Bobby Doerr

Doerr broke into the majors in 1937 at the age of 19 and went 3-for-5 in his first game.[5] In 1938, he became a regular in the Red Sox lineup.[6] Doerr led the league with 22 sacrifice hits in 1938.[7] In 1939, Doerr began a string of 12 consecutive seasons with 10 or more home runs and 73 or more runs batted in (RBIs); in 1940 the Red Sox became the 12th team in major league history to have four players with 100 RBIs, with Foxx, Williams, Cronin and Doerr each collecting at least 105.[8]

In 1941, Doerr was an All-Star, the first of nine times he was selected for the AL All-Star team.[9] In 1944, Doerr led the league in slugging percentage. The same year, his .325 batting average was good enough to allow him to finish second in the league, two percentage points behind Lou Boudreau of the Cleveland Indians.[10] The Sporting News named him Most Valuable Player for the American League (AL),[11] although he finished only seventh in Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award voting for the AL.[12] Doerr hit for the cycle twice in his career;[13] on May 17, 1944, in a 12–8 loss to the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader,[14] and again on May 13, 1947, in a 19–6 win over the Chicago White Sox.[15]

Doerr missed the 1945 season while serving in the Army during World War II,[9] being stationed at Camp Roberts, California.[16] In 1946, Doerr finished third in MVP voting for the AL (won by Williams, his teammate).[17] Doerr drove in 116 runs despite a .271 average.[18] He hit .409 in the 1946 World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, with a home run and three RBIs.[19] Doerr's average dropped to .258 in 1947 as he grounded into a league-high 25 double plays, but he had 95 RBIs. He hit .285 with 27 home runs and 111 RBIs in 1948.[18] Doerr had set an AL record in that year by handling 414 chances in a row over 73 games without an error.[20]

In 1949, Doerr hit .309 with 18 home runs and 109 RBIs.[18] At the start of the 1950 season, Doerr was in a slump; he was only batting .232 as of June 2.[21] However, he finished the year with a league-leading 11 triples, and batted .294. On June 8 of that year, he hit three home runs in a 29–4 romp over the Browns.[22] He set career highs that year in triples, runs (103) and RBIs (120); he tied his career high in home runs (27).[18] Doerr appeared in only 106 games in 1951 and he retired that September after suffering from a spinal problem for two years.[23]

Doerr retired with 8,028 plate appearances, 1,094 runs, 89 triples, 809 walks, 1,349 singles, 1,184 runs created, 693 extra base hits, 2,862 times on base, 115 sacrifice hits and nine All-Star Game selections. At Fenway Park, he hit .315 with 145 home runs, compared to a .261 average and 78 HR on the road. Doerr batted over .300 three times, with six seasons of at least 100 RBIs. He never played a game at a position other than second base.[18]

Regarded as one of the top defensive second basemen of his era, Doerr led AL second basemen in double plays five times, tying a league record, in putouts and fielding percentage four times each, and in assists three times.[18] Doerr held the major league record for career double plays at second base (1,507) until 1963.[24]

He set Red Sox records for career games (1,865), at bats (7,093), hits (2,042), doubles (381), total bases (3,270) and RBIs (1,247),[25] All of Doerr's offensive Red Sox records were later broken by Williams, who referred to Doerr as "the silent captain of the Red Sox." His 223 home runs were then the third most by a major league second baseman.[26]

Upon the death of former New York Yankees executive and American League president Lee MacPhail in November 2012, Doerr became the oldest living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He became the oldest living former Red Sox player upon the death of Lou Lucier in October 2014.[31] On November 4, 2016, Doerr became the oldest living former major leaguer upon the death of Eddie Carnett.[32]

Doerr was the last surviving member of the 1946 Boston Red Sox team that won the AL pennant and lost the World Series in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. He was also the last living person who played in the major leagues during the 1930s, and the last living person who played against Lou Gehrig.[33]

Doerr (left) alongside Johnny Pesky at Fenway Park's 100th anniversary in 2012

Doerr died on November 13, 2017, in Junction City, Oregon, at the age of 99.[6]