Williams took a three-year hiatus for military service during World War II. We can only imagine what his career numbers would look like if he hadn’t skipped three years of his prime. He didn’t miss a beat when he returned from the war in 1946, hitting .342 with 38 home runs and 123 RBI to finally win his first MVP.
Boston won the pennant that year but Williams struggled with an elbow injury during the seven-game series that the Red Sox lost to St. Louis. That would be the only trip to the postseason in Williams’ career.
The Red Sox fell a game shy of the pennant in 1949 but Williams was still rewarded with the MVP when he set career-highs with 43 home runs and 157 RBI.
Military service pulled Williams away from the game again during the Korean War, forcing him to miss most of the 1952-53 seasons. He was in his mid-30s by the time he returned but continued to put up staggering numbers at the plate despite carrying a dismal Red Sox team through one of the worst decades in franchise history.
The 19-time All-Star continued to earn his trip to the Midsummer Classic through the final season of his career at the age of 41.
Williams produced 130.4 fWAR in his career, the most in franchise history and eighth among major league position players. The list on FanGraphs of the best Red Sox single-season performances in terms of WAR is littered with his name, including three of the top four and six of the top 10.
Williams once famously said that baseball is the only endeavor where you can succeed three out of ten times and be considered a good performer. Based on his ability to reach base at a historic clip, Williams was successful nearly half the time. That’s not a good performance, it’s great. The greatest of all time.
Next. Top-5 home run hitters in Red Sox history. dark