Boston Red Sox all-time starting lineup based on WAR
Baseball Reference is a dangerous tool if you have a lot of time to kill. The other night, prompted by Alek Manoah being sent down, I tried to think of pitchers who were Cy Young finalists one season, who then completely imploded the next season. This simple enough thought then sent me down a rabbit hole that ended with me reviewing the career stats of 1982 Cy Young winner Pete Vuckovich.
It is the baseball equivalent of clicking through Wikipedia links that ends up leading you to an entirely different topic, an experience so prevalent that entire websites have been dedicated to being able to click from one topic to another in the shortest amount of time (big shout-out to The Wiki Game for helping me kill time in college).
Besides being a baseball fan's largest enabler of being sucked into the wormhole of baseball knowledge, Baseball Reference also serves as the best database of baseball statistics possible, which makes tasks like completing the research for this article go so much quicker than it could have (and makes the conclusions a lot more objective). Almost a spiritual successor to my all-time forgotten Red Sox team, this article will show, based on the statistic of Wins Above Replacement (WAR), the best possible Red Sox lineup from all players in the storied history of the franchise.
The players in the lineup are all placed in their primary position, i.e. the position they played most often while serving as a member of the Red Sox (this led to a massive omission that I'll mention when it comes up later on). I also tried to make a lineup that would make sense in an actual game scenario, so the placement on the lineup is not an actual ranking of the player but is just me getting to masquerade as Red Sox manager for a brief moment in time. Without further ado, let's jump into the all-time Boston Red Sox lineup.
All-time best Red Sox lineup: 1. Tris Speaker, CF
Leading things off for the Red Sox will be the record holder for career doubles in all of the major leagues in Tris Speaker. He held down center field for the Red Sox at both the Huntington Avenue Grounds and Fenway Park, playing from 1907 to 1915, winning two World Series with the Sox before heading out to Cleveland before the 1916 season.
In his time in Boston, the Hall of Famer totaled 55.8 career WAR, good enough for fifth in the Red Sox all-time WAR rankings for position players, which tells me one of two things: 1) Tris Speaker was one unbelievable player back in the day, and 2) I can't believe the Red Sox haven't had a better center fielder in the past 108 years. The next highest center fielder is member of the Impossible Dream team of 1967 Reggie Smith, who totaled 34.2 WAR in his years with the Red Sox (and may genuinely be one of the most underrated players in Red Sox history).
I want Speaker batting leadoff because, much like the Moneyball A's, he gets on base. In his full seasons with the Red Sox, he only had one season where his on-base percentage was below .400. He also liked to steal bases, racking up 267 stolen bases during his time in Boston. Speaker is a guy that is going to get on base, take the extra base, and set up the rest of the lineup for success.
All-time best Red Sox lineup: 2. Jimmie Foxx, 1B
Keeping things old school with this next pick, Jimmie Foxx is going to hold down first base for this team. Foxx came up from Philadelphia to Boston in 1936, spending six full seasons and part of a seventh season with the Red Sox, before heading out west to Chicago in 1942. While Foxx never won a title with the Red Sox, he did win the 1938 MVP award, and was named an All-Star every full season he spent in Boston.
Foxx totaled 32.0 WAR during his time in Boston, which places him 22nd in the Red Sox all-time ranking, just ahead of his staunchest competition in this lineup in the Greek God of Walks himself, Kevin Youkilis (31.3 WAR). Foxx is the lowest-ranking member of this team in terms of the all-time rankings, but 32.0 WAR in just over six seasons is absolutely nothing to sneeze at.
Foxx takes the 2-hole in this lineup because, for lack of a better term, he raked in Boston. In his six full seasons, Foxx had an OPS of 1.039 and an OPS+ of 157. He led the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS twice while in Boston, so he could hit, he could get on, and he could hit for power. Foxx could do pretty much anything at the plate, and would be the perfect player to have knocking in Tris Speaker over and over again.
All-time best Red Sox lineup: 3. Ted Williams, LF
The case for Ted Williams, I believe, is best told through who is omitted from this team because of him: Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz racked up 96.5 career WAR for the Red Sox during his 23 seasons with the team, he is second all-time in terms of WAR in franchise history, and is rightfully considered one of the greatest Red Sox of all-time ... but he'll always have to settle for being the second-best left fielder in franchise history, because no matter what, Teddy Ballgame will always be No. 1.
Williams racked up 121.8 career WAR during his time in Boston, far and away the highest amount of career WAR in Red Sox history. Of course, that number could've been higher had Williams not gone off to both World War II and the Korean War during his career, but still nothing much more needs to be said than the fact that a member of the MLB All-Century team just has to be in the lineup.
Williams slots into third in this lineup, keeping the lefty-righty balance in my lineup. Williams is getting hits, he's driving in runs, he's hitting home runs, he's going to do it all in this lineup. I don't need to make any more of an argument for him, he's Ted Williams. He has a tunnel named after him, for goodness sake!
All-time best Red Sox lineup: 4. Dwight Evans, RF
Rounding out the outfield, we take a leap forward in Red Sox history and get to talk about good ole Dewey. Dwight Evans spent 19 seasons with the Red Sox, holding down right field for both the 1975 and 1986 teams that came agonizingly close to snapping the Curse of the Bambino, and was truly a great all-around player for the Red Sox during his time here.
Evans racked up 66.5 career WAR in Boston, placing him fourth on the all-time rankings. Going through the rankings, I would have never guessed that Dwight Evans would place fourth, considering he's never really discussed in the pantheon of greatest Red Sox players as much as the guys that surround him on the list. Evans' closest competition in right field is someone who is still active: the most recent Red Sock to win an MVP award and first-round draft pick of my fantasy team this year, Mookie Betts. Betts achieved 42.2 WAR during his time in Boston, rounding out the top 10 of the all-time rankings.
Evans bats cleanup to keep the alternating hands of the bats, and to pretty much serve as leadoff for the middle third of the lineup. Foxx and Williams are going to be doing a lot of damage before Evans in the lineup, so I'm going to use Dewey here as a way to get someone new on base or to try and keep runners moving over for the middle part of the lineup to knock more runners home. Not the most powerful hitter, but Evans could get on-base, and I think he could keep an offensive onslaught going.
All-time best Red Sox lineup: 5. David Ortiz, DH
There isn't a better choice in Red Sox or, for that matter, baseball history for the DH slot than the man who became the first career designated hitter to be inducted into the Hall of Fame than Big Papi himself, David Ortiz. Ortiz spent 14 years with the Red Sox after coming over from Minnesota, and helped lead the Red Sox to three World Series titles, slugging his way onto the Red Sox Mount Rushmore.
Ortiz finds himself sixth on the all-time WAR rankings, collecting 52.7 career WAR while a member of the Red Sox. As much of a slam dunk as Ted Williams was in left field, the same goes for Ortiz as the designated hitter. He's the only primary DH in the top 50, so it really wasn't going to be anyone else.
Ortiz bats fifth in this lineup to knock in runs in the middle of the lineup, produce some pop, and instill some fear in pitchers and let them know there's no letting up after the top half of the lineup. Big Papi had a .290/.386/.570 line during his Red Sox career, so the run machine is going to keep churning with Ortiz batting fifth.
All-time best Red Sox lineup: 6. Carlton Fisk, C
The original Pudge is going to keep things cruising behind the dish for the all-time team. One of the rare four-decade MLB players, Carlton Fisk will forever be immortalized for his home run in game 6 of the 1975 World Series, both for the home run itself and Robin Williams' retelling of the moment in Good Will Hunting. Fisk spent 10 years as the backstop for the Red Sox, giving us one of the best catcher matchups in World Series history between him and Johnny Bench in 1975, before bleaching his socks and heading to Chicago in 1980.
Fisk finds himself 12th on the all-time WAR rankings, collecting 39.5 WAR during his time in Boston. When it comes to the catcher, the next closest to Fisk is The Captain (and maybe the next Red Sox manager) Jason Varitek at 24.2 WAR, making Fisk a pretty easy choice at catcher.
I have Fisk batting sixth because he had a great knack for getting on base, so once Big Papi clears out the bases right before Fisk comes up to the plate, the replenishment of runners on base can start with Pudge. Plus, the righty-lefty balance continues with Fisk batting here, so let's roll with it.
All-time best Red Sox lineup: 7. Wade Boggs, 3B
The time has come to talk about the man whose drinking exploits are the stuff of legends (and the inspiration of multiple great episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Wade Boggs. The Chicken Man is going to patrol the hot corner for the all-time team, having spent 11 years doing so for the Red Sox in the 80s and the 90s before betraying us and taking his talents to the Bronx (and Tampa Bay, but they stunk back then, so ah well, c'est la vie).
Wade Boggs takes the bronze medal when it comes to the all-time rankings, achieving 72.0 WAR in his 11 years with the franchise. Beyond Boggs, there's quite the delta before the next best third baseman, which depending on how you determine it, could be either Rico Petrocelli at 39.1 WAR (he had roughly 50 more games at shortstop than third base, but since it's so close, I'd give him either one) or Larry Gardner at 30.7 WAR. Either way, Boggs is taking it in a landslide.
The bottom third of the lineup should serve as a great way to set up the top of the lineup once we get back around, and Boggs is the perfect batter to get that started. He led the league in batting average five times, on-base percentage six times, and had seven 200+ hit seasons. Boggs is going to hit, hit, and hit some more, and if I can get that from my No. 7 guy, what a lineup.
All-time best Red Sox lineup: 8. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Dustin Pedroia is the player I modeled my little league game after the most: played second base, diminutive compared to the rest of my teammates, could turn on and rip an inside pitch. I, and pretty much all of Red Sox nation, still hasn't forgiven for Manny Machado for prematurely ending Pedroia's career, but are still beyond grateful for what we got out of him while we had him.
Pedroia amassed 51.9 career WAR with the Red Sox, which places him seventh all time for the team. This was the closest call for the all-time team, with #8 on the ranking being Pedroia's competition: Bobby Doerr. Doerr had 51.4 career WAR in Boston, making second base the most hotly-contested spot in this lineup, but I'll ride with the Laser Show any day of the week.
Pedroia slots in at eighth in this lineup because I know if anyone's on base ahead of him, Pedey is going to get them over or knock them in. There's a reason Pedroia won an MVP award, and this engine is going to keep on trucking with him batting No. 8.
All-time best Red Sox lineup: 9. Nomar Garciaparra, SS
Indulge me for a second here: YES, YES, OH MY GOD I'M SO HAPPY THAT NOMAR MAKES THIS TEAM! YES! YES! YES! All right, back to objective, serious writing.
When one thinks of the ideal male physical form, people think of Brad Pitt in Fight Club or Michael B. Jordan during his Creed and Black Panther run, but I think of Nomar Garciaparra gracing the cover of the March 5, 2001 issue of Sports Illustrated. Injuries sadly derailed a career seemingly destined for Cooperstown, but the Red Sox got the absolute best out of Nomar during his run with the team.
Garciaparra just missed out on the top 10 of the all-time rankings, with his 41.3 WAR placing him 11th, right behind Mookie Betts. Rico Petrocelli came up just short of being the starting shortstop on this team, with his 39.1 WAR making him a solid bench piece for this team. However, I am proud to have Nomar Garciaparra make the starting lineup.
I think Nomar batting ninth works out perfectly for this lineup because he's basically a second leadoff guy at the bottom of the lineup. He hit .323 throughout his stint with the Red Sox while being able to add some pop too. If Nomar had been able to stay healthy, he would have had a better total career than Derek Jeter, and he fits in perfect with the all-time Red Sox lineup.
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